AMRAPHEL (Septuagint: 'Αμαρφάλ). – King of Shinar, who, Arioch (v.) and Tidal, followed Chedorlaomer (v.) of Elam in the expedition against the Syro-Palestinian peoples, and later against the coalition of the kings of the Pentapolis who had rebelled against Chedorlaomer after twelve years of subjection (Gen. 14:1, 9).
The similarity between the two names has led scholars, from E. Schrader (1872) onwards, to identify A. HAMMURABI (HAMMURAPI) (v.) of Babylon (cf. J. Hontheim, in Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie, 36 [1912], pp. 48-67). The objections to this identification arise from the name itself, since the final element is lacking in the Babylonian name, and also from chronological considerations, as scholars have not yet reached agreement on the dates of both Abraham and Hammurabi. F.M.T. Böhl, followed by A. Jirku and W.F. Albright, firmly rejects this identification, placing the four eastern Boghazköy (v.) and placing Abraham’s entry into Palestine around 1550 B.C.; he interprets A. as Amur-apil, “son of Amur” (the god of the Amorites). The identification, as far as can be said today, is possible from both a chronological and linguistic standpoint. The ending could be explained by Hurrian influence (cf. Gilgamesh = Gilgamesh), but historically several obscure points remain, and the prudent exegete will not place too much reliance on the above identification (A. Bea, La Palestina presraelitica, in Bibliotheca, 24 [1943], p. 247, n. 2).