Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e2 336-0

In the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Shinar (Hebrew for

Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...

) in

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

Chapter 14, who invaded

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

along with other kings under the leadership of Chedorlaomer, king of

Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...

. Chedorlaomer's coalition defeated Sodom and the other cities in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim.

Modern identifications

Beginning with E. Schrader in 1888, Amraphel was usually associated with Ḫammurabi, who ruled

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC. This view has been largely abandoned in recent decades. David Rohl has argued for an identification with Amar-Sin, the third ruler of the Ur III dynasty. Some suggest that Amraphel is a Semitic name that is composed of two elements, "Amar", which was also used by Sumerian King, Amar-Sin, and "a-p-l". John Van Seters, in '' Abraham in History and Tradition'', rejected the historical existence of Amraphel. According to

Stephanie Dalley Stephanie Mary Dalley FSA (''née'' Page; March 1943) is a British Assyriologist and scholar of the Ancient Near East. Prior to her retirement, she was a teaching Fellow at the Oriental Institute, Oxford. She is known for her publications of ...

, Amraphel was " ther Hammurabi with an unexplained suffix ''-el'', or Amud-piʾel, king of Qatna, with the common misreading of the letter ''r'' for ''d''; possibly a confusion of the two names."

In Rabbinic tradition

Rabbinic sources such as

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

Tanhuma ''Lekh Lekhah'' 6, Targum Yonatan to Exodus 14:1, and

Eruvin An eruv is a religious-legal enclosure which permits carrying in certain areas on Shabbat. Eruv may also refer to: * '' Eruvin (Talmud)'', a tractate in ''Moed'' * Eruv tavshilin ("mixing of cooked dishes"), which permits cooking on a Friday H ...

53a identify Amraphel with

Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...

. This is also asserted in the 11th chapter of the Sefer haYashar, attested from the early 17th century: Genesis Rabbah 42 says Amraphel was called by three names: Cush, after his father's name (Gen. 10:8), Nimrod, because he established rebellion (''mrd'') in the world, and Amraphel, as he declared (''amar'') "I will cast down" (''apilah'').

References

External links

''Jewish Encyclopedia'': Amraphel
{{Authority control Lech-Lecha Nimrod Sumerian kings Monarchs in the Torah Third Dynasty of Ur Hammurabi