Comments on: The רפאיהו seal

By: Yitzhak Sapir

Yitzhak Sapir — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:05:58 +0000

You know, you’d think that if we find Solomon’s long lost son’s seal, we’d identify it as such.

By: Christopher Heard

Christopher Heard — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:14:09 +0000

Mike, I agree that if the seal has any connection to a biblical person, then “Shallum,” not “Rephayahu,” will prove to be the anchor point.

Unfortunately, since the seal itself really provides so little information (and it could not really be otherwise), we’ll probably never know much more about Rephayahu (son of) Shallum (?) than we do right now.

By: Michael Welch

Michael Welch — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:07:15 +0000

Dear Dr. Heard, Hi!!! Of course we can never know for sure if this seal is connected to a Biblical person. But it could be argued, but never proven, that the Shallum mentioned on the seal could be Jeremiah’s Uncle. The way to vocalize Shin Lamed Mem is Shallum(seals tend to shorten the spelling of names, rather than giving the full spelling with all of the vowels). You would also have to give the seal a Seventh Century date, like Dr. Robert Deutsch just has on Dr. West’s Blog. Dr. Peter van der Veen has just argued that the mid-Seventh century could be moved down about fifty years. So, you just never know, in these fields of epigraphy, iconography and even stratigraphy, what is going to happen. I wish they could be more scientific, but generally they are not. Unless of course they have some carbonized material next to the seals that they can date.
With Much Gratitude,
Sincerely Yours,
Mike Welch
Deltona, Florida

By: G.M. Grena

G.M. Grena — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 21:52:11 +0000

Thanks! Deceived by my English index…

By: Christopher Heard

Christopher Heard — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:54:14 +0000

Actually, G. M., the name רפאיהו does not appear in the Tanakh at all. The name רפיה might be considered an alternate spelling of the same name, and appears in Neh 3:9; 1 Chron 3:21; 4:42; 7:2; 9:43.

In the recent discussions, many have been vocalizing שלם as “Shalem.” There is no precedent for “Shalem” as a personal name in the Tanakh; that vocalization is always a toponym. For personal names, we do find שִׁלֵּם, “Shillem,” in Gen 46:24; Num 26:49.

Obviously, none of the individuals above can be connected with this seal, if it really dates to the 8th century BCE. Everyone mentioned would be either earlier or later, if historical at all.

The Tanakh also attests a name spelled שַׁלֻּם or שַׁלּוּם. The shorter form appears in 2 Kings 15:10; 22:14; Jer 22:11; 32:7; 35:4; Ezra 10:24; 1 Chron 4:25; 9:31; 2 Chron 28:12; 34:22. The “full” spelling appears in 2 Kings 15:13, 14, 15; Ezra 2:42; 7:2; 10:42; Neh 3:12; 7:45; 1 Chron 2:40-41; 3:15; 5:38–39; 7:13; 9:17, 19.

By: G.M. Grena

G.M. Grena — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 06:05:28 +0000

For comparison, see the downward-wings seal of King Hezekiah on the cover of BAR vol. 28 #4, Jul/Aug 2002 (an online photo of the impression on author Robert Deutsch’s website). Both of its Lameds vary a bit in relative size (the initial one actually goes through the border–he/she cheated!), though admittedly not quite as much as in this newly discovered seal. Also, its Alef is remarkably similar to the way I drew this one–I did not even realize it till just now! Nonetheless, the engravers were not trying to win any sort of consistency contest.

P.S. Would be nice to see you add a list of all the Biblical verses mentioning a “Rephaiah” (RPAYEU) or a “Shallum” (SLM), & consider the odds of this seal relating to one of them, in comparison to the Shelomit seal’s odds of relating to a Biblical person.