Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Read, James C" <K0434995 AT kingston.ac.uk>]

I have no problem with the two forms being verbs.

What I don't understand is how one can be Qal and the other Hiphil. This 
seems to drastically change the meaning of the verb. I have no problem with
Yah naming himself in the 1st person and then others in the 3rd person. This
is completely logical and seems to make perfect sense. What doesn't make 
sense is that when addressing him in the 3rd person, the meaning of his 
name completely changes.

ehyeh = I exist (past,present,future) i.e. 'I am eternal'
ywhw  = He causes to become (past,present,future) i.e 'He creates'

So, if the two really are related the understanding of at least one of the 
forms 
is wrong. Both translations 'I am eternal' and 'He creates' seem to 
adequately 
describe qualities of the god of the bible and the 'I am eternal' meaning 
seems 
to be in great agreement with Rev1:8 theology and the LXX's pragmatic 
translation.

Another confusing factor is that proponents of the Hiphil form say that the 
name
indicates that Yah causes *himself* to become whatever is needed in order to 
save his people. This adds much more confusion to the matter because this 
would 
require the verb to be reflexive as Yah would be acting upon *himself* by 
causing 
*himself* to become something he previously wasn't. To the best of my 
knowledge 
the Hiphil cannot express a reflexive action and this interpretation would 
call 
for another form.
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Vadim Cherny [mailto:VadimCherny AT mail.ru]
Sent: Fri 8/5/2005 7:29 AM
To: Read, James C; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Meaning of YHWH
 
James, the reasoning is fairly simple. *If* ehie in Ex3:14 is the name, not
a common verb, and *if* ihwe is also the name, then this variation could be
only explained by the name being a verb, 1s and 3ms, respectively.

*If*, however, we translate Ex3:14 literally--and it makes more sense
literally--then ehie is a common verb, not the name, and ihwe doesn't have
to be a verb, either.

Vadim Cherny

>
> I hate to keep pressing the point but does anyone know why there is an
opinion
> that YHWH is 3ms hiphil of ehyeh Qal?
>
> This seems very odd to me and recent discussions have made me start to
radically
> change my understanding of the name.


This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email
Security System.


This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email
Security System.