Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

Rev. Rev. Bryant J. Williams III:

 

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You wrote:  “ I agree that Zipporah was a daughter of Reul/Jethro, a priest of Midian. I have no problem with that. The Hebrew text (Exodus 2) is quite clear about that. What I disagree with is that Midian = Mitanni.  There is about 1,000 miles difference between the two areas.”

 

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1.  Here is some of the Biblical evidence that MDYN is historical Mitanni in Late Bronze Age eastern Syria, rather than being an unattested place with an unattested name somewhere in southwestern Arabia.

 

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(a)  Judges repeatedly pairs “MDYN” with “children of the east”, which fits eastern Syria perfectly, but does not fit Arabia at all:

 

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[i]  “And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them.”  Judges 6: 3

 

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[ii]  “Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.”  Judges 6: 33

 

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[iii]  “And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude;  and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.”  Judges 7: 12

 

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(b)  Numbers 31: 8 pairs five princelings of MDYN with Balaam, who per Deuteronomy 23: 4 is from Naharim, that is, the Late Bronze Age Hurrian state of Mitanni in eastern Syria:

 

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“And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain;  namely Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian:  Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.”  Numbers 31: 8  

 

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2.  What Biblical text would you cite from Genesis through II Kings for the proposition that MDYN refers to western Arabia?

 

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Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois