Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bearpecs AT aol.com]

In a message dated 5/7/01 4:58:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
Numberup AT worldnet.att.net writes:
> Likewise, if the meaning were 'I am 'ehye(h),' as the second half
> of the verse might suggest, we would expect 'anoki (hu') 'ehye(h).


See Isaiah 52:6.  NJPS translates:
Asuredly, My people shall learn My name,
Assuredly [they shall learn] on that day
That I, the One who promised,
Am now at hand.

An older translation:
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore [they shall know] in that 
day that I [am] he that doth speak:  behold, here I am.

In this verse, when G-d says "I (am) the One Who speaks", the Hebrew is 'ani 
hu' hamedaber.  This is further demonstration that that the meaning "I am 
'E-HYEH" could have been grammatically expressed as 'ani hu 'E-HYEH.
Thus, I think we can eliminate any argument based on 'asher being necessary 
to express this meaning.  (This does not address whether 'asher *can* be used 
to express this meaning, but other posts are addressing that.)

I also want to point out, though, that if it meant, "I am E-HYEH", there 
would have been no need to explain to Moses that he should tell the 
Israelites "E-HYEH sent me".  
"Who should I say sent me for pizza?"
"I'm Joe.  Tell them "Joe" sent you."
Kind of redundant, isn't it?
"Who should I say sent me for pizza?"
"I'm seeking mushrooms.  Tell them Seeking-Mushrooms sent you."
"Oh.  I get it."
If the first sentence (v. 14a) is an explanation rather than a name, it makes 
sense for G-d to then explicitly say (v. 14b) which divine name he is to use.

Hayyim