Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Jim,

You are making the mistake of making "Mamre" to refer to something in the
environs of Bethel by using the names of other cities near Bethel. There is no
Biblical evidence for doing so. This is an assumption that you have tried to
propagate on this list for several years now. It is still found wanting. The
"oaks of Mamre" are always presented to be near Hebron. Hebron is NOT in the
north or central Israel either.

Regarding the finds of the LMLK seals found in the Shephelah and in Hebron.
Hebron was the seat of government of David for his first seven years. It was 
one
of the major royal cities of the Israelite monarchy. It would also make sense
for the LMLK seals to be more in number in the Shephelah because of its
closeness to Jerusalem and also to the Northern Kingdom as well.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <jimstinehart AT aol.com>
To: <if AT math.bu.edu>
Cc: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 4:14 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Mighty


>
> Isaac Fried:
>
> You wrote:
>
> “I am sorry, but all I can say about ELONEY MAMRE of Genesis 13:18 is that 
> it
appears to be a place name near XEBRON. Is it an oak grove? Possibly.”
>
> 1.  Over 300 XBRN lmlk seals were found in the Shephelah, whereas only 7 
> XBRN
lmlk seals were found at the mountainous city 20 miles south of Jerusalem.  So
XBRWN in the Patriarchal narratives may be a nickname for the Shephelah.
>
> 2.  Yes, on one level )LNY means “oak grove”.  One reason we know there were
many oak groves in the northeast Shephelah, west of Bethel, is because there 
are
three villages there whose names refer to oak trees:  (i) )LWN [I Samuel 10: 
3];
(ii) )YLWN [Joshua 19: 43];  and (iii) )YLWN [I Kings 4: 29]. By contrast, 
there
is not a single village or city in southern hill country whose name refers to
oak trees.
>
> The first such village Abram would have come to after leaving Bethel and
heading west [with Lot having headed “east” of Bethel] was )LWN.  Note that
Abraham’s grandson at Genesis 46: 14 has this same name:  )LWN.  That personal
name is in honor of the Patriarchs’ favorite place to sojourn in southern
Canaan, in the rural paradise of the eastern Aijalon Valley:  )LWN [per I 
Samuel
10: 3].
>
> 3.  So I repeat the $64,000 question.  How does one refer to these three
villages west of Bethel dominated by Mamre, with their “lofty”, “mighty” names
that refer to oak trees, in masculine construct plural?  How do you say
“Allons/Elons of Mamre”, with the accent on )LWN/Allon [in honor of which one 
of
Jacob’s grandsons was named]?  Doesn’t Genesis 13: 18 say it all?
>
> )LNY MMR)
>
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
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