Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

MMR( means “place of the Amorites”, or just “Amorite”, and Genesis 14: 13 
specifically tells us that Mamre is an Amorite.  Genesis 14: 13 also tells us 
that two of Mamre’s fellow Amorite princelings (“brothers”) were )$KL and 
(NR.  ($KL means “a cluster of grapes”.  The Shephelah was wine country, and 
on my controversial view Abraham’s Amorite princeling confederates live in 
the Shephelah (where Amorite princelings are attested in the Amarna Letters, 
such as at Gezer).
 
As to (NR/Aner, (N + suffix is probably a generic reference to an Amorite.  
(N or An or Anu is the Amorite sky-god.  [The ultimate source for this name 
is that An means “heaven” in Sumerian.]  Many names on the Egyptian 
Execration lists end in some form of –anu.  It has also often been noted that 
(N-R seems somewhat similar to (N-Q, with (NQ being another ending that is 
found in names on the Egyptian Execration lists.  All this supports the view 
that (N + suffix, regardless of what the particular suffix may be in the 
various Biblical traditions, could well be a generic reference to an Amorite. 
 Since (NR is specifically stated at Genesis 14: 13 to be a “brother” of 
Mamre the Amorite, the context seems to confirm that (NR is a generic name 
for an Amorite princeling.
 
Yet that unexplained –R suffix in (N-R remains a bit of a mystery.  If we 
could only figure out that particular suffix, then perhaps we might even, for 
the first time, understand what historical point chapter 14 of Genesis is 
desperately trying to make.  So in a subsequent post, let’s ask why the 
Masoretic text, which is likely the more accurate text, has that unexpected 
–R suffix, whereas the Septuagint has a routine –N suffix.
 
If we can understand the names, we can understand chapter 14 of Genesis.  
Catch the pulsating excitement of the truly ancient Patriarchal narratives!  
It’s right there before our eyes, if we’ll just pay close attention to those 
peculiar proper names in the text.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois





-----Original Message-----
From: Petr Tomasek <tomasek AT etf.cuni.cz>
To: David Kolinsky <yishalom AT sbcglobal.net>
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Sent: Mon, Aug 16, 2010 3:07 am
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] a mystery regarding gen14:24?


On Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 08:52:19PM -0700, David Kolinsky wrote:
 I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the following mystery:
 
 In Gen 14:24, Avram's associates are Eschol, Aner, and Mamre.
 
 However, in the Septuagint Aner is called "Aunan" and in the Samaritan text 
he 
s called Aniram.
 
 I have my own theory about what this is all about, but my questions are:
 
 1 - are there other names for this character in other ancient sources
Peshitta and Targum (Onkelos) have both ʿaner.
-- 
etr Tomasek <http://www.etf.cuni.cz/~tomasek>
abber: butrus AT jabbim.cz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A 355:001  DU DU DU DU
A 355:002  TU TU TU TU
A 355:003  NU NU NU NU NU NU NU
A 355:004  NA NA NA NA NA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

______________________________________________
-hebrew mailing list
-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
ttp://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew