Tanach Thoughts

Fourty years ago, Steven Bowman published an article discussing the possibly meaning of the name of Khirbet Qumran, which gave its name to the famous scrolls found in its vicinity. In the article he raised the likelihood of the word 'qumran' having Syriac-Aramaic origins and coming from the word 'Kumri(a)' (כומרי, כומריא), which means 'priest(s)' (although in Hebrew this root is usually associated with priests of idolatrous religions, and at some point after the rise of Christianity became the common word for Christian priests, Komer (כומר)). He suggested connecting this with a commonly-accepted notion (although I have some doubts) that the ancient Qumran sect(s) was(/were?) a group of priests or had an association with a priestly sect. The exact identification of the ancient settlement that was located at Qumran is debated. Many have suggested Tanachic Sechachah (סככה), others have suggested Tanachic Ir Ha'melach (עיר המלח) as Iron Age remnants were found...

I read on Shabbat a cool paper on the meaning of the word "tzinor" (צינור) as it appears in Tanach. The paper, titled "ויגע בצינור", is by linguist Tzion Okashi and was published very recently in a festschrift for linguist Dr. Uri Melammed, "לקט אורות: אסופת מאמרים לכבוד ד"ר אורי מלמד בהגיעו לשיבה", Yerushalayim 2024, pp. 253-263. The tzinor was most famously mentioned by David in relation to his conquest of Yerushalayim. The near-and-dear bit in the post's title refers to the blog's banner, which is a drawing of a midrashic imagining of another of David's conquests, that of an Amalekite city (see more here ). Both conquests featured Yoav ben Tz'ruyah in a lead role. The word tzinor in modern Hebrew means "pipe" but in context doesn't make sense as the meaning of the tanachic word. Shmuel 2:5:6-9 : "The king and his men set out for Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the region. David was told, “You will ne...