Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Daniel Wagner" <dan.wagner AT netzero.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Bearpecs AT aol.com>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2001 2:13 AM
Subject: Re: I AM


> In a message dated 5/6/01 11:38:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> dan.wagner AT netzero.net writes:
> > Whenever we find God as the subject of _EHYEH_ it indicates some aspect 
> > of 
> > God's relationship to His people. 
> 
> And this is why Buber & Rosenzweig chose to translate it I-will-be-there.
> 

Yes, and that is a legitimate implication, but it's a mistake to take some or 
even all of the implications and import them into our translation of the 
name. We'd have to say more than merely "I-WILL-BE-THERE" because more than 
that is implied in the covenant connotations. Or to focus on the problem with 
that in another way, I-WILL-BE-THERE is too specific/limiting. To say merely 
"I-AM" and leave it open-ended is more equivalent to the original intent, in 
my opinion, which is what we need to do in translation. (Or if you prefer, 
"I-WILL-BE," that's OK, but just remember that *constancy* of God's covenant 
character is the main contextual issue in regards to how we deal with the 
temporal aspect.)

Dan Wagner




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