Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin P. Edgecomb" <kevin AT bombaxo.com>]

Mr Stinehart,
You persist in missing the point.  Shi-Hor in Egyptian and in those
references to it in the Bible (clearly $XR in Hebrew is taken from the
Egyptian; not every word in the Hebrew Bible is Hebrew, you know) all refer
to the same entity: it was the name of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, the
greatest branch of the Nile in the Delta in antiquity, the main one in which
shipping occurred and on which a succession of capital cities were sited.
It matters not what your theoretical framework is.  Reality bears its own
integrity which is not undermined by theoretocal frameworks.

Regarding Na`aman's resiting of the border to the Wadi Besor, he is almost
alone in that.  Very few others accept his suggestion.  Most scholars site
this border still at Wadi el-Arish, further south.  From the other side of
the issue, however, Egyptian sources unanimously place the border of Egypt
at the Shihor and the series of forts nearby which were referred to by the
Egyptians as "The Walls of the Ruler."  See Hoffmeier's article in BASOR 343
(Aug 2006).  This is very likely the source of the $WR/Wall in the Biblical
phrase MDBR $WR.

Regards,
Kevin P. Edgecomb
Berkeley, California