Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

George Athas:
 
You wrote:  “The biggest hurdle in your theories is the fact that no one in 
the biblical narratives has the same name as anyone in the Amarna 
correspondence. That's pretty big misalignment. (Ok, go ahead and tell me how 
apparently that's of no significance...)”
 
With all due respect, your assertion is simply not true.
 
1.  Abimelek is the same name for the ruler of Shur in Gerar/Galilee in the 
Amarna Letters and in chapters 20, 21 and 26 of Genesis.  And Abimelek has 
the same problem in both sources:  access to contested water wells.
 
2.  Bieri in Amarna Letter EA 174 is close to Bera at Genesis 14: 2, both 
of whom are being ravaged by the rampaging Hittites.
 
3.  B-Risha at Genesis 14: 2 is likewise close to Abdi-Risha at Amarna 
Letter EA 363, having the identical circumstances as noted at #2 above.
 
4.  The Hurrians are the historical Hurrians (in the Transjordan).
 
5.  The Amorites are the historical Amorites (in Lebanon).
 
6.  QD$ is attested as qd$ in Ugaritic literature, being the same name of 
the same city in eastern Upper Galilee.
 
7.  Tidal is the Hittite kingly name Tidal.  Yes, it’s a Patriarchal 
nickname, and a nasty one at that.  In context it means “Murderer”, because 
Hittite King Suppiluliuma I seized the Hittite throne by the dastardly 
expedient 
of murdering his own older brother named Tidal.  He’s the primary military 
figure in the “four kings against five”, both in chapter 14 of Genesis and 
historically in the Great Syrian War.
 
 
I can list more names that match the world of the mid-14th century BCE if 
you like.  I honestly do not see that as a major problem with my theory of 
the case.  On the contrary, that  i-s  a major problem for the view of 
university scholars, who cannot match a single name at Genesis 14: 6-7 to any 
attested name south of the Dead Sea in the ancient world.  There’s not even a 
single match on the scholarly view of the case, George.  Nothing.  Nada.  
Meanwhile, I’ve got “Hurrians”, “Amorites” and “QD$” for sure, and I could go 
on.
 
George, do you realize that no university scholar has  e-v-e-r  asked any 
of the following pertinent questions about names in chapter 14 of Genesis, as 
far as I have been able to determine?
 
(1)  What does the Hurrian name “Arioch” mean?  Is it based on a Hittite 
word, which in turn is based on an Indo-Aryan word, and does it mean “Mr. 
Aryan”?
 
(2)  Is “Elassar” a Hittite word?  If so, what does it mean, and what is 
the significance of that?
 
(3)  Do the letters in “Chedorlaomer” make perfect sense as a Ugaritic 
curse?
 
(4)  Is MLK (LM at Genesis 14: 1 in defective spelling attested in only one 
place in the ancient world, namely at Ugarit in the 14th century BCE?  What 
is the significance of that objective fact?
 
(5)  Is XCCN TMR at Genesis 14: 7 a Hurrian name?
 
If university scholars were right that it’s all non-historical fiction, why 
then the refusal of any university scholars to investigate any of those 
fairly obvious questions about names in chapter 14 of Genesis?
 
As you well know, Yigal Levin, an expert in Biblical geography, and a very 
fine and open-minded person, has steadfastly refused to ever consider 
looking north of the Dead Sea as a possible analysis of the names of peoples 
and 
places at Genesis 14: 6-7.  Why?  If it’s all fiction, why do university 
scholars absolutely refuse to look into any of these fairly obvious questions 
about names that I raise?
 
Is there a “Big Secret” here?  What’s the “Big Secret”?  Why don’t any 
of your colleagues on the planet see fit to ask the above questions about 
names in chapter 14 of Genesis?  The world would be interested in their 
scholarly investigations, believe you me.  Why does Jim Stinehart have to do 
all 
this work on his own?  What gives?
 
It would be wonderful, wonderful, wonderful if university scholars were to 
get interested in investigating the names in chapter 14 of Genesis, and then 
publish their findings in some forum that would be accessible to all.  That 
would be great, wouldn’t it?  Why aren’t university scholars doing that, 
George?  What are you guys hiding from us?  Are you hiding good news or bad 
news?  Why no scholarly investigation, at least no scholarly investigation 
that has been published and is accessible, of the foregoing questions about 
names in chapter 14 of Genesis?
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois