Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Ken:

Here are the new elements of my analysis.

1.  MLK (LM in defective spelling at Genesis 14: 1, 9 is the same as the
unique Ugaritic kingly title for kings of Ugarit, which in Ugaritic is:  MLK
(LM.

2.  One meaning of (MR/ghayin-M-R in Biblical Hebrew is to be wrongfully
treated like a commodity, being treated as if one were a “sheaf” of
grain/(MR.  We see this important usage of (MR at Deuteronomy 21: 14 and 24: 
7.  As I
noted in my post, HALOT comments:  “to trade with…a word taken from the
language of commerce which was originally connected with grain trading”.

3.  Based on #2 above, Gomorrah/(MR + H can now be analyzed in a new way.
In addition to meaning “a wasted heap”, per Strong’s, we now see  w-h-y
YHWH scorched Gomorrah with a fiery blast, turning Gomorrah into a wasted
heap.  The reason is that Gomorrah had sold out to the Hittites, selling 
itself
as if it were a commodity/sheaf of grain/(MR.

4.  Related to this general subject is my new research into the five proper
names at Genesis 14: 7, showing that there is no inscription in secular
history pre-dating the common era to support the erroneous scholarly view that
all five such names are places south or southeast of Gaza, in the Northern
Negev Desert.

Those are the new elements of my analysis of Chedorlaomer.  The analysis of
KDR has not changed too much, although I have tightened the analysis of KDR
considerably.

The point is that KDR + L + (MR MLK (YLM is west Semitic in every way.  The
scholarly view that KDR + L + (MR MLK (YLM is the non-Semitic name and
title of a fictional non-Semitic ruler of non-Semitic Elam is completely
untenable.  Rather than being fictional, Chedorlaomer was very real.  It’s 
just
that the name “Chedorlaomer” is a Patriarchal nickname, rather than being the
formal name used by this ruler in secular history.

On the b-Hebrew list, the key is the linguistic point that KDR + L + (MR
MLK (YLM is west Semitic in all ways, with no hint of anything “foreign” or
non-Semitic at all.  If the name and title are west Semitic in every way,
which they manifestly are, then it makes little sense to think of this ruler 
as
being portrayed in the text as being a fictional ruler of non-Semitic Elam.
 No, Chedorlaomer is the historical ruler of west Semitic-speaking Ugarit.
Chedorlaomer’s iniquity in inviting the dreaded Hittites into greater
Canaan gravely threatened the very existence of the early Hebrews, in my view.

Ken, all the university scholars think that chapter 14 of Genesis is pure
fiction.  They're wrong.  The only way to show them they’re wrong is to match
KDR + L + (MR MLK (YLM to secular history.  It’s a great match to
historical Ugarit.  It’s not fiction.  And it’s not unattested in secular 
history,
either.  Moreover, at least on the linguistic side (which is the focus of the
b-Hebrew list), it’s not based on a whole series of “ifs”.  Rather, KDR +
L + (MR MLK (YLM is fully redolent of west Semitic-speaking Ugarit.

As long as university scholars continue to think that chapter 14 of Genesis
portrays a king of Elam making a series of conquests of cities in the
Northern Negev Desert (per Genesis 14: 7), then university scholars will never
take chapter 14 of Genesis seriously.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois

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