Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

The historically important element in a vav nun suffix is the vav, not the 
nun.  In the Bible, MGD-W is a rare case of a vav suffix.  Another classic 
vav suffix is found on the famous Israel Stele, also called the Merneptah 
Stele, from the late 13th century BCE, which is described in relevant part by 
Anson Rainey at p. 99 of “The Sacred Bridge” (2006) as follows:
 
“The fourth line from the top and the third line from the bottom refer to 
Canaan and Kharu (X3-rw = Xa-ru; = Xurru?), the latter being a confirmed 
synonym for Canaan during this period.”
 
It is most unfortunate that scholars insist on treating a final vav in the 
Late Bronze Age as being a vowel.  It wasn’t.  At that early date, vav was a 
true consonant, which functioned like a true consonant, and was not a 
vowel.  A final vav is the classic non-Semitic way to turn a name or word 
into a 
geographical place name (as was frequently the case at Nuzi, for example).
 
The cuneiform spelling of this name is XURW, though unfortunately that is 
usually set forth in reference works as Huru or Hurru.  The vowel sound after 
the heth differs, but the three consonants are identical in the Egyptian 
and cuneiform renderings:  X-vowel-R-W.  The Egyptians were deliberately 
insulting the people of Canaan by calling greater Canaan X3RW, emphasizing 
that 
Canaan had, in the 14th century BCE, been taken over by non-Semitic people 
from eastern Syria as the new ruling class.  Not surprisingly, the people of 
Ugarit and the Hebrews did not look at things that way, so neither in 
Ugaritic nor in Hebrew does one ever see that awful name XRW.
 
But by the 10th century BCE, the non-Semitic people were but a memory in 
Canaan, including the memory of non-Semitic princeling rulers like Tagi 
having 
dominated the Aijalon Valley in the Amarna Age.  So when it came time to 
name twin cities near the Aijalon Valley in the 10th century BCE, the locals 
went back to this same old name.  Except this time, since it was the 1st 
millennium BCE, the now inexplicable final vav was dropped completely.  At 
item 
#24 on the Shoshenq list of conquests in Canaan, we see BT XWRN.  The now 
mysterious final vav, a non-Semitic consonant, has been dropped, being 
replaced by a simple west Semitic -N suffix, with no vav.  That’s the 1st 
millennium BCE way in non-biblical sources:  jettison the now inexplicable 
final vav 
[a non-Semitic consonant], and instead simply have a west Semitic -N suffix, 
with no vav and no preceding vowel.
 
Although the Hebrew lexicons  s-a-y  that Horon is spelled in the Bible 
with a vav nun suffix, anyone with a Bible can prove that wrong.  In 5 of the 
7 
occurrences in Joshua, the spelling is XWRN:  Joshua 10: 10-11;  16: 3, 5;  
Joshua 21: 22.  Note that those 5 spellings in Joshua accurately match the 
10th century BCE Shoshenq list spelling, letter for letter.  One has to 
suspect scribal error at Joshua 18: 13-14, where the vav got put in the wrong 
place:  XRWN.  [Yes, Chronicles uses two vavs to spell Horon, but who would 
trust Chronicles for accurate ancient spelling?]  [I suppose I shouldn’t 
mention how scholars explain the name Horon, but I will.  Theory #1 is that 
Beth 
Horon means “House of the Trogloldytes”, or people who live in hollows or 
caves.  The second theory is that Horon is the god XRN, who if attested at 
all (which is doubtful), is last mentioned in about the year 1900 or so, a 
thousand years before the name Beth Horon is attested.] 
 
There are at least 26 geographical place names in the Bible that end with a 
vav nun suffix.  Rather than that vav being a 1st millennium BCE plene 
spelling update, with the vav being a meaningless vowel, in fact that vav is 
the 
key part of the vav nun suffix.  In most cases, that vav reflects the world 
of the Late Bronze Age, a world in which west Semitic languages recorded 
virtually no vowels in writing.  That vav in those Biblical vav nun suffixes 
was originally a true consonant, just as was the final vav in MGD-W and 
X3R-W.  The late 13th century BCE Israel Stele confirms that a final vav in 
an 
ancient geographical place name, and by extension the vav in a vav nun suffix 
in an ancient geographical place name, is not a mere vowel.  No, it’s a 
non-Semitic true consonant that is utterly redolent of the Late Bronze Age.  
Consequently, the fact that Biblical Hebrew common words and personal names 
that have a vav nun suffix are concentrated in the Patriarchal narratives 
confirms a Late Bronze Age composition date for that truly ancient Biblical 
text.
 
Note that there’s no vav in the jar handles from 1st millennium BCE Gibeon, 
no vav in the LMLK seals for the city of Hebron, no semi-final vav in the 
non-biblical spelling of Horon at the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE, 
and no semi-final vav in 5 of the 7 spellings of Horon in Joshua.  Far from 
being a mid-1st millennium BCE addition to Biblical Hebrew, the vav is 
entirely absent from geographical place name suffixes ending in nun in 
non-biblical 
sources from the 1st millennium BCE.  The place to see the vav nun suffix 
in abundance in common words and personal names, rather, is in the oldest 
part of the Bible, which was composed in the Late Bronze Age:  the 
Patriarchal 
narratives.
 
In a vav nun suffix, it’s the vav, a true consonant, that’s all-important. 
 Until we see that vav as being a true consonant, functioning as a 
consonant (not as a vowel, not as a vowel indicator, and not as a matres 
lectionis, 
but rather originally having been a non-Semitic true consonant genitive case 
marker), we will never appreciate how ancient and accurate the Patriarchal 
narratives are.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois