Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>]

 

 

From: Rev. Bryant J. Williams III

Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 11:42 AM

To: Rolf ; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] God's name

 

Dear Rolf,

 

I will be able to answer this one question since it does not involve questions of hermeneutics:

Why would the NT writers who quoted the Tanakh delete YHWH and use the substitute KURIOS  instead?

 

1. You are assuming that the authors of the NT "deleted" YHWH and substituted KURIOS. There is no evidence to         indicate that.

 

2. The NT quotes from the Tanakh almost invariably are from the LXX.

    a. This use of the LXX to Greek-speaking assemblies found throughout the Roman Empire would actually make         sense.

    b. The authors of the NT would have used the LXX and the Tanakh. The Book of Hebrews uses the LXX                         exclusively.

    c. The use of KURIOS by the authors of the NT to these Greek-speaking would naturally follow the use made in         the Greek-speaking synagogues as well.

 

3. Both Philo and Josephus, like the NT writers and the early Christians (Clement of Alexandria, ca 100 AD) used         the complete LXX which had KURIOS.

 

4. Some of the older fragmetns of LXX do contain the Tetragrammaon, while other manuscripts had blank spaces     in the place of the the Tetragrammaton (cf. Papyrus Rylands 458).

 

Thank you for the discussion.

 

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III

 

Hi Bryant:

     After the exile, the 2nd temple authorities declared voicing the shem haMeforash as a capital crime.  Even the theophorics in names were truncated, like Y...shua (Yeshua) instead of YEHO..shua, Yesha-Ya instead of Yesha Yahu...and so on....to prevent accidentally voicing the name.  As a result, wherever the Tetragrammaton appeared in the text, lectors would say ADONAI (Lord), instead of (my speculation on the pronunciation) YeHawa.  The first Jesus people were Jews, as were the New Testament authors and the tradition was carried on. ADONAI is KYRIOS in Greek.

 

Jack Kilmon

Houston, TX

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