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  • From: jimstinehart AT aol.com
  • To: klriley AT alphalink.com.au, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] kaleb
  • Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:51:03 -0500 (EST)


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




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