Interesting. Any connection to "sefer" (book) and "sefar" (border in Aramaic)as well as "krach" which means both city and book?
Lonnie | 06.30.06 - 8:47 am | #

I wrote about sefer here:

http://balashon.blogspot.com/200.../04/ sefira.html

and I think krach is due a future post...
Dave | Homepage | 06.30.06 - 9:03 am | #

What I'd love to know is why Gubl- (the name attested in Akkadian transcriptions) became Gebhal in Hebrew. I would have expected a segholate *Gobhel, or even *Gobhal if Gubl- were a shortening of Gubal-. Any ideas?
Lameen | Homepage | 08.02.06 - 1:14 am | #

I'm not 100% sure. First of all, the question is what was the original name. I would guess that the Hebrew would closer to the Phoneician than the Akkadian, but I could be wrong.

In any case, Moskowitz writes in Daat Mikra on Ezekiel 27:9 that the early name was Gubla, then Gubal and lastly Gval.
Dave (Balashon) | Homepage | 08.04.06 - 11:57 am | #

1. Paper in Hebrew is nyar(with a shwa na`) not "niyar"(=colloquial) as you have stated.

2. Kings are mlachim (with shwa na`) not "malachim" as you have stated.
Yoel | 02.18.07 - 2:40 pm | #