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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 14: 7 Translation

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  • From: jimstinehart AT aol.com
  • To: George.Athas AT moore.edu.au, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 14: 7 Translation
  • Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:27:22 EST



George Athas:

You wrote: “Apart from that, I wish to say nothing at all about the
subject as originally posted.”

In fact, it would be greatly informative if you would tell us whether, in
your opinion, the conventional view of Genesis 14:7 is possible, given the
ordinary meaning of the Hebrew words $WB and GM.

1. If the attackers come from the east and start their military
campaigning at Ashteroth in the northeast (per Genesis 14: 5), then in my
view, it
is impossible that they could “return”/$WB to Kadesh-barnea, a remote
desert oasis on the border of the Sinai Desert. That is as far west as the
attackers ever go, on the conventional view, and as such the attackers from
the
east could not have “returned”/$WB to their farthest western point.

2. Likewise, the Hebrew word GM cannot legitimately be viewed as
meaning “and then they made a 180 degree reversal, and having marched dead
west
to make a nonsensical attack on the remote desert oasis of Kadesh-barnea on
the edge of the Sinai Desert, they now marched dead east to the Dead Sea”.
The word GM means “also” or “even”, and cannot legitimately be interpreted
as indicating a 180 degree reversal of direction. The nuances and overtones
of GM indicate a continuation, not a complete reversal of course.

3. I am making an argument here based primarily on the Hebrew wording
of Genesis 14: 7, not based primarily on history. What I am saying is that
if the QD$ at Genesis 14: 7 is Kadesh-barnea, and the Hazezon at Genesis 14:
7 is located on the west bank of the Dead Sea, as conventionally understood,
then the Hebrew wording of Genesis 14: 7 is impossible.

4. Now compare my proposed understanding and translation of Genesis 14:
7, where the sentence flows super-smoothly and naturally. I see the QD$ at
Genesis 14: 7 as being historical Qadesh of Upper Galilee, not a place
unattested in secular history by the name QD$ on the border of the Sinai
Desert.
(Note that the text says QD$, not Kadesh-barnea.) And I see Hazezon as
being historical Hizzin/Hasi in the northern Bekka Valley, not a place
unattested in secular history by that name on the west bank of the Dead Sea.

Having started the military campaign at Ashteroth and made strikes south of
Ashteroth, the attackers now “return”/$WB north to the Ashteroth area.
Always moving north in Genesis 14: 7, the attackers then come to, and pass
by,
Qadesh of Galilee. Continuing to move north as always in this sentence,
the attackers then enter the southern Bekka Valley (just north of Qadesh of
Upper Galilee), and proceed north “even”/GM unto the Amorites living at
Hasi/Hizzin/Hazezon in the northern Bekka Valley.

Note how smoothly the sentence flows, based on my reinterpretation of what
geographical places QD$ and XCCN are intended to reference.

5. George, we would all appreciate knowing if in your opinion,
attackers from the east could “return”/$WB to Kadesh-barnea on the border of
the
Sinai Desert, being the farthest point west they ever go, and then the word
GM indicates that they made a 180 degree reversal of direction and headed
dead east to the Dead Sea. My argument on the b-hebrew list is primarily a
Hebrew language argument. I do not think that Biblical Hebrew can rightly be
contorted to fit the conventional understanding of the Hebrew wording of
Genesis 14: 7. In my opinion, the conventional, forced translation and
understanding of Genesis 14: 7 should be abandoned.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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