Biblical Hebrew Forum

[GregStffrd AT aol.com]

In a message dated 08/26/2001 10:08:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
churchh AT crossmyt.com writes:

<< It does seem to be a rather fatal flaw for this theory that not a
 single such manuscript or manuscript fragment of the NT has ever been
 found.  In any case, it seems to have been the international magicians
 and occultists of the ancient world (not necessarily either Hebrew or
 Christian) who were a lot more obsessed with the Hebrew name and its
 correct pronunciation than the early Christians were.  Has IAO (in
 Greek letters, with omega) really been found in Biblical ms., or just
 in magical papyri? >>


Dear Henry:

The fatal flaw in all theories pertaining to what the original NT mss. 
contained is the same: no one knows for sure since we do not have any 
original mss. What we do have are LXX mss. preceding, contemporary with, and 
following the NT that show a certain treatment of the divine name during the 
same period of time that any similar treatment would have occurred with 
respect to the divine name in any original NT mss. 

Also, you ask about IAW in any biblical mss., yet I already referenced 
4QLevLXXb, one of, if not THE best representative of the earliest LXX mss. 
tradition. I also pointed out several other evidences that speak for the use 
of IAW by the Jews and that showed that the magicians use of IAW came from 
"the Hebrew scriptures." Please see my prior email for the particulars. The 
fact is that the magicians used a variety of divine names in their spells and 
incantations, as well as ADONAI and other Greek loan words from Hebrew. 

Best regards,

Greg Stafford