Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Jim, I have not replied to this thread so far and have no idea why I'm doing so now, but I do want to point out three things:

 

1. Theophoric names that include the name of YHWH may also have Yahwistic prefixes. As such, the first to have such a name was YEHOshua (Joshua), who appropriately received his name from Moses (having previously been called Hoshea). One might argue that Yochebed, mother of Moses, Yehudit, daughter of Ishmael and Yehudah, son of Jacob also have such names, but that can be debated. After Yehoshua, there is of course also Yehonatan (Jonathan) son of Saul.

 

2. YHWH can also be abbreviated as YW, YHW and YAH. From inscriptions, we know that YW was more common in northern Israel, YHW was more common in pre-exilic Judah, and YH in post-exilic Judah. The Bible, being a Judahite book which was at least heavily edited in the post-exilic period, uses them almost interchangeably, as in Yehonatan/Yonatan or Eliyahu/Eliyah (Elijah).

 

3. While David may have had a son with a Yawhistic name, most early kings in both Kingdoms did not, The first king in Judah to have a Yahwistic name was Yehoshaphat, and the king who really popularized such names was none other than Ahab, who called his sons Ahazyahu (Ahaziah) and Yehoram/Yoram (Joram). From that time on, almost all of the kings in both kingdoms had Yahwistic names.

 

Now please, what's your point?

 

 

Yigal Levin