Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:
 
1.  You wrote:  “[F]or ‘pinpoint accuracy’ you need to take the story of 
Abraham in its context, a context that indicates that Abraham lived in the 
early bronze age, not late.”
 
Karl, that’s where you’re wrong.  The words in the text are thoroughly 
redolent of the mid-14th century BCE in the Late Bronze Age.
 
1.  K$DYM at Genesis 11: 28, 31.  That references the Kassites, the Late 
Bronze Age rulers of southern Mesopotamia.
 
2.  NHRYM in the Amarna Letters and at Genesis 24: 10 is the name of the 
Hurrian great power state in eastern Syria during the Late Bronze Age.
 
3.  TD(L is an authentic Hittite kingly name, being a nasty Hebrew nickname 
[his murdered older brother’s name] for mighty Hittite King Suppiluliuma I. 
 The only time the Hittites threatened beloved Canaan was under 
Suppiluliuma, at the time of the Great Syrian War in the mid-14th century BCE.
 
4.  )B-Y-MLK.  Abraham interacts with Ab-i-Melek, who both in chapter 21 of 
Genesis and in eight Amarna Letters is always catatonic about how to get 
access to contested water wells.
 
Even the literary concepts in the Biblical text are redolent of the Great 
Syrian War in the mid-14th century BCE, such as the reference at the end of 
chapter 14 of Genesis to Abraham not taking a sandal lace:  “Speiser 
correctly observed that the phrase…neither a string nor a sandal lace is 
based on 
Near Eastern formulae….  We now have a text from Ugarit remarkably close to 
Gen 14 in some ways.  Niqmaddu, king of Ugarit, has been plundered by his 
enemies [members of the league of 5 rebellious Hurrian princelings].  His 
[newly-embraced] suzerain, the Hittite king Suppiluliuma, comes to his rescue 
and 
drives the invaders away.  In response Niqmaddu attempts to give 
Suppiluliuma a gift as a sign of his appreciation.  The text is damaged at 
this point, 
but may be restored to read as follows:  ‘Suppiluliuma, the Great King, saw 
the loyalty of Niqmaddu, and as far as what belongs to Ugarit…Suppiluliuma, 
the Great King, will not touch anything, be it straw or splinter….’  Abram 
appears to follow similar royal etiquette [at the end of chapter 14 of 
Genesis] in refusing anything from the king of Sodom [‘neither a string nor a 
sandal lace’] in return for his accomplishments.”  Victor P. Hamilton, “The 
Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17” (1990), at p. 414.  [Niqmaddu of Ugarit is 
Biblical “Chedorlaomer”, and Suppiluliuma is Biblical TD(L.]
 
2.  You wrote:  “There is no linguistic evidence that TD(L was Tudhaliya. 
The only reason we see for you to make that claim, is to make it fit your 
theories.”
 
Au contraire, Tudhaliya is spelled identically at Genesis 14: 1 and in 
Ugaritic literature.  That’s letter-for-letter accuracy in a Late Bronze Age 
historical context.  But then again, that’s simply par for the course for the 
Patriarchal narratives.






Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois