Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

Kevin Riley wrote:  “Are you not making a leap of faith in deciding all these 
people were non-west Semitic speakers?  After all, is not Hebrew a Canaanite 
dialect?  I know you see Hurrians everywhere, but is it not also possible 
that they are simply Canaanite speaking people?”

To the best of my knowledge, the only native west Semitic speaking people in 
Canaan in the Bronze Age were the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hebrews.  
Some people see both the Hebrew people, and the Hebrew language, as deriving 
from the Canaanites.

Based on the Amarna Letters, we know that almost 80% of ruling princelings in 
Canaan at that time [the mid-14th century BCE, especially Years 12-14 of 
Akhenaten’s reign] were a non-Semitic people who had non-west Semitic names.  
The only way to show that 80% figure in the Bible for Late Bronze Age Canaan 
is to have 8 of 10 listed names represent such non-Semitic people.

Genesis 15:18-21 predicts that in due course, the Hebrews will supplant 10 
named peoples in Canaan.  Only two of those peoples whom the Hebrews are 
destined to supplant are native west Semitic speaking peoples:  Canaanites 
and Amorites.  The other 8 names represent a non-Semitic people, 2 of which 
names are described with west Semitic words [Kadmonites and, though it may 
ultimately be derived from a non-Semitic word, Rephaim], and 6 of which have 
non-west Semitic names:  Kenites, Kenizzites, Hittites, Perizzites, 
Girgashites and Jebusites.

It doesn’t make logical sense to think that a person in the Bible who is 
stated to be a member of one of the last-named 6 peoples would have a west 
Semitic name.  Jael the Kenite should not have a west Semitic name, nor 
should Caleb the Kenizzite, nor Uriah the Hittite, nor Araunah the Jebusite.  
Logically, those four personal names -- Jael, Caleb, Uriah and Araunah -- 
should be non-Semitic names, not west Semitic names. 

At a minimum, we should at least  a-s-k  if the foregoing four personal names 
are non-Semitic names, based on the reasoning set forth above.

As to any one of the following names, there is either a majority scholarly 
view, or a strong minority scholarly view, that the name is not a west 
Semitic name: Kenites, Kenizzites, Hittites, Perizzites, Girgashites, 
Jebusites, Uriah and Araunah.  Curiously, however, not a single university 
scholar has ever  a-s-k-e-d  if  a-l-l  s-i-x  of the following names at 
Genesis 15: 19-21 may be non-west Semitic names: Kenites, Kenizzites, 
Hittites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Jebusites.  You see, if  a-l-l  s-i-x  
such names are non-west Semitic names, then that would fix the time of the 
Patriarchal narratives, since a non-Semitic people dominated Canaan only in 
the second half of the Late Bronze Age.  And with two additional names 
representing a non-Semitic people, that’s a total of 8 out of 10 names.  
Historically, only in the Amarna Age was 80% of the ruling class of Canaan a 
non-Semitic people, which could be shown Biblically only by having 8 of 10 
names of peoples at Genesis 15: 19-21 represent a non-Semitic people who had 
non-west Semitic names.

When you say “is it not also possible that they are simply Canaanite speaking 
people?”, my answer is that at Genesis 15: 19-21, the only “Canaanite 
speaking people” are the Canaanites, and the only other native west 
Semitic-speaking people are the Amorites.  The other 8 names represent the 
non-Semitic people who dominated Canaan in the Amarna Age;  80% in the Amarna 
Letters:  8 of 10 in the Bible.  Same.  The Bible is very proud of the 
notable fact that the Hebrews displaced these highly-regarded non-Semitic 
people, and never tires of recalling that grand accomplishment.  That’s 
Genesis 15: 18-21, and the Song of Deborath featuring Jael the Kenite, and 
the Conquest featuring Caleb the Kenizzite, and King David’s acquisition of 
Jerusalem featuring Araunah the Jebusite and Uriah the Hittite.  The Bible 
keeps telling us the same story over and over again, if we would just pay 
attention to what the Bible is saying about the Hebrews’ glorious heritage.

And the nice thing about it is that it all checks out historically as well.  
8 of 10 names.  Pinpoint historical accuracy.  Everything matches perfectly.  
E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g .

Whereas KLB, as a west Semitic name, would have the incongruous meaning of 
“Dog” for a great hero of the Conquest, as the Bible consistently holds dogs 
in very low esteem, by contrast KLB is a dead ringer for one of the most 
common elements of non-Semitic names, with the fine meaning of “It Pleases 
[Deity]”.  Caleb is portrayed in the Bible as being (i) a foreigner, a 
non-west Semitic Kenizzite/QNZ-Y, who (ii) pleases the Lord in insisting on 
conquering Canaan:  “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with 
him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he 
went;  and his seed shall possess it.”  Numbers 14: 24.  It makes perfect 
sense for a non-Semitic hero of the Hebrews who pleases the Lord to have a 
non-Semitic name that means “It Pleases Deity”:  KLB = non-Semitic KLP.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois