Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

James,

 

There really is no "official Jewish Orthodox position". Unlike some
Christian denominations, and for that matter unlike the Conservative and
Reform movements in Judaism, Orthodoxy has no "official" body or authority
that issues doctrinal positions. In traditional (= "Orthodox") Judaism, each
community (both on the local level and on the word-wide scale of, say
specific Hasidic "courts") has its own authorities. Such organizations such
as the Orthodox Union in the US or even the Chief Rabbinate in Israel are
more "trade unions" than doctrinal authorities. Every few hundred years,
there appears a religious leader of such stature that he is gradually
accepted by most communities and his writings become part of the "canon" (I
use this word loosely) of the Oral Law. This happened with the Mishnah, the
Talmud, Maimonides's code, Joseph Caro's code and a few others. Some
commentaries and philosophical works have achieved the same status. This
always happens gradually over generations, and there are always some
communities who do not accept the consensus. Those who did not accept the
Talmud became the Karite movement.

 

So you will not find an "official" position on this issue. Looking through
the commentaries that are easily accessible to me, I find three main
positions (which reminds me of all the jokes on why two Jews need three
synagogues etc.): one is that God really did not reveal his name YHWH to the
Patriarchs, and that whenever the Name is mentioned in the Patriarchal
narratives, it is a "gloss" (to use modern terminology) by Moses.
Interestingly enough, Ibn-Ezra quotes this as a Karite position and then
attacks it. The second is that God did reveal the Name to the Patriarchs,
but not its true deep meaning, which he only revealed to Moses. The third is
that God did reveal His name to the Patriarchs, but only through Moses did
He allow it to be revealed to the whole nation and to the world. Several
commentators comment on the use of "noda'ti" instead to "hoda'ti" for "made
known".

 

Yigal Levin  

 

  _____  

From: James Christian [mailto:jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2009 3:09 AM
To: Yigal Levin
Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Patriarchs used YHWH's name?

 

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 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.722 / Virus Database: 270.14.117/2583 - Release Date: 12/23/09
10:28:00