Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jamiejohns AT aol.com]

Jamiejohns AT aol.com wrote:
>I believe that you will find "El" used as a proper name for "YHWH" at
several 
>places in the Hebrew Bible.  An interesting instance is in Psalm 16.  There, 
>"El" is used along with "YHWH" and "Adonai."

Dr. Levin wrote: 
Thank you, Jamie. Actually, in vs. 2 "YHWH Adonai", I don't think that
"Adonai" is intended as a proper name. Rather it's "YHWH my lord", with the
plural used for respect. As for "El", in the first verse, it could go
either way. Which brings me to another thought: to a totally monotheistic
mind, could "god" be anything but "God"? (In English of course we can use
the capital to distinguish the generic noun from the proper name, but that
distinction doesn't exist in Hebrew.)

Jamie wrote:
Dr. Levin,

In the context of Psalm 16, how would you read "El" in Psalm 16, verse 1 other than as a proper name for YHWH?  Thank you.  BTW, I did not think that "Adonai" in verse 2 was used necessarily as a proper name.  However, I do think that in the context of Psalm 16, "El" is to be read as a proper name in verse 1. 

Cheers,
Jamie Johns
University of Edinburgh 

<Jamie>
>>BTW, I did not think that "Adonai" in verse 2 was used necessarily as
a proper name.  However, I do think that in the context of Psalm 16,
"El" is to be read as a proper name in verse 1. 

<Bill>
What about Daniel 1:2?

Dear Bill,

Thank you.  I certainly agree with you that "Adonai" is used as a proper name in Daniel 1:2 (and other places in the Hebrew Bible as well).  My comment back to Dr. Levin was only related to that same form as found in Psalm 16 - which may not be read as a proper name, but could be read as "my Lord."  The intent of my post was to ask Dr. Levin to deal specifically with the "El" form in Psalm 16:1, surrounded as it is with other references to YHWH and set against the worship of idols as seen within the context of Psalm 16.  Simply put, I was asking Dr. Levin to justify reading "El" as other than "God" in the context of Psalm 16.  

Thank you for your thoughts.

Sincerely,
Jamie