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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: George.Athas AT moore.edu.au, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] RB
  • Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2010 09:58:36 EDT


1. Karl wrote: “This whole article fails because it is based on an
etymological error, there are other possible meanings, even when accepting
your
presupposition against all evidence that this is a two letter root. And the
evidence is that this is not a two letter root.”

Many Biblical Hebrew words have the 2-consonant root RB and include the
meaning of “to be big; to be great; to be many; to be bigger than three,
that is, to be four”. These include: RB = “big” or “great” or, as a noun, “
multitude” or “greatness”; RBB = “to become much or many”: note how for
an archaic 2-consonant root, the later tri-consonantal root often simply
doubles the second consonant; RBBH = “multitude” or “myriad”; RBH = “to
grow great”; RBW = “myriad” or “greatness”; )RB( = “four”, as a common
word, that is, “bigger than three”.

The true root is not RBB, because RB, RBH, RBW, )RB(, etc. have only RB,
not RBB. And the true root of the common word for “four” is not RB(, because
the number four originally meant “bigger than three”, and was a play on
RB, meaning “big”.

The meanings of the above well-known Biblical Hebrew common words are not
in controversy. Rather, what’s controversial is to recognize that all of
these common words, plus ancient proper names that feature RB, are all based
on
an archaic 2-consonant root, RB. In particular, all common words and
proper names that feature RB( are based on the 2-consonant root RB, not on a
tri-consonantal root RB(.

2. But George Athas wrote: “This theory chokes on an ayin. I’d be
surprised if anyone buys it.” So let’s look at the Hebrew verb RB( in
Leviticus,
and see whether it makes sense as meaning “to be four”, or whether it
makes sense as meaning, rather, “to be big, literally, for a man”. The
proper
meanings in the range of meanings of the archaic 2-consonant root RB are “to
be big; to be great; to be many; to be bigger than three, that is, to be
four”. However, a salacious meaning is in the sexual context of a man “
being big”. Now we can figure out the etymology of the Hebrew verb RB(,
which
is used with that meaning at Leviticus 18: 23; 19: 19; and 20: 16. In my
opinion, RB( has little to do with the concept of “to lie down, or to lie
stretched out”; the Hebrew verb RB( does not mean “to be on all fours”. No,
the meaning is more salacious than that, referring rather to a man “being
big”. The point is that this salacious meaning of RB( in Leviticus is coming
from the 2-consonant root of RB(, which is RB, meaning “to be big; to be
great; to be many; to be bigger than three, that is, to be four”. Here in
Leviticus, RB( means “to be big” in the literal sense of a man’s sexuality.


The key is to see that the Hebrew verb RB(, and the Hebrew noun and proper
name )RB(, do n-o-t have a 3-consonant root, RB(. No, they have an
archaic 2-consonant root, RB. The ayin at the end of RB( and )RB( is a mere
archaic verbal suffix, rather than being an integral part of the original
root of
any of the Semitic words and proper names that feature RB. I understand
that )RB( as a common word means “four”. But the verb RB( in Leviticus has
nothing to do with “four”, the name of the Anakim giant )RB( has nothing to
do with “four”, and most importantly, the name of the city with a gate
where Abraham went to buy Sarah’s gravesite, )RB(, has nothing to do with
“four”
. The key to understanding where the Patriarchs usually sojourned, and
where the Patriarchs and 3 Matriarchs are portrayed as being buried, is to
realize that QRYT )RB( has an archaic 2-consonant root, RB, which in context
here means “great”, not “four”. Abraham goes to “Great City”, that is, to
the Rubutu that is located on the southern edge of the rural paradise that
umpteen centuries later came to be called the Aijalon Valley [though Aijalon
itself was only a tiny, un-gated village], 15 miles west of Jerusalem, to buy
Sarah’s gravesite. Historical linguistics provides the key clue here:
both QRYT )RB( and Rubutu have the identical 2-consonant archaic root: RB.

Note that all aspects of the conventional understanding of QRYT )RB( are
wrong. It is not the former name of any place, it does not mean “City of
Four”
, it is not fictional or “late” and it is not a nickname, and it has
nothing to do with the mountainous city of Hebron. As to the pinpoint
historical
accuracy of this Biblical text, note that we have two Amarna Letters, EA
289: 13 and EA 290: 13, from a princeling with a non-Semitic name talking
about other princelings, two of whom have non-Semitic names, who are muscling
in
on Rubutu. This matches perfectly with the fact that the name of the
imperious lord from whom Abraham buys Sarah’s gravesite has a non-Semitic
name,
featuring in particular a knock-dead gorgeous interior vav. Historical
Rubutu may well be Biblical Rabbah at Joshua 15: 60, in addition to being
QRYT
)RB( in Genesis. That’s modern Latrun, located 15 miles west of Jerusalem
and
about 3 miles southwest of the village of Aijalon [modern Yalo]. Most
importantly as to geographical location, QRYT )RB(/Latrun is located west,
not
south, of Bethel. [Lot went east of Bethel; Abraham went the opposite
direction -- west of Bethel.]

If we look at what the Biblical text actually says, and realize that QRYT
)RB( has an archaic 2-consonant Semitic root, RB, everything makes perfect
sense on all levels.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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