Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

  As for the onging discussion about the origin of the name
 )RYH  here are two points:

   Accepted criterion of the presence of various ethnic groups
 in a given area, at a given time, are personal names. Now,
 an examination of the preserved PNs in the EA lettters
 clearly indicates a good percentage of 'Indo -European'
 background in the Western Levant at that time.
   The term includes not only the rulers, or "kings",
 in Canaan, but also
elsewhere in states likle Amurru, or cities like Gubla,
 which eventually became Phoenician. All very far from Hatti.
 For details one can check the monograph  of Richard S. Hess
 on the Amarna Names.

  As for names with theophoric suffix -YH in the HB ,
 they're quite common in the HB. Just note the names
 of the prophets Zekharyah, Zephaniyah,
Ovadyah. 

  Sometimes the ending - YH interchanges with -YHW.
 Note the name Hizqiyahu/Hizqiyah.

 In fact, the -YH ending is the standard in post-exilic
 extra-biblical,  Yhawistic names, while the -YHW ending
 is the standard in pre-exilic extra-biblical sources such
 as bullae, Lakhish, Arad and so forth.


    Uri - not Uriah - Hurwitz             Wilmington, VT