Is The Hebrew Word For “Tower” (Migdol) A Loan Word From
Egyptian?
Bodie Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, March 2, 2022
I was shocked. I was in a meeting where someone made a claim that migdol, the word for “Tower” in Genesis 11, “…is an Egyptian loan word”. They proceeded to give a definition I’ve never heard; naturally, it piqued my interest.
I’ve studied the
subject of the Tower of Babel for about 15 years, worked with Hebrew scholars,
theologians, and historians on the subject, and have published on it
extensively, including a popular book on the subject.
The person claiming this then proceeded to develop an
understanding of the Tower of Babel in
light of neo-definition of the word as opposed to the Hebrew definition. Although
both words mean tower, the definitions vary more than one might think—for
instance, the Egyptian definition suggested a tower included things like a
sandbar in a river.
Then the new conclusions, based on this new definition, were
used in part to derive a Tower of Babel to be starkly different that anything
you might have imagined. But the argument was framed as saying the Israelites
were “Egyptized” due to the time in Egypt.
Nevertheless, this threw up a big red flag to me. First, I
wanted to check their claim that migdol really
was a loan word from Egyptian. Secondly, wanted to know why this was done.
Is Migdol An Egyptian Loan Word?
One of the first places I looked was respected Hebrew
Lexicon Brown-Driver-Briggs.[1]
It gives no indication that migdol is
a loan word from Egypt. To the contrary, the Hebrew word migdol is a Hebrew word with Hebrew variations and Hebrew derivations
from other distinctly Hebrew words.
Next, I checked the Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament, OLB Hebrew Lexicon, NAS Hebrew Lexicon, Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon, Lexique Hebreu, HALOT (pp. 543–544),
DCH (5:130–132), TDOT (8:69–73), NIDOTTE (2:841–842), and none said it was an Egyptian loan word.[2]
Each one consistently gave definitions like: 1. Tower 2. Elevated Stage and 3.
Raised bed (of flowers).
These lexicons were consistent that the Hebrew word migdol, is related to several other
Hebrew words which is typical for normal Hebrew words (migdal, gadol, godel gadel) and migdol
itself derived from the root Hebrew word “to grow up” (gadal). A tower is aptly named since it is a building that was
built up above the surrounding structures.
I also decided to check another languages that we know
derived from Eber the son of Selah that had no
influence from Egypt to see if they used migdol. Biblical Hebrew was ancient Israelite Hebrew—it does have
distinctions from modern Hebrew. Arabic is a language of Eber that came down
through Ishmael. Though it could be
tainted with Egyptian words since he was half Egyptian himself—his mother Hagar
was Egyptian.
I decided to look to the Chaldean languages. The Chaldeans
were of Eber’s lineage (descendants of Eber and Peleg; think “Eberew” or “Heberew”).
The name Chaldeans and Chaldea is derived from the name Chesed[3]
and was used by Nahor, the brother of Abraham, for one of his sons (Genesis
22:20-22).
The Chaldeans were Hebrews (descendants of Eber) and
therefore spoke a version Hebrew. Abraham, for instance was a Hebrew and was
called out of Ur of the Chaldeans (e.g., Genesis 11:28-31; Nehemiah 9:7), which
was his ancestral family area. The variant languages of Heber change through
the years of course. Aramaic, a form of the Chaldean language was similar and
yet distinct enough from the language of Judah in Isaiah 36:11.
The Chaldeans were never in Egypt and were not influenced by
the Egyptians in any significant way. Naturally, any Middle Eastern nation is
going to have some remedial contact with other nations, but Chaldea was never
in a position like the Israelites, to be “Egyptized”.
The Chaldean language was the Hebrew form that prevailed and
became dominant during the Babylonian Empire. It became the common trade
language of the day for many places that Babylon had conquered. After the
Babylonian Empire was dissolved into the Persian Empire, its Chaldean language,
though not without its variations, continued as the trade language in many
parts of the Middle East even Galilee and Israel up until Christ’s earthly ministry.
The Chaldean language split into variants such as Eastern
and Western Chaldean (sometimes called East and West Chaldee). West Chaldean
which was dominant in the lands of Aram (one of Noah’s grandson’s progeny who
mixed with some of Togarmah’s descendants) became known as “Aramaic” (with a
variation known at Syriac) and there are a few passages in the Old Testament
that use the Aramaic form of Chaldean (Ezra 4:8 – 6:18; Ezra 7:12-26; Daniel
2:4-7:28; and Jeremiah 10:11). Christian Professor Philip Schaff who was first
chair of Hebrew and Cognate Languages at Union Theological Seminary and was
involved in the Revised translation of the Bible (1888) writes in 1904:
“The
principal languages or the Aramaic group are the ARAMAIC proper, of CHALDEE,
and the SYRAIC. They differ mainly in pronunciation and spelling.”[4]
So, what word does the Chaldean languages use for Tower? The
Aramaic Lexicon and Concordance says it is[5]:
·
(Eastern) MaG,D'LaA
·
(Western) MaG,D'LoA
Hebrew languages do not have vowels but vowels or vowel
points are added them to give us an idea of the pronunciation. So basically,
this is MGDL. If you can’t tell, this is essential transliterated as magdal and
magdol. It is the same basic word we find for Biblical Hebrew (MGDL) which is מגדל
migdal mig-dawl’ also (in pl.) fem. מגדלה migdalah mig-daw-law’.
Therefore, there is no reason to presume this word is
anything other than a Hebrew word found in variant forms of Heber’s
descendants’ language.
So why?
Was it a simple mistake? If one looks at Egypt, they have
towers too. They also have a word similar to the Hebrew word for tower
too.
Dr. David A. Falk of the University of British Columbia who
is an expert in Egyptian studies write on The
Torah website while discussing towers in Egypt that:
“The native Egyptian words for
“tower” are ḫtm and swnw.”[6]
He also points out
something unique when discussing migdol in Egypt. Dr. Falk write:
“The idea that Pi-Hahiroth and Baal-Zephon were lookout posts fits with
a third toponym in this same section, Migdol, one of the fortresses on the Way
of Horus, a road that was guarded by several fortresses intended to control the
flow of traffic from the Levant. The Egyptian version of this name, mˁktir actually
derives from a Semitic loan word מגדל, “tower.””[7]
He points out that
the Egyptians borrowed the word from the Hebrews since they are not using their
native words in certain instances. This is an important reflection. We need to
exercise caution instead of naively saying the Israelites in Egypt borrowed a
word from Egyptian, when in fact, it could easily be the other way around. In
this case, we can ascertain that it was borrowed from the Israelite Hebrew.
So, was it a simple
mistake? I hope so.
[1]
The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody
Massachusetts, 1906 (2005, Ninth Printing), pp. 153-154, 550.
[2]
All of these were checked in Online Bible Software, accessed November 3, 2021
or reference given in the text.
[3]
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers, Notes on Job 1:17 says, “The
Chaldeans.—Literally, Chasdim, or descendants of Chesed (Genesis 22:22; see
Note on Job 1:1). This name reappears in the classic Carduchia and in the
modern Kurdistan, as well as in the more familiar Chaldæa; it being a
well-known philological law that r and l and r and s are interchangeable.”, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/job/1-17.htm;
John Gill’s Commentary notes on Job 1:17 also affirm this relationship when he
says, “these Chaldeans or Chasdim were the descendants of Chesed, a son of
Nahor, who was brother to Abraham, Genesis 22:20, who settled in the east
country, not far from Job”, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/job/1-17.htm.
[4]
Philip Schaff, Theological Propaedeutic, Sixth Edition, Charles Scribner’s Sons
Publishers, New York, 1904, p. 116.
[5]
Aramaic Lexicon and Concordance, Entry: Tower, Accessed November 4, 2021, https://www.atour.com/cgi-bin/dictionary.cgi?string=tower&Search_Field=Meaning.
[6] David
A. Falk, "What We Know about the Egyptian Places Mentioned in Exodus"
TheTorah.com (2018).
https://thetorah.com/article/what-we-know-about-the-egyptian-places-mentioned-in-exodus.
[7] Ibid.
