Edward Lipinski's "El's Abode: Mythological Traditions Related to ...

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62 E. LIPI&SKI
verb would be sup, « to float», and the noun sapan would accordingly
mean « floating » 245. ^
The word seems to have still that sense in Ez. 32,30, where the
neslke sapon are paralleled by the siddm(m), which are here the Phoeai- <
cians in general. The neslM sapon are thus likely to be the « princes
of floating», i.e., « of navigation* 246. The original meaning of sapon,
in a concrete acception, may be attested also in Job 26,7, where sap&n,:
paralleled by *eres, would characterize the earth as « floating» on the
waters 247 :
" He streehes out the floatage on the emptiness,
he hangs the earth on nothing. "
It may reasonably be inferred therefore that 'il spn was the « god t' •
of floating», i.e., the divine patron of navigators. Similarly, b*l spn ••:?•,"'*
was the «lord of floating». This explains the presence of another^/-'
spot called Ba'al-Sapon on the northern sea-shore of the Sinaia48; ^"'v
245 Other etymologies have been proposed. One derived sapon from the root spnt
«to hide ». It is a popular etymology which is already attested in the Aramaic fragments
of the Book of Enoch found in Qumran, 4Q Hen. astr.d and 4Q Hen. astr.e, which
correspond to I Enoch 77. Line 6 is restored as follows by J.T. MILBK, art. cit., in Sevn&
Biblique, 65, 1958, p. 76 : [wqryn Ispwn spwn] bdy bh spnyn wmtlcnsyn tsshryn M *rby smy\'
« and they call the north sippun, because there are hidden (sapemn) and gathered and
making their revolution all the vessels of the heavens». Instead, H. BAUER and P. LEAN-
DEB, Historische Grammatik der hebraischen Sprache des Alien Testamentes, I, Halle,
1922 (reprint: Hildesheim, 1962), p. 499, attached sapon to the root spy, « to look out»,
and attributed to the noun sapon the meaning « look-out», and henceforth « direction ».
They have been followed, among others, by L. KOHLEB - W. BAUMGABTHEB, Lexicon
in Veteris Testamenti Libros, 2nd ed.5 Leiden, 1958, p. 812; M.H. POPE, in H.W. HAUSSIG
(ed.), Gotter und Mythen im Vorderen Orient, p. 258; W.F. ALBJBIGHT, Tahweh and the
Gods of Canaan, p. 109, n. 38. 0. EISSBSLDT, Baal Zaphon, p. 17-18, accepts this etymology,
but considers sapon as a concrete noun meaning « look-out point», i.e.,« mountain ».
Such a sense suits perfectly the nominal formations of the pattern mqtl, as mispe(h) or
mispa(h), but is less justified for a word with the ending -an > -on as sapon. The third
radical y would in any ease have left a trace, as can be seen, for instance, in the case of
hezyon or Jiizzayon from hzy.
246 That the meaning « north » does not suit in Ez. 32,30 has already been noticed
by O. EISSEELDT, Baal Zap&on, p. 12, who suggested to consider here Sapon as the
name of the mountain (Jebel el-Aqrac.
247 Several authors have already noticed that the translation « north » does not suit
at all in Job 26,7. Cf. O. EISSFELDT, Baal Zaphon, p. 13-14.
248 Ex. 14,2 and 9; Numb. 33,7. Cf. O. EISSFELDT, Baal Zaphon, p. 39-48; N. AIME-
GIBOW, Bafal Saphon et les dieux de Tahpanhes dans un nouveau papyrus phenicien, in
Annales du Service des Antiqnites de VUgypte, 40, 1940, p. 433-460 and pi. SL-XLII.
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