Biblical Hebrew Forum

["B. M. Rocine" <brocine AT twcny.rr.com>]

Hi John,

Hiphil yiqtol (or imperfect) of HWH would be yahweh like the analogous yarbeh 
(he will multiply, Exo 30:15).  Hiphil yiqtol of HWH is indeed unattested in 
the Hebrew Bible.

Neither the roots HYH nor its cognate HWH is always stative, so a hiphil of 
HWH is conceivable, meaning "call into existence."  Yahweh would mean "he 
calls (will call) into existence."

To me, the derivation of YHWH is controversial, so that I advise viewing all 
claims with reservation.

Shalom,

Bryan


B. M. Rocine
Living Word Church
6101 Court St. Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13206

ph: 315.437.6744
fx: 315.437.6766

You wrote:
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John D Robinett 
  To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org 
  Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 3:20 PM
  Subject: [b-hebrew] hwh in Hifil?


  Shalom,

  I am stundying the E and J relations in the Pentatauch.  JOhn Day made a
  statement in regards to yhwh being qal rather than Cross's opnion that it is
  causitive (hifil).  He states that hwh is not attested in the Hifil in
  Hebrew, unlike in Syriac.  I have a basic (1 year) of Biblical Hebrew, and
  just need to better understand this statement.  WHat i think he is saying is
  that hwh does not exist in the hifil in Hebrew.  Can someone verify or
  assist me in this?  I know it is basic, but understanding that staement
  fully is very important to continuing.  Day uses Ex 3:14 as his proof of
  yhwh being qal.

  Thanks
  John D Robinett


  _______________________________________________
  b-hebrew mailing list
  b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>From jsprinkle AT crossroadscollege.edu  Mon Aug 11 21:45:18 2003
Return-Path: <jsprinkle AT crossroadscollege.edu>
Delivered-To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Received: from crossroadscollege.edu (unknown [216.171.155.194])
        by happyhouse.metalab.unc.edu (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8231020005
        for <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Mon, 11 Aug 2003 21:45:17 -0400 
(EDT)
Received: {(helo=oemcomputer)
        }}by crossroadscollege.edu with smtp (Exim 3.35 #1)
        id 19mOCU-0000kp-00
        for b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org; Mon, 11 Aug 2003 20:43:51 -0500
Message-ID: <004a01c36073$0db55900$d901a8c0 AT aoldsl.net>
From: "Dr. Joe Sprinkle" <jsprinkle AT crossroadscollege.edu>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 20:42:55 -0500
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165
Content-Type: text/plain;
        charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.2
Subject: [b-hebrew] Re: hwh in Hifil?
X-BeenThere: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.2
Precedence: list
List-Id: A forum on the Hebrew Bible, its language and interpretation
        <b-hebrew.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew>,
        <mailto:b-hebrew-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew>
List-Post: <mailto:b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew>,
        <mailto:b-hebrew-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2003 01:45:18 -0000

> Shalom,
>
> I am stundying the E and J relations in the Pentatauch.  JOhn Day made a
> statement in regards to yhwh being qal rather than Cross's opnion that it
is
> causitive (hifil).  He states that hwh is not attested in the Hifil in
> Hebrew, unlike in Syriac.  I have a basic (1 year) of Biblical Hebrew, and
> just need to better understand this statement.  WHat i think he is saying
is
> that hwh does not exist in the hifil in Hebrew.  Can someone verify or
> assist me in this?  I know it is basic, but understanding that staement
> fully is very important to continuing.  Day uses Ex 3:14 as his proof of
> yhwh being qal.
> Thanks
> John D Robinett

There are two types of verbs in Hebrew: Active and Stative.  The Hiphil
seems to behave differently with the two.  With an active verb the Hiphil
tends to be "causative." It causes the action in Qal to occur. However, with
a stative verb, the hiphil is not causative, but instead tends to increase
the state of the verb in Qal and make the verb transitive.   Thus the
stative verb RWM "to be high" in the Hiphil does not mean "to cause"
anything, but "to increase the height of X, to raise X." It increases the
state of "high" and allows the verb to take a direct object.

Once this is seen, it becomes obvious why HYH "to be" (a stative rather than
an active verb) would not have a Hiphil form, since one would expect the
hiphil would not mean "cause to be" but "increase being for X."  The
ocassions for expressing that meaning would be so rare that it would be not
be likely to occur.

If YAHWEH is a verb related to "to be" (as Exod 3:14 suggests) rather than
pun/folk etymology, it is probably based on an archaic form of HAYAH before
the W became a Y in later Hebrew (see original first vav verbs like YALAD
which were originally WALAD forms and the Aramaic form HWH "to be").

Yahweh would then be a Qal imperfect form.  The Qal normally takes an /I/
vowel under the preformative YOD, but the /A/ vowel is influenced by the
gutteral HE that tends to prefer /A/ vowels over the /I/ vowel of the
paradygm for Qal imperfects and caused the /I/ to gravitate to that /A/
vowel.  Thus the /A/ vowel has nothing to do with the hiphil form, even
though it would be a homonym of a hypothetical hiphil form, but has to do
with the gutteral in the root.  Since the hiphil form does not in fact
exist, Yahweh (if a verb) is most certainly a Qal form "He is."

Joe Sprinkle