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  • From: Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Yeru
  • Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:48:43 -0700 (PDT)

  In addition to the possibility mentioned  by
George below, and which is widely accepted,
one should add the possibility of "city of Shalem".
This is suggested by the El-Amarna name, where
the Hebrew "Yeru-" replaced the Akkadian
for 'city'.

  This second possibility - whether or not the
Egyptian Execration texts  lend a much earlier
support to it - cannot be written off.

    Another open question is the diphthong of the
dual which cropped up in  the pronounciation
Yeru$alayim (also in some written versions).
There is no clear scholarly explanation for
this.

   As for the objection to the inclusion of the
minor deity Shalem from Ugarit in the city's name -
note the existence of dozens and dozens word-pairs
in biblical Hebrew which are the exact equivalents
of such pairs in LB Ugaritic. This is a case of
precise linguistic borrowing.


   Uri Hurwitz

   




...Second, the etymology of Jerusalem is usually
based on a form of the verb ירה, which has within
its semantic domain the concept of 'putting up' or
'founding' (cf. Gen 31.51; Job 38.6). On this
basis, it is concluded that ירושׁלם means
'founded by/for Shalem'. The proper noun Shalem
is the name of a deity known from cognate
cultures (eg. Ugaritic).


GEORGE ATHAS

Dean of Research,
Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
Sydney, Australia


















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