Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 06/08/2005 23:20, tladatsi AT charter.net wrote:

> ... 
> Even more interesting, YHWH and Elohim never occur in 
> theophoric names, at least I found none. ...

There is Gibeath-haElohim or Gibeah of God in 1 Samuel 10:5.

...

> The logic of lengthening a short name to a longer name is 
> pretty obvious.  It is both visually more impressive and 
> sounds better. ...

I see your point. But isn't there an even more obvious logic to 
shortening a long name, especially when it is incorporated within a 
compound name? In that case YHWH and Eloah/Elohim would have been the 
original full forms, and YH/YHW and El abbreviated versions used largely 
in names and (perhaps where it fits the "metre" better) in poetry.

So why is your suggestion better than my tentative one?

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