Some trivial facts about Moserah/Moseroth, Mout Hor, and benei yaakan.
Benei-yaakan means "the sons of yaakan" which could either be the sons of a
person called yaakan, or a race of people.
In Deuteronomy 10:6 "be'erot benei yaakan" means "the wells of the sons of
yaakan".
In Numbers, it says that they "travelled from the sons of yaakan", which
could be people, or it could be a place. The context seems to make it a
place, but a place with a very strange name. The name does mean "sons of
yaakan", and is actually 2 words. Perhaps, the scribes, noticing that it
was a weird name, tried to elaborate by adding "the wells of the sons of
yaakan". Either that, or "the wells of" was dropped somewhere along the
way.
(DAVE 4/22) Yoel: Interesting. The use in Numbers does, I agree imply a
"place". The one in Deut 10:6 seems, to me anyway, to also be a place. But
yet they used different "names" for supposedly the same place. Could they
have for Moserath and Mount Hor as well? One question: if they wanted to
elaborate, why would they add "the wells of" and not something a little
clearer? Why wouldn't they just write it down as it was in Numbers - "the
sons of yaakan"?
Yoel
Moseroth is the plural form of the feminine noun "moserah." It does not
mean "a place in the desert". It means a rope or the reigns of a horse.
Another strange name, which is perhaps why the scribes who transmitted the
names couldn't quite remember whether it was plural or singular.
Hor... another weird one. It is not called "mount Hor" in the regular
Hebrew, rather, it is refered to as "Hor the mountain". Why? Maybe because
the normal construct "har Hor" sounds funny. So instead, they say "Hor,
hahar" to try to elaborate that it is a mountain.
(DAVE 4/22) Yoel: Doesn't the word "hor" come from the Hebrew word for
mountain? If so, this is like calling it "mount mountain"? Just wondering.
This won't tell either side anything, but it is interesting.
(DAVE 4/22) Yoel: Agreed. Thanks for the info.
Dave.
"I do not need to be personally familiar with these documents in order to
discuss them. I have read about them, and am quite content to use the
knowledge of others, without verifying everything myself."
- An Errantist On This Listing