Editing Amraphel

{{Short description|Ancient Sumerian King}}
[[File:Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e2 336-0.jpg|thumb|Illustration from the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', Showing Ḫammurabi on one of his steles as Amraphel]]
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], '''Amraphel''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|m|r|ə|ˌ|f|ɛ|l}} ({{langx|he|אַמְרָפֶל|translit=’Amrāp̄el}}; {{langx|el|Ἀμαρφάλ|Amarphál}}; {{langx|la|Amraphel}}) was a king of [[Shinar]] (Hebrew for [[Sumer]]) in [[Book of Genesis]] Chapter 14,<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|14:1|KJV|Genesis chapter 14, verses 1}} and {{bibleverse|Genesis|14:9|KJV|9}}</ref> who invaded [[Canaan]] along with other kings under the leadership of [[Chedorlaomer]], king of [[Elamite Empire|Elam]]. Chedorlaomer's coalition defeated [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]] and the other cities in the [[Battle of the Vale of Siddim]].

== Modern identifications ==
Beginning with E. Schrader in 1888,<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/cuneiforminscrip02schr Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament],'' vol II (1888), pp 299ff</ref> Amraphel was usually associated with [[Hammurabi|Ḫammurabi]], who ruled [[Babylonia]] from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC. This view has been largely abandoned in recent decades.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Bruce M. Metzger |editor2=Michael D. Coogan |date=1993 |title=The Oxford Companion to the Bible |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458/page/5 5] |chapter=Abraham |author=Robert North |isbn=0-19-504645-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458/page/5 }}</ref><ref name="Granerød2010">{{cite book|author=Gard Granerød|title=Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5mlvNPexSEC&pg=PA114|date=26 March 2010|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-022346-0|page=120}}</ref>

[[David Rohl]] has argued for an identification with [[Amar-Sin]], the third ruler of the [[Ur III]] dynasty.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last= Rohl|title= The Lords of Avaris |publisher=Random House|date= 2010|page= 294}}</ref> 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".<ref>Walton, John H., and Craig S. Keener. ''NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture''. Zondervan, 2019. p. 39.</ref> [[John Van Seters]], in ''[[Abraham in History and Tradition]]'', rejected the historical existence of Amraphel.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Seters|first=John Van|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MySUQgAACAAJ&q=Abraham+in+history+and+tradition|title=Abraham in History and Tradition|date=1975|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-01792-2}}</ref> According to [[Stephanie Dalley]], Amraphel was "[e]ither Hammurabi with an unexplained suffix ''-el'', or [[Amut-piʾel II|Amud-piʾel]], king of [[Qatna]], with the common misreading of the letter ''r'' for ''d''; possibly a confusion of the two names."<ref>{{cite book |title=The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116 |last=Dalley |first=Stephanie |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-107-13627-4 |page=320 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMsvEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA320}}</ref>

== In Rabbinic tradition ==
Rabbinic sources such as [[Midrash]] [[Tanhuma]] ''Lekh Lekhah'' 6, [[Targum Yonatan]] to Exodus 14:1, and [[Eruvin (Talmud)|Eruvin]] 53a<ref>{{cite web|url=http://halakhah.com/rst/moed/13c%20-%20Eruvin%20-%2053a-79a.pdf|title=The Soncino Babylonian Talmud|website=Halakhah.com|access-date=13 January 2017}}</ref>{{rp|2}} identify Amraphel with [[Nimrod (king)|Nimrod]]. This is also asserted in the 11th chapter of the [[Sefer haYashar (midrash)|Sefer haYashar]], attested from the early 17th century:

{{quote|And Nimrod dwelt in Babel, and he there renewed his reign over the rest of his subjects, and he reigned securely, and the subjects and princes of Nimrod called his name Amraphel, saying that at the tower his princes and men fell through his means.|Sefer haYashar 11}}

[[Genesis Rabbah]] 42 says Amraphel was called by three names: [[Cush (Bible)|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==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1440&letter=A ''Jewish Encyclopedia'': Amraphel]
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[[Category:Lech-Lecha]]
[[Category:Nimrod]]
[[Category:Sumerian kings]]
[[Category:Monarchs in the Torah]]
[[Category:Third Dynasty of Ur]]
[[Category:Hammurabi]]