Alice C. Linsley
The first three words of the Ten Commandments are: Anochi, Havayah E-lohecha, meaning I am God, your Ruler. The Talmud (Shabbat 105a) questions the word Anochi, (I) which is an unusual form of the pronoun, as opposed to the more commonly used Ani.
The Talmud represents a perspective shaped by years in Babylon when the people of Judah became disconnected from their Horite roots in Egypt. Therefore, the Talmud doesn't recognize that anochi means "I" in the Egyptian language and is likely the royal first person pronoun.
The word anochi is also found among peoples who migrated from the Nile westward, such as the Igbo and the Ashante. Among the Igbo, anochie means “a replacer” or “to replace” and among the Ashante the word ano kyi means "Ano Junior." In both cases, one finds the idea of succession from father to son, suggesting a royal line of descent. A Nigerian biblical anthropologist reports that "Anochie also means 'direct heir to a throne'." The biblical word "Enoch" is clearly associated with royal ascendency.
Enoch is doubtless a cognate of anochi and therefore signifies heir to the throne. Analysis of the Genesis King Lists (Gen. 4 and 5) indictaes that Cain's son was Enoch because he would ascend to the throne. The question is whose throne? As it was the custom for these rulers to have two wives, there were two firstborn sons, and these were heirs to different thrones. The firstborn son of the half-sister wife ascended to the throne of his biological father. The firstborn son of the cousin/niece wife ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. In other words, it appears that Cain's son by his cousin wife was the designated ruler over Enoch I's territory.
Another Enoch is named in Genesis 5:18-24. He ascended to the throne of his father Jared. This Enoch was the father of Methuselah and the paternal grandfather of Lamech the Younger. He was a contemporary of Lamech the Elder, whose two wives are named in Genesis 4:23.
As is evident from this segment of the Genesis 4 and 5 king lists, Enoch's son married the daughter of Lamech and she named their firstborn son after her father, as was the custom for the cousin bride. Lamech the Younger would have ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named.
It is likely that the biblical name Enoch is a royal name or title and that its origins are best explained by looking to the Nilotic peoples. Here again we have evidence that Abraham's ancestors came from Africa, as is attested by Genesis 10.
Related reading: Abraham's Kushite Ancestors; The Marriage and Ascendency Pattern of Abraham's Ancestors
The first three words of the Ten Commandments are: Anochi, Havayah E-lohecha, meaning I am God, your Ruler. The Talmud (Shabbat 105a) questions the word Anochi, (I) which is an unusual form of the pronoun, as opposed to the more commonly used Ani.
The Talmud represents a perspective shaped by years in Babylon when the people of Judah became disconnected from their Horite roots in Egypt. Therefore, the Talmud doesn't recognize that anochi means "I" in the Egyptian language and is likely the royal first person pronoun.
The word anochi is also found among peoples who migrated from the Nile westward, such as the Igbo and the Ashante. Among the Igbo, anochie means “a replacer” or “to replace” and among the Ashante the word ano kyi means "Ano Junior." In both cases, one finds the idea of succession from father to son, suggesting a royal line of descent. A Nigerian biblical anthropologist reports that "Anochie also means 'direct heir to a throne'." The biblical word "Enoch" is clearly associated with royal ascendency.
Enoch is doubtless a cognate of anochi and therefore signifies heir to the throne. Analysis of the Genesis King Lists (Gen. 4 and 5) indictaes that Cain's son was Enoch because he would ascend to the throne. The question is whose throne? As it was the custom for these rulers to have two wives, there were two firstborn sons, and these were heirs to different thrones. The firstborn son of the half-sister wife ascended to the throne of his biological father. The firstborn son of the cousin/niece wife ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. In other words, it appears that Cain's son by his cousin wife was the designated ruler over Enoch I's territory.
Another Enoch is named in Genesis 5:18-24. He ascended to the throne of his father Jared. This Enoch was the father of Methuselah and the paternal grandfather of Lamech the Younger. He was a contemporary of Lamech the Elder, whose two wives are named in Genesis 4:23.
As is evident from this segment of the Genesis 4 and 5 king lists, Enoch's son married the daughter of Lamech and she named their firstborn son after her father, as was the custom for the cousin bride. Lamech the Younger would have ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named.
It is likely that the biblical name Enoch is a royal name or title and that its origins are best explained by looking to the Nilotic peoples. Here again we have evidence that Abraham's ancestors came from Africa, as is attested by Genesis 10.
Related reading: Abraham's Kushite Ancestors; The Marriage and Ascendency Pattern of Abraham's Ancestors
0 comments:
Post a Comment