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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] NXWR
  • Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:52:25 EDT


Back in the early 19th century, when little was known about the history of
the ancient near east, Biblical scholar Gesenius opined that the meaning of
the name NXWR/“Nahor”, as Abraham’s middle brother, means “breathing hard”
, “snorting”, based on the Biblical Hebrew verb NXR. Lest one think that
today’s scholars have gone beyond that, here is the #1 Biblical scholar in
the world concerning Genesis explaining the meaning of the name NXWR: “Nahor…
may be derived etymologically from the root NXR ‘to snort, blow out’. A
place near Harran (Naxur/Til Naxiri) is mentioned in Old Assyrian [Middle
Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age], Mari [Middle Bronze Age], and neo-Assyrian
[Iron Age] texts….” Gordon Wenham, “Genesis 1-15” (1987), at p. 252. Thus
scholars see the name NXWR as meaning “Snorter”. But such a meaning makes no
sense regarding Abraham’s brother. Note that Prof. Wenham (i) does not
mention that “Snorter” makes no sense as the name of Abraham’s middle
brother,
(ii) does not comment on the presence of the interior vav in NXWR, and
(iii) does not opine whether he thinks that historically, the name of the
city
near Harran meant “Snorter”.

But the presence of the city name Naxur or Naxiri in eastern Syria in the
Middle and Late Bronze Age should cause us to ask if there is a Hurrian
etymology of the name NXWR, since the Hurrians dominated eastern Syria in
that
time period. All Hurrian scholars know that the Hurrian word “nixari” means “
dowry”. Frederic William Bush, “A Grammar of the Hurrian Language”
(1964), at p. 86. Bush further notes at p. 156 that in the Amarna Letter
written
in Hurrian to Akhenaten’s father, this word is used frequently, as the
Hurrian king refers to the provision of “dowry” for his daughter, for his
sister, and for his father’s sister. At p. 96 of the Fournet/Bomhard Hurrian
language website, the Hurrian word “dowry” is listed as: ni-xa-a-ri. That’s
a
beautiful linguistic match to NXWR in Biblical Hebrew. Based on the full
Hurrian spelling ni-xa-a-ri, this is a 4-syllable word in Hurrian, so in
order to stretch the three consonants NXR out over 4 syllables in Hebrew, an
interior vav was appropriately added. [In addition, the presence of that
interior vav in NXWR makes a wondrous secondary pun in Hurrian, but that
would
need another post.]

“Dowry” or “Hurrian Dowry” is the ideal name for Nahor, because that is
Nahor’s sole role in the Patriarchal narratives. Nahor provides the female
descendants who marry his brother Abraham’s Patriarchal successors, Isaac and
Jacob/“Israel”: the Matriarchs Rebekah, Leah and Rachel. Moreover, Nahor
lives most of his life in the heart of Hurrian country on the Upper
Euphrates River. That locale in eastern Syria is called “Naharim” at Genesis
24:
10, which is the name used repeatedly in the Amarna Letters to refer to the
only Hurrian great power state: Late Bronze Age Mitanni, in eastern Syria.
Note that Nahor’s female descendants, the “dowry” as it were, all live in
Naharim, in the heart of Hurrian country, and will have to cross the
Euphrates River to make the long journey to come live with the Patriarchs in
Canaan. Nahor and his descendants are native west Semitic speakers, but they
live
in the heart of Hurrian country. So Nahor’s female descendants, who are
the successor Patriarchs’ brides, are effectively “Hurrian dowry”
/ni-xa-a-ri/NXWR.

No aspect of the traditional west Semitic meaning of “Snorter” makes sense
for the name of Abraham’s brother NXWR/Nahor. But all aspects of a Hurrian
meaning of “Dowry” or “Hurrian Dowry” for Abraham’s middle brother make
perfect sense. Nahor’s only function in the text is to provide the ultimate “
dowry”, and it’s a “Hurrian dowry” at that -- three Matriarchs who,
though native west Semitic speakers, are born and raised in the heart of
Hurrianland. Nahor’s female descendants in the Hurrian country of Naharim
are the
only main wives of Isaac and Jacob/“Israel”, the two Patriarchs after
Abraham.

If we are willing to go beyond Gesenius and look to the well-documented
world of the Late Bronze Age (including not ignoring interior vavs), the
nomenclature of the Patriarchal narratives makes perfect sense, instead of,
as
with the traditional and scholarly analysis of the name NXWR, making no sense
at all.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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