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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] TMR T)MR
  • Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2012 08:16:35 -0400 (EDT)



Dear Prof. Yigal Levin:

You wrote: “Sorry, Jim, I just don’t see what you'regetting at. I've already
agreed that the multiple repetition of "watomerTamar" may have been done on
purpose, for dramatic effect. I think that weboth agree on the importance of
the whole story in the larger narrative. Butwhat's your point?”

If TMR isdeliberately a shortened form of T-)MR, then TRX may well be a
shortened formof T-)RX. In that case, the Hebrewmeaning of the name of
Abraham’s father, TRX [“Terah”], would mean “you will goon a long caravan
trip”, which is exactly Terah’s role in starting out thestoryline of the
Patriarchal narratives.

But now tothe true game-changer. If TMR isdeliberately a shortened form of
T-)MR, and if TRX is a shortened form of T-)RX,then likewise MMR) may be a
shortened form of M-)MR), as theunderlying intended meaning of “Mamre” in the
phrase “Mamre the Amorite” atGenesis 14: 13. In all three cases theomitted
initial aleph needs to be implied, in order to understand why theHebrew
author chose these particular names to fit in with his storyline. As to the
name of “Mamre the Amorite”, as youmay know, the university community says
this: “The genuine etymology of mamre may beimpenetrable.” Theodore
Hiebert, “TheYahwist’s Landscape” (Oxford University Press: 1996), p. 197.
It makes a big difference if we can figureout why the Hebrew author chose the
names he did for his characters. Both the antiquity and historical accuracy
ofthe Patriarchal narratives may be riding on understanding these names that
insome cases the university community has declared to be inscrutable.
They’re not.

The name Mamre, which is MMR), can either be viewedas being M + MR), which is
the traditional view, or [in my view] implying aninitial aleph as having been
omitted, it can be viewed as being M + )MR). In both cases, the first M
means “from”. In the first case, MR) means “to beat theair”, so the meaning
does not make good sense. It’s traditionally viewed as indicating fatness [or
possibly strength], butthat is quite a linguistic stretch; moreover, the lead
princeling in the area of the Patriarchs’ Hebron hasnothing to do with
fatness! In thesecond case [my view], which views an aleph as having been
omitted to shortenthe word for this name [just as TRX is short for T-)RX and
TMR is short for T-)MR],after the initial prefix we have )MR). If the last
letter were a yod/Y, )MR-Y would mean “Amorite”, but thelast letter in fact
is an aleph. )MR)may likely be the expected Biblical Hebrew spelling of the
Amorite state innorthern Lebanon in the Amarna Letters, which although often
transliterated as “Amurru”in English, would be better transliterated into
English [as it often is inGerman and French scholarly literature] as “Amuri”.
It’s sometimes spelled amuri in the AmarnaLetters [and if a U is then added
at the end, that’s an Akkadian ending thatwould not be expected to be
rendered in Biblical Hebrew; the R is not doubled; the Ugaritic spelling is
simply )MR]. With )MRY being unavailable as meaning“Amorite”, )MR) would
likely be used in Biblical Hebrew as the spelling of“Amuri”. If the initial
aleph in theword for “Amuri” has been omitted as shortening the word for
purposes of thisproper name [with most Biblical names not exceeding 4 letters
in length], thenthe name MMR) for Mamre the Amorite can be seen as being a
play on the word“Amuri”. M + )MR) literally means “fromAmuri”, which in
shortened form as a name [omitting the initial aleph] would beMMR). If so,
that would nicely focusattention on the fact that this is an Amorite who
hails from Amuri: the Amarna Age Amorite state in northernLebanon.

That’s telling us that the princeling ruler whereAbram sojourns at the
Patriarchs’ Hebron was literally “from Amuri”. Professor, if you would
consider that thetext may be telling us that Mamre the Amorite was literally
“from Amuri” [hencehis Patriarchal nickname MMR), as short for M-)MR)], then
you would see who thehistorical Mamre the Amorite is, and you would recognize
his historical name asbeing honored and set forth at Genesis 46: 17: MLK -
Y - )L. Genesis 14: 13 has pinpoint historicalaccuracy in representing
Milk-Ilu the Amorite from Amuri as being [at a localethe opposite of “east”
of Bethel per Genesis 13: 9, 11] “Mamre the Amorite” : MMR)H-)MRY :
implying M-)MR) H-)MRY : “the Amorite from Amuri”. JEP knew nothing and
cared less about these specific,minute historical facts that are coming right
out of the Amarna Letters, whichare accurately reported in the received text
of Genesis by the first Hebrew,who is a contemporary of the events he
accurately describes and whohistorically is the author of the Patriarchal
narratives.

TRX = T-)RX. TMR = T-)MR. MMR) = M-)MR). Same.

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois


Dear Prof. Yigal Levin:

You wrote: “Sorry, Jim, I just don’t see what you'regetting at. I've already
agreed that the multiple repetition of "watomerTamar" may have been done on
purpose, for dramatic effect. I think that weboth agree on the importance of
the whole story in the larger narrative. Butwhat's your point?”

If TMR isdeliberately a shortened form of T-)MR, then TRX may well be a
shortened formof T-)RX. In that case, the Hebrewmeaning of the name of
Abraham’s father, TRX [“Terah”], would mean “you will goon a long caravan
trip”, which is exactly Terah’s role in starting out thestoryline of the
Patriarchal narratives.

But now tothe true game-changer. If TMR isdeliberately a shortened form of
T-)MR, and if TRX is a shortened form of T-)RX,then likewise MMR) may be a
shortened form of M-)MR), as theunderlying intended meaning of “Mamre” in the
phrase “Mamre the Amorite” atGenesis 14: 13. In all three cases theomitted
initial aleph needs to be implied, in order to understand why theHebrew
author chose these particular names to fit in with his storyline. As to the
name of “Mamre the Amorite”, as youmay know, the university community says
this: “The genuine etymology of mamre may beimpenetrable.” Theodore
Hiebert, “TheYahwist’s Landscape” (Oxford University Press: 1996), p. 197.
It makes a big difference if we can figureout why the Hebrew author chose the
names he did for his characters. Both the antiquity and historical accuracy
ofthe Patriarchal narratives may be riding on understanding these names that
insome cases the university community has declared to be inscrutable.
They’re not.

The name Mamre, which is MMR), can either be viewedas being M + MR), which is
the traditional view, or [in my view] implying aninitial aleph as having been
omitted, it can be viewed as being M + )MR). In both cases, the first M
means “from”. In the first case, MR) means “to beat theair”, so the meaning
does not make good sense. It’s traditionally viewed as indicating fatness [or
possibly strength], butthat is quite a linguistic stretch; moreover, the lead
princeling in the area of the Patriarchs’ Hebron hasnothing to do with
fatness! In thesecond case [my view], which views an aleph as having been
omitted to shortenthe word for this name [just as TRX is short for T-)RX and
TMR is short for T-)MR],after the initial prefix we have )MR). If the last
letter were a yod/Y, )MR-Y would mean “Amorite”, but thelast letter in fact
is an aleph. )MR)may likely be the expected Biblical Hebrew spelling of the
Amorite state innorthern Lebanon in the Amarna Letters, which although often
transliterated as “Amurru”in English, would be better transliterated into
English [as it often is inGerman and French scholarly literature] as “Amuri”.
It’s sometimes spelled amuri in the AmarnaLetters [and if a U is then added
at the end, that’s an Akkadian ending thatwould not be expected to be
rendered in Biblical Hebrew; the R is not doubled; the Ugaritic spelling is
simply )MR]. With )MRY being unavailable as meaning“Amorite”, )MR) would
likely be used in Biblical Hebrew as the spelling of“Amuri”. If the initial
aleph in theword for “Amuri” has been omitted as shortening the word for
purposes of thisproper name [with most Biblical names not exceeding 4 letters
in length], thenthe name MMR) for Mamre the Amorite can be seen as being a
play on the word“Amuri”. M + )MR) literally means “fromAmuri”, which in
shortened form as a name [omitting the initial aleph] would beMMR). If so,
that would nicely focusattention on the fact that this is an Amorite who
hails from Amuri: the Amarna Age Amorite state in northernLebanon.

That’s telling us that the princeling ruler whereAbram sojourns at the
Patriarchs’ Hebron was literally “from Amuri”. Professor, if you would
consider that thetext may be telling us that Mamre the Amorite was literally
“from Amuri” [hencehis Patriarchal nickname MMR), as short for M-)MR)], then
you would see who thehistorical Mamre the Amorite is, and you would recognize
his historical name asbeing honored and set forth at Genesis 46: 17: MLK -
Y - )L. Genesis 14: 13 has pinpoint historicalaccuracy in representing
Milk-Ilu the Amorite from Amuri as being [at a localethe opposite of “east”
of Bethel per Genesis 13: 9, 11] “Mamre the Amorite” : MMR)H-)MRY :
implying M-)MR) H-)MRY : “the Amorite from Amuri”. JEP knew nothing and
cared less about these specific,minute historical facts that are coming right
out of the Amarna Letters, whichare accurately reported in the received text
of Genesis by the first Hebrew,who is a contemporary of the events he
accurately describes and whohistorically is the author of the Patriarchal
narratives.

TRX = T-)RX. TMR = T-)MR. MMR) = M-)MR). Same.

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois





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