Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uzi Silber <uzisilber AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

So are you of the opinion that any linguistic connection between Asher and
Ashera is entirely coincidental? That there's no way that Asher is the
masculine form of Ashera?

Yet if it's so strange for Israelites to sport Canaanite names, what should
we make of Yeruba'al, Ish'ba'al and Mefiba'al who lived centuries later, in
a Canaan far less Canaanite than it was during Asher's time? Not to mention
of course all those that had Egyptian names -- Pinkhas comes to mind.

Uzi Silber










On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 10:10 PM, <jimstinehart AT aol.com> wrote:

>
> Nir Cohen:
>
> You quoted the Jewish Encyclopedia as follows:  “Asherah was also the name
> of a Syrian goddess. In the El-Amarna tablets of the fifteenth century B.C.
> her name appears with the determinative for deity as a part of the name
> Arad-Ashirta (or 'Ebed-Asherah).”
>
> The early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives hated Abdi-Ashirta,
> because his successor, Aziru [Biblical “Amraphel” at Genesis 14: 1] of
> Amurru, iniquitously sold out the Amorite state of Amurru [northern
> Lebanon] to the dreaded Hittites in Year 14.  That’s “the iniquity of the
> Amorites” at Genesis 15: 16.
>
> Accordingly, there’s zero chance that Jacob’s son Asher at Genesis 30: 13
> is named after Asherah, the namesake of the predecessor of the iniquitous
> Amorite Aziru!
>
> Jacob’s son Asher at Genesis 30: 13 has absolutely nothing whatsoever to
> do with the goddess Asherah.
>
> I don’t believe the Hebrew dalliance with that pagan goddess is documented
> prior to the mid-1st millennium BCE, about 700 years or so after Jacob’s
> son Asher was named.
>
> It’s O.K. to talk about the pagan goddess Asherah in a mid-1st millennium
> BCE context regarding the Hebrews, but that goddess played no role
> whatsoever in the genesis of the truly ancient Patriarchal narratives.
>
> Yes, the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives liked trees,
> and he was prone to thinking of them as being sacred.  But he had no time
> whatsoever for the pagan goddess Asherah.  Not.
>
> Jim Stinehart
> Evanston, Illinois
>
>
>
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