What does it mean the Israel/Jerusalem's father & mother were an Amorrhite & Hethite?

I was listening to a Youtube video by a Protestant Egyptologist and Bible scholar and at one point, he said that Abraham wasn't a Hebrew but an Amorrhite and that he thinks that the name Hebrew doesn't originate with the man Heber, but with the Egyptian term Hapiru, which referred to the lowest rung in the Egyptian social ladder.

One thing that he brought up to make his case, was a Bible passage I have actually been wondering about for some time, namely Ezekiel 16:3:

And thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God to Jerusalem: Thy root, and thy nativity is of the land of Chanaan, thy father was an Amorrhite, and thy mother a [H]ethite.

What does that passage mean? And how did the fathers, doctors and other scholars of the Church understand this passage?

 

I think you would really enjoy reading the Complete Visions of Bl Anne Catherine Emerich. Her visions go into detail from Adam and Eve to Christ's resurrection. She never left her bed but described in such detail things like locations that archeologists even used her visions to find the house that John took the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ephesus Turkey after Christ died. Amazing reading and very satisfying especially to those who have read the whole Old Testament and studied it. She goes into minute detail about the tribes and patriarchs of Israel and where they came from and their people. Below is an excerpt from wikapedia on the Holy House in Ephesius.

House of the Virgin Mary[edit]

House of the Virgin Mary, now a chapel in Ephesus, Turkey
Neither Brentano nor Emmerich had ever been to Ephesus, and indeed the city had not yet been excavated; but visions contained in The Life of The Blessed Virgin Mary were used during the discovery of the House of the Virgin Mary, the Blessed Virgin's supposed home before her Assumption, located on a hill near Ephesus, as described in the book Mary's House.[15]

Here is an excerpt of Emmerich's description of Mary's House:[16]

"The Blessed Virgin's dwelling was not in Ephesus itself, but from three to four hours distant. It stood on a height upon which several Christians from Judea, among them some of the holy women related to her, had taken up their abode. Between this height and Ephesus glided, with many a crooked curve, a little river. The height sloped obliquely toward Ephesus."

In 1881 a French priest, the Abbé Julien Gouyet, used Emmerich's book to search for the house in Ephesus and found it based on the descriptions. He was not taken seriously at first, but sister Marie de Mandat-Grancey persisted until two other priests followed the same path and confirmed the finding.[17][18]

The Holy See has taken no official position on the authenticity of the location yet, but in 1951 Pope Pius XII initially declared the house a Holy Place. Pope John XXIII later made the declaration permanent. Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 visited the house and treated it as a shrine.[19]

 

Hi RosaryWielder. Ezekiel chapter 16 is a figurative (not literal) description of the end times "harlot of Babylon." The reference to the "Amorrhite and the Hethite" is just a figurative way to saying that, before Baptism, all Christians are pagans, Gentiles, living outside of the means of the Sacraments. Interpret it like you would a poem, because that is what it is. It is not meant to be a literal historical description.

The "harlot" (Ezekiel 16:16) according to Apocalypse 17 rides "the Beast." The Beast (Apocalypse 13) is the end times Counterfeit Catholic Church (including the institution, the head of that institution, and the members of that institution).

The head of "the Beast" is called "the False Prophet" (aka "the Antichrist" in the later writings of the Church Fathers). This man is the final antipope who deceives lukewarm, worldly Catholics into following him in his apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2 and CCC 675-676).

These worldly, lukewarm Catholics who follow the Antichrist are collectively known as the "Harlot of Babylon." The Apocalypse is a long poetic contrast between "the harlot" and the immaculate Bride of Christ (the members of the True Catholic Church, the Faithful Remnant). The former is punished for its spiritual adultery and the latter is rewarded with the renewed paradise, the new heaven and new earth.

Babylon means "confusion." So Ezekiel chapter 16 is God lamenting about these confused Catholics who are following a false teaching to their own eternal destruction.

Hope this helps.

 

That Egyptologist is most likely not Christian or of an Abrahamic faith.

The Amorites originated in Caanan, in modern Israel. It appears they migrated in an arc (the Fertile Cresent) northeastwards into modern Syria and Jordan and then southeastwards into Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq down to Kuwait). The southeastern corner of the region (Mesopotamia / Sumer) had been ruled by various dynastys including the kings of Ur. However, after the Amorites succesfully invaded, they settled and integrated with the Sumerians.

Abraham (Abram) was from Ur of the Chaldees. There seems to be some debate about this city's location in relation to Abraham. This video says Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia, close to the city that later became the center of the Babylonian empire:



However, Derek Gilbert claims that the Ur of the Chaldees that Abraham came from was further north, and importantly north of the river Euphrates. Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia is actually south of the Euphrates. In Joshua 24:2, Joshua told the people:

Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this, "From time immemorial, your ancestors, Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River, and served other Gods"

But if Abraham had come from Ur in Mesopotamia, he would not have had to cross the River. So the above video gets it wrong. See Derek Gilbert below:



Abram or Abraham was a Semite and descendent of Shem, whereas the Amorites were descendents of Ham (Noah's sons). Noah prophesied that the YHWH would be the God of Shem.

I suppose that even if Abram came from the Ur in Mesopotamia he could still be descended from Shem as the Amorites were mixed in with other tribes. However, I would believe Derek Gilbert as it fits with Divinely inspired scripture.

The Amorites were related to the Rephaim who were giants. The Amorites were known for ritual child sacrifice. Before the conquest west of the river Jordan, Joshua defeated, east of the river, 2 of the Amorite kings, i.e., king Og of Bashan and king Sihon. The Amorites and other tribes of Caanan, including the Hittites and Jebusites (Amorites of Jerusalem), were put under the curse of destruction by YHWH before the conquest was begun.

 

Fascinating, thanks for this!