Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Chavoux Luyt <chavoux AT gmail.com>]

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