Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no>]

Dear Doug,

It is most likely that the Masoretes heard )DNY pronounced in the synagogue 
when the text had YHWH. In a recent post, I quoted Jerome (c. 340-420 CE), 
who wrote that in his days the tetragram was not pronounced.  If we look at 
the DSS, we find an expression regarding God's name in "The Rule of the 
Community" VI, 27- VII, 2. The translation of F. G. Martinez (The Dead Sea 
Scrolls Translated, 1994, p. 11) is: "Whoever enunciates the Name (which is) 
honored above all .... whether blaspheming, or overwhelmed by misfortune or 
for any other reason....or reading a book, or blessing, will be excluded, and 
shall not go back to the community council." The range of the words is not 
perfectly clear, but it shows that God's name should not be pronounced. In 
the DSS we see that YHWH was substituted by )EL, and not by )DNY.

In the last centuries BCE, the Jews where influenced from various directions. 
The Greek influence was strong. The old Platonic thought is that "the One" is 
nameless. Philo (c. 20 BCE- 50 CE) was highly influenced by Plato. He wrote: 
"No name at all can properly be used of me, to whom all existence belongs." 
(De Vita Moses I. sec 75). A. Marmorstein, "The Old Rabbinic Doctrine of 
God", believes that Greek influence was the basic reason why the name ceased 
to be pronounced. The practice of magical arts were also a reason why the 
name ceased to be pronounced. By knowing and using a name, one could get 
special powers. In 1 Enoch 69: 13-25 we read about "the concealed name," 
indicating magical influence around 100 BCE. It may be that one reason for 
not using the tetragram was to prevent its use in magical arts.

That the name of a god was inneffable was not restricted to YHWH. The article 
"nameless gods" in "Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics" (1908), Vol 
9, shows that gods without a proper name is a phenomenon in religions all 
over the world. The gods were often described by their acts, often with 
adjectives and substantivised adjectives. Later, the god received a proper 
name, but in time the name was viewed as so holy that no one could pronounce 
it. Thus, in the first and last stage of the worship of the god, namelessness 
occurred. The article mentions the Canaanite god Ba'al ("lord") and the 
Egyptian Amon-Ra," whose name is concealed for all his centuries."

I do not say that YHWH was not substituted with )DNY before out common era. 
But I say that there are no direct evidence for a systematic substitution of 
YHWH by )DNY, as we see in the substitution of YHWH by )L at Qumran. I am not 
even aware of single instances where it is clear that )DNY was used as a 
substitute for YHWH during this time. Several experienced scholars, such as 
J. Fitzmyer and some German scholars have been at great pains to demonstrate 
the mentioned substitution, but they have only produced indirect evidence 
that is not very convincing.

As mentioned above there was a strong pressure from different directions for 
not pronouncing the name, and in time it was viewed as ineffable. The Mishna 
has some information in favor of pronunciation and some information for 
non-pronunciation. The Tosefta suggests that the Pharisees and the 
Morningbathers continued to pronounce YHWH at least  in the last century BCE.

The conclusion is that at some time  before the Masoretes started their 
vocalizing and pointing of the Hebrew text, )DNY started to be used as a 
substitute for YHWH. When this happened I do not know.  But I am not aware of 
any evidence that
this substitution started before our common era.


Best regards,


Rolf Furuli
Stavern
Norway


Onsdag 12. Juni 2013 01:27 CEST skrev "Belot" <dbelot AT bigpond.net.au>: 
> Hi Rolf are you suggesting that from 300bc till the Mossorettic texts came
> in , what was that 700ad , all readings in the Synagogue spoke Gods name as
> , Adonai or Kurious then suddenly they started to call Him , what, DNY .
>
> How on earth  would they pronounce that. How would they pronounce YHWH .
>
> doug belot
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rolf
> Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 1:15 AM
> To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] G.Gertoux and the Name...
>
> Dear Martin,
>
> What is substitution? When the Masoretic text was recited in the synagogues,
> it is likely that )DNY was read where YHWH was written. This is vocal
> substitution. Substitution can be graphic as well, as we see in the LXX
> fragments up to 50 CE compared with the LXX manuscripts from the second
> century onword: KS was used as a substitute for YHWH.
>
> The religious group at Qumran, at least some of the members of it, used a
> substitute for YHWH, and this substitute was )L. How can we distinguish a
> substitution from a textual variant? I counted 667 examples of )L from the
> extra-biblical DSS. Some of these could be textual variants. But when we
> look at the documents where )L is written, we see a systematic avoidance of
> YHWH and the use of )L in its stead. When we look at the contexts of the
> around 700 occurrences of )DNY in the Tanakh, we do not find a systematic
> avoidance of YHWH. But )DNY is used as a title for YHWH.
>
> I counted 71 examples of )DNY and 317 examples of YHWH in the DSS. Most of
> the examples of )DNY occur in normal contexts, and most likely represent the
> appellative "lord," without any substitution of YHWH being visible.  I will
> consider your two examples.
>
> 4Q437.
>
> The fragment has )DNY two times, but it is not evident that these are used
> as substitutes for YHWH. You compare the text with Psalm 103:1. The Psalm
> says:  "Praise YHWH. my soul, everything that is inside me, praise his holy
> name." 4Q437f:1:1 says:"/Praise/ )DNY, my soul. for all his wonder/ful/..."
> The texts are different, and I see no reason to conclude that 4Q437 f1:1
> quotes the Psalm. Psalm  35:17 and 38:9 address YHWH as )DNY, and Psalm 54:6
> calls YHWH both )LHYM and )DNY. We should also note that 4Q437f2i:4 says, "I
> will bless your name during my life." This is not an example of
> substitution.
>
> 1QSb
>
> Your second example, 1QSb3:1, is more promising, because five words of the
> verse are similar to five words in Numbers 6:26, and 1QSb has (DNY where
> Numbers 6:26 has YHWH. In view of the differences between the great Isaiah
> scroll regarding YHWH and )DNY, that I already have presented, the different
> uses can be textual variation. The other words of Numbers 6:26 are not found
> in 1QSb3:1 The fragment has the name "The Rule of the Blessing," and we also
> find )DNY with reference to YHWH in the Psalms of the Tanakh where blessings
> occur. Therefore, the three times the word )DNY occur, need not be something
> unusual, and need not be substitutes for YHWH. We note that the substitute
> used for YHWH at Qumran, )L, occurs ten times in the document. Because YHWH
> occurs in Numbers 6:26 and )DNY occurs in 1QSb 3:1, it could could represent
> a substitution. However, this is by no means certain.  If you are going to
> demonstrate that )DNY was used as a substitute for YHWH, you cannot refer to
> one, two or three texts, but you must demonstrate a consistent use of )DNY
> where YHWH is expected. This is not possible in connection with the 71
> examples of )DNY in the DSS.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>
> Rolf Furuli
> Stavern
> Norway
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mandag 10. Juni 2013 10:00 CEST skrev bhebrew AT shields-online.net:
>
> > Hi Rolf,
> >
> > RF: In the Tanakh, there are more than 6,000 occurrences of YHWH and more
> > than 700 of )DNY. In about 300 cases )DNY is immediately followed by YHWH,
> > which shows that )DNY is a title. In many instances, )DNY is used alone
> > with reference to God, and the same is true with )LHYM. Please give us
> > some examples from the Tanakh where )DNY  is not used as a title for God,
> > but where it is used as a SUBSTITUTE for YHWH.
> >
> > MS: Why would this be relevant? In the Tanak there's no clear indication
> > that the writers had an aversion to writing יהוה, so why would we expect
> > to find anything other than יהוה when that is what they meant. The
> > aversion to speaking and writing the divine name appears to become > > 
> > widespread after the production of the bulk, if not all, of the Tanak.
> >
> > RF: And Similarly with the DSS. Please show where in the DSS manuscripts
> > THAT you refer to )DNY is used as a SUBSTITUTE for YHWH.
> >
> > MS: Certainly. I think a case can be made for אדוני is used in place of
> > יהוה in the following sectarian texts (there may be more):
> >
> > 1QSb 1:3; 2:22; 3:1, 25; 5:23; 1QM 12:8, 18; 1QHa 5:15; 6:19, 34; 8:26;
> > 10:5, 22, 33; 11:6, 20, 38; 12:6; 13:7, 22; 15:9, 29, 31, 37; 16:5; 17:38;
> > 18:16; 19:30, 36; 1Q34bis f2+1:4, 6; 4Q200 f6:9; 4Q269 f16:7; 4Q384 f2:1;
> > 4Q392 f1:3; 4Q410 f1:7; 4Q428 f9:1, 3; f10:11; f12i:4; 4Q432 f3:1; f12:4;
> > 4Q434 f1i:1; 4Q435 f5:3–4; 4Q437 f1:1; f2i:13–15; 4Q459 f1:2; 4Q504
> > f1_2Rii:7; f1_2Rvi:3, 10; f3ii:5; f4:14, 16; f5ii:3; f6:20; f8R:1; 4Q506
> > f124:3; 4Q507 f2:2; f3:1, 3; 4Q508 f2:2; f13:1; 4Q509 f3:9; f4:4; > > 
> > f10ii_11:7; f18:3; f131_132ii:5; f206:1; f285:1; 4Q521 f2ii+4:3–5, 11;
> > f2iii:3; f5i+6:4; f7+5ii:2, 4, 7; f8:10, 11; f9:2; 4Q526 f1:1; 4Q527 f1:1;
> > 4Q577 f4:2.
> >
> > Of these, perhaps the clearest are those which quote or allude to biblical
> > passages. A couple of examples:
> >
> > 4Q437 f1:1
> > [ברכי ]נפשי את אדוני
> > compare Ps 103:1
> > ברכי נפשי את יהוה
> >
> > Similarly, 1QSb 3:1
> > ישא אדוני פניו אליכה
> > compare Num 6:26
> > ישא יהוה פניו אליך
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Martin Shields.
>
>
>
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