Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Isaac,

There is no reason at all to assume that every Yod in a name represents
YHWH, especially since these names all have perfectly reasonable 
etymologies
without the reference to YAH. All of the Yahwistic theophoric names that we
know about abbreviate YHWH as either Yod-He, Yod-Vav or Yod-He-Vav. Not
surprisingly, the first such name in the Bible is Yehoshua(, who gets the
extra He added into his previous name by Moses. (Actually, I think that
Yokebed - "YW is glory", might also be Yahwistic).

Yigal Levin
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>

> Yigal,
>
> I feel uneasy with the interpretation of the -YAMIN part of the name 
> BINYAMIN as the right hand side [namely the YEMENITE]. I tend to  think 
> that YAMIN = YAH-)AMIN, with YA =YAH being a reference to the  God of the 
> Hebrews. After all both his father YA-(AKOB and his  grandfather YI-CXAQ 
> had such a reference in their names, methinks.
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University