Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Zech 9:10; Genesis 14: 3: Valley of Siddim

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: jshepherd53 AT gmail.com, George.Athas AT moore.edu.au
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Zech 9:10; Genesis 14: 3: Valley of Siddim
  • Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 10:05:10 -0400 (EDT)

The term (MQ H-%DYM -- “Valley of the Tilled Fields” or “Valley of Siddim” -- at Genesis 14: 3, 8, 10 refers to a series of three river valleys north of Canaan, all of which suitably are “valleys” that feature fertile, abundant “tilled fields”:

 

(i)  The Orontes River Valley, which starts in the eastern Beqqa Valley in northeast Lebanon and runs north through central west Syria, being near to, parallel to, and ending at, the Mediterranean Sea [which in turn is a classic “salt sea”/“sea the-salt”].

 

(ii)  The northern source of the Litani River is in the Beqqa Valley in central-east Lebanon, quite close to the southern source of the Orontes River.  The northern half of the Litani River flows south through the Beqqa Valley.

 

(iii)  Just before it turns west [where it will eventually empty into the Mediterranean Sea], the Litani River comes within five kilometers of the Hasbani River.  Hasbaya lies on the Hasbani River at the western foot of Mt. Hermon, in the southernmost Beqqa Valley in southeastern Lebanon at the border of Canaan.

 

The portion of the Valley of the Tilled Fields that is being referenced at Genesis 14: 3, 8 is the northern portion of this tri-valley complex, being the Orontes River Valley in central west Syria.  The defeated five rulers are portrayed as being driven south out of the Orontes River Valley in Syria, south through Lebanon, and ending at the southeastern portion of this tri-valley complex, in the famous pits of bitumen at Hasbaya in southeast Lebanon, at the northern border of Canaan.  We must remember that the terms “Orontes River”, “Litani River”, and “Hasbani River” did not exist in ancient times.  The Biblical author is referring to the fertile tilled fields in the valleys of these three river systems, with this tri-valley complex north of Canaan being aptly referred to [as a single entity] as the “Valley of the Tilled Fields”/Valley of Siddim.

 

Genesis 14: 3 says [per KJV]:  “All these [military forces] were joined together in the vale [valley] of Siddim [the tilled fields], which is [near] the salt sea.”  As just noted, the actual military conflict at Genesis 14: 3 occurs near the northern end of the tri-valley complex described above, in the Orontes River Valley in west-central Syria, not too far from the Mediterranean Sea to the west.  The Mediterranean Sea fits the bill of being a quintessential “salt sea”/“sea the-salt”/YM H-MLX.  After all, its mariners are called “salts” in Biblical Hebrew.  The Orontes River Valley, which as noted above runs close to, parallel to, and ends at, the Mediterranean Sea, is a “valley of the tilled fields”.  Moreover, it is a very appropriate place for where a major military encounter might be “joined”:

 

“The Orontes [River] rises in the east in the Beqqa Valley from natural springs.  From there it runs due north….  Beyond is a broad valley of rich farmland upon which stood the cities of Qatna, on the east bank, and Tunip, on the west bank.  Farther to the north, just beyond the agricultural region of modern Hamah, stood the city of Niya….  [Qatna, Tunip and Niya in the Orontes River Valley, which is famous for its “tilled fields”, are 3 of the 5 rebellious Hurrian parties.]  The Orontes is largely non-navigable, and the river’s historical importance lies in the convenient axis of advance it has provided for armies throughout antiquity.  The battles of Kadesh (1275 BCE) and Qarqar (853 BCE) were fought on its banks.”  Richard A. Gabriel, “Thutmose III:  The Military Biography of Egypt’s Greatest Warrior King”, Potomac Books (2009), p. 168.

 

Genesis 14: 10 says [per KJV]:  “And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits [pits of bitumen];  and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there;  and they that remained fled to the mountain.”  The defeated rulers are portrayed as having been driven south out of the Oronotes River Valley in Syria and further south through most of Lebanon, all the way south to the southeast tip of Lebanon, at the border of Canaan.  There, at Hasbaya, is the site of the most famous bitumen pits in the Greater Canaan area:

 

Near Hasbeya were bitumen pits which were worked in antiquity….”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasbaya

 

The Dead Sea has never featured bitumen pits.  [See the scientific article by Arie Nissenbaum here:  http://books.google.com/books?id=NqSAhFHs66cC&pg=PA359&lpg=PA359&dq=bitumen+pits+biyar+lebanon&source=bl&ots=nIyPUy8Ocw&sig=9oqjtiWI89MpZ9nbXx3THnluxd0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jzMRUof1LrO72QW-ioHIBQ&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bitumen%20pits%20biyar%20lebanon&f=false.]  Rather, it is well known that bitumen pits are famously located on the northern border of Canaan, at Hasbaya at the western foot of Mt. Hermon.  Nor is the Jordan River Valley noted for being fertile and having abundant tilled fields.  But those are key characteristics of the above-described tri-valley complex north of Canaan:  the Orontes River Valley, the portion of the Litani River that lies in the Beqqa Valley, and the Hasbani River in the southernmost Beqqa Valley.  We must remember that a fearsome king with an attested Hittite kingly name, “Tidal”, would be coming from far to the  n-o-r-t-h , and as such would drive a defeated band of five rebellious princelings  s-o-u-t-h .  So the actual battle at Genesis 14: 3 is well north of Canaan, even being north of Lebanon, in the Orontes River Valley in west-central Syria [the historical site of the Second Syrian War in Year 14].  But the hapless defeated rebellious princelings are portrayed as ending up all the way south in the southeast corner of Lebanon at the northern border of Canaan, at the famous pits of bitumen at Hasbaya [with some escaping up into the mountains that line and define the Beqqa Valley].

 

Historically, in “Year 13” [per Genesis 14: 4], five rebellious Hurrian parties did indeed come together in the Orontes River Valley, which is a “valley of tilled fields” that is close to a classic “salt sea”, namely the Mediterranean Sea.  Moreover, historically those five rebellious princelings were indeed totally defeated in Year 14 [per “in the 14th year” at Genesis 14: 5] in the Second Syrian War, by a coalition comprised of four rulers that included the king of the Hittites [with “Tidal” being an attested Hittite kingly name].  The Biblical author uses artistic license to emphasize the totality of the defeat of the rebels by portraying them as allegedly having been driven all the way south out of Syria through eastern Lebanon to the very border of Canaan itself, where some of them allegedly got stuck in the famous bitumen pits in southeastern Lebanon at the western foot of Mt. Hermon.

 

Genesis 14: 1-11 was composed by a contemporary of the Second Syrian War [which historically was fought in Year 14], who knew what he was talking about, and who got a scribe to record his account in cuneiform writing a few years later.  True, the part about defeated rulers getting stuck in bitumen pits at Mt. Hermon uses some artistic license, and apt nicknames [rather than historical names] are used throughout his account.  Yet for the most part Genesis 14: 1-11 has  p-i-n-p-o-i-n-t  historical accuracy in describing what actually happened militarily in Years 13-14.  If we could just get the underlying  g-e-o-g-r-a-p-h-y  right, the stunning historical accuracy of Genesis 14: 1-11 in Years 13-14 would come shining through.  The “Valley of Siddim”/Valley of the Tilled Fields is the Orontes River Valley and the Beqqa Valley, which [unlike the Jordan River Valley] are world-famous “valleys” of fertile, “tilled fields” north of Canaan;  the “pits of bitumen” are famously located at Hasbaya at the western foot of Mt. Hermon on the northern border of Canaan [not at or near the Dead Sea];  and “salt the-sea” is not the Dead Sea, but rather is the Mediterranean Sea itself, the classic salt sea into which both the Orontes and Litani Rivers empty, and near to which was the site [in west-central Syria] of the important fighting in Year 14 [the Second Syrian War] that is accurately chronicled by an early Hebrew contemporary:  “four kings against five”. 

 

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page