Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>]

I don't know about the others, but this is not what I said.

I said the Rabbinical commentaries, not Jewish authors.  Now I will 
clarify and say - the Classical, Mishnaic, Talmudic, Kabbalistic 
rabbinical commentaries.  Like Rashi, and Metzudat David, for 
instance.  People who learned and identified with a 5,000 year old 
tradition of handed down knowledge before it was put into writing.  I 
have no idea who U Cassuto is, and whether or not he is connected to 
that tradition.  I don't want to say bad things, but if I wanted an 
explanation of Torah, I probably wouldn't ask him.  Not everyone - 
just because he or she is Jewish - is an authority on Torah, one has 
to also examine if that person considers G-d his/her authority in 
life or not.  We all know too well that many Jews, not willing to 
submit themselves to G-d's authority or our tradition, do a lot to 
seek to undermine it.  (Not saying this about U Cassuto - but, as I 
said, I don't know who that is).

What you quote:
> `I am He Who has been, Who is now, and
Who will be in the future.'   in any case is not a literal 
translation.  Here's another one:"I will be that which I will be". 
This explanation has far reaching religious/philosophical 
connotations.  If several out of hundreds of commentators choose to 
explain the words philosophically instead of literally, and if many 
modern Biblical scholar, Jewish or not Jewish, are removed from our 
5,000 year old handed down tradition, and come to a consensus that 
they should translate it as "I am", that still does not mean that the 
word "Ehyeh" was NOT written down in future tense in the Torah.

Shabbat Shalom

Shoshanna




> I know that Shoshanna Walker and others have taken the position that Jewish
> authors consistently translate "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" as future.
> I would like some clarification because some of the references I thought
> were Jewish disagreed.  For example, I believe U Cassuto who publihshed a
> commentary on Exodus in 1967 through Magnes Press in Jerusalem was a
> professor at the University of Jerusalem.  I assumed he was Jewish.   He
> comments on Exodus 3:14 "The meaning assigned to it in our passage
> corresponds to the present.  The form of the
> verb that is called in Hebrew today `future' [i.e. the imperfect] could
> signify in Biblical language any tense-past, present or future-and
> approximated in some instances to the use of the `present' in Modern
> Hebrew." (page 38).  Could someone please tell me what his background was?
> Also I note that the Ramban Commentary on the Torah seems to imply that the
> imperfect has an indefinite aspect of time when it comments,
> "In a similar vein the Rabbis expounded: `Rabbi Yitzchak said that the Holy
> One, blessed be He, said to Moses: `I am He Who has been, Who is now, and
> Who will be in the future.' This is why Eh'yeh is written here three times."
> (page 36)? Please tell me if I am misinterpreting this commentary.
> I know that some Jewish authors have translated Ehyeh in the future tense,
> but I have not been able to support the belief that they all do.  Further, I
> am not certain whether the insistence on the future tense comes from an
> understanding of ancient Hebrew or if it is the result of modern usage.  As
> I was taught the use of the imperfect tense, I would have interpreted Ehyeh
> to mean that the action is present and continues into the future.
> Thank you for your help,
> Michael Abernathy
> mabernat AT cub.kcnet.org
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Mallory" <mm9063067 AT yahoo.com>
> To: "Biblical Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2001 10:55 AM
> Subject: Understanding the Word of G-d
>
>
> > I have a question about some translations that I have
> > read. In Exodus 3:14 the JPS tranlation lists the
> > phrase "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh" as the phrasethat HaShem
> > said to Mosie when He was speaking from the bruning
> > bush. Here is the question --- Why do the Christin
> > Translations (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NAS, and the JB) list
> > this as "I am that I am."?
> >
> > I also wish to thank the staff for stoping the line of
> > "spam mail" that I found both rude and offincive.
> >
> > Mike Mallory
> >
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