Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Numberup AT worldnet.att.net]

I appreciate your reasoned replies, though (like Tevye) I hold a higher view, 
perhaps, of  certain Hebrew biblical tradition.  I don't think grammar alone 
can solve the problem, though it can certainly provide valuable insights.  I 
feel that the meaning of  )EHYEH ) aSHER )EHYEH, to the extent that it is 
decipherable at all, must depend upon the ancient context of its revelation, 
and not necessarily on what God 'always IS.'   But rather, "I Shall Be As I 
Shall Be...a Name that was His response to the current Jewish plight..." (The 
Stone Edition Chumash, Mesorah Publications, 1993). However, I think we can 
agree to disagree here, respectfully.

Solomon Landers

Daniel Wagner wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Numberup AT worldnet.att.net>
> To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 3:25 PM
> Subject: Re: I AM
>
> > But when you say "the original intent" how do you
> > come to this from a Hebrew perspective?
>
> Solomon Landers,
>
> Yes, i do want to leave it somewhat "open-ended" as far as the "I-AM" name. 
> This is because in the *second* part of the verse, the )EHYEH is clearly 
> the name by itself. So what does *that* name (forget 14a for a moment, 
> hypothetically) mean? I think it is reasonable from the perspective of 
> usage of )EHYEH with God as the subject in Hebrew that it is something of a 
> covenant formula, as i've given evidence in another post. For convenience, 
> here is the majority of it repeated:
> *****************************************