Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

In my prior post I noted that the name “Lachish”, which is L-KY-$, where 
the kaph/K has no dagesh, sounds like it begins as LXY, the Hebrew common 
word meaning “jawbone”.  That makes Lachish the ideal place for Samson to be 
portrayed as killing a thousand Philistines with a “jawbone”, since the LKY 
element of the name “Lachish” sounds like LXY meaning “jawbone”.
 
Are Genesis 16: 14 and Genesis 24: 62 making a different pun as to the same 
locale?
 
Let me first take one brief moment to explain why it would be logical for 
first Hagar, and then Isaac, to be at Lachish, and then I will resume the 
linguistic analysis.  The text tells us that Abraham promises to go the 
opposite direction from Bethel as Lot did, and that Lot goes 17½ miles  
e-a-s-t  of 
Bethel to the Jordan River;  so it would make sense if Abraham went 17½ 
miles west of Bethel [not south of Bethel] to the northern Shephelah [with 
X-BR-W-N being a Patriarchal nickname for the Aijalon Valley in the northern 
Shephelah].  Moreover, everything that is said in the text about the 
Patriarchs’
 “Hebron” fits the Aijalon Valley in the northern Shephelah perfectly, 
while nothing whatsoever fits the mountainous city of Hebron [whose name was “
Qiltu” in the Bronze Age].  Now, for the first time, Genesis 24: 62 would 
make perfect sense:  “And Isaac came from the way of the well Laxi-Rai [LXY 
R)Y];  for he dwelt in the south country.”  The reference to the “well” of 
Laxi-Rai reflects the fact that Lachish had no springs, so that wells were of 
critical importance there.  To this day, the very deep, rock-lined wells at 
Lachish [one of which is 144 feet deep!] are magnificent, perhaps being the 
most famous wells in all of Canaan.  The “south country” is the southern 
Shephelah, namely the lovely Lachish Valley, not somewhere in the middle of 
the 
formidable Negev Desert.  Likewise, Hagar flees from Sarah’s harsh 
treatment, and makes it by herself through the Sorek Valley, the Elah Valley, 
and 
into the Lachish Valley.  But there Hagar sits by one of the famous wells of 
Lachish [which date to Biblical times], because the next step, so unlike 
traveling through the foregoing lush valleys of the Shephelah, would be a 
very 
difficult trek to Beersheba in the desert, and for that she would need to 
attach herself as a lowly servant to a party traveling to Egypt [who might 
likely treat her worse than Sarah].  Thus the underlying geography in all 
these 
cases makes perfect sense, if (1) Abraham is living in the northern 
Shephelah, (2) Isaac lives for years in the southern Shephelah near Lachish, 
and (3) 
when Hagar runs away from Sarah, Hagar makes it to a well near Lachish, 
before [wisely] deciding, based on angelic advice, to return to Sarah’s harsh 
treatment.
 
The author of Judges saw LXY [which sounds like the LKY element of L-KY-$] 
as being a single Hebrew word:  “jawbone”.  But the early Hebrew author of 
the Patriarchal narratives sees LXY as being two Hebrew common words:  L + 
XY.  L means “of”, and XY means “living”.  So in Genesis the Laxi/LXY part 
of the name Beer Laxi-Rai means “of living”.
 
R)Y may have sounded something like rah, and $a probably sounded like $ah, 
so the ending element of this name has a somewhat similar sound, at least 
rhyming.  Now compare the two names straight up:
 
La-Khi-$a
L–XY-R)Y
 
The focus of the pun is on the La-Khi element of the city name L-KY-$, with 
such element sounding like L-XY as two Hebrew common words, meaning “of 
living”.  It’s a similar pun, albeit with a different meaning, as the pun 
about Samson using a “jawbone”/LXY at LXY-$ or L-KhY-$ or La-Khi-$a.
 
While recognizing the clever Hebrew wordplay in these various cases, what’s 
really important is the geography.  Hagar sits by that well, talking with 
an angel, near Lachish.  Isaac sojourns for years near the famous wells of 
Lachish, in the southern Shephelah.  And the Patriarchs’ favorite place to 
sojourn when they are south of Galilee is the northern Shephelah [west of 
Bethel, not south of Bethel].  All of these stories in the Patriarchal 
narratives 
make logical sense, if we could only get the geography right.  Isaac does 
not sojourn for years in the middle of the Negev Desert.  Rebekah does not 
come all the long way from Naharim in eastern Syria to meet her betrothed 
walking in a “field”/%DH [at Genesis 24: 63] in a place, the middle of the 
Negev Desert, that has no fields!  [Even if the Negev might arguably have 
been 
more of a semi-arid savannah than a true desert at that time, still there 
were no fields in the Negev.  By contrast, the Lachish Valley had fields 
galore, later being the agricultural heartland of Judah.]  No, Isaac welcomes 
Rebekah to the lovely Lachish Valley, a wonderful place for agriculture and 
sheep and goats, being exactly the type of place where one would rightly 
expect 
a future Patriarch to sojourn.
 
The L-XY element in the well name LXY R)Y in the Patriarchal narratives is 
a play on L-KY in the truly ancient name “Lachish”/L-KY-$.  Isaac sojourned 
for years by the famous wells in the Lachish Valley.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois