Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

   Yigal,

   Among the Amarna letters, though not all are from
 Canaan, there is a sizable proprotion of 'Indo -European'
 names. Richard Hess published a detailed study on the
 subject. Abdi-Hep/ba from Jerusalem is one prominent example.

   There is no reason to doubt that this gentleman was
 not a good Jeruselmite patriot. But neither is there reason
 to doubt that his parents, or whoever named him, worshipped
 a non-Canaanite deity.

  Uri Hurwitz                           Wilmington VT


 I just want to emphasize one point: WITHIN THE BIBLE, there is
NO indication that the "Hittites" are anything other than a Canaanite
sub-group. There is NO indication anywhere that the Hittites are
"non-Semitic" or have anything to do with "Hurrians". The fact that WE know
that in the Late Bronze Age there was an Anatolian empire called "Hatti"
should not color our reading of the biblical text - despite the similarity
in name, biblical Hittites and Anatolian Hatti are not the same. Ephron the
Xitti ("Hittite") was a kind of Canaanite, and his name should be
interpreted accordingly. 

This does not mean, by the way, that I think that the similarity between
Xitti and Hatti is coincidental. I just don't know what the connection is.
It could be historical. It could just as well be literary. But until we do
understand the connection, we should not base too many theories on it.