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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] YHWH pronunciation

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] YHWH pronunciation
  • Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 00:44:49 +0100

On 02/08/2005 23:19, Shoshanna Walker wrote:

He was, he is, he will be

What is so mysterious about this?

Shoshanna



I would like to ask the members of the list, if there
are any who would like to present what they believe is
the best translation of this phrase.

hayah howeh yihyeh


Well, Shoshanna, that is the meaning in modern Hebrew. But in biblical Hebrew these verb forms were not tenses, at least certainly not in this simple sense. See the whole recent thread on verbs, from which you might well conclude that the Hebrew verb is mysterious after all. At least, the result of such investigations is that such a phrase is untranslatable without a context.

And this is a good place to remind everyone, including Vadim, that the "imperfect" in biblical Hebrew is not a future tense, and so the word yahwe, if it is a verb form, is not future. But it is imperfective (I think everyone would agree on that) and so implies a continuous action, either "he is" or "he causes to be".

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





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