Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Jim:

On Sun, Dec 30, 2012 at 5:53 AM, <jimstinehart AT aol.com> wrote:

Biblical Names Ending in -YH

 

Prior to II Samuel, not a single individual character in the Bible has a name that ends with -YH.  By stark contrast, beginning with I Kings there are dozens and dozens of Hebrew and Jewish west Semitic names ending in -YH that honor YHWH.  What happened in II Samuel to cause that sea change?

First of all, names ending in -YH and -YHW are alternate spellings for the same name. So you have to include MYKYHW Judges 17:1, 4 and CRWYH 1 Samuel 26:6. Two place names are also recorded, MRYH Genesis 22:2 and BZYWTYH Joshua 15:28, the former recognizing YHWH.

 

In my opinion, the Bible accords King David the great honor of being the first person to give one or more of his sons west Semitic names ending in -YH that honor YHWH.  II Samuel 3: 4.

Nope, see above. Further in 2 Samuel we find one of King Saul’s concubines was the daughter of )YH 3:7, )WRYH one of David’s contemporaries (many times in 2 Samuel), BNYHW son of YHWYD( another of David’s contemporaries (mentioned a few times) as well as %RYH the scribe 8:17.

Go to 1 Chronicles, the first ten chapters are deadly to read—all they are are genealogies. So we find before David )YH 1:40, (ZRYH 2:8, CRWYH 2:16.

 

…  We see dozens of names in I and II Kings that are west Semitic names ending in -YH that honor YHWH, and there are dozens more such names in later books of the Bible.

Dozens? Mostly the same people mentioned many times. 

 

But sad to say, the majority view of university scholars denies that feel-good analysis entirely.  Most university scholars say that the un-named father of King David’s obscure scribe $RYH [II Samuel 8: 17] gets the great Biblical honor of being the first person to give his son a west Semitic name ending in -YH that honors YHWH.  Can that be right?

No, see above. 

 

Who’s right about this:  university scholars or me?

Neither. 

 

Jim Stinehart

Evanston, Illinois

Karl W. Randolph.