Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:

A.  Here is an interesting little article on the meaning of the word
siddim/%DYM:

_http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Siddim.html_
(http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Siddim.html)

And here’s a little blog on the same subject (by Kevin Edgecomb, who
sometimes posts here):

_http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=75_ (http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=75)

Most scholars, like the articles referenced above, see the word siddim/%DYM
as meaning “fields”.  There are no “fields” near the Dead Sea.  There are
some oases, but no fields.

Actually, those articles see %DYM as meaning “furrows”.  So the Valley of
%DYM would be:  “valley of plowed fields”.  That could only be the Jezreel
Valley, nowhere else in Canaan.

The western end of the Jezreel Valley, being a valley of plowed fields, is
near a famous “salt sea” -- the Mediterranean Sea.  By contrast, no part of
the Jezreel Valley is near the Dead Sea, and there is no “valley of plowed
fields” anywhere near the Dead Sea.

Here’s a reference to “Plowing - plowed fields of Jezreel valley”, in
modern times:

_http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/il-mdemk.html_
(http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/il-mdemk.html)

There are many Biblical allusions to plowing.  One of the first is at
Deuteronomy 22: 10:  “Thou shalt not plow with an ass and an ox together.”  In
addition, the ancient Gezer calendar refers to plowing.

Tent-dwelling Abraham never sojourns at the Valley of Siddim/valley of
plowed fields/Jezreel Valley.  That’s because Abraham as a tent-dweller would
not have been welcome there.  Uniquely in ancient Canaan, the Jezreel
Valley/Valley of Siddim/valley of plowed fields was for settled farmers only, 
not
tent-dwellers.

The one and only classic “valley of plowed fields” in all of Canaan is the
Jezreel Valley.

Karl, note how my theory of the case does not require an idiosyncratic view
of the meaning of %DYM.  There is solid linguistic support for the
proposition that %DYM literally means “furrows”, and hence implies “plowed 
fields”.

The four invading rulers naturally had as one of their key targets, being
their last target, the wondrous valley of plowed fields in Canaan -- the
Jezreel Valley.  It all makes perfect sense.

B.  Chedorlaomer’s title, in defective spelling, is MLK (LM.  That kingly
title was unique to rulers of Ugarit.  If one of the invaders of Canaan was a
king of Ugarit, then we would expect southern Lebanon and Galilee to be
primary targets of the invasion.  That’s Genesis 14: 7.  The only QD$ in
ancient Canaan documented in secular history by that name is QD$ of Upper 
Galilee.
 The main place for )MRY/Amorites was Lebanon and western Upper Galilee.
So Genesis 14: 7 strongly indicates a locale in northern Canaan.  Speaking of
Amorites, we would expect one of the three allies of a king of Ugarit to be
an Amorite princeling from Amurru, and that’s the first part of the name of
another invading ruler.  )MRPL/Amrapel starts with )MR, meaning “Amorite”
and/or the mid-14th century BCE Amorite state of “Amurru” in northern
Lebanon.

So with an Amorite from Amurru and a king of Ugarit making a series of
conquests in southern Lebanon and Galilee at Genesis 14: 7, we know where the
final battle will be fought:  south of Galilee, in the “valley of plowed 
fields
”, that is, the Jezreel Valley.  And if the final battle is close to one of
the two salt seas that border Canaan, as the text indicates at Genesis 14:
3, then we know further that the site of the final battle will be at
Megiddo, which is close to both the Mediterranean Sea (a “salt sea”) and the
Jezreel Valley (a “valley of plowed fields” -- Valley of Siddim/%DYM).

Karl, everything makes perfect sense.  At Genesis 14: 1, 9, the title MLK
(LM indicates a king of Ugarit.  The )MR in the name )MRPL indicates an
Amorite from Amurru.  At Genesis 14: 7, QD$ and )MRY indicate a locale in and
near Upper Galilee.  And at Genesis 14: 3, the valley of %DYM, meaning the “
valley of plowed fields”, is the Jezreel Valley, south of Galilee, the western
portion of which is near the greatest “salt sea” that borders Canaan.  All
those linguistic clues are telling us something.  If you would look to
northern Canaan in the Bronze Age, you would see that everything makes perfect
sense.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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