Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dr Dale M Wheeler <dalemw AT multnomah.edu>]

Rolf Furuli wrote:


> One important fact regarding the DSS is for the most part neglected
> in discussions about the name, namely, that the substitute used in
> Qumran manuscripts is *not* )DNWNY but )L. Thus the KURIOS of NT and
> LXX manuscripts of the 2nd century C.E. have no antecedent!  The
> argument is that at the beginning of C.E. the name was no longer
> pronounced, but was substituted by )DNWNY. Because of this the LXX
> translators and the NT writers translated  )DNWNY with KURIOS. And
> that is the reason why KURIOS with reference to God is found both
> places. But the problem is the the most important link, the first one
> is lacking. There is no indication that )DNWNY  (or Aramaic MR)/MRY)
> was used as a substitute for YHWH in B.C.E.!  And there is no
> evidence that i generally was substituted in the days of Jesus. Thus
> the pointing of YHWH by the Masoretes cannot be traced back longer
> than to the days of Jehuda hannasi and Mishnaic times.

Rolf:

I'm not sure that you are suggesting this, but the implication, it seems to 
me, from what you are saying is that the Masoretes borrowed the later 
Christian practice of using KURIOS for the divine name and so pointed YHWH 
as Adonai, rather than the other way around, ie., Christians chose KURIOS 
because the traditional pronunciation of the Hebrew text for the divine 
name was the Hebrew word for "Lord", "My Lord[s]" (??).  Does it not seem a 
bit unlikely that the Masoretes would follow Christian conventions?  Does 
it not seem also a bit unlikely that the Masoretes would have 
"accidentally" used the Adonai vowels with YHWH, since they in all 
likelihood knew that the Christians were using KURIOS??

Blessings...


**************************************************************************
Dale M. Wheeler, Ph.D.
Research Prof., Biblical Languages    Multnomah Bible College
8435 NE Glisan Street                      Portland, OR  97220
V: 503-251-6416    F:503-251-6478     E: dalemw AT multnomah.edu
**************************************************************************