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b-hebrew - Re: _)aSHER_ in Ex. 3:14 (was "I AM")

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  • From: "Daniel Wagner" <dan.wagner AT netzero.net>
  • To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: _)aSHER_ in Ex. 3:14 (was "I AM")
  • Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 19:23:52 -0400


----- Original Message -----
From: <GregStffrd AT aol.com>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Cc: <dan.wagner AT netzero.net>
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2001 12:08 PM
Subject: Re: _)aSHER_ in Ex. 3:14 (was "I AM")


> In a message dated 05/11/2001 1:39:34 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> dan.wagner AT netzero.net writes:
>
> << > I agree with you that there are several ways this could have been
> > communicated, but I am not suggesting that God said, "I will be with
> you,"
> > but by defining *Himself* in this way the meaning conveyed was one that
> would
> > give assurance to His people that as the one who would "prove to be what
> he
> > purposes to be,"
>
> How does this conclusion, "prove to be what he purposes to be," relate to
> the grammar of the Hebrew text as it stands? It's a true statement, i'll
> grant, and fits with the context, but what relationship does it have with
> the
> grammar?
>
> Dan Wagner >>
>
>
> Moses' question was essentially, "Who should I say sent me?" YHWH's reply
> was, literally, "I will be who I will be. . . . Tell them 'I will be' sent
> you." Now, it seems to me that this response means that the Israelites will
> know who He is by what He *will do*. By what he 'proves to be' in action on
> their behalf they will know that He is God. "I will be who I will be"
> leaves
> unanswered the question of who sent Moses, but makes clear the fact that
> the
> answer will become manifest by what He purposes to do. They will know by
> what
> they will see, and what they will see is what God purposes to become. The
> grammar says that God's identity is predicated on who he "will be."

So then why did He identify Himself is "I WILL BE WHO I WILL *BE*" rather
than as "I WILL BE WHAT I WILL *DO*," which is easy enough in Hebrew with a
different vocab word to give the transition to focus upon His action as proof
of His character/identify?

In other words, again, how does your understanding relate to the *grammar*
which actually exists in the passage?

Dan Wagner

> My
> understanding relates to the revelatory/future sense of 'EHYEH in a context
> where identity and action are bound together.
>
> Greg Stafford



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