The only place in the entire Hebrew Bible where one sees the precise phrase
MQWM [city name], with no letter in front of MQWM and nothing after MQWM except
the city name, is Genesis 12: 6. Why is that? What does MQWM $KM actually
mean, and why is no other place ever referred to in that precise way?
If the second half of Genesis 14: 4 means what it says and says what it means,
then the question answers itself. On that view, Genesis 12: 6 relates to Year
12. If the hieratic docket number on Amarna Letter EA 254 is “Year 12” [which
is one of two competing scholarly views as to that docket number], then in Year
12 the o-n-l-y major city-state in all of Canaan was, for an extremely short
period of time, Shechem. (It seemed on the verge of dominating most of Canaan
south of the Jezreel Valley.) In the historical context of Year 12, MQWM $KM
means “the major city-state of Shechem”. [And Yes, on that view of EA 254 the
ruler of Shechem in Year 12 was indeed a “Canaanite”, just as Genesis 12: 6
accurately asserts, even though at that time few cities in Canaan had Canaanite
rulers.] The p-i-n-p-o-i-n-t historical accuracy of the Patriarchal
narratives is absolutely stunning, if we know what precise time period is being
referenced.
If the second half of Genesis 14: 4 means what it says and says what it means,
then many otherwise inexplicable aspects of the Biblical text become
self-explanatory. That’s why the Hebrew grammar of the second half of Genesis
14: 4 is so very important.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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