Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Christian <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>]

Hi Yigal and all,


> 1. God HAS a "personal" Name - YHWH. It is the only one of the many
> epithets
> that the Bible uses for God, that is not also a title or description. Ex.
> 6:3 actually say that God was known to the Patriarchs as "El Shaddai" and
> that He did not make His Name YHWH known to them (and yes, this is a
> problem
> since the Patriarchs use YHWH all the time, but let's leave that aside).
>
>
Actually, this would probably make for an excellent discussion. What is the
official Jewish Orthodox positions on this question? What did the Rabbis
have to say about this?

I've always understood this in a nonliteral sense but in a kind of a
spiritual sense i.e. that while the Patriarchs knew and used the name YHWH
God did not reveal himself to them in the same way as he revealed himself to
Moses and the sons of Isreal he saved from the hands of Egypt. I've always
seen this as how YHWH showed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the
almighty God and father of all but to Moses and the Isrealites YHWH entered
into a more personal relationship by showing himself to be their saviour and
being exclusively the God of their nation.

James Christian