Tanach Thoughts

Some time ago a friend requested my assistance in tracking down info regarding the idolatrous deity Ba'al Zevuv (Beelzebub). I believe he was interested in modern scholarship on the matter and in particular was hoping there'd be archeological data that would shed light on the mystery. So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Spoiler: I didn't find too much, but there are some interesting suggestions out there. Ba'al Zevuv appears in two verses in Melachim 2:1:2-3 : "Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber at Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers, whom he instructed: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” But an angel of G OD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go and confront the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, ‘Is there no God in Israel that you go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?" After which Eliyahu informs Achazyah ( ibid. 4 ): "Assuredly, thus said G OD...

I was perusing Nachum on Shabbat when I came across the following verse ( Nachum 2:8 ): " וְהֻצַּב גֻּלְּתָה הֹעֲלָתָה וְאַמְהֹתֶיהָ מְנַהֲגוֹת כְּקוֹל יוֹנִים מְתֹפְפֹת עַל לִבְבֵהֶן", which roughly translates as " And Huzzab is exiled and carried away, while her handmaidens as with the voices of doves, beating their breasts." The reason that I say "roughly" is because the meaning of the word "הצב" - "Huzzab" is unclear. Traditional commentary typically states that it may have been the name of the Assyrian queen. Malbim has a different suggestion which is that Huzzab means that she was led away in a "turtle-wagon" (עגלת צב), and that her name was גלתה - Guletah (Malbim connects this to the root גלת - GLT in Tiglat-Pileser's name. I'm not sure that particular point holds water in the Assyrian language, though). Even before seeing Malbim, it occurred to me that Guletah may indeed be a name and may derive from the Assyr...

 Malbim on Chronicles 1:9:2  writes that ch. 9 is parallelized by chapter 11 of Nechemiah. The two complete one another. Each is based on different info sources that were in front of Ezra (Nechemiah originally being part of the Book of Ezra). Per this, I had an idea earlier today to try and recreate the full list. I did this by first making a chart that compared both chapters (Apologies in advance that it's only in Hebrew at the moment): דברי הימים א' ט' נחמיה י"א וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל הִתְיַחְשׂוּ וְהִנָּם כְּתוּבִים עַל סֵפֶר מַלְכֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה הָגְלוּ לְבָבֶל בְּמַעֲלָם.   וְהַיּוֹשְׁבִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר בַּאֲחֻזָּתָם בְּעָרֵיהֶם יִשְׂרָאֵל הַכֹּהֲנִים הַלְוִיִּם וְהַנְּתִינִים. וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׂרֵי הָעָם בִּירוּשָׁלָ‍ִם וּשְׁאָר הָעָם הִפִּילוּ גוֹרָלוֹת לְהָבִיא אֶחָד מִן הָעֲשָׂרָה לָשֶׁבֶת בִּירוּשָׁלַ‍ִם עִיר הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְתֵשַׁע הַיָּדוֹת בֶּעָרִים. וַיְבָרֲכוּ הָעָם לְכֹל הָאֲנָשִׁים ...