Gaddi Zack:
You wrote: “Indeed, the connection makes some sense as there are clearly
North Arabian / South Sinaite input into the early Israelite culture,
religion and possibly very ethnicity. The Midianites dwelt in this region.”
1. To the best of my knowledge, no word or name similar to “Midianite” is
attested in the ancient world for a people or region in Arabia (or east
Africa).
2. A different explanation, then, should be explored in explaining four
names similar to this that appear in the Patriarchal narratives. At Genesis
25: 2, two of Abraham’s sons by a minor wife who are sent out east
[presumably to Naharim] are called MDN and MDYN. At Genesis 37: 28, certain
people
who are apparently on their way to Egypt, and who accordingly presumably have
come from the east [perhaps Naharim], and who are alternatively referred to
as Ishmaelites [some of whom we know from Genesis 25: 18 settled far to the
east, as far east as Assyria], are called MDYNYM. At Genesis 37: 36 these
same people are called H-MDNYM. Now consider that in Amarna Letter EA 116:
70, Naharim in eastern Syria is called mi-ta-na, and at EA 75: 38 it is
referred to as mi-it-ta-ni-ma. Where T and D are often interchangeable within
Hurrian, and where it would be no surprise for Hebrew dalet/D to be used to
render Hurrian T, these Biblical Hebrew names look like they may be
referencing historical Mitanni in eastern Syria. In particular, MDN looks like
Mi-ta-na and, where a doubled consonant in Hurrian is never doubled in the
Hebrew
rendering, MDNYM looks like mi-it-ta-ni-ma. At least in the Patriarchal
narratives, the “Midianites” are people from Mitanni in eastern Syria, not
from Arabia. Consider what the text of Genesis says:
“Abraham took a wife, and her name [was] Keturah. And she bare him…Medan
[MDN], and Midian [MDYN]…. [U]nto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham
had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away…eastward, unto the east country.
” Genesis 25: 1, 2, 6
We see that in the Patriarchal narratives, MDN and MDYN are not associated
with Arabia, but rather are associated with the Amarna Age Hurrian state of
Mitanni/Mi-ta-na/MDN in eastern Syria.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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