Karl:
Quoting from your post, here are two key words which, in your opinion,
characterize the Patriarchs’ XBRWN: “desert” and “higher altitude”. But
neither of those words is used in the last 40 chapters of Genesis in describing
the Patriarchs’ XBRWN. Nor do we see the Hebrew words for “up” or “hilly”
or “mountain” used in connection with the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, though it’s
hard to talk about Hebron without using those words.
As to your post’s reference to “a nearby lookout point that could see many
miles distance”, that lookout point cannot in fact be “nearby”, because
Genesis 19: 27 says [per the JPS 1985 translation]: “Next morning, Abraham
hurried to the place where he had stood before the LORD”, where $QM means “to
rise or start early”. Robert Alter’s translation is similar: “And
Abraham hastened early in the morning to the place where he had stood in the
presence of the LORD.” Abraham is only a few minutes’ walk from his tent when,
per Genesis 18: 22 [Alter translation]: “And the men [angels] turned from
there and went on toward Sodom while the LORD was still standing before
Abraham.” So the place at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN where Abraham stood before
YHWH
is just a few minutes’ walk from Abraham’s tent. Abraham would not have
to get up early and hasten to a place just a few minutes away from his tent
in order to see the destruction of Sodom. No, he’s got to travel 5-10 miles
or so, out of the “valley” that is referred to at Genesis 37: 14, before
Abraham can get to a spot where he can see the destruction of Sodom.
Everything the text says works perfectly if (i) Abraham is sojourning near the
low-lying village of )LWN [I Samuel 10: 3, meaning “Oak Tree Village”] in the
northeast corner of the Aijalon Valley, about 5-10 miles west of Bethel, and
(ii) Abraham has to get up early and hasten to the towering mountains at
Bethel in order to see Sodom’s destruction. When Abraham is at the Patriarchs’
XBRWN, he is not living a few minutes’ walk from “a nearby lookout point”
from which one can see Sodom, though the only place where Abraham stands
before YHWH at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN is indeed only a few minutes’ walk from
Abraham’s tent. Abraham must go back to Bethel to witness the destruction of
Sodom. Then “from there”, per the opening of Genesis 20: 1, Abraham will
go on to GRR. The phrase “from there”, M$M, means “from Bethel”, and
cannot mean “from the Patriarchs’ XBRWN”. Abraham must have gone to a place a
fair distance from the Patriarchs’ XBRWN to see Sodom’s destruction, namely
to Bethel, which in turn must be on the way to where Abraham goes next,
namely GRR/Galilee. Abraham first goes to Bethel to see Sodom’s destruction,
and then “from there”/M$M Abraham proceeds on farther north to GRR/Galilee.
See how all the Hebrew words in the text make perfect sense if the
Patriarchs’ XBRWN is in the eastern Aijalon Valley? [Karl, you will be amused
to
learn that scholars strongly dislike the word M$M at Genesis 20: 1, precisely
because it does not fit their view/your view that Abraham witnessed the
destruction of Sodom from the Patriarchs’ XBRWN. But if Abraham went to Bethel
to see Sodom’s destruction, and then continued on “from there” up north to
GRR/Galilee, then the Hebrew word M$M is perfect, and perfectly natural, in
all regards.]
You talk about “desert oaks” possibly being at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, but
once again, there is not a single village, city or valley in southern hill
country whose name refers to “oak trees”, whereas villages with names that
refer to “oak trees”, and a valley as well, are well-attested in the
Shephelah.
Karl, all of the Hebrew words in the last 40 chapters of Genesis seem to
support my view of where the Patriarchs’ XBRWN was located. If you are right
and I am wrong about the geographical location of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, why
is it that you cannot cite a single word in the Patriarchal narratives that
contravenes my view? There is no “desert” or “higher altitude” or “up”
or “mountains” or “hilly” in the eastern Aijalon Valley, that’s for sure.
But though you often cite concepts like that as allegedly characterizing
the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, none of such words appear in the last 40 chapters of
Genesis in describing the Patriarchs’ XBRWN. Isn’t that telling us
something? All the Hebrew words that are in the Patriarchal narratives’
description
of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN -- opposite of “east” of Bethel, “oak trees”, “
oak tree villages”, villages named “Oak Tree Village”, Amorite/“Mamre”,
Hurrian names like “Aner” and xa-vur-u-ne/XBRWN, and “valley” -- fit the
eastern Aijalon Valley perfectly, though references to Amorites and Hurrians
only make historical sense in the Amarna Age. Shouldn’t we pay closer
attention to what Hebrew words are actually in the received text in trying to
determine the geographical locale of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN? Tent-dwellers in
large numbers are never attested in any time period in southern hill country,
whereas tent-dwellers are attested in large numbers in the Aijalon Valley in
the Amarna Age, with some tent-dwellers near Aijalon even being specifically
stated to use writing [Amarna Letter EA 273: 15-24]. An Amorite ruler,
having the apt Patriarchal nickname of “Mamre”, dominated the region [the
Aijalon Valley] where the Patriarchs’ XBRWN was located, just as Genesis 13:
18,
14: 13 and 18: 1 tell us three times over, per the Amarna Letters. But there
’s nothing like that attested in southern hill country.
Geography is destiny. If we look at the actual Hebrew words that are used
in Genesis to describe the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, we see that everything fits
the eastern Aijalon Valley in the mid-14th century BCE. If that view of mine
is wrong, then why can’t you cite a single Hebrew word in Genesis that
contradicts my view as to the geographical location of the Patriarchs’ XBRWN?
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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