Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

Nir Cohen:

 

 

You wrote: “the problem is that you always take things out of context and do not
put your cards on the table. unless you send us the entire text which contains those 9 "hebrew" words, there is absolutely no sense in continuing this absurd exchange of emails.”

 

 

But except for those 9 west Semitic words, all the rest of the words in these Amarna Letters are in Akkadian.  On the b-hebrew list, we’re only interested in the key question of asking whether the only 9 west Semitic words that IR-Heba’s scribe in Jerusalem ever wrote are, as I have asserted to be the case, the first 9 Hebrew words ever recorded in a writing that itself has been physically preserved until this very day.

 

 

But O.K., here’s what I can do to make things a bit easier on everyone.  Remember,  e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g  is in the Shlomo Izre’el article I cited, at pp. 78-82:

 

 

http://www.academia.edu/230038/Canaanite_Varieties_in_the_Second_Millennium_BC_Can_We_Dispense_with_Anachronism

 

 

Here are the sentences that contain those 9 west Semitic words, in English, with only the west Semitic word reproduced [after the slash] as written.  The question is whether these 9 west Semitic words are “Hebrew”.

 

 

1.  u-$a-a-ru.  “They denounce/u-$a-a-ru me before the king, my lord.” Amarna Letter EA 286: 6-7.  [This is one of two west Semitic words (along with #7 below) where I cannot pinpoint an equivalent Biblical Hebrew word.  I believe the west Semitic word means “denounce”?  Cf. Psalm 5: 8, which has $WRRY, meaning “my enemies”???]

 

 

2.  ma-ax-si-ra-mu.  “Look, the land of Gezer, the land of Ashkelon and Lachish gave them food, oil, and whatever they need/ma-ax-si-ra-mu.”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 14-16.  “whatever they need” = Deuteronomy 15: 8:  MXSRW.

 

 

3.  zu-ru-ux.  “Look, this land of Jerusalem, neither my father nor my mother gave it to me.  The strong arm/zu-ru-ux of the king gave it to me.”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 25-28;  also EA 288: 34.  “arm” =  ZR(Y at Genesis 49: 11.

 

 

4.  ca-du-uq.  “Look!  My king, my lord!  I have a just/ca-du-uq case.”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 32.  “just” =  Genesis 38: 26:  CDQH.

 

 

5.  la-qa-xu.  “They took/ la-qa-xu their tools….”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 36.  “…but they have been taken/la-qa-xu ….”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 53-57.  “they took” = Deuteronomy 31: 26:  LQX.  [In the Bible, the lamed/L normally drops out.]

 

 

6. ga-ag-gi-mi.  “…and I had to take shelter by a support from the roof/ga-ag-gi-mi.”  “roof” = Deuteronomy 22: 8:  GG [as the root].

 

 

7.  u-bi-li-mi; u-bi-il.  “I sent as gifts to the king, my lord, x prisoners, 5,000…, and 318 porters/u-bi-li-mi for the caravans of the king….”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 53-57.  “Look, I am a friend of the king, and a tribute-bearer/u-bi-il of the king, I am.”  Amarna Letter EA 288: 11-12.  “porters” ???  Cf. the Aramaic word BLW, meaning “tribute”, at Ezra 4: 13??  [Does that word in Amarna Letter EA 287 actually refer to the “taxpayers” of Jerusalem, who are “tribute-bearers” in the sense that they have funded the “tribute” for IR-Heba’s caravan that is being sent to Egypt?  Or by contrast is the reference, as conventionally thought, to “[captive] porters” who are slaves being sent to Egypt as “tribute” as part of the caravan?  Cf. also the Hebrew word BLH in the form BLTY at Genesis 18: 12, though the meaning does not seem to fit too well???]

 

 

8.  $a-de-e.  “…in the countryside/$a-de-e of Yalona.”  Amarna Letter EA 287: 53-57.  “field” =  Genesis 23: 11:  %DH.

 

 

9.  a-ba-da-at.  “…all the land of the king, my lord, will be lost/a-ba-da-at.”  Amarna Letter EA 288: 52-53.  “lose” = Exodus 10: 7:  )BDH.

 

 

I see 7 of 9 of those words as being the direct equivalents of Biblical Hebrew words [#2-#6;  #8-#9].  To me, those 7 words are “Hebrew”.  That’s the #1 question I am raising on this thread.

 

I would also like help as to #1 and #7.  I don’t know how to handle a “Hebrew” word that begins with U as its own separate syllable.

 

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois