Further Thoughts on Efron and Chevron

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 Arnan (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 Chronicles). The site was bought from him by David, and would eventually become the place of the Holy of Holies and the Aron Ha'berit/Ark of the Covenant (I discussed that wordplay here). Perhaps by way of thanking Arnan, the name of his former threshing-floor was mentioned when Shlomo started building the Temple (Chronicles 2:3:1). And as it's Sukkot, reciters of Hosha'anot will likely be aware that the term 'Goren Arnan' is still used as a poetic appellation for the Temple.

Shomron was the Israelite capital built on a plot of land sold to Omri by a man named Shemer (Kings 1:16:24). For reasons unclear to me to this day, I had always believed that Shemer was a non-Israelite and Omri would go on to be praised by the sages for freeing land from Canaanite/non-Israelite control. However, several commentators believed that Shemer was an Israelite and Omri was praised simply for building a city in Israel. Either way, Shomron was named after Shemer, likely as a way of thanking him for his willingness to part with the land.

Both of these parallels suggest that it was common courtesy in Eretz Yisrael to preserve the seller's name in the plot of land, as a way of thanking that man for his willingness to deal fairly. That also strengthens the likelihood of Chevron being named after the seller, Efron.