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Abraham. Early on Speiser suggested a non-Semitic background for the bOnê Ḥēt¯
of
Genesis twenty-three (1964, 172–173). His two lines of argument connect them to the
eponymous Ḥēt¯, son of Canaan (Gen 10:15) and suppose Hebron’s previous name, Kiriath-arba,
is non-Semitic. Also, the Jerusalem oracle in Ezekiel (16:3, 45) furnishes a geographic Jebusite
connection. The name change is therefore due to a change in ownership from non-Semitic
Jebusites to Abraham the Semite. Speiser’s assumptions provide a succinct articulation of the
commonly accepted ethnic connection between the bOnê Ḥēt¯
and Ephron as “Hittites.”
A closer look at the context reveals that haḥittî directly applies only to Ephron and his
progenitor Zohar. 42 The collocation “Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite” (25:9) directly ascribes
Zohar as haḥittî, and then Ephron by virtue of kinship. The pattern “PN 1
ben(ê) PN 2
articular
gentilic” appears throughout the HB. 43 Two passages indicate the final gentilic (whether
originally geographic or ethnic) applies grammatically to PN 2
. In Samuel the two commanders
Baanah and Rechab are both described as “the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite of the Benjamites,
for Beeroth is also considered part of Benjamin” (2 Sam 4:2). “Beerothite” represents a
geographic PN converted to a gentilic and applied to Rimmon the father of these two men. In
Kings Jaazaniah is described simply as “the son of the Maacathite” (2 Kgs 25:23), leaving out the
expected PN 2
. “The Maacathite” stands in lieu of Jaazaniah’s progenitor and thus PN 2
.
Therefore, both Ephron and Zohar are haḥittî.
While the context makes plain a connection between Ephron (and Zohar) haḥittî and the
bOnê Ḥēt¯, it also keeps the two entities distinct. Neither Ephron nor his progenitor Zohar are
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suggestion collapses individuals which the historical and linguistic data suggests are distinct into a single entity. It
is better to gloss haḥittî as “Hittite” until it can be demonstrated that these individuals are in fact the Hethites of the
Patriarchal narratives.
42 “Ephron” (the person) appears 12x, all in Genesis: 23:8, 10 2x, 13, 14, 16 2x, 17; 25:9; 49:29, 30;
50:13. He is presented as “the son of Zohar” 2x (23:8; 25:9) and in conjunction with haḥittî 5x (23:10; 25:9; 49:29,
30; 50:13).
43 This pattern appears 32x: Gen 25:9; 28:5; 34:2; Num 10:29; 32:12; Josh 14:6, 14; Judg 12:13, 15; 2
Sam 4:2; 21:8; 23:26, 29, 34; 2 Kgs 25:23; 1 Chr 11:12, 28, 30, 34, 35, 42; 27:9; 2 Chr 20:14; 24:26 2x; 31:14;
Esth 3:1, 10; 8:5; 9:24; Job 32:2, 6.