Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Dear Joseph (I gather you prefer that),

I don't suppose we can be sure whether ancient Hebrew names like 
Avraham, Noah etc as well as YHWH do in fact have Mesopotamian or 
Sumerian roots. It could be that these were compounds in Sumerian or 
something which have become assimilated to some Hebrew meaning (like 
Hebrew HEYKAL "temple" which looks like a good Semitic word, but in 
fact it is probably a loan word from a Sumerian compound "e-gal" 
meaning "great house"). But the first two names you mention do appear 
to have meanings in Hebrew, though that of Avraham is rather obscure. 
Do you know of any linguistic evidence, rather than esoteric 
speculation, for a Sumerian or even Akkadian (Mesopotamian Semitic) 
background for any of these names?

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
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Subject: Re[5]: YHWH vs. Yahweh
Author:  gs02wmr AT panther.Gsu.EDU at internet
Date:    30/04/1999 08:07


On Fri, 30 Apr 1999 peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG wrote:
> Dear Wondell (thank you for giving us a name!),
> I am sorry to sound cynical. I was wondering how to reply, but found 
> that George had said most of what I would like to say. Within Hebrew 
> grammar, we can say that the compound names you give below are true
> compounds, but it seems unlikely that YHWH is a grammatical compound.

Can you expound on this further, adding on to what George said? I'm sure 
even the Nevi'um that did not have the name -YAHU in their name, still had 
some ancient Sumerian or Mesopotamian origins of their names and 
linguistic meanings for them(e.g. Avrham, Noah, etc.). Perhaps many were 
compounds of ancient names taken from older writings, who knows?

> ideas, but for looking at the Hebrew language. I hope you will be able 
> to learn more Hebrew yourself so that you can appreciate better the
> arguments used here and distinguish them clearly from the more 
> esoteric ones in some of your postings.

I hope so too! Esoterica can get me in some hot water sometimes. ;)

SHalom,

Wondell M. Rachman



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