Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

    Dear Rolf Furuli,    you wrote correctly"::...the translator must use 
  the context to choose the tense in the target language. In some cases,
   such as in this case, the context is rather decisive...."
   
     It appears in the context of Exod. 3:14 that the author of this 
   verse simply didn't know the meaning of YHWH. Obviously 
  the name had been an object of some curiosity, and an answer 
  was sought. But the meaning of this word had been lost, 
  especially since it became truncated. Further, the  Aramaic
    form of the verb which had been brought over with some 
   Aramaic speaking anscestors was no longer used by the 
  author and his audience.  Such very different scholars as Cross
   and de Moor consider YHWH a hypocoristicon.
   
    The writer of these verses shifted the verb to the Hebrew 
  usage, HYH. That much was clear to him. But since the meaning
   was no longer understood, the  answer  given was the elusive 
   Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh which is really meaningless . This phrase has 
  no meaning whether one wishes to understand Ehyeh as "I am"
   or "I shall be" .  
   
    Thus in this specific case, it seems to me, one can translate it 
  either way.If it were a free translation, the best answer to the
   questions "What is his name?" and "What shall I tell them?" 
  in verse 13 would be: "I don't know" in verse 14. Likewise the free
   translation, further, would be "the God whose name I do not know sent me'.
   
   
    Uri Hurwitz 


                
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>From hholmyard AT ont.com  Thu Jun 29 17:32:58 2006
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Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:31:28 -0500
From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
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Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "I Am" vs. "I Will Be"
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Awohili AT aol.com wrote:

> 
>It's quite simple.  I'm not fishing.  I asked a question, which  has been 
>ignored.  I'd like a cogent answer to my question, which no one  has 
>answered yet.
>  
>

HH: The answer is that the context is different in the two verses, 
calling for a different handling of the verb in English. If a verb is 
imperfective in aspect, then it can be present or future. The original 
hearer would have adjusted according to the context. The future simply 
does not suit 3:14b well, as has already been explained. To name 
yourself "I will be" without a predicate leaves the hearer with a God 
who exists in the future but perhaps not in the present. But the future 
does suit 3:12 well. You could translate 3:12 as "I am with you," but 
the futuristic context makes that less appropriate in English. The fact 
is that God was with Moses at that moment and would be with him at every 
step from that time onwards. It was partially for this reason that God 
sought to put him to death when he attempted to return to Egypt without 
having circumcised his son (Ex 4:24-25). God as with him, and he was 
not  free any longer to ignore the demands of God's covenant with 
Abraham. So in a technical sense "I am with you" would be correct.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard


> 
>Solomon Landers
> 
>In a message dated 06/29/2006 1:29:23 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
>dwashbur AT nyx.net writes:
>
>See the  discussion for the various people's reasonings.  I'm not sure what 
>it is  that you 
>want.  Again, if you don't find their arguments convincing,  that's your 
>right as a free human 
>being.  But you seem to be fishing  for something, and it's difficult to 
>determine  what.
>
>
>
>
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