2 Genesis, Chapter 20 - Honest Abe does it again --
So far in the Bible, we've been reading the works of the Yahwist (J) Source , written c.950 BCE, in the southern Kingdom of Judah, and material from the Elohist (E) Source , written c.850 BCE in the northern Kingdom of Israel, then combined in 400 BCE by the great Redactor. Chapter 20 was written entirely by the Elohist Source, but using material previously presented by the Yahwist Source in Genesis, Chapter 12. Unlike the two flood stories (2 of each species taken aboard in Genesis, Chapter 6, versus 2 to 7 in Genesis, Chapter 7) and the two creation stories in Genesis, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 (where the various creation events disagree with one another), this story, for whatever reason, was never combined with Chapter 12 by the Redactor as one might expect, but was presented as an entirely separate Abraham/Sarah story.
Confused yet? Let me give you a bit of background information, then a few paragraphs of storyline, and it will all clear up, I promise - otherwise, I guarantee double your money back.
Once upon a time, in the Aegean Sea (off the coast of Greece), there was (and still is) an island, called Thera (aka, Santorini), inhabited by a people known as the Minoans. Deep under the sea, in what would appear to be a natural bay that the islands that comprise Thera surround, there was (and still is) an enormous underwater volcano. (See illustration, below)
Thera
A close look will reveal a dull gray cone in the center of the bay - that's the volcano that started it all. Somewhere between the years of 1600 and 1628 BCE, the volcano erupted in what was estimated to be the third largest eruption in the history of eruptions. Ash from the volcano was found in Egypt, the skies above China were reported to have been red for a week, and ash of the same composition has been found in ice cores drilled in Iceland. The eruption generated a tsunami, estimated between 115 and 490 feet high, which devastated the north coast of Crete.
Unlike Pompeii, there've been no bodies found on the island, which implies an early evacuation - possibly earth tremors or rising steam gave the inhabitants a chance to escape.
The point of this interesting but seemingly totally unrelated story, is that the volcanic eruption ended some civilizations and totally disrupted others, displacing a great number of people of diverse nationalities, customs and languages, all of whom, due to their lives on the islands of the Mediterranean, were qualified, able seamen. It was about this time, that a horde of mysterious, barbaric, war-like, pirate-esque seamen, still to this day known only as the "Sea People," began attacking the coastal cities of Egypt. Egypt, despite Hollywood depictions to the contrary, was rarely a united country - it was often divided into two kingdoms, that of the North, and another of the South. There was a time when those Sea People entirely took over and ruled the Northern Kingdom of Egypt, before finally being repelled.
About the same time, another group of people of Greek, or at least Aegean origin, arrived on the coast of what is modern Israel, drove out the Canaanites who inhabited the area, called their territory, Philistia, and became the Philistines of Biblical fame, or infamy, depending on which side of the Torah you're on.
The Israeli coast, depicting the location
of Philistia and Gerar
You really need a scorecard, or at least a Map to the Movie Stars' Homes, if you hope to navigate the Bible, and I'm trying as best I can, to give you one. Above is the area settled by the Philistines, and on the eastern edge of that, is the city of Gerar, meaning "lodging-place." Archaeological evidence points to the town having come into existence with the arrival of the Philistines at around 1200 BCE and having been little more than a village until 800-700 BCE. This alone should be sufficient to dispel any validity to the story we're about to read, as Abraham's dates are all over the place, ranging from 1813 to 2300 BCE (remember what I said about trying to determine the age of Superman?), so even if Abe were real, and there are many, including some trusted religious sources, who maintain he likely was not, his dates ascertain that at the time he was alleged to have inhabited Israel, the so-called Philistines were happily ensconced in their own homeland, with no intention of even applying for a passport, for up to a thousand or more years. To the E Source, writing in 850 BCE, the Philistines had been in place for 400 years, and having no Google at his disposal, had no way of knowing but that they had always been there. Further, as they relied on hand-me-down legends for their story material, they also had no idea as to the dates for Abraham, hence the discrepancy.
But fiction or not, that's where our story begins.
Regarding Abimelech's rambling about eye-coverings, I interpret that to mean that her husband, or rather her marriage/loyalty to him, should blind her to any temptation from anyone else. Quite coincidentally I'm sure, nine months after her little visit to Abimelech's lodgings, Sarah gave birth to a bouncing baby boy! I'm just sayin' --
Actually, in 20:1, above, I made a crack about Abe not checking on Lot's welfare after witnessing, from both Gomorrah and Sodom, where Abe knew Lot lived, "dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace" - that was a cheap shot, and I'd like to apologize to Abe, posthumously. It wasn't Abe's fault that the E Source, who wrote this story, had never heard of Lot or any involvement he may have had with the natural disaster at Sodom and Gomorrah. He and the J Source, living a hundred years apart as they did, both writing about one- and two-thousand-year old legends and improvising wherever needed, obviously had a failure to communicate. But the Redactor should have caught it, that's why Redactors get the big bucks.
I don't see much point in elaborating further on this chapter, since we all know it's nothing more than a rehash of another author's story, without due credits. But wrapping up this early in the piece just gives us that much more space to devote to the Amurrites (Amorites).
The last time we visited the Amurrites (Amorites), I left you with these vital pieces of information (I've taken the liberty of highlighting the parts from last time that I feel you need to remember - you can thank me later):
When the Amorites (Amurrites) first appeared as nomadic people in the Mesopotamian sources, they were especially connected with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri in Syria, called the "mountain of the Amorites."
Amorites worshiped, among others, the moon-god Sin (whom we've met as the patron god of both Ur and Haran, from whence came Abraham and family), and the god, Amurru, from whom their name was taken.
Amurru is sometimes described as a shepherd and the son of the Mesopotamian sky-god Anu; he's also known as "the god of the Nomads." He is called Bêl Šadê ('Lord of the mountain'), ('He who dwells on the pure mountain'), and ('He who inhabits the shining mountain').
The map below should illustrate the territory these people occupied prior to the end of the Amurrite dynasty in Mesopotamia in 1595 BCE.
Shaded areas represent Amurrite concentrations
Unlike Pompeii, there've been no bodies found on the island, which implies an early evacuation - possibly earth tremors or rising steam gave the inhabitants a chance to escape.
The point of this interesting but seemingly totally unrelated story, is that the volcanic eruption ended some civilizations and totally disrupted others, displacing a great number of people of diverse nationalities, customs and languages, all of whom, due to their lives on the islands of the Mediterranean, were qualified, able seamen. It was about this time, that a horde of mysterious, barbaric, war-like, pirate-esque seamen, still to this day known only as the "Sea People," began attacking the coastal cities of Egypt. Egypt, despite Hollywood depictions to the contrary, was rarely a united country - it was often divided into two kingdoms, that of the North, and another of the South. There was a time when those Sea People entirely took over and ruled the Northern Kingdom of Egypt, before finally being repelled.
About the same time, another group of people of Greek, or at least Aegean origin, arrived on the coast of what is modern Israel, drove out the Canaanites who inhabited the area, called their territory, Philistia, and became the Philistines of Biblical fame, or infamy, depending on which side of the Torah you're on.
The Israeli coast, depicting the location
of Philistia and Gerar
You really need a scorecard, or at least a Map to the Movie Stars' Homes, if you hope to navigate the Bible, and I'm trying as best I can, to give you one. Above is the area settled by the Philistines, and on the eastern edge of that, is the city of Gerar, meaning "lodging-place." Archaeological evidence points to the town having come into existence with the arrival of the Philistines at around 1200 BCE and having been little more than a village until 800-700 BCE. This alone should be sufficient to dispel any validity to the story we're about to read, as Abraham's dates are all over the place, ranging from 1813 to 2300 BCE (remember what I said about trying to determine the age of Superman?), so even if Abe were real, and there are many, including some trusted religious sources, who maintain he likely was not, his dates ascertain that at the time he was alleged to have inhabited Israel, the so-called Philistines were happily ensconced in their own homeland, with no intention of even applying for a passport, for up to a thousand or more years. To the E Source, writing in 850 BCE, the Philistines had been in place for 400 years, and having no Google at his disposal, had no way of knowing but that they had always been there. Further, as they relied on hand-me-down legends for their story material, they also had no idea as to the dates for Abraham, hence the discrepancy.
But fiction or not, that's where our story begins.
20:1 "And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country (without checking on his nephew, Lot's welfare? What kind of Uncle is that?), and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned into Gerar.She was reproved!? He pulls the scam, walks away with a thousand pieces of silver worth of sheep, oxen, and men- and womenservants, is told he's free to camp anywhere on Philistine land he likes, and she was reproved! Didn't I tell you? At least this time, they left out the camels.
20:2 "And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, She is my sister (/wife): and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took (89-year old) Sarah (didn't I tell you your confusion would clear up? It's the J Source Pharaoh story, rewritten by the E Source!).
20:3 "But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
20:4 "But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
20:5 "Said he not to me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. (So why did he take her in the first place?)
20:6 "And God said to him in a dream, Yea, I know that though didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me (how does it affect him?): therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
20:7 "Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine (i.e., innocent people).
20:8 "Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears (as opposed to --?): and the men were sore afraid.
20:9 "Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
20:10 "And Abimelech said unto Abraham, what sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
20:11 "And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my (89-year old) wife's sake.
20:12 "And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother (Oh, well, that's OK then); and she became my wife.
20:13 "And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is the kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
20:14 "And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham (that's quite a nice little scam they have going there --), and restored him Sarah, his (sister/) wife.
20:15 "And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
20:16 "And unto Sarah, he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved."
Regarding Abimelech's rambling about eye-coverings, I interpret that to mean that her husband, or rather her marriage/loyalty to him, should blind her to any temptation from anyone else. Quite coincidentally I'm sure, nine months after her little visit to Abimelech's lodgings, Sarah gave birth to a bouncing baby boy! I'm just sayin' --
20:17 "So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech (I didn't even know he was sick!), and his wife, and his maidservents; and they bare children.Of course he did.
20:18 "For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife."
Actually, in 20:1, above, I made a crack about Abe not checking on Lot's welfare after witnessing, from both Gomorrah and Sodom, where Abe knew Lot lived, "dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace" - that was a cheap shot, and I'd like to apologize to Abe, posthumously. It wasn't Abe's fault that the E Source, who wrote this story, had never heard of Lot or any involvement he may have had with the natural disaster at Sodom and Gomorrah. He and the J Source, living a hundred years apart as they did, both writing about one- and two-thousand-year old legends and improvising wherever needed, obviously had a failure to communicate. But the Redactor should have caught it, that's why Redactors get the big bucks.
I don't see much point in elaborating further on this chapter, since we all know it's nothing more than a rehash of another author's story, without due credits. But wrapping up this early in the piece just gives us that much more space to devote to the Amurrites (Amorites).
The last time we visited the Amurrites (Amorites), I left you with these vital pieces of information (I've taken the liberty of highlighting the parts from last time that I feel you need to remember - you can thank me later):
2300 BCE: Jericho is settled by the Amorites.In the Mesopotamian dark ages that followed, between about 1600 and about 1100 BCE, the language of the Amorites disappeared from Babylonia and the mid-Euphrates. In Syria and Palestine, however, it became dominant. In Assyrian inscriptions from about 1100 BCE, the term, Amurru, designated part of Syria and all of Phoenicia and Palestine.
21st century BCE: Heavy immigration of Amorites from Arabia, into the lands of Assyria in the north, and Canaan and Lebanon in the west.
c.2017 BCE: An independent dynasty is established in Isin by Amorite chief, Ishbi-Erra.
c.1900 BCE: The Amorites conquer most of Mesopotamia, and establish its kings in Babylon.
c.1894 BCE: Babylon becomes an independent city state, under the Amorite king, Sumu-abum.
c.1830 BCE: In Northern Syria, the Amorite kingdom, Yamkhad, is established with Aleppo as its capital, near Mt. Jebel Bishri.
1792-1750 BCE: Hammurabi, the most famous Amorite ruler, is king of Babylonia.
c.1595 BCE: Hittites attack and largely destroy Babylon, ending the Amorite dynasty.
When the Amorites (Amurrites) first appeared as nomadic people in the Mesopotamian sources, they were especially connected with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri in Syria, called the "mountain of the Amorites."
Amorites worshiped, among others, the moon-god Sin (whom we've met as the patron god of both Ur and Haran, from whence came Abraham and family), and the god, Amurru, from whom their name was taken.
Amurru is sometimes described as a shepherd and the son of the Mesopotamian sky-god Anu; he's also known as "the god of the Nomads." He is called Bêl Šadê ('Lord of the mountain'), ('He who dwells on the pure mountain'), and ('He who inhabits the shining mountain').
The map below should illustrate the territory these people occupied prior to the end of the Amurrite dynasty in Mesopotamia in 1595 BCE.
Shaded areas represent Amurrite concentrations
Along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, we have what I term, a Coastal group, consisting of the Phoenicians (sea-going Canaanites), and the Philistines (immigrants from the Aegean Sea). East of the Jordan River Valley, from south of the Dead Sea, all the way to Canaan on the north, are heavy concentrations of a second group, the Amurrites. The territory over which our Hebrew heroes meander, from grazing site to grazing site, when they're not leasing out their sister/wives, is located on the plains between the two groups.
To get a closer look at the origin of the Amurrites, let's revisit a statement made near the close of 2 Genesis, Chapter 18, and repeated above (thus making this a rerepeat): "When the Amorites (Amurrites) first appeared as nomadic people in the Mesopotamian sources, they were especially connected with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri in Syria, called the 'mountain of the Amorites'."
The region surrounding Jebel Bishiri in Syria is steeped in antiquity. Sixty miles northwest of Jebel Bishri, up the stream of the Euphrates, lies Abu Hureyra, the oldest agricultural site in the world, offering the earliest known signs of domestication of cereals dated to c.9000 BCE. Abu Hureyra is an important example of the change from the mobile hunter-gatherer way of life to sedentarization and the development of the village life.
Anybody familiar with this lovely lady? If not, don't you wish you were?
Sade
To get a closer look at the origin of the Amurrites, let's revisit a statement made near the close of 2 Genesis, Chapter 18, and repeated above (thus making this a rerepeat): "When the Amorites (Amurrites) first appeared as nomadic people in the Mesopotamian sources, they were especially connected with the mountainous region of Jebel Bishri in Syria, called the 'mountain of the Amorites'."
The region surrounding Jebel Bishiri in Syria is steeped in antiquity. Sixty miles northwest of Jebel Bishri, up the stream of the Euphrates, lies Abu Hureyra, the oldest agricultural site in the world, offering the earliest known signs of domestication of cereals dated to c.9000 BCE. Abu Hureyra is an important example of the change from the mobile hunter-gatherer way of life to sedentarization and the development of the village life.
Anybody familiar with this lovely lady? If not, don't you wish you were?
Sade
This is the beautiful Nigerian Smooth Jazz singer, Sade, who established her right to stardom with the release of her 1983 hit, "Smooth Operator." So why is she here?
Skipping about the Bible, looking for clues, not only in Gen 17:1, but in Gen 28:3; Gen 35:11; Gen 43:14; Gen 48:3; Exodus 6:3; Numbers 24:4 and 24:16, god is referred to as, "God Almighty," in both the King James and New American Bible versions.
However, both of these were translated into English from the Greek Septuagint, which in turn, was translated from the original Hebrew in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, to accommodate Greek-speaking Jews. Interestingly, the name, Septuagint ("sept," in Latin, means, "7"), referred to the traditional story that the Hebrew was translated by 72 translators, all working independently, "under divine inspiration," to assure a perfect translation. I wonder if these were the 72 virgins the Quran promised. If so, I know some suicide bombers who are really in for a disappointment, or maybe not, who knows?
In the Septuagint, predecessor of any English version of the Bible, god identifies himself, not as "God Almighty," but as "El Shaddai."
In fact, in Exodus 6:3, this god specifically states (substituting "El Shaddai" for "God Almighty"),
So what have we learned so far?
We've learned that the Amurrites were a people, that at least by the time we encounter them, had divided into two groups. Most likely both groups were originally nomadic, but after the separation, one group remained nomadic, occupying the plains of modern-day Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, while the second group migrated to Syria, near the Euphrates River, where, over time, they abandoned their wandering ways for a more sedentary life, eventually filtering down into Mesopotamia, where they assimilated and ultimately produced Hammurabi, the great uniter, ruler, and law-giver.
We've learned that in Semitic Akkadian, the word, "El," meant, "Lord," as in, "El-l-il," "Lord of Lords."
We've learned that the Semitic Amurrites worshiped a god, Amurru, from which their members got their name, and that another title for Amurru, was Bêl Šadê, or "shaddû`a," in Akkadian - "Lord of the mountain" - pronounced, "sha-day", and that they also payed tribute to "Sin," the god of the moon.
We've learned that the Semitic Hebrews originated with Abram (whose, though definitely Semitic, actual nationality or tribal affiliation, is unknown), who came from Ur, a city-state specifically dedicated to the worship of "Sin," the moon god, migrated from there to Haran, the only other city in Mesopotamia specifically dedicated to the worship of "Sin," the moon god, and that he was "called" to migrate to the area of modern Israel by his self-titled god, "El Shaddai," whose name was considered by some scholars to have come from the Akkadian word, "Šadu," meaning "mountain," thus, "El Saddai," - "Lord of the mountain."
How are we doing so far?
While we're on the subject of Abram/Abraham, let me throw out just one more little piece of information before I wrap this up or my brain explodes, whichever comes first.
Remember how, in 2 Genesis, Chapter 17, Abe's god told him:
An article in the Jewish Virtual Library discussed the origin of Amurrite (Amorite) names, and I'll finish that thought in a minute, but first a brief explanation of what I mean.
Native Americans, for example, had such descriptive names as, "Crazy Horse" or "Sitting Bull" - of course, those are the English translations of the original Lakota, Sioux words, but you can see what I mean.
Europeans did similar things, back in times when there were no last names. In a village with several guys named, "John," one might differentiate one, if he were a blacksmith, by referring to him as, "John, the smith," which would eventually have been shortened to, "John Smith,' who has singlehandedly signed more motel registries than any other man in the history of men. Or a man named, "Carl," whose father was "John," might have been known as "Carl, John's son," or ultimately, "Carl Johnson," who might name his own son, "James Carlson" - you see how it works --
At any rate, the Jewish Virtual Library remarked that the original language of the Amurrites (Amorites) had all but disappeared in written form, but that when they took over Akkadian Mesopotamia, they transliterated their names, employing words, forms, and linguistic usages most closely paralleled in later West Semitic languages. The site added that the transliterated names were often theophorous - yeah, I had to look it up too, it means, "bearing the name of a god," and has nothing to do with anything glowing in the dark - and that their names were often combined with the names of deities, such as El and Hadad.
Do we know anyone like that? Let's see, Samu-el, Isra-el, Ishma-el, Ezeki-el, Dani-el, Jo-el, El-i-sha, El-i-ja (Elija's folks wanted him to be double-sure of sucking up: "El" for "El Shaddai" and "Ja," for "Jehova," just in case!).
But back to Abe. It turns out, that in Amurrite-transliteration, "ab" means "father," "ah" means "brother," and "am" means "people." There's no word on what "r" meant ("of"?). So "Ab-r-am" could translate to "Father (of) people," while "Ab-r-ah-am" could well mean, "Father (of) brother people." Who knew old Abe knew so much about Amurrites (Amorites)?
Yeah, I know, by themselves, the words make sense, but combined, they seem not to do so, but we know little if anything as to what part word order played, or what might simply be understood, rather than stated.
David Rohl, a British Egyptologist and former director of the Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, suggests the name comes from the Akkadian "the father loves", but scholars would prefer an origin based on Hebrew. Especially if they were scholars defending the Bible.
Let me leave you with an example - if you were a speaker and/or writer of a language other than English, and English really wasn't your best subject in school, could you make sense of the following seeming jumble of words?
"That which is is that which is not is not"
But when you add that which is understood, while not stated, you get:
"That which is, is; that which is not, is not."
pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
- I wanted to be sure you were paying attention.
- I like to look at beautiful women.
- Her name is pronounced, "sha-day."
Skipping about the Bible, looking for clues, not only in Gen 17:1, but in Gen 28:3; Gen 35:11; Gen 43:14; Gen 48:3; Exodus 6:3; Numbers 24:4 and 24:16, god is referred to as, "God Almighty," in both the King James and New American Bible versions.
However, both of these were translated into English from the Greek Septuagint, which in turn, was translated from the original Hebrew in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, to accommodate Greek-speaking Jews. Interestingly, the name, Septuagint ("sept," in Latin, means, "7"), referred to the traditional story that the Hebrew was translated by 72 translators, all working independently, "under divine inspiration," to assure a perfect translation. I wonder if these were the 72 virgins the Quran promised. If so, I know some suicide bombers who are really in for a disappointment, or maybe not, who knows?
In the Septuagint, predecessor of any English version of the Bible, god identifies himself, not as "God Almighty," but as "El Shaddai."
In fact, in Exodus 6:3, this god specifically states (substituting "El Shaddai" for "God Almighty"),
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Issac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai, but by my name, JEHOVA was I not known to them."Meanwhile, back in Amurrite-land, there was, once upon a time, a late Bronze-Age Amurrite city on the banks of the Euphrates river, in northern Syria. The site of its ruin-mound is called Tel eth-Thadyen. The word, "tel," as in, Tel-Aviv, denotes a mound that results when an older city has been torn down or crumbled on its own with time - often, especially in ancient times, newer cities were built over older ones. The point here is, that "Thadyen" is the modern Arabic rendering of the original West Semitic name, "Shaddai."
So what have we learned so far?
We've learned that the Amurrites were a people, that at least by the time we encounter them, had divided into two groups. Most likely both groups were originally nomadic, but after the separation, one group remained nomadic, occupying the plains of modern-day Israel, Lebanon and Jordan, while the second group migrated to Syria, near the Euphrates River, where, over time, they abandoned their wandering ways for a more sedentary life, eventually filtering down into Mesopotamia, where they assimilated and ultimately produced Hammurabi, the great uniter, ruler, and law-giver.
We've learned that in Semitic Akkadian, the word, "El," meant, "Lord," as in, "El-l-il," "Lord of Lords."
We've learned that the Semitic Amurrites worshiped a god, Amurru, from which their members got their name, and that another title for Amurru, was Bêl Šadê, or "shaddû`a," in Akkadian - "Lord of the mountain" - pronounced, "sha-day", and that they also payed tribute to "Sin," the god of the moon.
We've learned that the Semitic Hebrews originated with Abram (whose, though definitely Semitic, actual nationality or tribal affiliation, is unknown), who came from Ur, a city-state specifically dedicated to the worship of "Sin," the moon god, migrated from there to Haran, the only other city in Mesopotamia specifically dedicated to the worship of "Sin," the moon god, and that he was "called" to migrate to the area of modern Israel by his self-titled god, "El Shaddai," whose name was considered by some scholars to have come from the Akkadian word, "Šadu," meaning "mountain," thus, "El Saddai," - "Lord of the mountain."
How are we doing so far?
While we're on the subject of Abram/Abraham, let me throw out just one more little piece of information before I wrap this up or my brain explodes, whichever comes first.
Remember how, in 2 Genesis, Chapter 17, Abe's god told him:
17:5 "Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations shall come out of thee."Well, I ran across something while studying the Amurrites (Amorites) that I found definitely food for thought, a ham and cheese for the mind, as it were.
An article in the Jewish Virtual Library discussed the origin of Amurrite (Amorite) names, and I'll finish that thought in a minute, but first a brief explanation of what I mean.
Native Americans, for example, had such descriptive names as, "Crazy Horse" or "Sitting Bull" - of course, those are the English translations of the original Lakota, Sioux words, but you can see what I mean.
Europeans did similar things, back in times when there were no last names. In a village with several guys named, "John," one might differentiate one, if he were a blacksmith, by referring to him as, "John, the smith," which would eventually have been shortened to, "John Smith,' who has singlehandedly signed more motel registries than any other man in the history of men. Or a man named, "Carl," whose father was "John," might have been known as "Carl, John's son," or ultimately, "Carl Johnson," who might name his own son, "James Carlson" - you see how it works --
At any rate, the Jewish Virtual Library remarked that the original language of the Amurrites (Amorites) had all but disappeared in written form, but that when they took over Akkadian Mesopotamia, they transliterated their names, employing words, forms, and linguistic usages most closely paralleled in later West Semitic languages. The site added that the transliterated names were often theophorous - yeah, I had to look it up too, it means, "bearing the name of a god," and has nothing to do with anything glowing in the dark - and that their names were often combined with the names of deities, such as El and Hadad.
Do we know anyone like that? Let's see, Samu-el, Isra-el, Ishma-el, Ezeki-el, Dani-el, Jo-el, El-i-sha, El-i-ja (Elija's folks wanted him to be double-sure of sucking up: "El" for "El Shaddai" and "Ja," for "Jehova," just in case!).
But back to Abe. It turns out, that in Amurrite-transliteration, "ab" means "father," "ah" means "brother," and "am" means "people." There's no word on what "r" meant ("of"?). So "Ab-r-am" could translate to "Father (of) people," while "Ab-r-ah-am" could well mean, "Father (of) brother people." Who knew old Abe knew so much about Amurrites (Amorites)?
Yeah, I know, by themselves, the words make sense, but combined, they seem not to do so, but we know little if anything as to what part word order played, or what might simply be understood, rather than stated.
David Rohl, a British Egyptologist and former director of the Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, suggests the name comes from the Akkadian "the father loves", but scholars would prefer an origin based on Hebrew. Especially if they were scholars defending the Bible.
Let me leave you with an example - if you were a speaker and/or writer of a language other than English, and English really wasn't your best subject in school, could you make sense of the following seeming jumble of words?
"That which is is that which is not is not"
But when you add that which is understood, while not stated, you get:
"That which is, is; that which is not, is not."
pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
Posted by archaeopteryx at 2/16/2012 10:45 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: religion Christianity Islam Judaism Abraham Abram Sarah Lot Abimelech Gerar Philistia Philistine El Shaddai Yahwist Source Redactor Thera Santorini Minoans Mediterranean Sea Sea People Bible Amurrites Amorites Mesopotamia Sin Amurru Lord of the Mountain Jebel Bishri Greek Septuagint Tel eth-Thadyen El Šadu Elohist Source Abu Hureyra
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: religion Christianity Islam Judaism Abraham Abram Sarah Lot Abimelech Gerar Philistia Philistine El Shaddai Yahwist Source Redactor Thera Santorini Minoans Mediterranean Sea Sea People Bible Amurrites Amorites Mesopotamia Sin Amurru Lord of the Mountain Jebel Bishri Greek Septuagint Tel eth-Thadyen El Šadu Elohist Source Abu Hureyra
@archaeopteryx Your Genesis essays featuring analysis from Wellhausen's Documentary hypothesis standpoint are both informative and entertaining. Its obvious you've put a great deal of work into your site and research. Many Thanks.
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