Overview

It is customarily assumed that the Hebrew word BMH denotes a ""high place,"" first a topographical elevation and derivatively a cult place elevated either by location or construction. This book offers a fresh, systematic, and comprehensive examination of the word in those biblical and post-biblical passages where it supposedly carries its primary topographical sense. Although the word is used in this way in only a handful of its attestations, they are sufficiently numerous and contextually diverse to yield sound systematic, rather than ad hoc, conclusions as to its semantic content. Special attention is paid to its likely Semitic and unlikely Greek cognates, pertinent literary, compositional, and text-critical matters, and the ideological and iconographical ambiance of each occurrence. This study concludes that the non-cultic word BMH is actually *bomet, carrying primarily (if not always) an anatomical sense approximate to English ""back,"" sometimes expanded to the ""body"" itself. The phrase bmty->rs (Amos 4:13, Micah 1:3, and CAT 1.4 VII 34; also Deut. 32:13a, Isa. 58:14ab-ba, and Sir. 46:9b) derives from the international mythic imagery of the Storm-God: it refers originally to the ""mythological mountains,"" conceptualized anthropomorphically, which the god surmounts in theophany, symbolically expressing his cosmic victory and sovereignty. There is no instance where this word (even 2 Sam. 1:19a and 1:25b) is unequivocally a topographical reference. The implications of these findings for identifying the bamah-sanctuary are briefly considered.

Full Product Details

Author:   Dr. W. Boyd Barrick
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   T.& T.Clark Ltd
Volume:   v. 477
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.20cm , Length: 23.40cm
Weight:   0.300kg
ISBN:  

9780567026583

ISBN 10:   0567026582
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   01 August 2008
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Language:   English

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements CHAPTER 1: The Issue CHAPTER 2: The Cognate Evidence 2.A. Semitic Possibilities 2.B. A Greek Possibility 2.C. Summary and Implications Appendix 2.1. The (Lack of) Phoenician Evidence Appendix 2.2. On the Syntax of Bamah Usage 2.2.a. The Use of BMH with the Prepositions B and 2.2.b. The Use of Hebrew BMH with the Verbs of Approach CHAPTER 3: The Hebrew Evidence 3.A. Deuteronomy 33:29, 1QM 12:10 (and 19[1Q33].2 and 4QMb[4Q492]l.3-4), and Sirach 9:2 3.B. Job 9:8b 3.C. Micah 1:3 and Amos 4:13 3.D. Habakkuk 3:19 and 2 Samuel(Psalm 18):34 3.E. Deuteronomy 32:13a, Isaiah 58:14ass-ba, Sirach 46:9b, and 4QpsEzekb 4:12 3.F. Isaiah 14:14a 3.G. 1QIsaiaha 53:9a 3.H. 4QShirShabbd(4Q403) 1.2.2 3.I. Summary Appendix 3.1. Habakkuk 3:13b and 3:15a Appendix 3.2. Micah 1:2-7: Text and Compositional Matters Appendix 3.3. 1QIsaa 53:9 and Matthew 27:57-60 CHAPTER 4: Possible Exceptions 4.A. Micah 3:12b(Jeremiah 26:18bb) 4.B. Numbers 21:28 4.C. Ezekiel 36:2 4.D. 2 Samuel 1:19a and 1:25b CHAPTER 5: Final Thoughts 5.A. Semantic Speculation 5.B. Etymological Speculation 5.C. Bearing on the Meaning of BMH when a Reference to Cultic Phenomena Bibliography Indices

Reviews

This book will carry the conversation forward regarding the proper understanding and translation for the words listed under the entry bmh. Lexicographers and Biblicists will find much to think about in Barrick's analysis. -- Hebrew Studies, Volume LII

Author Information

W. Boyd Barrick is the former dean and part-time instructor of religion at Montana State University-Billings. He is the author of The King and the Cemeteries: Toward a New Understanding of Josiah' Reform.

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