Tanach Thoughts

I'm happy to share that my first Tanach paper has been published and is now available online: Hoham, King of Hebron, Jewish Bible Quarterly 53:2 (2025), pp. 87-96. It can be found both on the issue's webpage and on academia.edu .

A few weeks ago, one of my papers was accepted for publication by the Jewish Bible Quarterly! It's a paper on Hoham, king of Chevron (Hebron) during the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan in Sefer Yehoshua. Yep, my favorite: Writing about details in Tanach no one thinks about twice. In this case, the most anyone's done is suggest etymologies for his name. One scholar suggested an Anatolian etymology for his name, from " ẖuẖ(ẖ)a " , meaning ‘grandfather’, with an added Hebrew suffix of " (-a)m " . In the paper I suggest a biblically-rooted etymology, which connects him to various giants mentioned in other books of Tanach, and then propose some background for this otherwise obscure figure. I won't spoil much, but I'll definitely link it here once it goes online (should be in about half a year)! In other news, tomorrow I'll be delivering a lecture on my Levitical Cities paper. I'm super nervous about it. But, in other other news, a non-Tan...

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...

Just a quick tidbit I came across now: A Late Antiquity silver lamella (an amulet text inscribed on a sheet of metal, often silver or gold) in Hebrew, Wolfe NA 3, includes the following quote: "ועמהם שבעת המלאכים שיאצאו עם יהושע בנון מחוץ למחנה..." "And with them the seven angels that exited with Yehoshua Binun the encampment..." According to Ohad Abudraham, who published the lamella in the essay ''Joshua Son of Nun and the Seven Angels': a Hebrew lamella from the Wolfe Collection', Journal of Jewish Studies  72 (2021), pp. 45-58, this type of spelling may be the rationale behind Ramban's explanation for why Yehoshua was called b i n Nun instead of b e n Nun. Ramban wrote that it was because the word "binun" (בינון) was a nickname, referring to his tevunah (תבונה), his wisdom. So, we have here evidence of Jews of Antiquity seemingly agreeing with Ramban's idea. Perhaps they did not think up of an explanation themselves but simply c...

As promised, a post on why I was unable to find time to make the second part of the Shiloh destruction posts for over a month. It was because, as previously mentioned here , I had gone on a month-long excavation in Tel Tibnah/Tibna/Tibneh (however you want to spell), an archeological tel in Southwest Shomron (Samaria). We were quite busy there and between the archeological work and my work as a volunteer translator of our social media posts, as well as occasional breaks, I couldn't find the time to make the post. I thought I would use the following post to discuss some of the Tanachic-era findings from the site. Not everything has been properly studied yet, though, so there's not that much to say right now. The site is identified by pretty much all scholars with the Roman-era regional capital city Timnah. Some scholars also identify it with Timnat Serach or Timnah Cheres, the city of Yehoshua bin Nun. During this first season of excavations, we mostly found Roman and Hellenisti...

This week's parsha features Bnei Yisrael passing through Edom and the two Emorite countries - Sichon's country and Og's country ( Bamidbar 21:21-35 ). Og was the last of the Rephaim ( Devarim 3:11 ), a race of giants that were wiped out way back during the War of the Four and Five Kings in Beresheet ( 14:5 ). Some midrashim state that Sichon was also a giant, of the antediluvian kind (for example, Devarim Rabbah 11:10 ). Looking through Tanach it occurred to me that giants might be frightening, but they obviously aren't unbeatable. David and his men defeated a number of giants, and, as mentioned already, the four Mesopotamian kings managed to defeat the Rephaim. And yet, two parshas ago, when the spies told Bnei Yisrael that there were Anakim in the Land of Yisrael ( Bamidbar 13:28 ), Kalev and Yehoshua said nothing about "hey, guys, giants are not unbeatable!" Kalev made a more generalized statement, that "yes we can, because we have Hashem!" ( ibid...

Hey to whomever may read this post and might find this relevant: As you may or may not know, I study archeology in Bar-Ilan University. In a little over a month, we'll be opening up a digging season in a very Tanach-related site called in Arabic Tel Tibneh or Khirbet Tibneh and in Hebrew: Tel Timna . For about 160 years or so, it's been identified with Timnat Serach , AKA Timnat Cheres, which is most famous for being the home of Yehoshua bin Nun. The site has never actually been excavated before, so it's rich in potential. Past surveys of the site have identified Roman-era tombs and a columbarium, as well as a Roman road nearby, now covered by a modern road. One of the tombs has been identified with Yehoshua's tomb. So, if relevant for you and you're interested, we're looking for more volunteers. Here's the ad for the dig: For more info as well as updates, check out the project's Facebook page .

Never mind now what animal the Tanachic Re'em was (my favorite opinion is Rabbi Ahron Marcus's, that it was the elephant, but I am aware that the popular opinion is that it was the Aurochs) , Re'em is usually spelled in Hebrew ראם, but there are some variants: רמים (sing. רם - Tehillim 22:22), ראים (Tehillim 92:11), רים (Iyov 39:9-10). Re'em appears to be connected to the word רם - Ram, great (in size). In other words, we are talking about a large animal. I noticed something interesting a couple of days ago. There are two cities in Tanach said to have been called Ramot - ראמות: One is Ramot in the Gilad ( one of the cities of refuge and a Levitical city - Devarim 4:43, Yehoshua 20:8, Chronicles 1:6:65) and the other is Ramot in the territory of Yissachar (later a Levitical city - Chronicles 1:6:58). Anyway, there's no huge chiddush here, I just find it interesting that the root ראם exists also in the names of cities that were likely high up, topographically-speaking...

 Crazy theory time: Bnei Yisrael knew what to do with their weapons. In Shemot 13:18 it says: "Now the Israelites went up armed..." If we follow the plainer interpretation of the word 'chamushim', then it will mean 'armed' as used in this translation, rather than 'one-fifth of the Israelites left Egypt'. So, Bnei Yisrael left Egypt armed. Usually people hear this and think: Oh, so a bunch of slaves who knew nothing about fighting took weapons with them. Well, good luck with that. Here's where my theory comes in: Actually, at least some of them knew how to use these weapons. The evidence is as follows: Bnei Yisrael had lived in Goshen, on the Egyptian-Sinai border. It is doubtful that the Egyptians, who didn't mind killing them left-and-right, would have taken the time and resources to defend this slave-province from raiders. So more likely, the Israelites set up their own guard system. We find that shortly after the Exodus, the Israelites face...

 No...this is not a post about that infamous Israeli cootie ...Kinah is a town or city mentioned in Yehoshua 15:22 as being on the border between Yehudah and Edom. Though we did not go to the ruins of the actual town last Thursday, we did go to the ruins of the fortress that guarded the town and also collected toll payments from merchants that travelled the "Spice Road" that passed near Kinah. The fortress is presumed by most to have been built around the time of King Yoshiyahu (end of the Assyrian period), but a doctorate student who came with us said that her doctorate involves, among other things, her hypothesis that the fortress was actually built earlier than that - during the Neo-Assyrian period. Kinah, on the other hand, we know from Tanach, is much older than that. And, get this - it's possible that the name is related to the Kenites who, according to Shoftim 1:16 came out of the City of Dates and settled near Arad (Kinah being near Arad)! In Hebrew - קיני - קינ...

 No, not that kind of Ham. In Parashat Derachim, pg. 338-339, Dr. Yitzchak Meitlis brings a view that the word "chavoteihem" (חותיהם), a group of settlements captured by Yair ben Menashe ( Bamidbar 32:41 ), is a combination of the words "Chavot" and "Ham"; Ham being a place mentioned in the conquest of the Four Kings ( Beresheet 14:5 ), or in other words, "chavoteihem" means "the villages of Ham". I thought that was a fascinating idea, particularly because that area was in Amorite territory. Why is that important? Because in Canaan there was an Amorite king named Hoham (הוהם) ( Yehoshua 10:3-5 ). As far as I know, not much is known about the Amorite language, but I'm guessing there's a connection between Hoham and Ham. Perhaps his name means something along the lines of "man of Ham" or "son of Ham", or something like that. Meanwhile, Obelix has discovered he enjoys gefilte fish. (images taken from Asterix an...