Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Isaac Fried:
 
You wrote:  “It is not completely clear to me what is your point.  As I 
understand it ABRAM kept to the high, semi arid, semi desolate, sparsely 
populated, eastern and southern parts of country where he could graze his 
flocks 
on the natural growth and dwell free of molestation.”
 
Could you point out anything in the Hebrew language of the Patriarchal 
narratives that supports that traditional view of yours?
 
1.  As I noted previously, XBRWN may be a nickname for the Shephelah, since 
over 300 XBRN lmlk seals were found in the Shephelah, and only a few were 
found in southern hill country.  Both King David, and the composition of the 
King David stories, post-date the Patriarchal narratives.  So the place 20 
miles south of Jerusalem could have been re-named XBRWN by the Hebrews in 
honor of the Patriarchs.  I hope you may agree that in determining where the 
Patriarchs’ favorite place was to sojourn in southern Canaan, we should not 
view XBRWN as mandating a mountainous site just northwest of the Judean 
Desert.
 
2.  You say “high”, but neither at Genesis 13: 18, nor in any other 
reference to the XBRWN locale in the Patriarchal narratives, do we see a 
Hebrew 
word for “high” or “up” or “mountains”.  Isn’t that telling us something?  
What we do see at Genesis 37: 14 is a reference to XBRWN being a “valley”.
 
3.  What Hebrew words in the Patriarchal narratives support seeing Abraham 
as customarily sojourning in a “semi arid, semi desolate” part of Canaan?  
Wouldn’t that effectively contradict YHWH’s divine promise that  a-l-l  of 
Canaan is there for Abraham and his descendants?  YHWH is so excited about 
the wonderful land of Canaan that YHWH is promising to Abraham in the 
immediately preceding verse, Genesis 13: 17, strongly implying that Abraham 
is 
going to sojourn (i) throughout Canaan [not just on the marginal, southern 
edge 
of Canaan], and (ii) in the best parts of Canaan for having a huge flock of 
sheep and goats:  “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in 
the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.”  Genesis 13: 17
 
4.  I see no words in the Hebrew text of the Patriarchal narratives that 
support your view that Abraham sojourned in the “eastern and southern parts 
of 
country”.  Genesis 13: 9,11 says exactly the opposite!  Abram tells Lot to 
go whatever direction Lot wants to from Bethel, and then Abram will go the 
opposite way.  The text explicitly says that Lot went “east”.  We would then 
naturally think that Abram went the opposite way, which is west.  Why would 
you think that Abraham would go south or east?  That contradicts what the 
Hebrew words say.
 
5.  As to Abraham sojourning in “sparsely populated” land, Genesis 14: 13 
tells us that Abraham was in treaty relationship with three rulers in the 
area, two of whom were Amorites (including Mamre), and one of whom was a 
Hurrian princeling [Aner].  Each of those three princelings can muster quite 
a 
few fighting men.  Abraham for his part musters a large number of his 
father’s 
relatives who are living in the general area, coming up with 318 well-armed 
men at Genesis 14: 14.   Four leaders, one of whom has mustered 318 
well-armed fighting men, does not to me sound like “sparsely populated”. 
 
6.  As to “where he could graze his flocks”, the best place for that on 
planet Earth in the Bronze Age was the Shephelah and Upper Galilee.  Since 
YHWH has given Abraham  a-l-l  of Canaan, why wouldn’t Abraham then be 
portrayed as sojourning in the two best places for a huge flock of sheep and 
goats:  
the Shephelah [whose Patriarchal nickname is xa-vur-u-ne/XBRWN, just like 
XBR was used as a similar name for an idealized kingdom in Ugaritic 
literature], and Upper Galilee/GRR [where the dominant ruler’s name, both 
historically and in Genesis, is Abimelek]?  Are there any Hebrew words in the 
Patriarchal narratives that support your traditional view that Abraham 
confined 
himself to sojourning in the most marginal parts of the inhabitable land of 
Canaan?
 
7.  Focusing on Genesis 13: 18, we know where to find (i) oak trees and 
(ii) villages whose names mean oak trees and (iii) a dominant Amorite ruler:  
that’s the northeastern Shephelah, just west of Bethel.  Meanwhile, there’s 
not a single village or city in southern hill country whose name references 
oak trees.  
 
Isaac, if you could point out some Hebrew words in the Patriarchal 
narratives that support your traditional view of where the Patriarchs 
sojourned in 
Canaan, then we could examine those Hebrew words on the b-hebrew list.  Other 
than tradition, I myself see no words at all in the Hebrew text of the 
Patriarchal narratives that support that traditional view.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois