Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

This should be another of those subjects that should have its thread closed
by the moderators, as we are just going over the same ground for the nth
time.

There were records as late as the iron age that there were still forests in
the Negev south of the Dead Sea, so we cannot take the modern lack of
forests as indicating a different place when other clues point to the south.

On Fri, May 14, 2010 at 6:56 AM, <JimStinehart AT aol.com> wrote:

>
> %(YR/Seir at Genesis 14: 6 probably comes from the Hurrian word $a(ri…


There is no need to posit a Hurrian etymology for the name when there is a
perfectly good Hebrew one mentioned.

…  BDB at p. 973 …


One of the criticisms of Gesenius and his disciples BDB is that can
legitimately be leveled against them is that they make too much use of
cognate languages in understanding Hebrew terms. The whole definition of
cognate languages is that they are different languages—they use different
terms and some of the same terms they use in vastly different ways.
Sometimes referencing cognate languages can help in understanding, at other
times can lead astray.

In this case, %(YR is used often enough that there is little question as to
its meaning from within Hebrew itself. There is absolutely no connection
within Hebrew to forests, trees nor orchards. That there may be such a
connection in Arabic is irrelevant.

Your whole argument is based on faulty premises.

>
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
> Karl W. Randolph.