...
Peter, thanks for working with the whole phrase, and not the word RO)$ in
isolation. The word sequence N&Y) + R)$ is attested also in Num 10:4; 36:1,
in the phrase HANN:&IY)IYM RF)$"Y )LP"Y YI&RF)"L (Num 10:4) and HANN:&IY)IYM
RF)$"Y )FBWT LIBN"Y YI&RF)"L (Num 36:1). In translating these verses, the
major North American commercial translations (the only ones I have easy
access to at this moment) all treat N&Y) and R)$ as appositive, yielding
such translations as "the princes, the heads of the clans of Israel" and
"the princes, the heads of the fathers[' houses] of the Israelites."
Your hypothetical reverse, however--R)$ + N&Y) as "head of the princes"--is
not attested in the Tanakh.
On the strength of these parallels, few as they are--as far as I can tell,
Num 10:4; 36:1; Ezek 38:2, 3; 39:1 are the _only_ verses to contain N&Y) +
R)$--I would suggest that the R)$ and N&Y) in Ezek 38:2, 3; 39:1 ought to be
treated as appositive, and the translation something like "the prince, the
head of Meshekh and Tubal ..."
I wonder if RO)$ ME$EK could be a compound place name meaning "the
Meshech headland", given that the Arabic cognate of RO)$, Ras, is
commonly used meaning "headland" in compound place names, and the modern
Hebrew word can also have that sense: Rosh Hanikra is a headland in Israel.
...
Fourth, we have a category where R)$ + the name of a mountain means the
"head" or "peak" of the mountain, attested twice in Song 4:8: M"RO)$
):AMFNFH M"RO)$ &:NIYR. Other than this, I cannot find any places in the
Tanakh where R)$ + toponym itself refers to a geographical or topographical
feature. That is, I cannot find any attestations of R)$ + toponym to mean
"headland" in a compound place name, _unless_ the three instances in Ezek
38:2, 3; 39:1 constitute such.
Fifth, we have three verses where, in the phrase R)$ + proper noun, theThe problem with these is that none of them are or can possess a N&Y) as the grammar in Ezekiel requires.
proper noun names a political unit with a recognizable territory. I take
this to be the sense in Micah 3:1: $IM(W-NF) RF)$"Y YA(:AQOB UQCIYN"Y B"YT
YI&RF)"L. This usage appears several times in Isaiah 7:8-9:
KIY RO)$ ):ARFM DAME&EQ
W:RO)$ DAME&EQ R:CIYN ...
W:RO)$ )EPRAYIM $OMRON
W:RO)$ $OMRON BEN-R:MALYFHW
In these instances, RO)$ + proper noun clearly refers to rulership of a
particular place, by a particular person or from a particular place within
the larger unit, such that RO)$ here points up the political hierarchy. This
seems to me the usage that most illuminates the usage in Ezek 38:2, 3; 39:1.
...
However, I don't find the analysis convincing. Peter, I realize that you are
offering merely an exploratory possibility, not a dogmatic prouncement or
even really an argument. I think the analysis is actually reasonable. But I
don't think it's persuasive. I think for the analysis to be convincing, I
would also have to be convinced of a synchronism between Persian rakhs,
Byzantine Greek RWS, and Hebrew RO)$. You well know that you haven't gone so
far as to present that evidence; as far as I can tell, you didn't intend or
pretend to do so, so I don't mean that as a criticism.
Even if I were convinced of those cross-linguistic toponymic equivalencies,I think you need to reconsider your conclusions on the basis of the construct form of N&Y).
however, I would still need to be convinced that RO)$ was actually a proper
noun in Ezek 38:2, 3; 39:1. Yet the N&Y) + RO)$ constructions in Numbers
10:4; 36:1 and the use of RO)$ + toponym in Isa 7:8, 9 persuade me that RO)$
is not a toponym in Ezek 38:2, 3; 39:1.
My conclusion: N&Y) and RO)$ are appositive in Ezek 38:2, 3; 39:1, and thus
the question of any link between the RO)$ there and Russia is moot because
that RO)$ is not a toponym.
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