ISBN: 978-2-87457-100-8
14,50 €
REF. RANT15_MO

Biblical שׁונים and Ugaritic šnm

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by Herman J.J. MOORS, in Res Antiquae 15, 2018.

Both the enigmatic biblical term šônîm (Prov 24:21), apparently a plural, and its Ugaritic equivalent šnm, are etymologically related to Arabic sanima, “to be high, gibbous.” The Ugaritic collective noun šnm, “the exalted ones,” suggestively designates the bn il, identifying them as phallic heroes; similarly šônîm and gaḇnunnîm (Ps 68:16) are alternative denominations for ʾĕlōhîm, the sons of God who “came in to the daughters of man” (Gen 6:4 ESV). Those appellatives, for being incompatible with the requirements of the emerging monotheism, have gradually been eliminated from the canonical text of the Old Testament, though several traces of the earlier reading have been preserved. The most notable case is the hypocorism attributed to the Shulamite’s male consort in Song 1:3. Its decryption leads to a new interpretation of the name of the Lady of the Canticle and situates the Song in its archaic northern Israelite setting of the 8th century BC.


Keywords: Ab šnm, Shulamite, ʾĕlōhîm, twin gods, giants, demiurges, phallic heroes
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