Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

      The question of pronouniciation can not answered with certainty; for 
one thing, as mentioned here before, the pronounciation of the Divine Name as 
of all other words changes over time. And here we are dealing with a period 
of at least a millenium.
   
    As for the origin of YHWH, I agree with those who see it in the Aramaic 
imperfect 3rd sing. from HWH,  check in KAI. A few traces of this can be 
found in the HB. The idea that it must  have a causative, Hif(il form was 
strengthened by Albright and others to give it a theological resonance  "* he 
who caused ..." [the creation of....]. Whereas another interpretation regrads 
it as a Qal and  a hypocoristicon, an abbreveation, of an original longer  
compound Personal Name. This longer form was lost  long before the oral 
tradtions of the HB were recorded. Such PNs are common in the HB and also in 
Hebrew  extra-biblical inscriptions. This is the opinion of De Moor in his 
important  book The Rise of Yahwism.
    The meaning of such a name depends on the componment added to the divine 
prefix; e.g. Yehoyaqim  "Yahweh is/will be established".
   
     As for the divine suffix, the diachronic process in  pronounciation 
occurred there too.It should be noted that it is found thus" --YW "in 
Northern inscriptions e.g.  YD(YW   Yeda'yau   from the Northern kingdom. 
This is read by many as a diphthong with a ponounciation  closed to *-- Yau.
   
    Uri
   
   
   
   
  I cannot help but notice, however, that when the theophoric is first, it is 
usually "Yeho" as in Yehosef, Yehoykim, Yehoash..but when the theophoric is 
last, it is usually "Yahu" as in Yeshayahu. Yirimyahu so there is some form 
of lexical play with the waw.  I have always thought that YHWH was the 
Hiph'l of the Aramaic (HWH) for of HYH ane perhaps sounded YeHAWA but I am 
having second thoughts that the sounding of this name for God may not be in 
Hebrew usage (which it predates) at all but in earlier Canaanite and perhaps 
even Akkadian.

Jack

Jack Kilmon
San Marcos, Texas 

  
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>From joel AT exc.com  Fri Jan  6 09:58:34 2006
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Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2006 09:58:55 -0500 (EST)
From: "Dr. Joel M. Hoffman" <joel AT exc.com>
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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] DBR
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>I read it.  It was very interesting.  So is Deborah (a bee) the
>participle?  The Buzzing?  The Buzzed?  The Buzzer?

Probably just a noun related the verb, as CCoCah (C=root consonant) is
one of many noun patterns.  Cf. 'AVODAH ("work"), ZMORAH ("twig?"),
XAGORAH ("belt"), etc.  

-Joel M. Hoffman
 http://www.exc.com/JoelHoffman