Jim You wrote:
'Isn?t
it the presence of one awful Canaanite ruler at Shechem, north of Bethel, and
one awful Perizzite ruler at Jerusalem, south of Bethel, that leads Abram to
make the wise decision that both Abram and Lot should leave the Bethel area?
Abram and Lot don?t need to sojourn together, because
those two awful rulers are largely limited to operating in hill country between
Shechem
and Jerusalem” because those two awful rulers are largely limited to operating
in hill country between Shechem and Jerusalem. So if, per Genesis 13: 11, Lot
and Abram exit Bethel by going east and west (with hill country running north
and south), both Lot and Abram will thereby neatly avoid both of those awful
individual
rulers.”
There is much debate as to the nature and origin of the Perizzites and this
has a bearing on the whole story.
The Hebrew word for Perizzite is פְּרִזִּי P@rizziy {per-iz-zee')meaning
“belonging to a village” “rural”. “rustics” according to Strong 6522. They are
defined as “people who live in unwalled villages” Easton defines them as
“Villagers: dwellers in the open country”
P@rizziy is close to the Hebrew word פְּרָזִי p@raziy {per-aw-zee'}
meaning “villager, rural dweller, hamlet-dweller”
The words are so close that on several occasions where
the KJV uses the words “unwalled villages” the Septuagint
translates it is Perizzite. (1Samuel 6:18, Deut 3:5)
Perizzite corresponds to the Egyptian word “fellah”. Some say an unidentified
word occurs in the Egyptian vocabularywhich may refer to the Perizzites:"Pirati"
All of this precludes the Perizzites from living in the fortified town of
Jerusalem....meaning no "awful Perizzite ruler" in Jerusalem...it is unknown if
the Perizziteshad a ruler and Jerusalem was a Jebusite city in any case....and
was ruled by Melchizedek in the time of Abraham.
And why would Abraham seek an east west route to escape the Perizzites when
according to the Septuagint Perizzites lived atShechem (Gen 34:30) and were
among the Rephaites, in Carmel, at Gezer, The Aijalon Valley and so on?
In Joshua 17:15 Joshua tells the Ephraimites “ then get you up to the wood
country, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of
the giants “
after they complained the Hill Country was not enough for them.
These Perizzites are specifically mentioned as living in the heavy Forests of
Ephraim. Therefore where is the logicin Abraham travelling west of Bethel to
escape them?
As for the ruler of Jerusalem being “awful” as you put it, are
you claiming Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem, was an evil man that Abraham
feared?
Why is the explanation for Abraham's split from Lot, given in the bible and
expanded in the Targums ignored and theories about a supposedly evil
Melchizedek substituted?
Is there some bias against accepting or even just considering, the Jewish
version of the story?
In the Targums while Abraham told his shepherds to prevent the cattle from
grazing on the property of the Canaanites
Lot's men allowed his cattle to trespass. Abraham told his men,
“Go not to the Kenaanaee and Pherizaee; for as yet they have possession in the
land.” Abraham recognized that the Canaanites owned the land and he was a
guest. The strife was between the shepherds over the violation of the
property of the Canaanites and
Perizzites...According to the Talmud, the Canaanites complained to Abraham. To
diffuse the situation and appease his neighbors decides to leave the area
entirely and tells Lot “ separate then from me. If thou to the north, I to the
south: if thou to the south, I to the north. “
Abraham is not concerned with some fictional “awful ruler” in Shechem
where he'd built an altar in peace and where Jacob would live for a while. Nor
did he fear Melchizedek, who later paid him the honor of bringing bread and
wine, a traditional sign of respect.
Abraham was, according to the Targums, a righteous man who respected
the fact he was a stranger in a foreign land in the possession of the
Canaanites and wanted to live peacefully amongst them. He sought to be a
"good neighbor" and did not wish to make his name "stink" as Jacob put it.
The prevailing opinion is the Perizzites weren't Canaanites, but were
likely a Semitic group, possibly an amalgamation ofseveral groups of people who
preferred life in the country over a wide area of Canaan. Rob Acosta
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