The historically important element in a vav nun suffix is the vav, not the
nun. In the Bible, MGD-W is a rare case of a vav suffix. Another classic
vav suffix is found on the famous Israel Stele, also called the Merneptah
Stele, from the late 13th century BCE, which is described in relevant part by
Anson Rainey at p. 99 of “The Sacred Bridge” (2006) as follows:
“The fourth line from the top and the third line from the bottom refer to
Canaan and Kharu (X3-rw = Xa-ru; = Xurru?), the latter being a confirmed
synonym for Canaan during this period.”
It is most unfortunate that scholars insist on treating a final vav in the
Late Bronze Age as being a vowel. It wasn’t. At that early date, vav was a
true consonant, which functioned like a true consonant, and was not a
vowel. A final vav is the classic non-Semitic way to turn a name or word into
a
geographical place name (as was frequently the case at Nuzi, for example).
The cuneiform spelling of this name is XURW, though unfortunately that is
usually set forth in reference works as Huru or Hurru. The vowel sound after
the heth differs, but the three consonants are identical in the Egyptian
and cuneiform renderings: X-vowel-R-W. The Egyptians were deliberately
insulting the people of Canaan by calling greater Canaan X3RW, emphasizing that
Canaan had, in the 14th century BCE, been taken over by non-Semitic people
from eastern Syria as the new ruling class. Not surprisingly, the people of
Ugarit and the Hebrews did not look at things that way, so neither in
Ugaritic nor in Hebrew does one ever see that awful name XRW.
But by the 10th century BCE, the non-Semitic people were but a memory in
Canaan, including the memory of non-Semitic princeling rulers like Tagi having
dominated the Aijalon Valley in the Amarna Age. So when it came time to
name twin cities near the Aijalon Valley in the 10th century BCE, the locals
went back to this same old name. Except this time, since it was the 1st
millennium BCE, the now inexplicable final vav was dropped completely. At item
#24 on the Shoshenq list of conquests in Canaan, we see BT XWRN. The now
mysterious final vav, a non-Semitic consonant, has been dropped, being
replaced by a simple west Semitic -N suffix, with no vav. That’s the 1st
millennium BCE way in non-biblical sources: jettison the now inexplicable
final vav
[a non-Semitic consonant], and instead simply have a west Semitic -N suffix,
with no vav and no preceding vowel.
Although the Hebrew lexicons s-a-y that Horon is spelled in the Bible
with a vav nun suffix, anyone with a Bible can prove that wrong. In 5 of the 7
occurrences in Joshua, the spelling is XWRN: Joshua 10: 10-11; 16: 3, 5;
Joshua 21: 22. Note that those 5 spellings in Joshua accurately match the
10th century BCE Shoshenq list spelling, letter for letter. One has to
suspect scribal error at Joshua 18: 13-14, where the vav got put in the wrong
place: XRWN. [Yes, Chronicles uses two vavs to spell Horon, but who would
trust Chronicles for accurate ancient spelling?] [I suppose I shouldn’t
mention how scholars explain the name Horon, but I will. Theory #1 is that
Beth
Horon means “House of the Trogloldytes”, or people who live in hollows or
caves. The second theory is that Horon is the god XRN, who if attested at
all (which is doubtful), is last mentioned in about the year 1900 or so, a
thousand years before the name Beth Horon is attested.]
There are at least 26 geographical place names in the Bible that end with a
vav nun suffix. Rather than that vav being a 1st millennium BCE plene
spelling update, with the vav being a meaningless vowel, in fact that vav is
the
key part of the vav nun suffix. In most cases, that vav reflects the world
of the Late Bronze Age, a world in which west Semitic languages recorded
virtually no vowels in writing. That vav in those Biblical vav nun suffixes
was originally a true consonant, just as was the final vav in MGD-W and
X3R-W. The late 13th century BCE Israel Stele confirms that a final vav in an
ancient geographical place name, and by extension the vav in a vav nun suffix
in an ancient geographical place name, is not a mere vowel. No, it’s a
non-Semitic true consonant that is utterly redolent of the Late Bronze Age.
Consequently, the fact that Biblical Hebrew common words and personal names
that have a vav nun suffix are concentrated in the Patriarchal narratives
confirms a Late Bronze Age composition date for that truly ancient Biblical
text.
Note that there’s no vav in the jar handles from 1st millennium BCE Gibeon,
no vav in the LMLK seals for the city of Hebron, no semi-final vav in the
non-biblical spelling of Horon at the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE,
and no semi-final vav in 5 of the 7 spellings of Horon in Joshua. Far from
being a mid-1st millennium BCE addition to Biblical Hebrew, the vav is
entirely absent from geographical place name suffixes ending in nun in
non-biblical
sources from the 1st millennium BCE. The place to see the vav nun suffix
in abundance in common words and personal names, rather, is in the oldest
part of the Bible, which was composed in the Late Bronze Age: the Patriarchal
narratives.
In a vav nun suffix, it’s the vav, a true consonant, that’s all-important.
Until we see that vav as being a true consonant, functioning as a
consonant (not as a vowel, not as a vowel indicator, and not as a matres
lectionis,
but rather originally having been a non-Semitic true consonant genitive case
marker), we will never appreciate how ancient and accurate the Patriarchal
narratives are.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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