Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

We see TD(L in the received unpointed Masoretic text.  But from the 
Septuagint, we can be quite sure that the ayin is an archaic ghayin (a letter 
I will represent by a small g).  So the Bible has TDgL.  And what spelling do 
we see at Late Bronze Age Ugarit for this same Hittite kingly name?  TDgL.  
That’s letter-for-letter accuracy, verified by an impeccable non-biblical 
Late Bronze Age source.
 
In Hittite, however, the spelling is Tu-ud-xa-li-ya.  Note how the defective 
early Hebrew spelling omits all the vowels, including omitting the entire 
ending.  Also note that the Masoretic pointing of the vowels, done in the 
Middle Ages, is wrong (not unexpectedly).
 
I believe that all mainstream scholars agree with the foregoing analysis.  
Here is a typical scholarly comment:  “Hittite…included the voiced velar 
fricative /ģ/ in their phonetic inventory. And yes, this sound was 
represented in the Ugaritic alphabet with the letter ģ; a famous and 
convenient example is the Hittite royal name m tu-ud-xa-li-ya ‘Tudhaliya’ = 
tdģl.”  Gary A. Rendsburg, Aaron D. Rubin and John Huehnergard, “A Proper 
View of Arabic, Semitic, and More”, Journal of the American Oriental Society 
128.3 (2008), at pp. 537-8.
 
Note the following:
 
1.  In early Biblical Hebrew defective spelling, most of the vowels in a 
non-Semitic name or word will be omitted.
 
2.  The Masoretic pointing of vowels that was done in the Middle Ages has no 
credibility as to Late Bronze Age non-Semitic names or words.
 
3.  The Hebrew ayin does not represent a non-Semitic ayin.  Here, the Hebrew 
ayin is an archaic ghayin that represents one type of heth/X in Hittite.
 
4.  The pinpoint, letter-for-letter spelling accuracy of TD(L in a Late 
Bronze Age historical context is truly stunning. 
 
Why do mainstream university scholars persist in trying to tell us that this 
admittedly ancient Biblical text is fiction?  Not!  If you can’t believe 
Ugaritic alphabetic spellings of Hittite kingly names, what can you believe?
 
Jim Stinehart
Shanghai, China (temporarily)