Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Dear Menachem,

Surely the use of periphrastic expressions in place of the name of God 
was an encouragement towards personification of attributes of God 
rather than a way to avoid it? Or perhaps rather, as suggested in the 
original posting in this thread, it was a part of or a precursor of 
the movements towards personification, some of which were eventually 
rejected by the Jewish leadership as heretical and forced to go their 
own way.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: OT Trnity ?
Author:  mbrody AT earthling.net at internet
Date:    03/03/1999 11:33


<snip>
 If I may add:
We find frequently in the Targumim translation of the name of G-d as: 
LIFNAY  [before, in the presence ] of  G-d
KAVOD [glory, honor] of G-d
as well as MAMAR [statement, word] of G-d.

All of these additions appear to form a consistent attempt to avoid an 
impression of HAGSHAMAH [personification ?] by the unsophisticated listner 
to the original Hebrew Biblical verses, apparently a serious problem in the 
first century, if we judge from the sects that splintered away from Judaism 
in this period.

Menachem
.
Menachem Brody
Machon Helkat Hasadeh
Elon Moreh
mbrody AT earthling.net
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