Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Prof. Yigal Levin wrote:  “Jim, since I don't know Hurrian I can't argue 
with you, but there is no reference to "Amorites" in EA 175, and what in the 
world does anything there have to do with Hazazon-Tamar?”
 
My prior two posts focused on the Hurrian issue of Hazazon-Tamar/XCC-N TMR 
being xa-tsi-tsi-ni tam-ri in Hurrian.  But perhaps the real focus of Prof. 
Levin’s question is whether the name of the princeling ruler in Amana Letter 
EA 175 is an Amorite name [with Genesis 14: 7 explicitly mentioning the 
Amorites in connection with XCC-N TMR].  Although I touched upon that issue 
in 
my prior post, let me focus on that key issue here.  It will also give us a 
chance to take a controversial look at the name of a little-known grandson 
of Asher.
 
Most scholars, including Anson Rainey, Wm. Moran and Richard Hess, see the 
name of the princeling ruler of Hasi in Amarna Letter EA 175 as being west 
Semitic.  A west Semitic princeling in the Beqa Valley in the Amarna Age 
would be expected to be an Amorite, since Lebanon was the homeland of the 
Amorites at that time.
 
Anson Rainey and Wm. Moran see the first element of this princeling’s name 
as being Ilu or Il.  That’s the classic indication of an Amorite name, since 
“Ilu” is the Amorite name for their deity.  The full name of the Amorite 
deity was probably “Ilu Amurru”, but the “Amurru” portion of such deity’s 
name virtually never appears in names, whereas “Ilu” is common in Amorite 
names.  Frank Moore Cross, “Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic” (1997), at pp. 
57-58. 
 
The classic Amorite princeling name in the Amarna Letters is Milk-ilu.  
Although there are many possible interpretations of this name, one is:  “(The 
Amorite God) Ilu (Is) King”, or simply:  “Ilu King”.  Milk-ilu is associated 
with Rubutu and Gezer in the Aijalon Valley.  He likely represents the 
furthest southern extent of the historical Amorites in the mid-14th century 
BCE. 
 
 
Startlingly, at p. 114 of “Amarna Personal Names” (1993), Richard S. Hess 
cites a Biblical attestation of what might be this same name:  “Hebrew malki’
el, Genesis 46: 17….”  That’s MLKY)L, a grandson of Asher.  The Blue 
Letter Bible gives the innocuous meaning of this name as “my king is God”.  
But 
another possible interpretation would be that this is an historical name of 
an Amorite princeling, and as such might have [or at least might originally 
have had] the seemingly blasphemous meaning of “(The Amorite God) Ilu (Is) 
King”, or simply:  “Ilu King”.
 
Why would the Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives risk blasphemy in 
order to memorialize this particular name?  Historical Milk-ilu in the 
Amarna Letters has the same name as MLKY)L at Genesis 46: 17, but more 
importantly he may be the historical model for Biblical Mamre in chapter 14 
of 
Genesis.  Asher’s grandson MLKY)L is named after the historical Amorite 
princeling 
Milk-ilu (Biblical nickname ‘Mamre’, meaning “The Amorite”) in the 
Aijalon Valley with whom Abraham was allied and who helped Abraham rescue Lot 
on 
that dangerous mission into Syria.  When we look at Genesis 46: 17, we are 
seeing the actual historical name of the historical Amorite princeling in the 
Aijalon Valley with whom the first Hebrews were historically allied.  Rather 
than being Biblical fiction, as scholars would have it, this is attested 
historical fact, as verified by the Amarna Letters. 
 
In my considered opinion, the princeling ruler of Hasi in Amarna Letter EA 
175 has the name Ilu-da-a-ya, which is an Amorite name, featuring Ilu as the 
name of the Amorite deity.  There was in fact an enclave of Amorite 
princelings at and near Hasi in the Hurrian-dominated Beqa Valley in Year 14 
(of 
Akhenaten’s reign), exactly as the second half of Genesis 14: 7 states the 
matter to be.  The p-i-n-p-o-i-n-t  historical accuracy of the Patriarchal 
narratives in a mid-14th century BCE context is utterly astonishing.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois