Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Given the fact that there need be no "horizontal" relationship  
between words of the same root (say, MI-$OL, 'path', $UAL, 'fox', and  
*$IUL, 'cough') it is far from clear if EREC $UAL of 1S 13:17 is 'the  
land of the foxes', or what is EREC $AALIYM of 1S 9:4. It is possible  
that $AALBIYM is the compound $AAL-ABIYM, but who knows. I tend to  
think that biblical place names are mostly derived from the local  
topography rather than the local fauna and flora.

Isaac Fried

On Jan 5, 2011, at 9:47 PM, Nir cohen - Prof. Mat. wrote:

> given the arab tha'alab for fox, can we interpret this archeological
> toponym as pre-hebrew "foxes"?
>
> http://www.biblelandpictures.com/gallery/gallery.asp? 
> action=viewimage&categoryid=64&text=&imageid=4739&box=&shownew=
>
> nir cohen