Ben-ammi in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
ben-am'-i (ben `ammi, "son of my kinsman," Gen 19:38): The
progenitor of the Ammonites was a son of Lot's younger
daughter, born after the destruction of Sodom. The account
of his birth as well as that of Moab was commonly regarded
as an expression of Israel's intense hatred and contempt
toward these two nations. However, this idea is rather
unwarranted, in view of the fact that the origin of the
tribe of Judah (which is held in especial honor by J) is
accounted for in a similiar way (Gen 38). Gunkel (Schopfung
und Chaos, 190) suggests that the narrative (Gen 19:30-38)
was originally a Moabitic account tracing the common origin
of Moab and Ammon to Lot. It presupposes a universal
catastrophe--such as the conflagration of Sodom and
Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim suggests--in which all the human
race, save Lot and his two daughters, perished. In order to
avert the extinction of the race, his daughters resorted to
incestuous practices. In this case we have here a Moabite
parallel to the Deluge story (Skinner, Genesis, 313-14).
While the common origin of the two brother tribes is
undoubtedly a fact (Jdg 10:6; 11:15,18,25; Dt 2:19; 2 Ch 20,
etc.), the folk-etymology of their names is rather
suspicious. The name Ben-Ammi is probably derived from the
deity "Emu," which is the name for Nergal among the
shuchites on the West of the Euphrates a land which
corresponds to the position of the Bene-`Ammo, "children of
his people" (Nu 22:5). The chief god of the Kataban Arabs
was called Ammi (Hom., ZDMG, V, 95, 525, note 1). In
cuneiform inscriptions this name appears as part of the
title of the Ammonite rulers (HDB). Neubauer (Studia
Biblica, 1-26) suggests that the name Balaam is a compound
of Bel plus Am, that is, "Am is Lord." For other compounds
with Ammi see Gray, HPN, 41-60.
S. Cohon
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