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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] RB
  • Date: Thu, 4 Nov 2010 09:49:12 EDT


1. RB is an archaic 2-consonant root that means “to be big; to be great;
to be many; to be bigger than three, that is, to be four”. This
2-consonant root RB is found in every single Semitic language, with meanings
that
include [but are not necessarily limited to] that range of meaning.

2. RB( or )RB( in all the west Semitic languages, as a common word, means “
four”. Its literal meaning is “be four”, and its ultra-literal, original
meaning was “to be big; to be great; to be many; to be bigger than
three, that is, to be four”. Though there is no controversy as to the
meaning
of this common word, the controversial element of the above analysis is that
in my opinion the Semitic word for “four” has a 2-consonant root, RB, not a
3-consonant root, RB(. In Akkadian, the word for “four” is erbe, where
the 2-consonant root is likewise RB.

3. The name of the Biblical Anakim giant, )RB(, literally could be any one
of “to be big; to be great; to be many; to be bigger than three, that
is, to be four”. In context, a meaning of “Be Four” or “Four” would not
make much sense. As the name of an Anakim giant, the most likely meaning is “
Be Big”, or “Mr. Big”. Though the spelling is the same as the common word
)RB(, there is no necessity for the meaning to be identical. The common word
and the proper name have the same 2-consonant root, RB, which has the range
of the meanings we have been noting: “to be big; to be great; to be
many; to be bigger than three, that is, to be four”.

4. But now for the big deal, where we solve one of the Bible’s biggest
longstanding mysteries, by recognizing that )RB( has a 2-consonant root, not
a
3-consonant root. Abraham buys Sarah’s gravesite at a city that is twice
said to have a “gate”, and whose name is given as QRYT )RB(. That city’s
name has invariably, and totally erroneously, been thought to be required to
have the meaning of “City of Four”. But there is no “City of Four” in
Canaan, nor does such a city name meaning make sense in the Biblical text
either.
Rather, the root of that city name is the archaic 2-consonant root RB,
which means “to be big; to be great; to be many; to be bigger than three,
that is, to be four”. In the context of being a city name from the Bronze
Age
[which in fact likely pre-dates the time when Biblical Hebrew became a
discrete language], the meaning of this city name is most likely “Great City”.

Now we know how to figure out where Abraham went to buy Sarah’s gravesite.
It has to be a city, with a gate, whose Bronze Age name features the
archaic 2-consonant root RB. Biblical cities that would fit this linguistic
category include Arruboth, Arab, Rabbah, and QRYT )RB(. A city on the
mid-15th
century BCE Thutmose III list that fits this linguistic category is item
#105: RB-T, where the T is a mere suffix, and such city name is customarily
rendered as Rubutu. If we were to look at the other many clues (not
discussed
in this post), we would see that the city with a gate where Abraham went to
buy Sarah’s gravesite is the Rubutu that is located southwest of the village
of Aijalon, being an important city in the Late Bronze Age. There was a
second Rubutu, not too far north of this Rubutu, and that is why the Biblical
text at Genesis 23: 2 and Genesis 35: 27 has to clarify which Rubutu is
being referenced, by using the word HW), meaning “that is”, and then
referencing the Patriarchal nickname of the place which had no formal name in
the
Bronze Age [per item #99 on the mid-15th century BCE Thutmose III list of
places
in Canaan], 17½ miles west of Bethel [whereas Lot had proceeded 17½ miles
east of Bethel to the Jordan River in splitting from Abraham years ago].
QRYT )RB( is not the former name of anything, and the name )RB( is never
attested in any time period on the mountainous southeast corner of
civilization in
Canaan. No, QRYT )RB( is the current name of Rubutu in a “valley”
[Genesis 37: 14], that is, the Rubutu in the Aijalon Valley near where the
Patriarchs ordinarily sojourned, west of Bethel.

There is no “City of Four” in Canaan, but “Great City” is a common name
for cities in Canaan, including the Rubutu that is located on the southern
edge of the Aijalon Valley. The Biblical text here is fully historical, and
indeed has pinpoint historical accuracy, if only people would realize that
QRYT )RB( has an archaic 2-consonant root, not a tri-consonantal root, namely
RB. As such, the meaning of QRYT )RB( is “Great City”, which is also the
meaning of the name of the city with a gate in the southern Aijalon Valley,
Rubutu/RB-T, which has the identical 2-consonant root, RB.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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