Xireq Compaginis
Perhaps the most mysterious name in the entire Bible is the name of Esau’s
first wife, at Genesis 26: 34. Certainly it can’t be “Judith” meaning “
Jewess”: (i) there were no Jews or Jewesses in the Patriarchal Age; (ii)
Esau is not within Isaac’s line of Hebrews [having been displaced in that
regard by his younger twin brother Jacob]; and (iii) the text is going out
of its way to portray Esau as marrying a foreigner, a XTY. Yet though “
Judith”/“Jewess” certainly cannot be right, nevertheless no better explanation
has hitherto been forthcoming. The key to solving this 3,000-year-old
Biblical mystery is: xireq compaginis.
Rashi correctly observed that xireq compaginis was a rare, archaic way of
showing emphasis, and that although often confused with genitive case, in
fact xireq compaginis is not genitive case, either in form or function. It
has previously been thought that outside of poetry and proper names, there
is only one prose passage in the entire Bible that preserves the archaic
xireq compaginis:
“[T]he xireq compaginis is definitely an archaic morpheme. With the
exception of two occurrences of this morpheme in Genesis 31: 39 [in the
Patriarchal narratives], a prose passage, all the remaining instances [in the
Bible] are confined to poetry[ and proper names, including] Gen. 49.11 [in the
Patriarchal narratives]….” Scott C. Layton [of Harvard], “Archaic Features
of Canaanite Personal Names in the Hebrew Bible” (1990), p. 116.
But recognizing that xireq compaginis is not genitive case, but rather can
function like a modern dash, being an archaic orthographic device that
shows emphasis, we in fact can see xireq compaginis at Genesis 26: 34. All
prior analyses have parsed the key phrase here as follows: )T - YHWDYT.
But consider the following alternative parsing, which sees -Y- as being xireq
compaginis: )T - Y -- HWDY-T. All of a sudden the name of Esau’s XTY
wife makes perfect sense, and turns out to be but a mere orthographic
variant of XTY. Note the attested Hurrian woman’s name Xu-ú-te. Note also
that
Xu-ti and also be Xu-ú-ti, that Xu-ti can be Xu-di, and that Xu-ti-ia can
be Xu-di-ia. The name of Esau’s XTY wife is, prior to the -T feminine
ending: Xu-ú-di-ia, rendered in alphabetical Hebrew as HWDY. [Yes, the first
letter should really be X/heth, not H/he, but it’s the same cuneiform sign,
XU, and Hurrian has no he/H. The final -Y, as always, is the theophoric
-ia. The name of the goddess Heba is usually written Hebat, with the final
-T being a feminine ending.]
Instead of incongruously meaning “Jewess” in west Semitic, or having no
identifiable meaning, the name of Esau’s first wife now, for the first time,
makes perfect sense on all levels. That yod/Y is an archaic xireq
compaginis, which is there for emphasis, in order to make us pay attention to
whom
is going to be stated to be Esau’s XTY wives. The basic name of Esau’s
first wife is HWDY/Xu-ú-di-ia, with feminine ending -T, and preceded by yod/Y
as a xireq compaginis. It’s the same basic name as XTY itself, which is
Xu-ti-ia, differing primarily only as to attested Late Bronze Age spelling
differences.
Another 3,000-year-old Biblical mystery bites the dust. Just think xireq
compaginis, and suddenly the otherwise completely inexplicable name of Esau’
s first XTY wife makes perfect sense on all levels.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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