Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

On my prior thread (which concerned the relationship of Ugarit, not Egypt,
to the Patriarchal narratives), I noted that the title of attacking ruler
Chedorlaomer is, in defective spelling, MLK (LM.  That is identical to the
unique title of kings of Ugarit:  MLK (LM.

That then raises the question of whether, based on linguistics, “
Chedorlaomer” would be a suitable Patriarchal nickname for a king of Ugarit.

In Hebrew, the name of attacking ruler Chedorlaomer at Genesis 14: 1, 9, in
the “four kings against the five”, is:  KDR + L + (MR.  As we will see, “
Chedorlaomer” makes perfect sense as a west Semitic name, both in Hebrew and
in Ugaritic, and is a fitting Patriarchal nickname for a king of Ugarit whom
the early Hebrews had good reason to profoundly dislike.

In this post, we will examine the elements KDR and (MR in the name “
Chedorlaomer”.  Then in a later post on this thread, we can determine who
Chedorlaomer was.  The most important point is the key linguistic fact that 
KDR and
(MR are virgin pure west Semitic common words, in both Biblical Hebrew and
Ugaritic, as components of the name “Chedorlaomer” [along with the
preposition L], rather than KDR and L(MR being non-Semitic loanwords, as 
scholars
would have it.

1.  KDR

The first part of the name “Chedorlaomer” is KDR.  Per BDB, KDR is a
Hebrew root that is similar to Arabic KDR, which means “rush down of a hawk or
attacking force”.  That Hebrew root leads in full spelling to KYDWR at Job 15:
24, referring to the “seething tumult of battle”.  The defective spelling
of KYDWR at Job 15: 24 would be KDR.  The Hebrew word KDR can have dark
overtones, focusing on the image of an attacking bird rushing down upon its
prey.  Gesenius suggests “warlike disturbance, military tumult” as the meaning
of KYDWR at Job 15: 24, and as with BDB, Gesenius sees the root as being
KDR, which Gesenius identifies with “war”.

In Ugaritic, kdr is sometimes viewed as meaning “vulture”.  A vulture is a
bird that rushes down upon its prey.  That nicely matches Arabic KDR, noted
above regarding the Hebrew word KDR.  Kdr in Ugaritic often has a dark
meaning.  Though the word kdr has a very broad range of meanings in Ugaritic,
one set of meanings of kdr in Ugaritic is similar to the dark meaning of its
Hebrew cognate discussed above.  As such, kdr in Ugaritic can literally refer
to the rushing down of a hawk or vulture or attacking force, and
figuratively refer to the gloomy darkness of the seething tumult of war.

The word kdr is frequently found in Ugaritic, and on several occasions
appears at the beginning of a proper name in Ugaritic.  As such, KDR at the
beginning of the name “Chedorlaomer” has a Ugaritic feel.  By contrast, KDR
[with this dark meaning] is only seen at Job 15: 24 in the Hebrew Bible [in 
the
full-spelling form KYDWR], and except for Chedorlaomer (who of course is
not a Hebrew), KDR never appears at the beginning of any person’s name in the
Bible.

2.  (MR

The most basic meaning of (MR is a “sheaf” or “heap” of grain.  (MR can
be used to refer to a “row of fallen grain” [per BDB], as at Deuteronomy 24:
19.  In full spelling, (MYR means a “row of fallen grain” [BDB], or per
Gesenius, “a bundle of corn before it is bound into a sheaf”.  See for
example Micah 4: 12.  If a city were compared to an (MR, that could be a 
negative
reference to a city being destroyed and reduced to being like a “row of
fallen grain”, or per Strong’s, “a wasted heap”.  Equally importantly, neither
an Israelite human being nor a country should be treated like a “sheaf” or
“commodity”.  Though common translated as merely “mistreat”, the original
meaning of (MR in such a context likely was to wrongfully treat a human
being like a commodity, iniquitously buying and selling him as if he were a “
sheaf” of grain.  We see this important usage of (MR at Deuteronomy 21: 14 and
24: 7.  HALOT comments:  “to trade with…a word taken from the language of
commerce which was originally connected with grain trading”.  Thus in a
negative sense, and applied to a city-state, (MR could mean that for the
iniquity of “selling out” the city as if it were a mere “sheaf”/(MR of grain, 
the
city later is rightfully destroyed and reduced to being “a wasted heap”
/(MR, like a “row of fallen grain”/(MR.

That is likely the way (MR is used in the city name (MRH/Gomorrah in the
Patriarchal narratives.  A final he/H as a suffix is the most common way in
Biblical Hebrew of making a common word into a proper name that is a city
name, with the final he/H effectively meaning “town”, and not otherwise
impacting the meaning of the root.  The city name “Gomorrah”/(MR + H can be
interpreted as meaning a city-state that “sold out” to the enemies of Canaan,
wrongfully selling itself as if it were a mere “sheaf”/(MR of grain, which
later led the city to be rightfully destroyed and reduced to being “a wasted
heap”/(MR, like a “row of fallen grain”/(MR.  If that linguistic
interpretation is right, then the reason for Gomorrah’s divine destruction in 
chapter 19
of Genesis is not because Gomorrah had failed to defeat the four attacking
rulers in chapter 14 of Genesis (when Gomorrah fought on the right side), or
because there were any sexual improprieties or lack of hospitality at
Gomorrah after that military defeat.  Rather, the reason why YHWH scorches and
destroys Gomorrah is because after the military defeat, in an attempt to avoid
being attacked again by the same four attacking rulers, Gomorrah
iniquitously sold out to those attacking rulers, selling itself as if it were 
a mere “
sheaf”/(MR of grain or a “commodity”/(MR, which later led the city to be
rightfully destroyed and reduced to being “a wasted heap”/(MR, like a “row of
fallen grain”/(MR.

Turning now to (MR at the end of the name “Chedorlaomer”, that is likely
ghayin-M-R, per the Septuagint rendering of the name “Chedorlaomer”, which
has a G for the ayin.  Likewise, the city name (MRH in chapters 14 and 19 of
Genesis begins with an archaic ghayin, not a regular ayin, hence the
Septuagint rendering as Gomorrah, with a G.  The (MR at the end of the name “
Chedorlaomer” likely has the same meanings in Hebrew as the above-described
analysis of the meanings of (MR in “Gomorrah”, as discussed below.

Turning now to Ugaritic, ghayin-m-r has two main meanings, per the Lete &
Sanmartin Ugaritic dictionary:  either (1) “ash(es), dust”, or (2) “ears of
grain, sheaf”.  It is related to Hebrew (MR and (MYR, each of which can mean
a “row of fallen grain”.  Though scholars say that the etymology of the
concept of “ashes, dust” in Ugaritic is unknown, it may derive from the idea
of something being reduced to being “a wasted heap”.  In any event, note
that the concept of “ashes” matches beautifully with the fact that in chapter
19 of Genesis, Gomorrah/(MR + H is indeed reduced to “ashes”.  The
Ugaritic word ghayin-m-r is part and parcel of this west Semitic vocabulary of
terrible destruction.  In Biblical Hebrew [though apparently not attested in
Ugaritic], (MR can also imply the concept of “selling out”, that is, a
city-state being wrongfully bought and sold as if it were a mere “sheaf”/(MR 
of
grain.  Thus the two negative concepts involved in (MR in Biblical Hebrew and
Ugaritic regarding a city or a country are (1) “selling out” [Biblical
Hebrew only], as if the city or country were a mere “sheaf”/(MR of grain [both
in Biblical Hebrew and Ugaritic], which iniquitous action then ultimately
results in the city, city-state or country being reduced to (2) “a wasted 
heap”
/(MR [in Biblical Hebrew] or “ashes, dust”/(MR [in Ugaritic] or a “row of
fallen grain”/(MR [in both Biblical Hebrew and Ugaritic].

Thus the (MR at the end of the name “Chedorlaomer” means that this is an
attacking ruler who has “sold out” his country (to the dreaded Hittites),
wrongfully treating his own country as if it were a mere “sheaf”/(MR of grain
or commodity, and that this iniquitous ruler has thereby initiated a
sequence that may possibly result in all of Canaan becoming “a wasted 
heap”/(MR
or “ashes, dust”/(MR or a “row of fallen grain”/(MR.  As we will later see,
the west Semitic word (MR perfectly describes the early Hebrews’ view of
King Niqmaddu II of Ugarit, who sold out Ugarit to the dreaded Hittites, which
iniquitous action thereby threatened all of Canaan with possible
destruction at the hands of the mighty Hittites.  If (MR is viewed as being a 
virgin
pure 100% west Semitic word, as opposed to the scholarly view that L + (MR is
a non-Semitic loanword supposedly referring to a deity in Elam named “
Lagamar”, we begin to see that “Chedorlaomer” makes perfect linguistic and
historical sense as being a very apt Patriarchal nickname for hated King 
Niqmaddu
II of west Semitic-speaking Ugarit.

[If you want to see the ultra-gigantic leaps scholars have in the past been
willing to take to try to get the name “Chedorlaomer” to be the
non-Semitic name of a non-Semitic Elamite king, rather than KDR and L and (MR 
being
run-of-the mill west Semitic common words, here is a classic attempt noted by
(but not approved of by) S.R. Driver in 1909:  “The uncertainty of the
reading arises from the 'polyphony' of the cuneiform script, i.e. from the
remarkable, but well-established fact that the same character may denote 
different
sounds.  In the three inscriptions referred to, the name which has been
supposed to correspond to Chedorla'omer is written in characters which, read
phonetically, would give (1) KU-KU-KU-MAL (2) KU-KU-KU-MAL (3) KU-KU-KU-KU-….”

_http://www.archive.org/stream/additionscorrect00driv/additionscorrect00driv
_djvu.txt_
(http://www.archive.org/stream/additionscorrect00driv/additionscorrect00driv_djvu.txt)
Of late, most scholars have given up on ever finding the name “Chedorlaomer”
 in the secular history of Elam or Mesopotamia.]

In a later post on this thread, we can determine who Chedorlaomer was,
historically, based on the foregoing linguistic analysis of “Chedorlaomer” as
being a west Semitic name, not a non-Semitic name.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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