Gesenius says: “)YLWN {“oak” see )LWN}”.
Another source says regarding Judges 12: 12: “Elon [)YLWN], the oak, or "the
strong one," is buried in Aijalon [)YLWN], the "city of strong ones"…. J.E.
Thorold Rogers, “Bible Folklore: A Story in Comparative Mythology” (2003), at
p. 95.
If )L-WN is the plene spelling of )L-N, and if )L-WN can have the same meaning
as )YL-WN [as asserted by Gesenius], then (i) “Aijalon”/)YL-WN could mean “oak
tree city” [in addition to meaning “the city of strong ones”], and (ii) the
references at Genesis 13: 18; 14: 13; 18: 1 to )L-N could be a reference to
Aijalon/)YL-WN, that is, “oak tree city”, in addition to referencing “oak
trees”.
If so, then X-BR-W-N at Genesis 13: 18 is referring to the Aijalon Valley in
the Shephelah, not the towering Hebron Mountains in southern hill country.
Prior to post-exilic times, there is nothing in non-biblical sources to connect
X-BR-W-N to the city northwest of the Judean Desert that is surrounded by the
towering Hebron Mountains.
George Athas wrote: “Jim, I don't see anything here that you're offering for
discussion. You're just pseudo-publishing a theory.”
What I am “offering for discussion” is the Hebrew linguistic question of
whether )L-N at Genesis 13: 18 could be a reference to )YL-WN/Aijalon in the
Shephelah. Genesis 12: 9 and Genesis 13: 3 are logically referring to the
Shephelah, through which Abram and Lot passed “in stages”. When Lot shortly
thereafter went east of Bethel, Abram logically returned west to where Abram
and Lot had just recently traversed “by stages”, namely the rural Aijalon
Valley in the Shephelah, which [unlike the towering Hebron Mountains] was an
ideal place for sheep and goats.
To me, Genesis 13: 3 and Genesis 13: 18 are both referencing the same place:
the Shephelah. That’s what Hebrew linguistics is telling us, if )L-N at
Genesis 13: 18 could be a reference to )YL-WN/Aijalon in the Shephelah.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
-----Original Message-----
From: George Athas <[email protected]>
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; B-Hebrew
<[email protected]>
Sent: Thu, Apr 14, 2011 11:08 pm
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "Oak Tree" in Biblical Hebrew
Jim, I don't see anything here that you're offering for discussion. You're just
seudo-publishing a theory. Unless there's a specific issue for engaging, please
on't treat B-Hebrew like your own journal space.
EORGE ATHAS
oore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
ww.moore.edu.au
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