Is the Bible wrong about the name of Jerusalem? Todd Clippard Topic(s): Bible Infallibility, Bible Study According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the following documents all contain specific references to Jerusalem with pertinent dates and names highlighted for your convenience: In Cuneiform: I. The Name.-The earliest mention of Jerusalem is in the Tell el-Amarna Letters (1450 BC), where it appears in the form Uru-sa-lim; allied with this we have Ur-sa-li-immu on the Assyrian monuments of the 8th century BC. The most ancient Biblical form is yerushalem, shortened in Ps 76:2 (compare Gen 14:18) to Salem, but in Massoretic Text we have it vocalizedú yerushalaim. In Jeremiah 26:18, Esther 2:6, and 2 Chronicles 25:1; 32:9, we find yerushalayim, a form which occurs on the Jewish coins of the Revolt and also in Jewish literature; it is commonly used by modern Talmudic Jews. . . . In Greek and Latin: In the Septuagint, (commissioned under the reign of Ptolemy II @ 270 B.C.), we find (Ierousalem), constantly reflecting the earliest and the common Hebrew pronunciation, the initial letter being probably unaspirated; soon, however, we meet with (Hierousalem)-with the aspirate-the common form in Josephus, and (Hierosoluma) in Macc (Books II-IV), and in Strabo. This last form has been carried over into the Latin writers, Cicero, Pliny, Tacitus and Suetonius. It was replaced in official use for some centuries by Hadrians Aelia Capitolina, which occurs as late as Jerome, but it again comes into common use in the documents of the Crusades, while Solyma occurs at various periods as a poetic abbreviation. Letter of Aristeas: The writer professes to be a high official at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 BC), a Greek interested in Jewish antiquities. Addressing his brother Philocrates he describes an embassy to Jerusalem on which he has recently been sent with another courtier Andreas. According to his narrative, Demetrius of Phalerum, a prominent figure in later Athenian history, who here appears as the royal librarian at Alexandria, convinced the king of the importance of securing for his library a translation of the Jewish Law. The king at the same time, to propitiate the nation from whom he was asking a favor, consented, on the suggestion of Aristeas, to liberate all Jewish slaves in Egypt. Copies follow of the letters which passed between Ptolemy and Eleazar, the high priest at Jerusalem. (from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 08:32:39 +0000
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