Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

Professor Yigal Levin wrote:
 
“Jim, can you give us one additional example in biblical Hebrew, in which a 
group of towns named after a geographical (or any other) object are 
collectively called "the X..,s of...". We don't find all of the "hills" of 
Benjamin (Geba, Gibeah, Gibeon and their variables) named collectively 
"Geba'ot Binyamin". The closest there is is "Havvot Yair", but we do not 
really know what a "Havvah" is.”
 
1.  Yes, I think I have now come up with an additional example that is 
virtually an exact match to the format of )LNY MMR) at Genesis 13: 18.  I see 
)LNY MMR) as having as one of its primary meanings “Allon/Elons of Mamre” [in 
additional to also meaning both “oak trees of Mamre” and “oak tree villages 
of Mamre”], where (i) )LNY is a proper name in masculine construct plural 
[based primarily on the village name )LWN/Allon at I Samuel 10: 3 in the 
northeast Aijalon Valley, and secondarily on the village names )YLWN/Elon at 
Joshua 19: 43 and I Kings 4: 29 near the same locale ], and (ii) MMR) is a 
proper name.

Now consider )DMY HNQB at Joshua 19: 33.

)DM can be a masculine singular noun, either a common word, which can mean 
“red” or “earth” or “land”, or the proper name “Edom”.  At Zechariah 6: 2, we 
see the masculine plural form [not construct]:  )DMYM.

Per normal Hebrew grammar, )DMY in the phrase )DMY HNQB at Joshua 19: 33 
would be expected to be masculine construct plural.  It means “Edoms of” in 
this geographical place name, and could also have the underlying meaning of 
“lands of”.

NQB only appears elsewhere in the Bible at Ezekiel 28: 13, but no one knows 
what it means.  [The traditional translation at Ezekiel 28: 13 is “pipe”.]  
It may well be a proper name [and is certainly functioning as part of a 
geographical place name here].  The presence of the definite article H is a 
little odd, but as discussed in #2 below, that may reflect the earlier 
rendering of this city name.  It may be both a person’s name and a 
geographical reference, in which case it’s like Mamre.  At any rate, there’s 
a good chance that it’s a proper name.

So )DMY HNQB likely has as one of its primary meanings “Edoms of Nekeb”, in 
addition to also perhaps meaning “lands of Nekeb”.  We know that there are 
many places that were called “Edom” or “Adamah” [with the latter, )DMH, being 
the feminine form] in and near ancient Canaan.  So a reference to “Edoms” in 
the plural makes sense.

2.  We know from the context of Joshua 19: 33 that )DMY HNQB is located in 
eastern Lower Galilee, south of Adamah.  It is likely that the earlier form 
of this city name had been )DMY HNGB.  The only difference is the letter 
gimel/G instead of qof/Q, with those two letters having a somewhat similar 
sound.  At item #57 on the mid-15th century BCE Thutmose III list, we see 
NGB.  In the context of nearby items, it cannot be the Negev Desert, but 
works perfectly as the Adimy in eastern Lower Galilee.  I see the HNGB at 
Genesis 20: 1 as likewise being the Adimy in eastern Lower Galilee.  The 
meaning of )DMY HNGB is “Edoms of the South”, which likely refers to the 
Edoms/lands south of Adamah, or more loosely:  “the southern Edom/Adamah”.  
With )DMH being the feminine form of )DM, these similar city names may have 
been distinguished by )DM becoming )DMY HNGB:  “the southern Edom/Adamah”.  
Later, by the time of Joshua, NGB had become NQB, which is probably “just a 
name”.  So the former )DMY HNGB became the similar-sounding )DMY HNQB.

3.  For purposes of this post, what’s important is that )DMY HNQB seems to 
have almost the same grammatical format as my interpretation of )LNY MMR), 
which I see as having as one of its primary meanings “Allon/Elons of Mamre”.  
The first word is masculine construct plural, and both words are proper 
names, with the second word perhaps being both a person’s name and a 
geographical reference.

4.  Let me also mention here ’$DWT HPCGH at Joshua 13: 20.  KJV 
transliterates this as Ashdothpisgah, as a proper name.  The other approach 
is JPS 1985, which translates/transliterates it as “slopes of Pisgah”.  As 
with XWT Y)YR at Joshua 13: 30 that Prof. Levin previously mentioned, it’s 
not so clear what the regular form, ’$DH, means.  What is clear is that we 
are seeing feminine construct plural in a geographical place name.

5.  I honestly think that my interpretation of )LNY MMR) is on solid ground 
in terms of conforming with normal Hebrew grammar, unless someone can point 
out some grammatical reason why )LNY MMR) could not mean “Allon/Elons of 
Mamre”.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois