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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] "I Am" vs. "I Will Be"

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  • From: Awohili AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc: Awohili AT aol.com
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] "I Am" vs. "I Will Be"
  • Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:01:39 EDT

My sincere thanks to all who have commented (and may yet comment) on this
topic I raised. I have received many interesting replies.

As for my personal thoughts, I will just concur with the remarks of Robert
Alter's _The Five Books of Moses_ (W. W. Norton, 2004) on this verse, on his
translation of Exodus 3:14 as "And God said to Moses, 'Ehyeh-'Asher-'Ehyeh,
I-Will-Be-Who-I-Will Be.'":

"'I-Will-Be-Who-I-Will-Be' is the most plausible construction of the Hebrew,
though the middle word, 'asher, could easily mean 'what' rather than 'who,'
and the common rendering of 'I-Am-That-I-Am' cannot be excluded....Since the
tense system of biblical Hebrew by no means corresponds to that of modern
English, it is also perfectly possible to construe this as 'I Am He Who
Endures.'" (page 321)

Like Alter, I acknowledge that ehyeh asher ehyeh can be translated variously
in English, but that "I Will Be Who I Will Be" is the "most plausible
construction of the Hebrew."

Thanks again to all, and kind regards,

Solomon Landers




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