Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

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