Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

jim,

my point about  YC) is that, independent of how many existing 
translations disagree, in both cases where it appears (1kgs 10: 28   
MWC)   and ibid:29   YC)W  it is not said "take out of israel" but 
just "take out", and the rest is interpretation. in principle both 
may mean "take out of egypt" 
(indeed, this is my personal understanding). thus, perhaps 
TRANSPORT and not EXPORT would be a better translation.

but i agree that we are converging into similar positions, and reject the "QWH
in turkey" hypothesis. as to the egyptian hypothesis, let me mention here
isaiah 31:1,  and more so ibid:3.

one suggestion about interpreting MQWH is to relate the pair 

                                        MWC)  (v.28)  vs    MQWH  (v. 29)

as export vs transport, mainly in terms of commission. in this case, MQWH may
indicate transport fee: a fee or commission taken for ROUTING { QW } or
STORING {MQWH }. for horses, these would be stables along the way - which
suppsedly solomon built. on the stable cities see

http://www.itsgila.com/highlightsmegiddo.htm

if i am not wrong, also found at massadah, but probably 
constructed by herod.

nir cohen


same On Mon, 1 Jul 2013 15:46:53 -0400 (EDT), JimStinehart wrote
>
>
> 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


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