Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT hotkey.net.au>]

Some may misunderstand the tetragrammaton YHWH as being feminine, equating 
the final-HE of YHWH
with the feminine marker. This is probably not the case. Rather, it's likely 
that the final-HE is
just reflecting the root letters HWH (or HYH). If the name was feminine, it 
would probably have the
consonants YHWTH (final-HE turns to TAW before the addition of a fem.sg. 
gender ending).

Despite the linguistic gymnastics, Yahweh is clearly a male deity in both the 
Hebrew Bible and the
wider ancient Near East. He may be given female attributes, but that does not 
make him female. A
parallel example comes from the New Testament where, as Jesus weeps over 
Jerusalem, he compares
himself to a hen wanting to protect her chicks. This does not mean that Jesus 
was either female or
even a chicken, or even that he owned pet chicks. It's just a metaphor.


Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)