Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>]

> > when YHWH says "I will be" is he
> > saying he doesn't exist yet?  
>
>
> I think that's exactly why Buber and Rosensweig (Fox is very clear about  
> "where he got 'there'") add the "there".  Of course G-d IS and WILL BE, but
> G-d here assures that G-d will "be there" for them, just as when we assure
> someone we love that we will be there for them it is not because they doubt
> our existence.
> Hayyim




"I will be that which I will be"

I cannot/will not be defined/confined

My essence can never be known

I am not a static entity

I have not one name, but at least 70 names



This completely matches the Isralite/Jewish idea of who Hashem is, not the Greek, Roman, Latin, Christian, or whoever else you quote, and like to learn from.




Further:

I will be for you/the people, whatever you need me to be, father, mother, judge, friend, lover, accuser, chastiser, etc. 

My relationship with you is personal, intimate, and not static, and I WILL BE there for you whenever you need me.



Rashi explains it differently

I will be with you (Bnei Yisrael) during this time of tribulation and oppression under foreign domination, and I will be with you during future oppression under domination of the nations.  Then Moshe said - "You can tell ME of the future oppression, but why burden the people by telling them?"  So Hashem said, okay, tell them only about this current oppression - tell them that "Ehyeh" sent you. 


There are more explanations, at least 7 different levels of understanding the Tanach

It, too, like its author, cannot be confined to static rules and regulations and definitions.



If you want to understand the Tanach, look also to the people who wrote down what is an unbroken tradition of oral knowledge going back to before the Torah was revealed in written form.  It is a mistake to presume that scientifically dissecting the words, and arguing tenses, will give you the final say.  Not only that, but when the Torah was originally revealed, it is probable that the letters were not even divided into words.


Shoshanna