Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III :
 
You wrote:  “Furthermore, just because the ‘generally’ accepted dating of 
the composition of Genesis 14 is considered LBA (according to you which I do 
not accept), does not mean that the events recorded occurred in the LBA.” 
 
But many foreign policy events recounted in the Patriarchal narratives have 
a clear parallel in the Amarna Letters.  Here are 4 key cases.
 
1.  Great Syrian War
 
Historically, the first year of the Great Syrian War occurred in Year 14 
(of Akhenaten’s reign), and Genesis 14: 5 references Year 14.  The Great 
Syrian War featured an odd coalition of 4 attacking rulers, one with a 
Hittite 
name, one with a Hurrian name, one with a Ugaritic name, and one with an 
Amorite name. That’s Tidal (a Hittite name), Arioch (a Hurrrian name), C
hedorlaomer (a curse in Ugaritic), and Amrapel (where the first half of this 
west 
Semitic name means “Amorite”).  Historically and in the Bible, these 4 
attacking rulers demolished a league of 5 rebellious princelings, in a valley 
of 
tilled fields (the Orontes River Valley), near a salt sea (the Mediterranean 
Sea).
 
2.  Iniquity of the Amorites
 
The historical iniquity of the Amorites (Genesis 15: 16) is that in Year 14 
of Akhenaten’s reign, the Amorite states of Ugarit and Amurru iniquitously 
sold out to the dreaded Hittites, thereby potentially threatening the first 
Hebrews in beloved Canaan.
 

3.  Decapitation of the Shechem Offensive
 
In Year 13 of Akhenaten’s reign, a princeling ruler closely associated with 
Shechem, who had been trying to get tent-dwelling people to help him create 
a Greater Shechem, was killed in a sneak attack on behalf of, but without 
the approval of, the first monotheistic leader of a people.  That’s chapter 
34 of Genesis, which is portrayed in the Biblical text as occurring 13 
tenfold regular years after Abraham’s birth.  Both historically and in 
chapter 35 
of Genesis, there is surprisingly little negative reaction to that dramatic 
murder.
 
4.  Monotheist Breaks with Father-in-Law from Naharim re Statues
 
In Year 12.7 of Akhenaten’s reign (being 12.7 tenfold regular years after 
Abraham’s birth in the Biblical text), the first historical monotheistic 
leader of a people broke with his father-in-law from Naharim on the far-away 
upper Euphrates River.  The last straw in both cases was that the 
monotheistic 
son-in-law from far to the west never gave certain demanded statues to his 
irate father-in-law from Naharim.  Genesis 31: 33-35.   This, despite the 
fact that both historically and Biblically, that son-in-law’s father had 
likewise married a woman from far-off Naharim and never had a bit of trouble 
with 
his in-laws from Naharim.
 
*       *       *
 
The Patriarchal narratives have pinpoint historical accuracy in a mid-14th 
century BCE historical context.  The contention of mainstream university 
scholars that it’s all fiction, and that except for chapter 14 of Genesis 
it’s 
all 1st millennium BCE fiction, cannot stand the light of day.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois