Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 7:32 AM, <JimStinehart AT aol.com> wrote:
> Karl:
>
> A.  Here is an interesting little article on the meaning of the word
> siddim/%DYM:
>
> http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Siddim.html
>
He merely lists what he considers the “two most likely” sources for
the name. Other possibilities include %WD (not attested to in the
Bible) and %YD “whitewash”.

> And here’s a little blog on the same subject (by Kevin Edgecomb, who
> sometimes posts here):
>
> http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/?p=75
>
He merely references other, unnamed scholars.

Neither author you link to above has written a dictionary from Hebrew
to English.
>
> 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.
>
I mentioned that you look at Google maps, satellite view, south east
of the Dead Sea in the area where the ruins of Sodom, Gomorra and the
other cities have been found and identified. You obviously haven’t
done so.

Further, when the Dead Sea expanded in years of much rain, then dried
out to its normal size, it left behind a “whitewash” of salt crystals
on the land it had inundated. That is also visible on the satellite
image.
>
>
> B.  Chedorlaomer’s title, …

His “title” was the *name* of the place where he ruled. That fits the
history and context of the narrative. So will you stop this baseless
speculation of yours?
>
> Karl, everything makes perfect sense.

Only if you don’t know Hebrew language, and ignore the text.

>
> Jim Stinehart
>
> Evanston, Illinois
>

Karl W. Randolph.