Biblical Hebrew Forum

[JimStinehart AT aol.com]

Nir Cohen:

 

You wrote:  “there is abs. no sense to import horses and chariots from turkey to israel and then sell them back to syria. no, solomon did not buy horses from turkey and sell them to syria.”

 

I agree 100%.  Yet that is how the majority of translators understand I Kings 10: 28-29.

 

You attempt to resolve that problem by denying that YC) means “to export”.  You say:  “in fact, it is always used as ‘go out, leave’.”  But that is basically what the word “to export” means!

 

To me, the proper way to resolve the problem that you rightly highlight is to give up on the notion that QW-H means small-time, oh-so-modest Que, which to the best of my knowledge was never associated with horses.  I myself see the QW Hebrew root of that name as being identical to the Qa-we Hurrian root of an attested Hurrian name, in both cases referring to the semi-legendary place in Mongolia, China where horses are reputed to have been domesticated.  No, historically no king of the Hebrews ever got horses from China.  I realize that.  But if we’re talking over-the-top luxury here, which I think we all may agree we are when we’re talking King Solomon, I think that a semi-mythical Qijia/Qa-we is more likely than historical small-time Que as the place where Solomon is supposedly getting the finest horses in the entire world.

 

YC) is used 1,069 times in the Hebrew Bible.  KJV usually translates it as “…out” or “…forth” or “depart”.  All of those concepts fit “to export” quite well, and many translators, including the Hebrew experts at JPS, translate YC) at I Kings 10: 29 as “exported”.

 

To me, my proposed solution is more plausible than yours.  But at least you and I do agree that “there is abs. no sense to import horses and chariots from turkey to israel and then sell them back to syria. no, solomon did not buy horses from turkey and sell them to syria.”

 

So you and I are ahead of the translators in any event, one way or the other.

 

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois