David Kolinsky wrote: “Is there any extra- biblical evidence that a
people named AMaLeQ ever existed?”
The answer to that has everything to do with language, and as such should
be a fit topic for the b-hebrew list.
No historical people bore the group name Amalekites [Genesis 14: 7], or
the following group names at Genesis 15: 19-21: Kenites, Kenizzites,
Perizzites, Girgashites, or Jebusites. Rather, these are Hurrian personal
names
that the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives is using as
nicknames for the historical Hurrians of his day. [On the linguistic front,
the
main non-obvious fact to figure out is that Hebrew yod/Y is used to render
the Hurrian true vowel A as its own separate syllable. More Hurrian names
begin with the Hurrian true vowel A than in any other way, such as
A-bu-u-$e-ya/“Jebusites”.]
1. “Amalekites” : (MLQY : A-ma-li-qa-ya : the Teshup Sees people.
[For all six names, the final Hebrew yod/Y does double duty. On the one
hand, it’s the universal theophoric represented by the cuneiform sign I.A in
the
Amarna Letters for west Semitic, Hurrian and Egyptian names, which
historically was particularly common for Hurrian names, and is here translated
in
context as “Teshup”. But on the other hand, that final yod/Y is
simultaneously the west Semitic standard suffix that means “people”. Hebrew
ayin/( is the old-style way in chapter 14 of Genesis to render the Hurrian
true
vowel A as its own separate syllable.]
2. “Kenites” : QYNY : Qa-a-ni-ya : the Teshup Is Firm people.
[Hebrew yod/Y as the second letter is the normal way to render the Hurrian
true
vowel A as its own separate syllable.]
3. “Kenizzites” : QNZY : Qa-ni-zi-ya : the Blessed Teshup Is Firm
people.
4. “Perizzites” : PRZY : Pi-ri-zi-ya : the Blessed Teshup Is Lord
people.
5. “Girgashites” : GRG$Y : Ge-ra-ge-$e-ya : the Being Freed by
Teshup people. [Although the sibilant is shown as a shin/$ here, it’s also
attested as a sin/%.]
6. “Jebusites: : YBWSY : A-bu-u-$e-ya : the Saved by Teshup People.
[Hebrew yod/Y as the first letter is used to render the Hurrian true vowel
A as its own separate syllable. In cuneiform, samekh/S equates to shin/$,
and samekh/S does not equate to sin/%.]
None of these peoples are fictional. Rather, instead of always using their
proper name, XRY, the early Hebrew author of the Patriarchal narratives
most often referred to them by using an apt Hurrian personal name as a
nickname. Note that each of the above six names exemplifies an important
historical characteristic of the Hurrians.
As to a linguistic point made in another connection by Dave Washburn, we
might note that the cuneiform used to record Hurrian names and to record
these Biblical Hurrian names forces a CV basic format [with some vowel-only
syllables as well]. Whether the actual pronunciation, in Hurrian or in the
Hebrew pronunciation of these Biblical Hurrian names, was often CVC or not,
we cannot tell from the cuneiform. Also, although I have shown the interior
-a- in #2 above as being a separate syllable, it’s perhaps more likely
that it was an orthographic convention that meant that the prior A vowel was
long, rather than being pronounced in its own right. That’s the way it
worked in Akkadian, and #2 and #3 are attested Hurrian personal names that are
based on an Akkadian verb, but we cannot tell directly from the cuneiform
renderings.
Linguistic analysis reveals that the above six peoples are not fictional,
as often alleged. Rather, they are the historical Hurrians, who are being
referred to by clever, fitting nicknames that utilize attested Hurrian
personal names.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illlinois
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