On 7/19/05, Yigal Levin wrote:
> Yes John, you are correct. From the epigraphic evidence that we have
> (ostraca, bullae, burial inscriptions etc.), it seems like the form YH (Yah)
> was common in pre-exilic Judah, YW (Yoh, or maybe Yaw) in northern Israel,
> and YHW (Yahu) in the post-exilic period. The Bible, which, even it it does
> preserve ancient material, was edited by post-exilic Judeans, has all three
> and is not consistant, even giving variant spellings of the same name:
> Yehonatan/Yonatan, Yoram/Yehoram, Eliyahu/Eliyah etc.
>
> Yigal