Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>]

    The meaning of  "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" has been discussed
for centuries, and I doubt that a solution accepted to 
 everyone can be expected.

     Here is my understanding of these enigmatic words:.

     The phrase has no meaning, regardless of how one
analyzes the form "Ehyeh".  To take a simple illustration:
 " A Door is a Door" - does one learn anything about a door
 from this phrase?

     The ancient scribe wrote the three words as an answer
 to the question: what is the name of the God who sent Moses?
 By time of this scribe the original meaning of YHWH was 
forgotten, and instead of expressing ignorance, he wrote
 the three words under discussion.

     One proof that the DN (divine Name) YHWH is earlier
 than the comment, is the medial "W" instead of the "Y"
 in the standard Hebrew verb HYH. Notice this in the 
immediately following  " Ehyeh Sh'lahani".

     This name is an hypocoristicon ( an abbreviation) of
an earlier fuller form . Here I am following De Moor,
 Cross and or Albright. But it is a subject for another
 mail for those interested; and it may have been discussed
 here previously.

    Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

   Uri Hurwitz                               Great Neck, NY