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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: Yigal.Levin AT biu.ac.il, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Portrait of Joseph in Chapter 40 of Genesis
  • Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:25:32 -0400 (EDT)


In trying to understand the Baker’s dream in chapter 40 of Genesis, and in
trying to place this Biblical story in an historical context, one key clue
is the phrase CLY XRY at the end of Genesis 40: 16.

1. CL

Per Exodus 29: 3, 23, 32 and similar passages later in the Torah, a CL is a
fine basket, fit for presenting food on a formal occasion. A CL is not a
rough-hewn basket for carrying bricks, the DWD at Psalm 81: 6. Thus the CL
referenced at Genesis 40: 16 is a “fine basket”, not a simple basket (that
might be used for carrying bricks or that a local baker might use for
carrying bread).

2. CLY XRY

On this thread we are exploring whether XRY at Genesis 40: 16 may have the
same meaning as does XRY at Genesis 14: 6. If Joseph is portrayed as being
un-doubled age 13 years in chapter 40 of Genesis, that might be designed to
let us know that the historical time period here is Year 13 in the Amarna
Age. It is noteworthy that CLY XRY fits that historical time period
perfectly.

XRY fine baskets are prominent in the ancient world. Consider first some
evidence from the XRY province of Nuzi: “[I]mpressions of baskets are almost
as common, Nuzi offering some of the clearest examples.” Bernard Samuel
Myers, “Encyclopedia of World Art”, Vol 2 (1959), p. ccxxi.

More importantly, however, the long list of fine XRY gifts from the XRY
state of Naharim in Amarna Letter EA 25 includes at ii: 1-2
“a$kiru$xu-vessels,
along with their covers”. Scholar G. Wilhelm explains the XRY word
a$kiru$xu as denoting “a kind of container closed by a lid”. The XRY word
for “
basket” may be $ekarruxu, which is a very similar [if somewhat simpler] word.

A$kiru$xu-vessels, which appear to be fine “XRY baskets”, are mentioned
four times in that Amarna Letter in detailing gifts made to a pharaoh.
Apparently there were four different styles of these fine XRY baskets, and in
two
cases 25 of these items are listed. The Baker might well have dreamed of
three different types of exquisite XRY baskets: the CLY XRY referenced at
the
end of Genesis 40: 16.

If the time period of chapter 40 of Genesis is Year 13 in the Amarna Age,
when a pro-Naharim view could have been deemed treasonous by Pharaoh, who
historically had in the prior year abruptly cut off all of Egypt’s formerly
close ties to the XRY state of Naharim, then a dream of three CLY XRY could
readily have been adjudged by Joseph to portend that the Baker would be duly
impaled three days hence. If the Baker were nefariously in cahoots with the
XRY against Pharaoh’s and Egypt’s interests in Year 13, the Baker might
dream of XRY baskets, with the XRY being famous in that time period for their
exquisite baskets.

If we are willing to consider the normal meaning of the words CLY and XRY
in the phrase CLY XRY, where in particular XRY at Genesis 40: 16 has the same
meaning as XRY at Genesis 14: 6, then we can solve this longstanding
Biblical mystery. The Baker dreamed of three CLY XRY in Year 13, and Joseph
correctly divined from that dream that the Baker was contemplating treason
with
the XRY people, as against Pharaoh’s recent decision in Year 12 to cut off
all relations with the XRY state of Naharim in eastern Syria. [Both Genesis
24: 10 and the Amarna Letters use the name “Naharim”.] That’s also why that
historical pharaoh in Year 15 commissioned a magnificent portrait of
Joseph, per chapter 40 of Genesis. Not only does the story told in chapter
40 of
Genesis now make sense, but also its historicity is largely confirmed by the
presence of that magnificent cane which honors an Asiatic who looks for all
the world like a Biblical Patriarch wearing a coat of many colors. That
historical portrait is of Joseph in chapter 40 of Genesis. The key
linguistic
clue is CLY XRY, where XRY has the same meaning at Genesis 40: 16 as it
does at Genesis 14: 6.

Hebrew linguistics can solve many Bible mysteries, if we’re willing to
consider the ordinary meanings of Biblical Hebrew words such as XRY.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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