Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

George Athas wrote:  “[Y]ou failed to demonstrate that the names cannot be 
Northwest Semitic (even though they make perfect sense).”

In 17 out of 17 cases, the names do not make good sense in west Semitic, much 
“less perfect sense”, while in 17 out of 17 cases, the names do make “perfect 
sense” in Hurrian.
 
1.  Kenizzites : QN-Z-Y : Qa-ni-zi-ya

No west Semitic word like this.  Often viewed by scholars as being a Hurrian 
name.  Qa-ni-zi-ya is attested as an Akkadian-based Hurrian name at Nuzi, 
meaning “Blessed Deity Is Firm”.  The root is the Hurrian spelling of the 
Akkadian verb kānu.  -zi is a standard Hurrian suffix meaning “blessed”, and 
-ya is a standard Hurrian suffix that is a theophoric.
 
2.  Jephunneh : (PN-H : Abin

A west Semitic meaning of “He Turns Round and Round” does not fit the 
context.  P and B are interchangeable in Hurrian.  As a Kenizzite/Hurrian, 
Abin in Hurrian means “Before [Deity]”, with abin Teshup being a well-known 
phrase in Hurrian.  [Final -H is Semiticization.]
 
3. Othniel : (TN-(L : A-ta-ni

No west Semitic word like the root of this name.  As a Kenizzite/Hurrian, 
A-ta-ni in Hurrian means “the father”.  The Hurrian name means “[Deity] (is) 
Father”, and with the Semiticized ending, the Biblical name means “El (is) 
Father”.
 
4. Caleb : KL-B : Kelip 

A west Semitic meaning of “Dog” is most inappropriate for this great Biblical 
hero who is Joshua’s right hand man.  As a Kenizzite/Hurrian, Kelip in 
Hurrian means “It Pleases [Deity]”.  The comparable Hurrian name Keli-ya is 
found in the Amarna Letters.  Keli means “to please” in Hurrian.  -b or -p as 
a suffix is a Hurrian formative that has no substantive meaning, but which 
allows a common word to be a freestanding name. 
 
5. Achsah : (KS-H : Akisi

West Semitic meaning of “Fetters of a Prisoner” makes no sense.  As a 
Kenizzite/Hurrian, Akisi is merely an orthographic variant of Akizzi, a 
well-known Hurrian princeling name from the Amarna Letters, meaning “Led by 
[Deity]”.  [The final -H is a Semiticized ending.]
 
6.  Kenites : QN-Y : Qa-ni-ya

Folk etymology is west Semitic name meaning “smith”, but although the Hebrew 
word QYN means “spear” at II Samuel 21: 16, QYN is never used with the 
meaning “smith” in the Bible.  Moreover, the Hebrews never displaced 
“smiths”, so the west Semitic meaning does not make sense at Genesis 15: 19.  
Qa-ni-ya is attested as an Akkadian-based Hurrian name at Nuzi, meaning 
“Deity Is Firm”.  The root is an alternate Hurrian spelling of the Akkadian 
verb kānu.
 
7. Heber : XBR : Xa-vur

A west Semitic meaning of “United” does not make sense, because XBR is 
introduced in the Bible as a person who has “separated” from the Kenites.  As 
a Kenite/Hurrian, XBR/xa-vur means “sky” or “heaven” in Hurrian.
 
8.  Hobab : XB-B : Xeba-b

A west Semitic meaning of “Burning with Fiery Love” is not an appropriate 
name for Moses’s father-in-law.  As a Kenite/Hurrian, Xeba-b means that this 
person honors the famous Hurrian goddess Xeba.
 
9.  Reu-el : R(W-)L : Ar-a-wa

There is no west Semitic word like this root.  As a Kenite/Hurrian, Ar-a-wa 
is one spelling of the Hurrian word for “lord” [where the prosthetic aleph at 
the beginning of this Hurrian word has been omitted in Hebrew].  The Hurrian 
name would have meant “[Deity] (is) Lord”.  With the Semiticized ending here, 
the meaning is “El (is) Lord”.
 
10.  Hittites : XT-Y : Xuti-ya

“Terrorist” is an inappropriate west Semitic meaning.  Xuti-ya is the most 
frequently-attested name in over 2,000 names at Nuzi, meaning “Praise 
[Deity]”.  Xuti or xudi means “to praise” in Hurrian.  [This name has nothing 
whatsoever to do with the Hittites in eastern Anatolia.]
 
11.  Ephron : (PR-W-N : E-pi-ri-un-ne

“Fawn” is an inappropriate west Semitic meaning for the imperious lord who 
charges a grieving Abraham a king’s ransom for Sarah’s gravesite.  As a 
“Hittite”/Hurrian, e-pi-ri is one of the many Hurrian spellings of the 
Hurrian word “lord”.  -un-ne is a standard Hurrian suffix sequence that 
effectively means “the”.  The Hurrian name would imply “[Deity] (is) The 
Lord”, though in the Bible the double meaning is that this person himself is 
a “Hurrian lord”. 
 
12.  Uriah : )WR-Y-H : Ew-ri-ya

Generally viewed by scholars as being a Hurrian name, which is fitting for 
this “Hittite”/Hurrian.  Ewri is the most common spelling of the Hurrian word 
“lord”.  Hurrian meaning is “Deity (is) Lord”.  [Final -H is a 
Semiticization.]
 
13.  Jebusites : YBWS-Y : E-bu-uS-ya

No west Semitic word like this.  This is the third Hurrian-based Patriarchal 
nickname for Hurrians in Amarna Age Canaan at Genesis 15: 19-21 that is based 
on the Hurrian spelling of an Akkadian verb, to which is added a standard 
Hurrian suffix, just like the name Yi-id-ya in the Amarna Letters.  The two 
names have almost the same meaning:  “Made by Deity” or “Established by 
Deity”.  E-bu-uS is one possible Hurrian spelling of the Akkadian verb epe$u, 
meaning “to make”. 
 
14.  Araunah : )RW-N-H : Erwi-na

Generally viewed by scholars as being a Hurrian name.  Erwi is the most 
common spelling at Nuzi of the Hurrian word for “lord”, featuring a 
well-attested metathesis of the consonants.  The final -na means “the” in 
Hurrian.  The name means “[Deity] (is) The Lord”.  [Final -H is a 
Semiticization.]
 
15.  Perizzites : PR-Z-Y : Piri-izzi-ya

A west Semitic meaning of “Village Dwellers” does not make sense at either 
Genesis 13: 7 or Genesis 15: 20.  The reference at Genesis 13: 7 is to 
IR-Heba as the “Hurrian” princeling ruler of Jerusalem in Year 12.  The 
reference at Genesis 15: 20 is to the Hurrians as the ruling class in Canaan 
during the mid-14th century BCE.  Piri is one Hurrian spelling of the Hurrian 
word for “lord”.  [P and B and W are all interchangeable in the many Hurrian 
spellings of “lord”.]  -zi means “blessed” in Hurrian, and -ya is the 
standard Hurrian theophoric suffix.  The name in Hurrian means “Blessed Deity 
(is) Lord”.  [Note how so many of these Hurrian names have similar meanings.  
That’s the Hurrian way.]  This name is attested in the Amarna Letters as the 
name of a Hurrian envoy.
 
16.  Girgashites : GR-G-%-Y : Gera-ga-si-ya

No west Semitic word like this.  Gera-si means “strong and longlasting” in 
Hurrian.  -ga [here added before -si] is a Hurrian formative that has no 
substantive meaning, but enables a common word to function as a name.  The 
Hurrian meaning is “Deity (is) Strong and Longlasting”.  The root of this 
name, GRG%, is attested at Ugarit.
 
17.  Midianite : MDYN-YM : Mitannian

There is no historical name “Midianite”, whereas “Mitannian” is well-attested 
for the Late Bronze Age great power Hurrian state in eastern Syria.  D and T 
are interchangeable in Hurrian, and an interior Hebrew yod/Y can be used to 
represent the Hurrian vowel A.  Compare MDYN and MDN as the names of two of 
Abraham’s sons by a minor wife that are sent out east to Naharim/Mitanni.  
[Final -YM is a Semitic ending.] 
 
Note that in 17 out of 17 cases, a Hurrian meaning makes more sense than a 
west Semitic meaning, and in several cases no west Semitic meaning is even 
possible.  That’s because all 17 of these names are Hurrian names, and none 
of them are west Semitic names.  Only the early Hebrew author of the 
Patriarchal narratives could come up with the names Kenites, Kenizzites and 
Jebusites, which are Akkadian-based names with Hurrian characteristics.  But 
since purely Hurrian family names endured for some families at Jerusalem even 
into the mid-1st millennium BCE, pre-exilic Biblical authors were able to 
come up with purely Hurrian personal names to be associated with the non-west 
Semitic, Hurrian names at Genesis 15: 19-21 that are Hurrian-based 
Patriarchal nicknames for the Hurrian ruling class in Amarna Age Canaan:  
Kenites, Kenizzites, “Hittites”, Perizzites, Girgashites and Jebusites.

17 out of 17 cases.  Game, set and match.

The Patriarchal narratives are much older and more historically accurate than 
university scholars realize.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois