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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] dating of matres lectionis

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] dating of matres lectionis
  • Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:20:52 +0100

On 26/07/2005 13:20, Yigal Levin wrote:

...

No, there is not. The earliest epigraphic evidence we have of the
Tetragrammaton is in Mesha. But there, where, as I have written, matres
lectionis are used only partially, final he's are used for the vowel o. So
if the final he in YHWH was intended as a mater lectionis, it would have
been pronounced Yahwoh. But I don't think it was. Which is why I think that
all four letters of the Tetragrammaton were pronounced as consonants, and
that the Name was never taken to be a verb (even if it is etymologically
related to the verb HYH/HWH).


Thank you. But I note from Yitzhak that in the Mesha stele there is also a final he mater lectionis for a probable "a" vowel in BLLH. So this suggests that the final vowel of YHWH, with he as a mater lectionis, could have well been "a", and by no means rules out final "e".

If the final he of YHWH is a pronounced consonant, the Name is highly unlikely to be related to the verb HYH/HWH in which the final he is always a mater lectionis, the real third root consonant being yod or vav.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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