Nivsb, tnisb, and esvsb

Genesis 11:2, As people moved eastward they found a valley in (the) land of Shinar / Sumer / Mesopotamia, and settled there”;

Zechariah 5:11, a vision of two winged women carrying a basket, to build a house for the basket

in (the) land of Shinar / Sumer / Mesopotamia;

Daniel 1:2, Nebuchadnezzar carries off articles from God’s temple in Jerusalem to the temple of

his God in (the) land of Shinar / Sumer / Mesopotamia.

The name by itself is found at:
Genesis 14:1, 9, Amraphel, King of Shinar / Sumer / Mesopotamia, member of coalition of kings who go to war against Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain;

Joshua 7:21, Achan saw in the spoils of war from Jericho •r['n>vi tr
Isaiah 11:11, YHWH will reclaim the remnant of His people a second time from many places,

including r['n>Vimi, “from Shinar / Sumer / Mesopotamia.”

Sarna holds that while “This name was not used in Mesopotamia itself...[it] is frequently found in one form or another in Egyptian, Hittite, Mitannian, and Amarna texts to designate the Kassite kingdom of Babylon (about 1595-1160 B.C.E.).” (P. 74)

58 ^rWVa;, )ashshur, “Asshur,” the second son of Shem, and “Assyria,” the nation, occurs some 153 times in the Hebrew Bible, indicating the prominent role that this city / people / nation plays. In Genesis it occurs at:
2:14, the Euphrates goes on the east of Assyria;

10:11, Nimrod went from Shinar / Sumer to Assyria, or perhaps, out of Shinar / Sumer came Assyria (see footnote 59);

10:22, Assyria’s “brothers” were Elam, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram;

25:18, Ishmael’s sons settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go towards Assyria.
Assyria “...Lay in the upper Mesopotamian plain, bounded on the west by the Syrian desert, on the south by the Jebel Hamrin and Babylonia, and on the north and east by the Urartian (Armenian) and Persian hills. The most fertile and densely populated part of Assyria lay east of the central river Tigris (‘Hiddekel’...) The Hebrew )ashshur...is used both of this land and of its people. The term Assyria was sometimes applied to those territories which were subject to the control of its kings dwelling at Nineveh, Assur and Calah, the principal cities. At the height of its power in the 8th-7th centuries B.C., these territories included Media and southern Anatolia [Asia Minor], Cilicia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, Elam and Babylonia.” (D. J. Wiseman, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 1, p. 137 [pp. 137-45])
See the article “Assyrian people” in Wikipedia on the Internet, which states that “The [modern] Assyrian people trace their origins to the population of the pre-Islamic Mesopotamia, since the time of the Akkadian Empire. It was not until the Neo-Assyrian Empire that the Assyr-ians began to speak Aramaic, the language of the Aramean tribes who had been assimilated into the Assyrian empire in the 8th century B.C., due in part to the mass relocations enforced by Assyrian kings of the Neo-Assyrian period.
“They were Christianized in the 1st to 3rd centuries, in Roman Syria and Persian Assyria. They were divided by the Nestorian Schism in the 5th century, and from the 8th century, they became a religious minority following the Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia.
“Culturally and linguistically distinct from, although quite influenced by, their neighbors in the Middle East--the Arabs, Persians, Kurds, Turks, and Armenians--the Assyrians have endured much hardship throughout their recent history as a result of religious and ethnic persecution.”

59 ^Westermann and Sarna, along with other translations, including Modern Language, Living Bible, Revised Standard, and New Revised Standard read, “From that land he went into Assyr-ia.” This is a possible, but not very likely, translation. We think the King James is more likely correct, “Out of that land went forth Asshur...” Westermann rejects this translation, claiming that the verb acy, yatsa) means only “to leave a land.” (P. 517)
Jewish scholars are divided: according to Rashi and Sforno, the “he” is Asshur, while according to Ramban and others, the “he” is Nimrod.” (Bereishis 1, p. 321)
Hamilton notes that “The diffusion and multiplication of the ‘Canaanites’ (10:15-20) or of the larger ‘Hamites’ (10:6-20) take place in spite of Ham’s dubious behavior and the curse that is placed on Canaan.” (P. 321)
Westermann comments that “Many commentaries have pointed out that there is a histor-ical fact behind the verse, namely that Babylonia was the older civilization and influenced the culture in the north. ‘The whole region, culture and political organization of Assyria were derived from the south-state [i.e., Babylonia]’ (J. Skinner). The sentence at the same time reveals ano-ther important fact of the early history of Mesopotamia, that side-by-side with conquest peaceful colonization played an important role.” (P. 518)

Sarna likewise comments that “The passage reflects the verifiable historical fact that, in its early period, Assyria was long under the domination and religious, linguistic, and cultural influence of Sumer and Akkad, a debt it freely acknowledged.” (P. 74)

60 ^hwEn>ynI, niyneweh, “Nineveh,” occurs some 17 times in the Hebrew Bible:
Genesis 10:11, 12, one of the cities Nimrod built;

2 Kings 19:36, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, returned to and remained in Nineveh following his unsuccessful attempt to capture Jerusalem; Isaiah 37:37, same;

Jonah 1:2; 3:2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 4:11, Jonah is commanded by YHWH to go and preach to Nineveh; he does so, and as a result its king and citizens repent, causing Jonah grief;

Nahum 1:1; 2:9 (verse 8 in English); 3:7, the Book of Nahum is “an oracle concerning Nineveh,” predicting its soon coming destruction;

Zephaniah 2:13, prediction of YHWH’s destruction of Assyria, leaving the city of Nineveh utterly desolate.
See the article “Nineveh” in Wikipedia on the Internet, which states that: “Ancient Nine-eh's mound-ruins of Kouyunjik and Nabi Yūnus are located on a level part of the plain near the junction of the Tigris and the Khosr Rivers within an 1,800-acre area circumscribed by a 7.5 mile brick rampart. This whole extensive space is now one immense area of ruins overlaid in parts by new suburbs of the city of Mosul.
“Nineveh was an important junction for commercial routes crossing the Tigris. Occupying a central position on the great highway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean, thus uniting the East and the West, wealth flowed into it from many sources, so that it became one of the greatest of all the region's ancient cities.
“Texts from the Hellenistic period and later offered an eponymous Ninus as the founder of Nineveh. The historic Nineveh is mentioned about 1800 B.C. as a center of worship of Ishtar, Whose cult was responsible for the city's early importance. The Goddess' statue was sent to Pharaoh Amenhotep III of Egypt in the 14th century B.C., by orders of the king of Mitanni. The Assyrian city of Nineveh became one of Mitanni's vassals until the mid-14th century B.C., when the Assyrian kings of Assur reclaimed it while overthrowing the Mittani Empire.
“There is no large body of evidence to show that Assyrian monarchs built at all extensively in Nineveh during the 2nd millennium B.C., and it appears to have been originally an Assyrian provincial town. Later monarchs whose inscriptions have appeared on the high city include Shal-maneser and Tiglath-Pileser I, both of whom were active builders in Assur (Ashur); the former had founded Calah (Nimrud). Nineveh had to wait for the neo-Assyrian kings, particularly from the time of Ashurnasirpal II (ruled 883-859 B.C.) onward, for a considerable architectural expansion. Thereafter successive monarchs kept in repair and founded new palaces, temples to Sin, Nergal, Shamas, Ishtar, and Nabiu of Borsippa.

“It was Sennacherib who made Nineveh a truly magnificent city (about 700 B.C. [he ruled from about 705 to 681 B.C.]). He laid out new streets and squares and built within it the famous ‘palace without a rival,’ the plan of which has been mostly recovered and has overall dimensions of about 1,650 by 794 feet. It comprised at least 80 rooms, many of which were lined with sculp-ture. A large number of cuneiform tablets were found in the palace. The solid foundation was made out of limestone blocks and mud bricks.”

Nineveh is called “the great city” in Jonah 1:2; 3:2, 3; 4:11.
The Hebrew name has been adapted from the Assyrian ninua, and from the Old Babylon-ian ninuwa, both of which are translations of the earlier Sumerian name Nina, “a name of the Goddess Ishtar written with a sign depicting a fish inside an enclosure.” (D. J. Wiseman, in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 2, p. 1089)

61 ^ry[i tboxor>, rechobhoth (iyr, “Rehoboth-City,” occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. It apparently is intended to be the name of another city along with Nineveh and Calah. However, while Nineveh and Calah are well known, “...no Assyrian equivalent is known for this place [Rehoboth-Ir]. Since the large and ancient city of Ashshur (some 45 miles south of Nineveh) would be expected in the context, some consider this name an interpretation from the Sumerian ASH-UR...a suburb of Nineveh (rebit Ninua) is mentioned in Assyrian texts (Esarhaddon), and this may have been founded at the same time. The phrase ‘open-places of (the) city’ [the trans-lation into English of Rehoboth-Ir] may here be a description of Nineveh itself...” (D. J. Wiseman, The Illustrated Bile Dictionary 3, pp. 1326-27)
Westermann suggests the translation “city-piazzas,” i.e., “open-squares,” or “market-places.” (P. 518)
“Malbim suggests that ry[i tboxor>, rechobhoth-(iyr is not the name of a city, but as the literal meaning implies, it means ‘broad parts of the city.’” (Bereishis 1, p. 321)

62 ^xl;K', kalach, “Calah,” the name of a city, is found only here in the Hebrew Bible.
“The Assyrian Kalchu (modern Nimrud) lies 40 kilometers [24 miles] south of Nineveh on the east bank of the river Tigris...[In the time of Ashurnasirpal II, 879 B.C.] the city then covered an area of 40 square kilometers, and had a population of about 60,000. It was from Calah that Shalmaneser III attacked Syria, and his black obelisk recording the submission of Jehu and stelae mentioning Ahab were originally set up in the main square...Sargon II, conqueror of Samaria, stor-ed his booty here. Esarhaddon subsequently built himself a palace here and recorded his treaties with conquered people on tablets set up in the temple of Nabu. Many of the discoveries of sculp-tures, ivories, metal objects and weapons, found in the citadel and barracks of ‘Fort Shalmaneser’ in the outer town, illustrate the splendor of the booty taken from Syria and Palestine and the might
of the Assyrian army. Calah fell to the Medes and Babylonians in 612 B.C.” (D. J. Wiseman, The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 1, pp. 219-22)
See the article by K. Kris Hirst, “Nimrud, Iraq,” on the Internet, which states that, “While evidence at Nimrud indicates that people probably lived in its vicinity beginning as long ago as 3000 B.C., the first town-sized population was located there in the 13th century B.C.. The capital city of Nimrud was built by the Assyrian king, Ashurnasirpal II [who reigned between 883-859 B.C.].”

63 ^The name of the city !s,r, resen, “Resen,” occurs elsewhere as a noun meaning “halter,” “bridle,” or “jaw”: see Isaiah 30:28; Psalm 32:9; Job 30:11 and 41:5.
D. J. Wiseman states that in Assyrian, resh-eni (‘fountain-head’) designated a number of places in Assyria. The sites of this name on the Habur and Khosr rivers (northeast of Nineveh) do not, however, easily fit the geographical situation given in Genesis 10. The proposed equation with Selamiyeh (3 kilometers north of Calah) is based on the false identification of this place with Larissa (Xenophon, Anabasis 3.4), now known to be the Greek name for Calah itself. A possible site for Resen is the early ruins of Hamam Ali with its adjacent sulphur springs on the right bank of the river Tigris about 13 kilometers south of Nineveh.” (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3, p. 1329)
Westermann concludes that “The precise spot is not known.” (P. 518)

64 ^See footnote 60.

65 ^See footnote 62.

66 ^What does this statement mean? We think it is obvious that Resen is not intended, for it is an otherwise unknown city in the Hebrew Bible. Most probably the author intends the entire “metropolitan area” surrounding Nineveh–and perhaps by this statement indicates the time of authorship, a time when Nineveh was “the great city” of the known world, the “Metroplex” par excellence. Compare footnote 80 with its references to Jonah, where Nineveh is described as “the great city.” This is the view that is taken by the Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 10a.
Wenham suggests that “Both Nineveh and Calah deserve this epithet [‘the great city’], but although it is more natural grammatically to apply it to Calah, the frequent description of Nineveh ...as a ‘great city’ makes most commentators suppose it refers to Nineveh.” (P. 224)
Chizkuni suggests that Nimrod “merged Nineveh and Calah into one great metropolis, forming ‘one great city.’” (Bereishis 1, p. 322)

67 ^Westermann notes that “”At first sight verses 13-14 seem to be dealing with the sons of Mizraim (Egypt), as verses 8-12 dealt with the sons of Cush. However, it is immediately obvious how different this passage is. Verses 13-14 are not a real parallel to verses 8-12; their arrange-ment is primitive. After the introduction ‘And Mizraim (Egypt) begot’ there is merely a series of names [with the endings ~y-i, -iym]. Right down to the end of verse 14 there is a succession of seven (eight) names linked only by ‘and’...This list both in its constituent parts and as a whole (i.e., the meaning of the series) remains for the most part unexplained. It is associated with Egypt, as the introduction says, and this is confirmed by one of the two names that can be exp-lained with certainty: Pathrusim (from Patros) means the inhabitants of upper Egypt...” (Pp. 518-19)
“Ibn Ezra maintains that the plural ~y-i, iym, ending indicates that these are the names not of families, but of countries, each of which was populated by a family.” (Bereishis 1, p. 322)

68 ^The plural ~ydIWl, ludhiym, “Ludites,” is found three times elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible:

Jeremiah 46:9,
bk,r<êh' Wlål.hot.hiw> ‘~ysiWSh; WlÜ[]

~yrI+ABGIh; Waßc.yEw>

!gEëm' yfeäp.To ‘jWpW vWKÜ

`tv,q") yker>Doï yfeÞp.To ~ydI§Wlw>

Go up, horses! And act madly, the chariot(s)!

And go forth, the mighty men!

Cush, and Put, those bearing (the) shield(s);

and Ludites, those grasping, those bending (the) bow!

It is obvious that Lud’s soldiers served as mercenaries for other nations;
1 Chronicles 1:11, same as Genesis 10:13.
In the singular, dWlï, ludh, “Lud,” is found at:
Genesis 10:22, a son of Shem;

Isaiah 66:19, YHWH will send survivors to the nations, to proclaim His glorious radiance– including ~yqiªxor>h' ~yYIåaih' !w"+y"w> lb;äTu tv,q<ß ykev.moï dWl±w> lWPï vyvi’r>T;,,,

Tarshish Pul and Lud, those drawing a bow; Tubal and Greece, the islands that are far distant; the armies of Lud use the bow and arrow in fighting;

Ezekiel 27:10, Tyre is reminded that she had yveÞn>a; %leêyxeb. Wyæh' ‘jWpW dWlÜw> sr:’P'

%rE)d"h] Wnðt.n" hM'heÞ %b'ê-WLTi ‘[b;Akw> !gEÜm' %Te_m.x;l.mi, Persia and Lud and Put were in your army, men of your war; shield and helmet they hung up on your behalf; they gave you honor; obviously the soldiers of Lud served as mercenaries for others;

Ezekiel 30:5, br br<[<åh'-lk'w> ‘dWlw> jWpÜW vWKå

`WlPo)yI, Cush and Put and Lud, and all the mixture / Arabia, and Khubh, and sons of the land of the covenant with them, by the sword will fall (when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacks and conquers Egypt);

1 Chronicles 1:17, same as Genesis 10:13.
K. L. McKay writes in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 2, p. 919, “...Josephus (Antiquities 1.144) refers to the Lydians as [Shem’s] descendants. Herodotus’ account of the Lydians (50.7) does not preclude a Semitic origin. In Isaiah 66:19 Ludh is a Gentile nation characterized by the use of the bow (probably not true of Lydia); in Ezekiel 27:10 and 30:5 they are allies of Tyre and of Egypt respectively, and as such Lydia (Ludu) is mentioned in Neo-Babylonian annals...Ludim appears in Genesis 10:13 and 1 Chronicles 1:11 as a descendant of Ham, and in Jeremiah 46:9 as a bow-bearing auxiliary of Egypt. This may be an unknown African nation, but some scholars emend to Lubhiym (Lybia), and even the singular Ludh to Lubh in some passages.”
Westermann states merely that the name is not explained, but has reference to some place in the region of Egypt. (P. 519).
Sarna holds that “The contexts there [Jeremiah 46:9 and Ezekiel 30:5], as here, exclude identification with the Lydians of Asia Minor. They may be some as yet unknown African people.” (P. 75) Nonetheless, NIVSB suggests “Perhaps the Lydians in Asia Minor.” (P. 21)

69 ^Instead of the Massoretic text’s ~ymin"[], (anamiym, “Anamites,” the Samaritan Pentateuch reads ~ymny[, (iynamiym, “Iynamites.” The Greek translation reads Enemetiim, Enemetiim.
~ymin"[], (anamiym, occurs only here and in 1 Chronicles 1:11 in the Hebrew Bible.
Brown-Driver-Briggs states that the name is a “Gentilic proper name,” in or near Egypt, and that “the form is dubious and the locality unknown.” (P. 777)
Wenham likewise notes that “There is no clue to their identity unless Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is justified in its rendering ‘Maryutai,’ which might point to a home in Egypt west of Alexandria.” (P. 224)

70


^~ybih'l., lehabhiym, “Lehabites,” like the preceding name, occurs only here and in 1 Chronicles 1:11.
T. C. Mitchell states that “The name is unknown apart from these [two] references, but many scholars would equate it with lubhiym of 2 Chronicles 12:3, etc., which is generally ident-ified as referring to the Libyans [so, Westermann, p. 519]. In support of this is the [Greek trans-lation’s] reading tou.j Labiim, tous Labiim, and the fact that these people, who figure in the anc-ient Egyptian inscriptions as rbw, are not elsewhere mentioned in Genesis 10, unless ludhiym (verse 13) is to be read for lubhiym, as some scholars hold. The matter therefore remains uncertain.” (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 2, pp. 894-95)

71 ^~yxiTup.n;:, naphtuchiym, “Naphtucites,” like the preceding two names, occurs only here and in 1 Chronicles 1:11. Here again, the reference is unknown.
K. A. Kitchen states that “Classed with Mizraim (Egypt)...its identity is uncertain, but Lower Egypt, specifically the Nile Delta, would be appropriate alongside Pathrusim for upper Egypt. Hence Brugsch and Erman emended the Hebrew to fit Egyptian p’idchw, ‘they of the Delta (lit-rally, marshland),’ lower Egypt(ians). Alternatively naphtuchiym may be an Egyptian n’(-n-)/n’ (yw-) p’ t’ wch’ (t), ‘they of the Oasis-land,’i.e. the oases (and inhabitants) west of the Nile val-ley.” (The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 2, p. 1054)
Wenham comments that “Targum Pseudo-Jonathan translates ‘Pentaskinai,’ which would place them in the northeast delta region of Egypt.” (P. 224)

72 ^~ysirut.P;, pathrusiym, “Pathrosites,” is evidently the name of a people taken from the name sArt.P;, pathros, which means “Upper Egypt,” from the Egyptian p(e)-te-res, “south land,” in Assyrian, Paturisi. It always occurs in conjunction with Egypt. It is found in the Hebrew Bible only here and at 1 Chronicles 1:12.
The singular noun, “Pathros,” is found in five places:
Isaiah 11:11, one of the areas out of which YHWH will reclaim the remnant of His people;

Jeremiah 44:1, a word that came to Jeremiah concerning the Jews that live in this area, #rsArßt.P; #rP;x.t;b.W ‘lDog>miB. ~ybiÛv.YOh; ~yIr"+c.mi, in Egypt-land– those dwelling in Mighdol, and in Thapanches, and in Noph, and in Pathros-land; obviously Pathros-land is closely related to Egypt, Mighdol, Thapanches and Noph–but is it meant as another land alongside Egypt, or as a part of Egypt? The text is ambiguous at this point;

Jeremiah 44:15, clears up the ambiguity: sArït.p;B. ~yIr:ßc.mi-#r,

and all the people, the ones dwelling in Egypt-land in Pathros, which shows that Pathros is part of Egypt-land, the southern part, as Holladay states, “a designation for upper Egypt (that is, south of the Delta)” (P. 303);

Ezekiel 29:14, #r

`hl'(p'v. hk'îl'm.m; ~v'Þ Wyh'îw> ~t'_r"Wk)m., And I will return Egypt’s captivity, and I will bring them back, (to) Pathros-land, upon (the) land of their origin; and they will be there, a lowly kingdom. We think this clearly indicates that Pathros is the “south-land,” or “upper Egypt,” all of Egypt south of the Delta;

Ezekiel 30:14. `anO*B. ~yjiÞp'v. ytiyfiî['w> ![;co+B. vaeÞ yTit;în"w> sArêt.P;-ta, ‘ytiMovih]w:, And I will make Pathros desolate; and I will place fire in Tso(an, and I will do judgments in No); Eichrodt comments (p. 414) that Tso)an is Tanis, in lower Egypt, the royal residence of Rameses II in the 13^th century, and that No) is in full, No Amon, = the city of Amon, trans-lated by the Greek as Thebes in upper Egypt, also a royal residence from 1580 to 950 B.C.
K. A. Kitchen writes in The Illustrated Bible Dictionary 3, p. 1159, that it means “‘The southland,’ i.e. upper Egypt, the long Nile valley extending north to south between Cairo and Aswan; the name is attested in Assyrian inscriptions as Paturisi. Thus, the terms Mizraim for Egypt, especially lower Egypt, Pathros for upper Egypt and Cush for ‘Ethiopia’ (north Sudan) occur in this significantly geographical order both in the prophecy of Isaiah 11:11 and in a subse-quent inscription of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who also boasts of himself as ‘king of Mutsur, Paturisi and Cush.’ Jeremiah similarly identifies Pathros with Egypt (Jeremiah 44:15) and specifically upper Egypt as distinct from the cities (and land) of lower Egypt (Jeremiah 44:1). Pathros also appears as upper Egypt and as the homeland of the Egyptian people in Ezekiel 29:14; 30:14.”

73 ^~yxilus.K;, kasluchiym, “Casluhites,” occurs only here and at 1 Chronicles 1:12 in the Hebrew Bible. Its reference is undetermined. The Greek reads Caslwniim, Chasloniim, which begins as a transliteration of the Hebrew noun, but ends differently.
Wenham comments that “Attempts to identify the Casluhim are little more than guesses. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan translates ‘Pentapolitai,’ i.e., from Cyrene. Other possibilities...in-clude the inhabitants of Mount Casios (east of the Nile Delta), or Scylace in Asia Minor or the Tjekker, one of the sea peoples.” (Pp. 224-25)

74 ^~yTiv.liP., pelishtiym, “Philistines,” is well known in the Hebrew Bible, occurring some 288 times. It often occurs in the singular form, yTiv.liP., pelishtiy, without the final mem.
See in Genesis,