A few points of note from Ziauddin Sardar’s book on the names for Mecca.
Mecca has had many names. It was known as al-Balad (the main city) and al-Qaryah (place large numbers of people congregate like water flowing into a reservoir). Mecca was also known as Baca as mentioned in Psalm 84:5-6
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[a]
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
The Arabic form of Baca, Bakkah, can be translated as ‘lack of stream’. The valley indeed was a dry place with no vegetation.
Categories: Islam
Blogging Theology 
Baca is not Mecca. That is a terribly poor apologetic based on a word fallacy
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If it were based on a word fallacy, then you shouldn’t have a problem since most “prophecies” about a god dying that you tell jews are terribly based on your simple vapid imagination with no basic theologically, linguistically, and even logically !
However, that place is Mecca. Some of your translations put like this ( Vally of Balsam), which is Balsam of Mecca.
“As they pass through a valley where balsam trees grow, they make it a place of springs. The early rains cover it with blessings”
Also, some bible dictionaries for study which written by christian scholar in Arabic mention Mecca by name as a place where that kind of tree is growing. One of them is (دائرة المعارف الكتابية) Vol2. pp189!
Scientifically, it’s named by that place as (Balsamea meccanensis) .
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And balsam trees grow in how many valleys in the Middle East? You seem desperate to find Mecca where it does not exist- it was an unknown backwater town foreign to the Jews of Palestine
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Why would I be desperate while christians themseves who mention that in their books?
” How many valleys”
There’s one valley called Baka, and it’s known with balsam tree.
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Classical mufassir like ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/ 1144), in his tafsir Al Kashshaaf ‘an Haqaa’iq al-Tanziil wa ‘Uyuun al-Aqaawiil fii Wujuuh al-Ta’wiil [ الكشاف عن حقائق التنزيل وعيون الأقاويل في وجوه التأويل] explain that Makkah dan Bakkah mean the same thing. in his entry for ayat 3:96 al-Zamakhsharī wrote:
Makkah and Bakkah is SYNONIMOUS different spelling but the same meaning, because the letter “ba” ب and “mim” م in general are exchangeable like the arabic word Nabiit and Namiit.
This is also the view of the majority of Arabic linguists.
Also in/Psalm/Tehilim 84:6 (84:7) , the word BAKA בָּכָא used is described as Proper Name Location, it refer to a geographical location not an allegorical meaning.
This form עֵמֶק הַבָּכָא (’emeq ha Baka’) occur only once in TaNakH , and interestingly it use definite article הַ which must refer to a special place, a place where believers pay a visit to Beit ALLAH.
Furthermore if we analyze Psalm, the context makes a perfect sense if Makkah (Mecca) is the geographical location of Baka בָּכָא because:
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Your own source says the valley is in Palestine. And you’ve appealed to the word fallacy again.
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I told you before, paulus.
This blog is not for you! You can do whatever you want in the clown’s school, yet here you are facing muslims! Remember that always when you write any nonsense comment in this blog.
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Salamun alaikum,
Regarding the alleged exchangeability of the letters ba and mim:
a) http://www.iandavidmorris.com/mecca-before-islam-2-makoraba-macoraba/#comment-137194
b) https://twitter.com/phoenixnl/status/855556518237925376
Thus, we simply don’t know (yet?) the real relationship between Bakkah and Makkah.
God {swt} knows best!
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Some honesty. Thankyou.
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Which book by Ziauddin Sardar?
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khag=hajj in old testament exodus 12:14 exodus 5:1 job 22:14 job 26:10 proverbs 8:27 isaiah 40:22
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=Beqaa valley? That’s in Lebanon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beqaa_Valley
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completely different place, and spelling.
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(Barnes’ Notes on the Bible)
“Who passing through the valley of Baca – This is one of the most difficult verses in the Book of Psalms, and has been, of course, very variously interpreted. The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, Luther, and Professor Alexander, render it a valley of tears. The word “Baca” (בכא bâkâ’) means properly weeping, lamentation; and then it is given to a certain tree – not probably a mulberry tree, but some species of balsam – from its weeping; that is, because it seemed to distil tears, or drops of balsam resembling tears in size and appearance. It is translated mulberry trees in 2 Samuel 5:23-24; 1 Chronicles 14:14-15; and so in the margin here, “mulberry trees make him a well.” There is no reason, however, to think that it has that meaning here. The true rendering is, “valley of lamentation,” or weeping”
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It does not make sense if it was rendered that way, there is only one instance in the whole T’NaKH where the definite article used meaning it is a proper name location. It is not just a mere weeping valley.
The correct rendering of Ps 84:6 should be:
Only one place match this description , the valley Mecca/Baka in the Hejaz area (present day Saudi Arabia)
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Proper nouns in Hebrew don’t need the definite article. They are definite by definition. So your appeal to a particular grammatical argument is incorrect.
Baca is not Mecca. It cannot be Mecca. Thus it is rendered “weeping” or “lamentation”
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I am not saying a proper noun may take definite article *ה־, but the fact that the word hab-ba-ka הַבָּכָא in Ps 84:6 employ a definite article * ה־ give the distinctiveness to its meaning thus making it a proper noun. This instance occur only once in the T’NaKH.
Strong Hebrew concordance define the word hab-ba-ka הַבָּכָא in Ps 84:6 as #1056, it is a proper noun location. In other word it is a geographical location.
It is very significance that the word hab-ba-ka הַבָּכָא is a Biblical hapax legomenon while the word Makkah مَكَّة is Qur’anic hapax legomenon (Q 48:24). Both instance must refer to the same proper name of geographical location not a mere adjectival compound of weeping valley.
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Paulus
https://www.google.ca/search?q=what+is+paulus&rlz=1C1AVFC_enCA750CA750&oq=what+is+paulus&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l4.5348j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Paulus is a Latin surname meaning “small” or “humble”.
As per your logic, because Paulus i.e. your name means “small” or “humble” in other language, does that mean your name is not Paulus?
What ever Baka means in another language i.e. English language does not prevent Baka to be called Baka. In Arabic Baka is Makkah(Mecca). What is your problem?
Thanks.
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Eric Bin Kassim you are very intelligent and I respect you. What is the Truth regarding Bacca? Is it what Paulus says or what you say? And what is the Biblical significance of the term in the Bible? If Bakka really equals Mecca, then what does it mean and achieve? And why is Paulus and his group so determined to claim that Bakkah IS NOT MECCA? Please explain. Thanks a million
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