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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: bjwvmw AT com-pair.net, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Ishmael's "Wilderness of Paran"
  • Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 10:36:30 EST


Rev. Bryant J. Williams III:

You wrote: “Might I remind you that ‘wilderness’ does not necessarily
mean ‘a tree forest’?”

I agree.

But the Hebrew linguistic question I am raising on the b-hebrew list is
whether the phrase MDBR P)RN means “dense forest”.

I see P)RH as meaning “foliage of a tree”, per Ezekiel 17: 6.
Accordingly, wouldn’t we then expect P)RN at Genesis 21: 21 to mean “place
where there
is abundant tree foliage”? Based on linguistics, shouldn’t MDBR P)RN
logically mean “a dense forest”?

Those are the Hebrew linguistic questions I am raising on the b-hebrew
list. Sorry for my long post, but I just wanted to point out the objective
fact
that in the Late Bronze Age, there indeed was a huge, dense forest
immediately southwest of Beersheba of Galilee. Accordingly, I think we
should
consider giving the normal, expected linguistic meaning to MDBR P)RN at
Genesis
21: 21, which as I see it would be “dense forest”.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois









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