Sárospataki Füzetek 17. (2013)
2013 / 1-2. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Doedens, Jacob J. T.:Ókori izraelita politeista feliratok: Aséra mint JHVH felesége?
Doedens. Jacob J. T. Zevit translates: 1. “Uryahu, the prosperous, his inscription ([or] an inscription) 2. I blessed Uryahu to Yhwh 3. to wit, from his enemies ... for the sake15 of Asheratah16 save him 4. by Abiyahu 5. [ ]?? and to Asheratah 6. [ ]A[sh]eratah”17 The completely different interpretation proposed by Shea integrates the function of the incised hand into the meaning of the inscription as a whole. He interprets the word wmsryb to mean and his Egyptian’, from the gentilicium with an additional pronominal suffix referring to Uriyahu, while the word ‘Egyptian’ might refer to a slave in his service. As a consequence, the expression ‘his Asherah’ refers only to this slave, whose name might be Oniyahu (or Abiyahu in other translations), a name which is also mentioned in the inscription. Finally, Shea adds that the word hws lh might be interpreted as , ‘hand palm’, the preceding w being the conjunction, the first letter h being explained as a ‘ghost’ letter, and the h at the end of the word as the pronominal suffix. Shea presumes that this servant could not write and therefore included the outline of his hand as a kind of signature. As an explanation for the following repetition of I'srth, Shea suggests that the slave awkwardly copied the letters he knew to be referring to himself. According to this interpretation, Shea translates the inscription as “1. Uriyahu was the one who wrote it. 2. Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh, 3. And his Egyptian (servant) by his asherah, and here is his handprint: 4. (hand in sunk relief) for Oniyahu. 5. By his asherah. 6. And by his a.erah.”18 15 Cf. Simon B. Parker, “Divine Intercession in Judah?” VT 56 no. 1 (2006): 88-89, who also prefers the translation ‘for the sake of’, interpreting Asherah to serve as an intercessor between Uriyahu and Yhwh. 16 According to Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 363-365, 400-405, the final h of 'srth has to be explained not as a possessive suffix but as indicating a secondary double feminisation, resulting in a reading ‘Asheratah’. “[A]ny understanding of srth as referring to ‘the goddess Ashera belonging to YHWH’ lacks a basis in attested Hebrew usage” (403). Moreover, “the most common form ofher name in the Late Bronze texts was a-si-ir-ta” (404). See below for further discussion on this translation. 117 Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 361. 18 Cf. William H. Shea, “The Khirbet el-Qom Tomb Inscription Again,” Vetus Testamentum 40 no. 1 (1990): 110-116. 44 SÁROSPATAKI FlIZETEK 2013/1-2
