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  • From: Michael <mabernathy AT isot.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] translation of ehyeh
  • Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2005 22:16:09 -0400

Shoshanna wrote
"I really find it so hard to believe that you are actually saying that the entire Jewish tradition
(I've just read a few quick samples of commentaries for myself) is wrong about this."
How are you defining "the entire Jewish tradition?"
The JPS Torah commentary on Exodus states, "Eyeh-Asher-Eyeh This phrase has variously been translated,
`I Am That I Am,' `I Am Who I Am,' and `I Will Be What I Will Be.'” (Page 17).
The Ramban Commentary on the Torah says, “In a similar vein the Rabbis expounded:
`Rabbi Yitzchak said that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: `I am He Who
has been, Who is now, and Who will be in the future.' This is why Eh'yeh is written
here three times." (Page 36)
The famed Hebrew scholar U. Cassuto in his commentary on Exodus stated,
"The form of the verb that is called in Hebrew today `future' [i.e. the imperfect]
could signify in Biblical language any tense–past, present or future–and approximated
in some instances to the use of the `present' in Modern Hebrew.” (Page 37)
I have looked in a number of Jewish sources and found that the scholarly works
generally agree with the idea that the imperfect could be translated as present or future.
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy


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