Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

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