Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

jim,

we are drifting further and further away from the topic. 
anyway, let me add a small remark concerning (MQ:

>>> 2.  Moreover, I have looked at every use of (MQ in the Hebrew Bible
regarding sites in Canaan south of the Jezreel Valley.  Each and every such
(MQ is located either east or west of the Watershed Ridge Route.  Leaving
aside Genesis 37: 14 [which is the passage in question], no (MQ is located on
the Watershed Ridge Route in the Hebrew Bible.

this is no big surprise. as i understand it, (MQ has to be a low place, hence
not consistent with the ridge top. it is usually mentioned as opposite of HR. 

also, (MQ is normally mentioned describing a MAJOR (*) valley with fertile
land, agriculture and densely inhabited, which again is not 
consistent with a ridge which only sustains small, deep, 
arid, valleys with hostile habitat. i imagine that, 
for example, most biblical (MQYM which are east or west of the watershed 
ridge are, in fact, WEST, due to their favorite precipitation, soil, trade
and topographic elements; the eastward valleys were mentioned only  for
strategic reasons: war, tracing boundaries etc.

(*) one singular exception is the jordan valley, usually referred to as the
river or jordan or the loaf etc.

nir cohen