Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

The only place in the entire Hebrew Bible where one sees the precise phrase 
MQWM [city name], with no letter in front of MQWM and nothing after MQWM 
except the city name, is Genesis 12: 6.  Why is that?  What does MQWM $KM 
actually mean, and why is no other place ever referred to in that precise way?

If the second half of Genesis 14: 4 means what it says and says what it 
means, then the question answers itself.  On that view, Genesis 12: 6 relates 
to Year 12.  If the hieratic docket number on Amarna Letter EA 254 is “Year 
12” [which is one of two competing scholarly views as to that docket number], 
then in Year 12 the  o-n-l-y  major city-state in all of Canaan was, for an 
extremely short period of time, Shechem.  (It seemed on the verge of 
dominating most of Canaan south of the Jezreel Valley.)  In the historical 
context of Year 12, MQWM $KM means “the major city-state of Shechem”.  [And 
Yes, on that view of EA 254 the ruler of Shechem in Year 12 was indeed a 
“Canaanite”, just as Genesis 12: 6 accurately asserts, even though at that 
time few cities in Canaan had Canaanite rulers.]  The  p-i-n-p-o-i-n-t  
historical accuracy of the Patriarchal narratives is absolutely stunning, if 
we know what precise time period is being referenced.

If the second half of Genesis 14: 4 means what it says and says what it 
means, then many otherwise inexplicable aspects of the Biblical text become 
self-explanatory.  That’s why the Hebrew grammar of the second half of 
Genesis 14: 4 is so very important.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois