Tanach Thoughts

So, a few minutes ago I submitted another Tanach-related paper to a fairly good Israeli Tanach journal. This is not my Levitical Cities paper. I decided to take an extended break from that one to clear my head and finish my BA schoolwork. During my spare time, I focused on three projects in particular: Two Tanach papers and a midrash paper. So, the first of these papers, which was submitted today, is about a curious verse in Melachim, which Biblical Criticism scholars have (naturally) thought to be distorted. I propose in the paper two chiddushim: The first explains why the verse is not distorted and in fact can be explained easily based on a phenomenon found in colloquial Hebrew throughout the ages (yup - from Tanachic times [including epigraphic sources!!] through modern Israeli Hebrew). The second proposes a new interpretation for the verse as a whole, drawing on symbolism and comparison to many other sources. I'd love to share more, but I'd like to see this thing get throug...

After my recent post on the titular topic, I noticed that Yehoshua 14:15 explicitly states that Chevron was originally named Kiryat Arba after Arba, father of the three main giants who lived in Chevron (Achiman, Sheshai and Talmai). That means that when Avraham was dealing with Efron in Chevron, it likely still hadn't been renamed! Which of course strengthens my suggestion that Chevron was named after Efron. I would suggest that the variant Chevron, which contains the root Chaver (חבר, friend), was chosen because it symbolized the hand of friendship that Efron had extended Avraham, and naming the city after the former was a way of showing thanks to him for that. I was also reminded of two parallels: Goren Aravnah and Shomron. Goren Aravnah or Goren A rnan (the threshing-floor of Aravnah/Arnan) was some sort of threshing compound on the top of what was to become the Temple Mount in the time of David, originally owned by a Yevusi man named Aravnah (in Shmuel) or Arnan (in Chronicl...

A strange thought passed through my mind during kriat ha'Torah today: What if Chevron was named after Efron? Explanation: The Hebrew letters Ayin (ע) and Chet (ח) sometimes get mixed up in variant Semitic dialects, including Hebrew and Aramaic. So, for example, the midrash notes  that in the Galilee people pronounced the proper noun Chivim ( ח ויא, Hivites) as Ivim ( ע ויא, Ivites)  (this midrash is originally in Beresheet Rabbah, however the version brought in Sefaria is distorted and has אויא with an Alef instead of עויא) . Similarly, the letters Peh (פ) and Bet (ב) also get mixed up. For example, in Bavli Shabbat 57b a braita is quoted, where it says that a woman may go out with a ס ב כה (hairnet) on Shabbat. However, in the parallel Tosefta, it says a woman may go out with a ס פ כה ( link ). And there are many other examples for both, and from different time periods. So, if we change the letters Ayin and Peh (well, Pheh in this case) in Efron (עפרון) with Chet and Bet (Ve...