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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] MKL MLK
  • Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 11:43:57 EST


In seeking to pin down the identity of the priest Melchizedek, the single
most important word is $WH at Genesis 14: 17. Melchizedek is said to be at
(MQ $WH, and that implies that he was the priest at a temple located at (MQ
$WH. As I noted in my prior post, all three of the elements of Melchizedek’s
long double-name fit the Canaanite god Mekal, whose temple was at Beth
Shan: MLK and CDQ and $LM. Is Beth Shan, the site of the famous Late Bronze
Age Temple of Mekal, located at (MQ $WH?

In this post, I will restrict myself to the conventional understanding of
$WH, which is that it is a west Semitic word that means “level plain”. Two
of the meanings that HALOT gives for $WH are “make (ground) level” and “
plain”. BDB says “level plain”. The Blue Letter Bible says “plain” or “
level plain”.

We must remember that in the Bronze Age, cities in Canaan had formal names,
but valleys did not. Thus the only way to denote a valley in Bronze Age
Canaan was to come up with a suitable nickname for that valley, a nickname
that would exemplify the key characteristics of that valley.

(MQ $WH literally means “valley level plain”. As to the topography of
Canaan, note that everything to the west of Beth Shan is a “level plain” in a

valley”, whereas immediately east of Beth Shan is a deep “valley”:

“The Valley of Jezreel…leaves sea level about two miles from the Esdraelon
Valley, and then drops gently to a -400 feet in nine miles. At this spot
[the site of Beth Shan],…four miles west of the Jordan, it almost literally
drops 300 feet over a ledge, and down into the Jordan Valley. …In the whole
length of Palestine, this is the only lowland route from the Mediterranean
to the Jordan. This route is further enhanced by the easy fords of the
Jordan and the fairly easy ascent to the eastern plateau.” Henry O.
Thompson, “
Mekal: The God of Beth-Shan” (1979), at p. 8.

So Beth Shan is characterized by two “valleys” [the Jezreel Valley to the
west, and the Jordan Valley to the east], and by a “level plain” [the very
gently sloping Jezreel Valley, where I am using the term “Jezreel Valley”
to include the entire Esdraelon Valley/Plain of Esdraelon]. The Jezreel
Valley/Plain of Esdraelon is the most famous “valley” and “level plain” in
Canaan, and the site of Beth Shan is on the eastern edge thereof. For a nice
map, showing that Beth Shan is located both in a “level plain” [the Plain of
Esdraelon] and in a “valley” [the Jezreel Valley, adjoining the Jordan
Valley], see here: _http://www.crivoice.org/phototour/pjezreel.html_
(http://www.crivoice.org/phototour/pjezreel.html)

Indeed, it is impossible to imagine a two-word phrase that better
exemplifies the east end of the Jezreel Valley/Plain of Esdraelon, where Beth
Shan
was located, than what we see in the received text near the end of Genesis
14:
17: (MQ $WH -- “valley level plain”.

Thus even without looking at any unconventional meaning of (MQ $WH, we see
that (MQ $WH at Genesis 14: 17 is a perfect description of the location of
Beth Shan: “level plain valley”. Based on an analysis of Melchizedek’s
long double-name, and based on the conventional meaning of (MQ $WH, all signs
are pointing to Melchizedek as being the high priest of the Canaanite god
Melak, at the Late Bronze Age Temple of Melak, located at Beth Shan on the
east
end of the Jezreel Valley/Plain of Esdraelon: (MQ $WH/“level plain valley”
.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois



  • [b-hebrew] MKL MLK, JimStinehart, 01/26/2011
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • Re: [b-hebrew] MKL MLK, JimStinehart, 01/28/2011

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