Marbeh Ḥokmah

The title, Marbeh Ḥokmah, meaning “increases wisdom,” reflects the fact that Victor Avigdor Hurowitz was a scholar who increased wisdom and who continues to increase the wisdom of scholars throughout the world even after his untimely death at the age of 64. The book was edited by five of Professor Hurowitz’s colleagues: Profs. Shamir Yona and Mayer I. Gruber of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Edward L. Greenstein of Bar-Ilan University, Peter Machinist of Harvard University, and Shalom M. Paul of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The two-volume collection contains 49 groundbreaking essays written by 53 distinguished authors from various institutions of higher learning in Israel and around the world. The authors include Victor’s teachers, colleagues, and students, and the essays deal with a great variety of subjects. The breadth of subject matter featured in Marbeh Ḥokmah is a most appropriate tribute to Victor Avigdor Hurowitz, whose published scholarship encompassed a wide variety of fields of interest pertaining to the study of the Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East: Wisdom Literature, Psalmody, prophecy and prophets, the priesthood, eschatology, historiography, ancient inscriptions, medieval Hebrew biblical exegesis, religious rites, building and architecture, temples, the art of warfare, Semitic philology, Sumerian proverbs, epigraphy, rhetoric and stylistics, poetry, lamentations, the interconnections between Hebrew Scripture and the ancient Near East, the cultures of ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia, innerbiblical parallels, and many other subjects.

“These papers demonstrate that both fields—Bible and ancient Near Eastern studies— stand much to gain by following the path of dialogue and discourse upon which Victor Hurowitz left his indelible footprints.”—Yoram Cohen, Review of Biblical Literature

About the Editors and Contributors

Preface and Acknowledgments

Personal and Academic Biography of Victor Avigdor Hurowitz

Publications of Victor Avigdor Hurowitz

English Abstracts of the Hebrew Essays

Abbreviations

Maqlû Tablet II: Its Literary Frame and Formation Tzvi Abusch

Images of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Calah in the Throne-Room Vision of Isaiah 6 Shawn Zelig Aster

Bathing the Goddess (CTH 714) Gary Beckman

Psalm 132: A Prayer for the Restoration of Judah Adele Berlin

Josiah in Bethel: An Ancient Prophecy Newly Fulfilled Mordechai Cogan

The Well-Attested BH-Akk. Simile כראימ (Ps 92:11) כמו בן-ראמים (Ps 29:6) = Akk. kīma rīmi/rīmāniš and Its Semantic Equivalent כאביר (Isa 10:13 [Kethiv]) in the Speech of the Assyrian King Chaim (Harold R.) Cohen

The Pastoral Idea of ḥesed and the Symbolism of Matzo and Hamets Sol Cohen

The Tower and City of Babel Story (Genesis 11:1–9): Problems of Interpretation and Background John Day

Human Tribulation and Transience in Job: The Metaphor of the Moth Tova Forti

Did Ezra Create Judaism? Lisbeth S. Fried

Ancient Mesopotamian Cultic Whispering into the Ears Uri Gabbay

Two New Cultic Inscriptions from Seventh-Century BCE Ekron Seymour Gitin and Shmuel Aḥituv

Reflections on the Intersection between “Song” and Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible David A. Glatt-Gilad

To Whom Can a Wronged Person Turn for Help in the Old Babylonian Period? Shirley Graetz

Finding One’s Way in Proverbs 30:18–19 Edward L. Greenstein

ʾel = ʾet: An Unrecognized Lexeme in Biblical Hebrew Mayer I. Gruber

A Sumerian Incantation for the Lavatory and Neo-Assyrian Eschatology Wayne Horowitz

Religion and Ethics in Sumerian Proverb Literature Jacob Klein and Nili Samet

How Did Rabshakeh Know the Language of Judah? Yigal Levin

From Accountability to Commandment: Trends in the Evolution of the Ancient Near Eastern Ritual Genre Baruch A. Levine

Idol Moments: Reading the Bible in Abraham’s Father’s Idol Shop Diana Lipton

Portable Sanctuaries and Their Evolution: The Biblical Tabernacle (ʿōhel môʿēd/miškān) and the Akkadian qersu Natalie N. May

“Your Father Is an Amorite and Your Mother a Hittite” (Ezekiel 16:3) Bustenay Oded

Vain Imprecations on Having Been Born in Job 3 and Mesopotamian Literature Shalom M. Paul

The Discourse Structure of the Mesha Inscription: “I-Style” Intonation Units, and Oral Performance Frank H. Polak

Anointing Documents with Oil and Sacrificing before Them Barbara N. Porter

Repetition with Variation in Legal-Cultic Texts of the Torah Gary A. Rendsburg

Siege Mentality: Fighting at the City Gate in the Mari Archives Jack M. Sasson

The Question of David’s Voice(s) in the Lament of 2 Samuel Mark S. Smith

Gudea’s Kingship and Divinity Claudia E. Suter

Eschatology in the Book of Jeremiah Marvin A. Sweeney

The “Holiness School”—Creativity and Editorial Activity in the Book of Joshua: The Case of Joshua 24 Ada Taggar-Cohen

Saul’s Pursuit of David in the Land of Judah and the Geographical Background Shmuel Vargon

Under The Skin: A Study of SU, the Sumerian Bodyscape Joan Goodnick Westenholz ז′′ל

Another Look at the Nomadic Tribal Arameans in the Inscriptions of Ninurta-kudurrī-uṣur of Suḫu K. Lawson Younger, Jr.

Taking the Measure of the Ten-Cubit Gap, Isaiah’s Vision, and Iron Age Bones Ziony Zevit

Indexes

Index of Authors

Index of Scripture

Hebrew Section

Contents

The “Blessings” of Reuben (Gen 49:3–4; Deut 33:6; Judg 5:14): Their Historical Background Yitzhak Avishur

Towns with Changed Names Israel Ephʿal

The Episode of Naboth the Jezreelite: A Crucial Clash between Ahab’s Policy and the Patriarchal Tradition Zafrira Ben-Barak

Priests and the Cult in the Book of Malachi in the Light of Neo-Babylonian Sources Jonathan Ben-Dov

A New Reading of Deuteronomy 17:2–7 Shalom Eliezer Holtz

Wordplays in the Visions of Amos Nili Wazana

Repeated Passages and Their Significance for the Composition of the Deuteronomistic and Chronistic Historiographies Zipora Talshir

The Alleged Dependence of the Abraham Narratives in Genesis on the Ugaritic Epic of Aqhat Jonathan Yogev and Shamir Yona

Between Men and God in the Hebrew Bible: On Seeing, Self-Restraint, and Loyalty Rimon Kasher

Editing and Authorship in Proverbs 22:17–23:10 Michael V. fox

The Corrections by Rashi to His Commentary on Hosea Jordan S. Penkower

The Fall of Samaria: Between History and Historiography Danʾel Kahn

Here Today and Gone Tomorrow: The Story of Merab, the Daughter of Saul Orly Keren and Hagit Taragan

The Justification of the Lord’s Verdict: Textual and Literary Interventions in Samuel and Kings Alexander Rofé

“An Abomination to the Egyptians”: New Light on an Old Problem Nili Shupak

Index of Authors