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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: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 09:42:24 EST


George Athas has asserted the conventional view that QRYT )RB( has a
tri-consonantal root, RB(, not a 2-consonant root, RB. In order to evaluate
that
assertion, let’s first look at the Hebrew verb RB( and the two most
frequently-used Hebrew verbs that end in ayin: $M( and YD(. One key
attribute of a
Hebrew “root” is that one can add suffixes to it and generate Biblical
Hebrew common words. But there is no Biblical Hebrew common word RB( +
suffix.
There is no Biblical Hebrew common word $M( + suffix, either. And there’s
only one Biblical Hebrew common word YD( + suffix [namely YD(NY, meaning “
wizard”]. RB( and $M( and YD( are not roots. By sharp contrast, RB + suffix
produces many Biblical Hebrew common words, as do $M + suffix and YD +
suffix. And each of RB and $M and YD has a corresponding meaning of its own.

So whereas RB and $M and YD meet all the tests of a normal Hebrew “root”,
RB( and $M( and YD( do not.

Now let’s look at some relevant proper names from the Bible. YRB(M at I
Kings 11: 26 has RB( in the middle, but it’s obviously YRB + (M. Scholars
split as to whether the root is RB or RYB, but no scholar argues for RB(.
YRB(L at Judges 6: 32 is the same. There’s never RB( as the root; rather
this
name is YRB + B(L, with the root of the first half of this name being, once
again, either RB or RYB. The Biblical Hebrew common word for “locust” is
)RBH, and is formed exactly like the name )RB(: prosthetic aleph + root RB +
suffix. Locusts are “many”, which is a fundamental meaning of the root
RB. It’s the same in Akkadian, erbu, and Ugaritic, irby. “Multitude” at
Isaiah 9: 6/7 is formed the same way: prefix M + root RB + suffix = MRBH = “
multitude”. The original root of these words is not RBH, but rather is RB,
which is the root of RBH. Many Biblical city names feature RB as their root,
while never featuring RB(: Joshua 13: 25; Deuteronomy 3: 11; Joshua 11:
8; Amos 6: 2; Joshua 15: 60 and 19: 20. Indeed, one of the commonest
roots for proper names and titles in the Bible and outside of the Bible is
RB,
whereas to the best of my knowledge, RB( is not the basis of any proper name
or title in or outside of the Bible. Going back now to the common format of
prefix + RB root + suffix for Biblical Hebrew common words, at Numbers 32:
14 we see T + RB + WT = TRBWT. Given that RB is the foundation of many
proper names [unlike RB(], especially city names, and that many common
Biblical
Hebrew words have the format of prefix + RB root + suffix, the logical
conclusion is that the root of the Biblical proper names )RB( and QRYT )RB(
is
RB. The assertion that QRYT )RB( cannot have RB as its root is untenable.

So why not take a realistic approach to this issue and recognize that the
root of QRYT )RB( could well be RB? If so, then the pinpoint historical
accuracy of the Patriarchal narratives comes shining through. Instead of
QRYT
)RB( being a fictional name, it’s historical Rubutu, based on RB as the
2-consonant root. Rubutu is on the southern edge of rural nirvana, the
Aijalon
Valley west of Bethel, the perfect place for Abraham to take his huge flock
of sheep and goats, and his camels as well. The Amarna Letters confirm both
non-Semitic people and Amorites at Rubutu. The former fits (PR-W + N as the
imperious nobleman at QRYT )RB( from whom Abraham buys Sarah’s gravesite,
and the latter fits Mamre the Amorite, as QRYT )RB( is said to “face” Mamre.
Genesis 23: 17; 25: 9; 49:30. [The root of the name Epiri-tu at Nuzi is
Epiri, and the root of the name (PRWN in chapter 23 of Genesis is the same:
(PR. Note how Hebrew ayin there is not a consonant, but rather is
representing a non-Semitic vowel. And that magnificent interior vav in
(PR-W-N is
not an incongruous plene spelling update from the 1st millennium BCE. No, it
’s a non-Semitic genitive case marker, which is nicely dating that
non-Semitic name to the only era of non-Semitic dominance in Canaan: the
mid-14th
century BCE.] The fact that QRYT )RB( is n-o-t presented in the text as
being the former name of anything is shown by Genesis 23:19, which has the
same phrase using HW) regarding the relationship between MMR) and the
Patriarchs
’ favorite place to sojourn. No one ever goes “up”/(LH to Mamre or to
QRYT )RB(, because it’s a low-lying lush rural “valley” (Genesis 37: 14).
Aijalon was controlled by tent-dwellers in the Amarna period: “[G]one is the
land of the king, my lord, by desertion to the Apiru. …[T]he Apiru wrote to
Ayyaluna [Aijalon].” Amarna Letter EA 273. “[T]he sons of Labayu..have
given the lands of the king to the Apiru. …[T]he caravans of the king, my
lord,…have been taken in the countryside/$a-de-e of Ayyaluna [Aijalon]….”
Amarna Letter EA 287 from IR-Xeba of Jerusalem. The Amorite Milk-ilu of
Gezer,
and his father-in-law/confederate non-Semitic Tagi of Ginti-Carmel, are
directly comparable to Mamre and Anir as Abraham’s named confederates. Every
name in the Patriarchal narratives has a comparable name in the Amarna
Letters, with the specific ethnicity always matching perfectly. And that
includes
in particular QRYT )RB( as historical Rubutu.

Hebrew verbs ending in ayin are not a “root”. RB( and $M( and YD( are not
“roots”. Rather, the roots here in each case are RB and $M and YD. There
are probably more Biblical city names based on RB than on any other root;
on the non-biblical side, all the Semitic languages have many words, proper
names and titles based on RB; and many Biblical Hebrew common words have
the specific format of prefix + RB root + suffix. Thus there is substantial
evidence that RB is the 2-consonant root of QRYT )RB(. If RB is the root of
QRYT )RB(, then e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in the text concerning where the
Patriarchs usually sojourn is historically verified and makes perfect sense
on
all levels. We’ve got tent-dwellers at Aijalon [like the Hebrews],
non-Semitic lords at Rubutu [(PR-W-N], and the Aijalon Valley is dominated by
Amorite
princelings [like Mamre and Eshkol] in cahoots with non-Semitic princelings
[like Anir]. In a word, e-v-e-r-y aspect of Abraham’s world is
historically verified out the wazzoo. But only if QRYT )RB( means “Great
City”
/Rubutu, based on the 2-consonant root RB.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois





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