Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uzi Silber <uzisilber AT gmail.com>]

Yitzik Fried:

1) Isnt Ashdod a Philistine name?
2) In any case, you forgot Ashkelon, the similarly prefixed former
Philistine city down the coast from Ashdod.

Uzi Silber



On Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 8:40 PM, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> On a recent trip to Israel, traveling on route 1 from Jerusalem to
> Tel Aviv my eye caught a large road sign pointing to the city of Ashdod.
>
> What is this for a name: Ashdod?
>
> It readily crossed my mind that it is possibly the combination of the
> the two deity names A$ (AS, I$) and DOD.
>
> A$, AS or I$ abound in biblical names: ICXAQ (ISXAQ, I$XAQ), I$MAEL,
> ESAW, ISRAEL, A$ER, ISSAKAR, $IMON, AKIY$, ESTER, $MUEL, $AUL, $IYM
> $ON, KMO$, $EME$ and A$TORET.
>
> The combination A$-AD appears also in (EL) $ADAY of Gen. 17:1,
> leaving the letter Shin embossed, to this very day, on every mezuzah
> and every tfilin shel rosh.
>
> It appears to me that DOD is AD-HU-AD, and that AD = AZ as in AZAZEL
> = AZ-AZ-EL.
>
> In this connection we should also raise our hats in recognition of
> the slyness of the pious public readers, and eventually the
> NAQDANIYM, who deftly turned DOD into DAVID (and yet left his
> father's name as YI$AY.)
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>
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