[12] Shraga Setrage introduces an interesting idea in this context (Megadim 20): In the writings of Sancheriv, Jerusalem appears as “Ur sa lim mu,” with the assumption that the prefix “Ur” means, in Acadian, “city.” In Yishayahu 31:9, we find a verse that reads: “…says God, Whose hearth is in Zion (“ur lo be-Tzion“) and His furnace in Jerusalem.” Setrage posits that Yishayahu chooses to make use of the Assyrian name of Yerushalayim. In this way the prophet means to tell the King of Assyria: You think that Jerusalem is a city like any other, but know that this “ur” (meant here in the Assyrian sense – “city”) will be revealed to you as an “ur” – a hearth – as God’s fire which will protect Jerusalem.
[14] “Jerusalem From Its Beginnings Until the Destruction of the First Temple,” Sefer Yerushalayim, 5716, p. 100.
[15] Cassuto, “Jerusalem in the Books of the Torah,” Eretz Yisrael (5714), pp. 15-17.
Translated by Kaeren Fish
This originally appeared at the Virtual Bet Midrash, which is maintained by the Yeshivat Har Etzion.
