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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: greifer AT hotmail.com, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Eve and the Hivites
  • Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:19:22 EST


Kenneth Griefer:

You wrote: “Scholars want archeological proof not just linguistic guesses
for words that could have meant a lot of things thousands of years ago.”

1. Archaeology. At Shechem we have tablets confirming that both
non-Semitic and Amorite peoples were there. Moreover, it was a volatile
situation,
because an Amorite strongman with a west Semitic name had recently taken over
the formerly non-Semitic-dominated city of Shechem. We know for a fact
that a son of his consorted with the tent-dwellers near Shechem, as we have
an
Amarna Letter from Shechem that expressly states: “I did not know that my
son was consorting with the apiru.” And what happened to the strongman of
Shechem, both in chapter 34 of Genesis in Year 13 tenfold, and in the
well-documented non-biblical history of Year 13? That Amorite strongman was
assassinated, on behalf of, but without the knowledge of or pre-approval of,
the
first semi-monotheistic leader of a people. And what was the denouement?
Surprisingly, nothing much happened, as it turned out that most of the
various
princelings in Canaan preferred the status quo, under which they were
totally independent in their tiny fiefdoms. So the morally questionable
assassination of the Amorite strongman of Shechem turned out to be
surprisingly
popular in Canaan.

Kenneth Griefer, archaeology documents virtually every aspect of chapters
34 and 35 of Genesis. Why are you talking about lack of “archaeological proof
”?

2. Historical Linguistics. Scholars have been unable to understand the
Hebrew word XW-Y, and have erroneously thought that the Hivites are a
fictional people. My contribution in that regard has been to compare the
sound of
intervocalic bet to vav, and show that the two sounds were often very
similar. On that basis, it makes sense for the XW-Y to be the Xeba people,
that
is, people in Canaan who worshipped the notorious pagan goddess Xeba/Heba.
Historical linguistics, focusing on the sound of intervocalic bet as compared
to the sound of vav, helps solve this longstanding Biblical mystery.

Why do you characterize my detailed analysis of XW-Y on this thread as
being “linguistic guesses”?

The reason why I post here is because I have learned more being a part of
the b-hebrew list than in any other forum. This is the best place I know for
an intelligent discussion of mysterious, exciting words in the Hebrew Bible.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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