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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] The meaning of "Hebrew"

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  • From: Chavoux Luyt <chavoux AT gmail.com>
  • To: jimstinehart AT aol.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] The meaning of "Hebrew"
  • Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 08:40:09 +0200

Hi Jim

On 7 April 2012 07:29, <jimstinehart AT aol.com> wrote:
<snip>

> 2. The first time that the word “Hebrew” appears in the Bible is at
> Genesis 14: 13, when Abram is in the process of forming an alliance (or
> “covenant”) with three princelings in Canaan, one of whom is a Hurrrian
> (A-ni-ir). It is important in that context for Abram to assert that he
> himself is as strong and capable as a Hurrian princeling, whereas it would
> be senseless for Abram to tell the other princelings that he is a
> “wanderer” who has “crossed over the Euphrates River”, which are the
> conventional west Semitic misinterpretations of this Hurrian-based name.
> The
> original pronunciation of (BR-Y was E-bi-ri-ya, where e-bi-ri means “lord”
> in Hurrian, and -ya is a Hurrian theophoric suffix. [The initial ayin is
> used to represent the Hurrian vowel E as its own separate syllable.]
> (BR-Y/E-bi-ri-ya,
> as a Hurrian-based name that the Hebrews adopted for themselves when
> Hurrians dominated the ruling class of Canaan in the Amarna Age, means “God
> Is Lord”. Yet a necessary implication of this fine name is that Abram
> himself is a “lord”, being the equivalent of a powerful “Hurrian lord”,
> with this name being based on the Hurrian word for “[Hurrian] lord”.
>
How do you square this origin for the word with the usage (the actual verse
that I quote) of referring to the "Land of the Hebrews" and Joseph being a
"Hebrew slave" when talking to the Egyptians?

Chag sameach
Chavoux Luyt




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