Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Awohili AT aol.com]

For some reason, my post did not come through formatted as I sent it, and  is 
confusing.  So I will try again:
 
In  a message dated 06/28/2006 8:40:26 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,   
hholmyard AT ont.com writes:

HH: 1) There is  no strong reason to  think that God has a name like Ralph to 
distinguish  him from others,  since there is only one God.

*******************************************************

SL:   No, but that is not the only reason to have a name.  A name  expresses  
essence and qualities and purpose, especially a self-given  name.  There is  
no 
evidence in the Scriptures that YHWH is a  name that man gave to God.  It  
appears 
to be that it is the  name that God gave to Himself and revealed to  humanity 
over 6,000  times in the Hebrew text.

And  even though monotheists believe there is only one true God,  there have  
been other entities worshiped throughout human history from  which YHWH  has 
to 
be distinguished.

HH: 3) The  explaining of the divine  name in the context of the name "I am" 
suggests  that Yahweh is a  meaningful word, too, and the form of Yahweh 
is quite  similar to the  verb for "I am," except in a third person form. 
 
*********************************************


SL:  "I am" is only one possible English translation for ehyeh.  Even the   
King 
James Version translates ehyeh as "I will be" at Exodus  3:12.
 
**************************************************


HH:  Here is the  HCSB Exodus 3:13-15:

14  God  replied to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to  
the  Israelites: I AM has sent me to you." 15 God also said to Moses,  
"Say this  to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God  of 
Abraham,  the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to  you. 
This is My  name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in  every  
generation.
 
*********************************************

SL: Correct.  YHWH is His name. Forever.  And how He  wants  to be remembered 
in 
every generation.  So how do modern  English versions  remember it?  By 
covering 
it up with  "Lord."  Some remembrance!   "Lord" expresses only a little of  
what YHWH signifies.

Solomon  Landers