Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ps2866 AT bingo-ev.de]

And there are a lot of Spanish speaking cows on the moon, by the way the
earth is flat: no evidence but that doesn't matter.
Peter Streitenberger, Germany

> Dear list-members,
>
> This thread has brought up many interesting observations and arguments. I
> think it is time to draw the lines together. What started the thread was
> my words that there is even good evidence that the the tetragram in some
> form occurred in the NT autographs. In my posts I have tried to present
> the case in an undogmatic way.
>
> EVIDENCE
>
> a) All the fragments of the LXX up to 50 CE have the tetragram or IAO.
> b) The LXX manuscripts from the second century CE onward have KS in quotes
> from The Tanakh where YHWH is found.
>
> c) We do not possess the NT autographs and do not know whether they
> contained YHWH or YAO.
>
> d) The NT manuscripts from the second century CE onward have KS.
>
> Conclusion regarding this evidence: The KS in the LXX manuscripts
> represent textual corruption; someone deliberately changed the text from
> YHWH/IAO  to KS. The KS in the NT manuscripts also represents textual
> corruption, because KS was not written in the original NT manuscripts. The
> pattern of the LXX (YHWH/IAO ----> KS) suggests, but do not prove, that
> the NT autographs contained YHWH or IAO.
>
> ARGUMENTS
>
> a) Exodus 3:15 NIV says regarding YHWH: "This is my name for ever, the
> name I am to be remembered from generation to generation." The witness of
> the whole Tanakh is that  YHWH should be used for ever and not any
> substitute. (A name was extremely important for the Jews.)
>
> b) Jesus and the NT writers unanimously say that the Tanakh is the truth
> of God and must not be altered. Traditions and customs that are against
> the sayings of the Tanakh are condemned. Thus, there is no reason why the
> NT writers should not follow Exodus 3:15 and other similar passages, even
> if other persons used a substitute for YHWH.
>
> c) The argument in favor of the inclusion of KURIOS in the NT is that the
> general custom in the first century CE was to say 'adonay when YHWH was
> written. The NT writers followed this custom and used KURIOS in the NT.
> There is evidence that in the last two centuries BCE the religious order
> at Qumran did not pronounce God's name, but used )L instead. There is no
> evidence that different groups in the second or first century BCE used
> )DNY as a substitute for YHWH. But there is evidence from the DSS that
> some who wrote manuscripts that were imported to Qumran, used YHWH until
> 70 CE. There is also evidence in Tosefta that the Pharisees and the
> Morning-bathers used YHWH in the first century CE, and there is evidence
> in the Talmud that the minim (most likely Christians) used YHWH in the
> first century CE. There is also much evidence for a widespread use of IAO
> from the third century BCE to the second century CE.
>
> d) The evidence is that YHWH was in use in the days of Jesus, and even if
> only )DNY had been used, there is no reason to believe that Jesus would
> have violated the Tanakh by using a substitute for YHWH.
>
> FINAL CONCLUSION: Because the oldest extankt NT manuscripts  have a
> corrupt text—KS was not in the original—we cannot know with certainty
> how the NT autographs rendered God's name. But the bulk of the evidence
> suggests that YHWH was found in the NT autographs, because, 1) the command
> of the Tanakh is that the YHWH should be used for ever, 2) Jesus and the
> NT writers did not follow the traditions of men,  3) when the NT writers
> quoted the Tanakh where the name occurs, there was no reason why they
> should not use YHWH in their quoted texts, and 4) the text of the LXX was
> tampered with, and God's name was removed from it between 50 and 130 CE.
> The same substitute, KS; is found in the NT and LXX manuscripts from the
> second century, and this suggests that the NT was tampered with in the
> same way as the LXX was—YHWH was removed and KS was used as a
> substitute.
>
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
>
> Rolf Furuli
> Stavern
> Norway
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