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Bine Mene: Connecting the Hebrews
By MALUM NALU
A book, launched by Governor-General
Sir Paulias Matane on February 1 claims the Bine tribe of the
Western Province of Papua New Guinea is related to the Hebrew race
of Israel.
Author Samuel Were provides no sound anthropological,
archaeological, linguistic or academic evidence to support his
claim, however, draws on the oral traditions of his people as well
as his spiritual experiences as the basis for the book Bine Mene:
Connecting the Hebrews.
The book adds to a common belief among Western povince villagers,
particularly of the South Fly, that they are related to the
Hebrews.
The 28-page book is also an experiment in self-publishing, given
that Were wrote and did the page layout himself, with Star
Printers printing the cover and Summer Institute of Linguistics
printing the inside pages.
Were, a petroleum geoscientist who graduated from the University
of Papua New Guinea, also relies greatly on the Bible to support
his claim.
He compares the similarities between Bine and Hebrew words for
different subjects, people and places.
For example, Adam (mankind) in Hebrew is Ada in Bine; Eve (living
community) is Ewe; galeed (father-in-law, son-in-law) is Galiame;
Immanuel (God is with us) is Inama; Joseph (may he give me) is yo
seba aa; Judah (praise) is alajuta; Manasseh (being present) is
Mana agesate; and many others.
The book is a product of cumulative recording and compilation of
events, episodes and research by the writer starting in 1972 with
the arrival of translators from the Summer Institute of
Linguistics to his Western povince village of Kunini.
The translators were assisted by his father, the Reverend Kibani
Were, and that led to the completion of the Bine New Testament
Bible and Bine Hymn Book.
Were claims he had a divine dream and vision in 1984 while
attending Aiyura National high school, regarding what he calls
"remnant Hebrew people in PNG".
He says he acquired a great deal of oral history from his
grandparents and his father as a teenager that his Bliutope
(Hornbill) clan were people from the East, great sailors and
navigators, who conquered Australia before landing in their
present location.
Were claims the history of his people goes as far back as the
1300s, and that he has family members living in Australia to this
day.
Whatever critics, including me, may say, he staunchly sticks by
what he writes in his book.
I raise this issue of credibility with Were.
"Basically, look at the Bible," he replies.
"So far, I have used my own information, as well as that from the
Bible.
"Because of the comparisons we have in language and prophecies,
I've gone back to the scriptures to dig out certain messages from
the prophets of the Old Testament, regarding people of God who are
'remnant Hebrews'.
"It (book) originates from the traditional stories of my father
and grandfather, about the movement of our people across the sea
to our present location.
"...apart from being warriors, traders and sailors, we were also
people who feared God.
"According to the story, we were the original people from the
beginning.
"This was also true for the language we spoke.
"The other biggest force that made me take this story very
seriously was the arrival of the Bible translators from the Summer
Institute of Linguistics.
"Another thing prior to this was a stranger who came to my
village, Kunini, went to Boze, and he was seen around the Bine
tribe, Wipi and Kiwai tribes, and he was also in Daru.
"Nobody actually knew who he was.
"Even though he was locked up by police, he would come out.
"After some time, he vanished and we never saw him again.
"That's when they started saying that he was an angel of God
because we were 'remnant Hebrews'.
"After this guy left, SIL came in with their Bible translators.
"After all these, I started to develop an interest in finding out
if there was a language connection between my Bine language and
the Hebrew language, people's names and place names.
"Being a child of a pastor, this was actually part and parcel of
my life, because I always had a Bible with me.
Were said while a student at Aiyura National high school, in 1984,
he had a dream in which he was told about the 'remnant Hebrews' of
this nation.
"I saw a bright light. That's when I knew there were Hebrews here.
"I started doing my own write-ups, especially looking at the names
of people, places and cultural comparisons."
Were says he dug deep into encyclopaedias and the Bible to find
similarities between the Bine and Hebrew languages.
Along the way, he found that the Greek language also had
similarities to the Bine language.
"One of the main objectives of the book is to tell the truth and
to make it known that we are a race of people for God's service,"
Were continues,
"Having that in mind, we believe that even in our present state in
terms of social and economic life, we have a treasure of wealth in
our land.
"It will be developed according to God's timetable and plan.
"Many of my tribe people do not know their exact origins, where we
come from.
"Only a few of them have records and evidence, in terms of
passed-on stories, and some historical artefacts.
"Generally speaking, many of them do not know of our identity, but
the language comparison we have between Hebrew language, Greek
language, is now telling us that we need to think deep and accept
that if we are connected by language, then we must be related and
our origin is one."
Were says he has also met Israelites who have pointed out to him
the similarities between Hebrew and Bine languages.
Some of his writings in the book may seem far-fetched; however,
the comparison between Hebrew and Bine words did get my attention.
Were plans to write more books which probe further into the
relationship between the Hebrew and Bine languages.
Bine Mene: Connecting the Hebrews. By Samuel Were. Bright Star
Morning Corporation. Port Moresby, 2006. 20 pages. K20.
 
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