The proper attested Greek rendering is Arisoµth. Now Arisoµth reflects the feminine plural of original Hebrew *harisût– which is the exact cognate of Akkadian erisûtu “good cultivable land.” This Akkadian erisûtu is from the verb ereµsûu “to cultivate, plow” which is the cognate to the Hebrew verb haµrasû “to plough, cultivate”; the same verb is used in Arabic, harat_a (haratha). The present vocalization in the Hebrew Bible, haroµsûet_ derives from *harusût– which is a by-form, the exact equivalent of *harisût-. However, I suspect that the Jewish vocalized tradition that we now have represents the common practice of applying the vowels of boµshet, “shame,” to names they did not like. Note Ish-bosheth, whose real name was Ish-baal, and Mephibosheth, whose real name was Meribaal. Incidentally, the Hebrew/Canaanite verb “to plough, cultivate” is from the original root H|-R-TH (as in Arabic), while the noun for “woods, forest” is from H|-R-Sð.
