Editing Hebron (section)

==Etymology==
The name "Hebron" appears to trace back to two [[northwest Semitic languages]],{{efn|Y.L. Arbeitman, ''The Hittite is Thy Mother: An Anatolian Approach to Genesis 23'', (1981) pp. 889-1026, argues that an [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European root]] *''ar-'', with the same meaning as the semitic root ''ḥbr'', namely 'to join' may underlie part of the earlier name Kiryat-'''Ar'''ba,{{sfn|Niesiolowski-Spano|2016|p=124}}}} which coalesce in the form ''ḥbr'', having reflexes in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Amorite]], with a basic sense of 'unite' and connoting a range of meanings from "colleague" to "friend". In the proper name ''Hebron'', the original sense may have been ''alliance''.<ref>{{harvnb|Cazelles|1981|p=195}} compares Amorite ''ḫibru[[Mimation|(m)]]''. Two roots are in play, ''ḥbr/ḫbr''. The root has magical overtones, and develops pejorative connotations in late Biblical usage.</ref>

The [[Arabic]] name for Hebron, ''al-Khalīl'', emerged as the city's actual name in the 13th century.<ref name="GR">{{Cite journal |last=Talmon-Heller |first=Daniella |date=2007 |title=Graves, Relics and Sanctuariese: The Evolution of Syrian Sacred Topography (Eleventh-Thirteenth Centuries) |url=https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?url=article&id=2020748 |journal=[[ARAM Periodical]] |volume=19 |pages=606}}</ref> Earlier Muslim sources refer to the city as Ḥabra or Ḥabrūn.<ref name="GR" /> The name ''al-Khalīl'' derives from the [[Quran|Qur'anic]] epithet for [[Abraham in Islam|Abraham]], ''Khalil al-Rahman'' ({{lang|ar|إبراهيم خليل الرحمن}}) "Beloved of the Merciful" or "Friend of God".<ref>Qur'an 4:125/Surah 4 Aya (verse) 125, ''[[Qur'an]]'' ({{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/lot/6093/4nisa.html |title=source text |access-date=July 30, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027154527/http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/lot/6093/4nisa.html |archive-date=October 27, 2009}})</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Büssow|2011|p=194 n.220}}</ref><ref>Khalidi, Walid. ''Before Their Diaspora : A Photographic History of the Palestinians, 1876-1948''. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1991, 61.</ref> Arabic ''Al-Khalil'' thus precisely translates the ancient Hebrew [[toponym]] ''Ḥebron'', understood as ''ḥaḇer'' (friend).<ref name="Sharon 2007 104">{{harvnb|Sharon|2007|p=104}}</ref>