Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Karl:
 
Quoting from your post, here are two key words which, in your opinion, 
characterize the Patriarchs’ XBRWN:  “desert” and “higher altitude”.  But 
neither of those words is used in the last 40 chapters of Genesis in 
describing 
the Patriarchs’ XBRWN.  Nor do we see the Hebrew words for “up” or “hilly” 
or “mountain” used in connection with the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, though it’s 
hard to talk about Hebron without using those words.  
 
As to your post’s reference to “a nearby lookout point that could see many 
miles distance”, that lookout point cannot in fact be “nearby”, because 
Genesis 19: 27 says [per the JPS 1985 translation]:  “Next morning, Abraham 
hurried to the place where he had stood before the LORD”, where $QM means “to 
rise or start early”.  Robert Alter’s translation is similar:  “And 
Abraham hastened early in the morning to the place where he had stood in the 
presence of the LORD.”  Abraham is only a few minutes’ walk from his tent 
when, 
per Genesis 18: 22 [Alter translation]:  “And the men [angels] turned from 
there and went on toward Sodom while the LORD was still standing before 
Abraham.”  So the place at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN where Abraham stood before 
YHWH 
is just a few minutes’ walk from Abraham’s tent.  Abraham would not have 
to get up early and hasten to a place just a few minutes away from his tent 
in order to see the destruction of Sodom.  No, he’s got to travel 5-10 miles 
or so, out of the “valley” that is referred to at Genesis 37: 14, before 
Abraham can get to a spot where he can see the destruction of Sodom.  
Everything the text says works perfectly if (i) Abraham is sojourning near 
the 
low-lying village of )LWN [I Samuel 10: 3, meaning “Oak Tree Village”] in the 
northeast corner of the Aijalon Valley, about 5-10 miles west of Bethel, and 
(ii) Abraham has to get up early and hasten to the towering mountains at 
Bethel in order to see Sodom’s destruction.  When Abraham is at the 
Patriarchs’ 
XBRWN, he is not living a few minutes’ walk from “a nearby lookout point” 
from which one can see Sodom, though the only place where Abraham stands 
before YHWH at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN is indeed only a few minutes’ walk from 
Abraham’s tent.  Abraham must go back to Bethel to witness the destruction of 
Sodom.  Then “from there”, per the opening of Genesis 20: 1, Abraham will 
go on to GRR.  The phrase “from there”, M$M, means “from Bethel”, and 
cannot mean “from the Patriarchs’ XBRWN”.  Abraham must have gone to a place 
a 
fair distance from the Patriarchs’ XBRWN to see Sodom’s destruction, namely 
to Bethel, which in turn must be on the way to where Abraham goes next, 
namely GRR/Galilee.  Abraham first goes to Bethel to see Sodom’s destruction, 
and then “from there”/M$M Abraham proceeds on farther north to GRR/Galilee.  
See how all the Hebrew words in the text make perfect sense if the 
Patriarchs’ XBRWN is in the eastern Aijalon Valley?  [Karl, you will be 
amused to 
learn that scholars strongly dislike the word M$M at Genesis 20: 1, precisely 
because it does not fit their view/your view that Abraham witnessed the 
destruction of Sodom from the Patriarchs’ XBRWN.  But if Abraham went to 
Bethel 
to see Sodom’s destruction, and then continued on “from there” up north to 
GRR/Galilee, then the Hebrew word M$M is perfect, and perfectly natural, in 
all regards.] 
 
You talk about “desert oaks” possibly being at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, but 
once again, there is not a single village, city or valley in southern hill 
country whose name refers to “oak trees”, whereas villages with names that 
refer to “oak trees”, and a valley as well, are well-attested in the 
Shephelah.
 
Karl, all of the Hebrew words in the last 40 chapters of Genesis seem to 
support my view of where the Patriarchs’ XBRWN was located.  If you are right 
and I am wrong about the geographical location of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, why 
is it that you cannot cite a single word in the Patriarchal narratives that 
contravenes my view?  There is no “desert” or “higher altitude” or “up” 
or “mountains” or “hilly” in the eastern Aijalon Valley, that’s for sure.  
But though you often cite concepts like that as allegedly characterizing 
the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, none of such words appear in the last 40 chapters of 
Genesis in describing the Patriarchs’ XBRWN.  Isn’t that telling us 
something?  All the Hebrew words that are in the Patriarchal narratives’ 
description 
of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN -- opposite of “east” of Bethel, “oak trees”, “
oak tree villages”, villages named “Oak Tree Village”, Amorite/“Mamre”, 
Hurrian names like “Aner” and xa-vur-u-ne/XBRWN, and “valley” -- fit the 
eastern Aijalon Valley perfectly, though references to Amorites and Hurrians 
only make historical sense in the Amarna Age.  Shouldn’t we pay closer 
attention to what Hebrew words are actually in the received text in trying to 
determine the geographical locale of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN?  Tent-dwellers in 
large numbers are never attested in any time period in southern hill country, 
whereas tent-dwellers are attested in large numbers in the Aijalon Valley in 
the Amarna Age, with some tent-dwellers near Aijalon even being specifically 
stated to use writing [Amarna Letter EA 273: 15-24].  An Amorite ruler, 
having the apt Patriarchal nickname of “Mamre”, dominated the region [the 
Aijalon Valley] where the Patriarchs’ XBRWN was located, just as Genesis 13: 
18, 
14: 13 and 18: 1 tell us three times over, per the Amarna Letters.  But there
’s nothing like that attested in southern hill country.
 
Geography is destiny.  If we look at the actual Hebrew words that are used 
in Genesis to describe the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, we see that everything fits 
the eastern Aijalon Valley in the mid-14th century BCE.  If that view of mine 
is wrong, then why can’t you cite a single Hebrew word in Genesis that 
contradicts my view as to the geographical location of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN?
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois