To: "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>, "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Exodus 3:14
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 17:33:07 -0600
I can only imagine some archaeologist in 4001 finding the name "Walker" and
twisting himself into an intellectual pretzel attempting to parse a verbal
FORM that is clearly used as a proper name. We don't say "Then ole 'God
heard' said, ..." We say "Then Samuel said." In Exodus 3:14 and 15 we have
two equivalent sentences. "EHYEH has sent me" and "YHWH has sent me."
EHYEH is simply an allomorph of YHWH here, and it does not need to be parsed
or conjugated. Regardless of its FORM, its FUNCTION as the subject of a verb
makes it a noun.
Charles David Isbell