Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryan Rocine" <brocine AT earthlink.net>]

Hi Vince,

I never really thought about it in quite these terms, but I
*think* the string <proper noun + independent subject
pronoun> (in this order) is unattested, plain and simple.
Correct me if I am wrong.  I am fairly certain that neither
the strings <proper noun + 'ani> nor <proper noun + 'anoki>
are attested.  So we should not expect that either YHVH 'ani
nor YHVH 'anoki will be attested.

I think the the expression 'anoki YHVH is interesting.  I
can offer a guess for an explanation of its use:  I think
you have
noticed that of its eleven attestations, it is used twice in
the Decalogue in Exo 20 and twice again in the Deu 5
twin texts.  I'll guess that this is an old text, preserved
orally and hallowed as we see it with 'anoki.  In other
words, 'anoki in this text resisted evolution (or
modernization) into 'ani just because this text was so
hallowed.  I would
suggest the same for Exo 4:11.  Perhaps the other
uses of the phrase 'anoki YHVH in Ps, Isa, and Hos are
attempts at archaizing the style of expression
and, in a sense, allusions to the Decalogue.  Is
*archaizing* a word?  ;-)

Generally speaking, I consider 'anoki to be the older,
fuller form that is a notch more formal than 'ani, at least
until it drops out of use altogether.  But you and I have
covered that ground on this list before.

Are these the kinds of musings you are looking for?  ;-)


Shalom,
Bryan

----- Original Message -----
From: Vincent DeCaen <decaen AT chass.utoronto.ca>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 10:16 AM
Subject: ani/anoki again


> hi,
> sorry, there seems to be a misunderstanding of my
question. having studied
> with Revell and worked through his material on ani/anoki,
i'm pretty much
> up on the literature, etc.
>
> what i was asking was something a little different: the
two element (1)
> YHWH and (2) ani or anoki, generate four possibilities.
assuming free
> variation, we should get 25% each one. and yet 2 are not
attested, and of
> the two that are, anoki YHWH is quite limited in
distribution. so can we
> make something of this? in terms of syntax? in terms of
dialect? etc? what
> do you think such numbers might mean in this light?


B. M. Rocine
Associate Pastor
Living Word Church
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Syracuse, NY 13206

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