Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Nir Cohen:
 
You wrote:  “let us say we want to check whether (PRWN is 
hurrian-made-hebrew or hebrew-made-hurrian.   … conclusion: let's talk about 
more serious 
issues.”
 
The b-hebrew list focuses on linguistic issues regarding Biblical Hebrew.  
As you probably know, the mainstream scholarly view is that the “Hittites”, 
the Kenites, the Kenizzites and the Jebusites are made-up names for peoples 
who did not exist historically, with XTY perhaps borrowing the name of the 
classic Hittites in eastern Anatolia, but with there being no historical 
Hittites in southern Canaan from whom Abraham could have bought Sarah’s 
gravesite in chapter 23 of Genesis.  The scholarly view is that the group 
names “
Hittites”, the Kenites, the Kenizzites and the Jebusites don’t make much 
sense, and no name of any individual, such as (PRWN, who is said to be a 
member 
of those four groups, makes much sense either, yet nevertheless (i) we must 
assume that all such names are west Semitic names [that make little or no 
sense], and (ii) we must not ask if each and every one of these names makes 
perfect sense as a Hurrian name.  When you say “let's talk about more serious 
issues”, you thereby forfeit a linguistic analysis of this aspect of the 
historicity of the Bible.  
 
Based on the Amarna Lettters, we know that upwards of 80% of the princeling 
rulers in greater Canaan in the mid-14th century BCE were Hurrians.  If the 
Patriarchal narratives are accurately reflecting the Amarna Age, which was 
the turbulent period of time when Judaism historically was born [my view], 
then of necessity the Patriarchal narratives would have a great deal of talk 
about the Hurrians, and we would expect Abraham to buy Sarah’s gravesite 
from a Hurrian lord.  In Hurrian (PRWN means “the [Hurrian] lord”, so the 
name 
makes absolutely perfect sense for the depiction of a Hurrian 
lord/landowner in the Amarna Age who sells a gravesite to Abraham.  Although 
a small 
number of former Hurrians in Jerusalem continued to give their children 
Hurrian 
names until exilic times, only in the Amana Age would one expect to buy a 
gravesite in southern Canaan from a Hurrian landowner.  So one of the most 
important things that the b-hebrew list can do, as a matter of Biblical 
Hebrew 
linguistics, is to decide whether or not (PRWN H-XTY at Genesis 23: 10 is a 
Hebrew name of a person who belongs to a fictional Canaanite clan or who 
fictionally is a classic Hittite from eastern Anatolia [the two scholarly 
views 
of the matter], or whether that’s a Hurrian name of a Hurrian, with Hurrian 
landowners historically being prominent in Canaan only during the Amarna 
Age.
 
The following linguistic arguments support my view of the Hurrian nature of 
(PRWN H-XTY:
 
1.  (PRWN means “the [Hurrian] lord” in Hurrian, being quite similar to 
ipri-enne attested in the Mitanni Letter [Amarna Letter EA 23] with that 
meaning.  In Hebrew, however, the meaning would incongruously be “fawn”, and 
it’
s also hard to understand how that -WN ending would apply to an old west 
Semitic name [prior to plene spelling for west Semitic words or names].
 
2.  XTY is a dead ringer for Xu-Ti-Ya, being the most attested Hurrian name 
at Nuzi.  Historically, “Hatti” referred to a place, in eastern Anatolia, 
and was not used as an ethnic designation [the modern English word “Hittite”
].  It defies reason why a Biblical author would portray either the classic 
Hittites from eastern Anatolia, or an unattested Canaanite clan, as being 
landowners in the Hebrews’ beloved homeland of southern Canaan.
 
3.  Outside of the Patriarchal narratives, the most famous reference to XTY 
is the KJV phrase “Uriah the Hittite”.  Many scholars agree that “Uriah” 
is a bona fide Hurrian  name, so it makes sense that H-XTY is referring to 
Hurrians.
 
4.  There are 6 other names of XTY in the Patriarchal narratives.  All of 
them make perfect sense in Hurrian, while not making good sense as west 
Semitic names:  
 
(i)  ’YL-WN : Aye-li-un-ne : “Elon”, at Genesis 36: 2 (with a shortened 
spelling at Genesis 26: 34);  one of Esau’s Hurrian fathers-in-law.  This may 
be essentially the same name as the attested Hurrian name Ayakun  [which may 
be Aye-ki-un-ne], except that the Hurrian formative -li­ is substituted 
for the Hurrian formative -ki.  The implied Hurrian meaning may have been “
Facing (Teshup)”.  
 
(ii)  CXR : Cuxar :  “Zohar”, at Genesis 23: 8 and Genesis 25: 9;  father 
of “Ephron”, the Hurrian lord who sells Abraham Sarah’s gravesite.  Compare 
the Hurrian name Cuxar-tiya at Nuzi, where the final -tiya is a formative 
that references Teshup.  Zuxri means “heavy, great” .
 
(iii)  YHW-DYT : E-xu-u – ta-a-ta : “Judith”, at Genesis 26: 34;  one of 
Esau’s Hurrian wives.  [Traditionally understood as meaning “Jewess”, but 
that does not make sense in context.]  The first half of the name compares to 
the Hurrian common word e-xu-u$ (omitting the final consonant, which is not 
part of the root).  This may be related to the Hurrian word e-xe-el-li-bi, 
meaning “oversee”.  The second half of the name compares directly to the 
Hurrian name Ta-a-ta (where D and T are interchangeable in Hurrian).  The 
meaning may be “Love Being Overseen by Teshup”.
 
(iv)  B’R-Y : Bi-ir-ya : “Beeri” at Genesis 26: 34;  one of Esau’s 
Hurrian fathers-in-law.  One of the Nuzi spellings of “to be lord” is Bi-ir.  
The 
final yod/Y is the Hurrian theophoric suffix -ya.  This name has the same 
meaning as “Uriah”:  “Teshup Is Lord”. 
 
(v)  B$-MT : Bish-Mati : “Basemath”, at Genesis 26: 34;  one of Esau’s 
Hurrian wives.  B$ compares to the first element in the Nuzi name Bi-$a - 
at-ta, based on the Hurrian common word pi$, meaning “built” (where B and P 
are 
interchangeable in Hurrian).  The second element of this name compares 
directly to -mati, which is the second element in five Hurrian names at Nuzi, 
and 
is the Hurrian word for “mind, intelligence”.  The meaning may be “Built 
by (Teshup’s) Intelligence”.  
 
(vi)  ‘DH : Adux : “Adah” at Genesis 36: 2;  one of Esau’s Hurrian wives. 
 If the final -H is a type of heth, the name ADH/Adux would compare to the 
root of the common word adux-lu, meaning “commanding officer”.  Adding an 
implied theophoric, the Hurrian meaning could be:  “(Teshup is my) Commanding 
Officer”.   
 
*       *       *
 
In sum, the evidence is overwhelming that the Patriarchal narratives 
portray Abraham as buying Sarah’s gravesite from a Hurrian landowner.  That 
is 
important linguistic evidence that the Patriarchal narratives may be 
accurately 
reflecting the turbulent times of the Amarna Age, when Hurrian princelings 
ruled throughout Canaan.  The linguistic key for the b-hebrew list to 
consider is to give up on the 2,000-year-old scholarly tradition of doing 
creative 
west Semitic analyses of the foregoing 9 non-Semitic names.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois