Genesis 36:36 names Samlah (שמלה) of Masrekah as a king of Edom.
Samla means "a garment", usually a large outer garment of the sort in which people would wrap themselves for warmth at night, a kind of Biblical dressing-gown. Odd name! So many Biblical names are odd names, what else is there to do with them but imagine there must be a reason.
The root Samal (שמל) means "to gird" or "to surround", which does not really help decipher the enigma at all.
The fact that he was the successor to Chadad (חדד), which is a shortened form of Ba'al-Chadad (בעל-חדד), the Kena'anite storm-god, and that he was succeeded first by Sha'ul of Rechovot (Saul the Rachabite, which is to say a worshipper of the sea-goddess Rachav/Rahab of Yericho), and then by Ba'al-Chanan (בעל-חנן) the son of Achbor (עכבור) - a moon-god who served in the field-mouse cult of the corn-goddess - ought to give further clues; but alas they take us no nearer.
The king-list is given in full in 1 Chronicles 1:43 ff, and is packed with the names of Kena'ani gods, served by sacred priest-kings (note there are no El or Yah names in the list). Gesenius suggests Samla (שמלה) may be an erroneous transposition of Salma (שלמה), but this is unlikely, because the Jerusalemite Salm cult is never associated with Edom, nor are any of the gods listed here linked directly to the sun. Nevertheless the transposition does take place, and therefore cannot be completely ignored: in Exodus 22:8 and again in Micah 2:8.
Much more likely, it seems to me, the etymology is in fact completely different; because there is also Masreykah (משרקה) = "a vineyard", usually of superior quality, which could indicate that we are again in the Dionysic-Baccanalian realm associated with the Esav-Ya'akov story and their links to Edom.
And no, the name has nothing to do with combing the hair; Masrek (מסרק), which is the Yehudit word for a comb, is spelled with a Samech (ס), not a Seen
(ש).
Much more likely, it seems to me, the etymology is in fact completely different; because there is also Masreykah (משרקה) = "a vineyard", usually of superior quality, which could indicate that we are again in the Dionysic-Baccanalian realm associated with the Esav-Ya'akov story and their links to Edom.
And no, the name has nothing to do with combing the hair; Masrek (מסרק), which is the Yehudit word for a comb, is spelled with a Samech (ס), not a Seen
(ש).
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