Sunday, September 03, 2023

Anchor Bible Dictionary on the Meaning of Yahweh (YHWH)

The meaning of the name is unknown. Arguments favoring particular meanings have been for the most part grammatical. The name has long been thought to be a form of the verb hāwāy, an older form of the Hebrew verb hāyāh, "to ‎be." The ‎reconstructed‎ form ‎yahwēh is parsed as either a third-person Qal imperfect of this verb or as the corresponding form of the causative stem. This analysis is encouraged by theological notions of God as one who is, or who exists, or who causes existence. Thus the explanation of Yahweh in Exod 3:14,‎ "I‎ am ‎who ‎I ‎am," is ‎a‎ folk‎ etymology ‎based‎ on ‎this‎ verb‎ (ROTT, 181–82). The analysis of the name as a causative falters‎ on‎ the‎ grammatical ‎point‎ observed‎ by‎ Barr ‎that‎ "the‎ causative‎ of ‎this ‎verb ‎does ‎not ‎occur‎ in Hebrew‎ elsewhere" (HDB, 335). However, the name could be a unique or singular use of the causative stem.

Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 6, entry for "Yahweh," section B. 

7 comments:

Duncan said...

https://www.thetorah.com/article/yhwh-the-original-arabic-meaning-of-the-name

Roman said...

Fascinating article Duncan

Nincsnevem said...

What does Judges 13:18 mean?
https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Judges%2013%3A18

Anyway, the fact that there were many versions of the NT manuscripts also proves that there was no direct will or central authority that wanted or was able to make a single established version of the NT text exclusive and destroy all others without a trace. So in Christianity there was no such figure as, like Uthman in Islam, who ordered the compilation of the standard version of the Quran, and destroyed all other versions.

Nincsnevem said...

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6383.htm

Duncan said...

https://biblehub.com/text/judges/13-18.htm

Duncan said...

A late interpretation - Rashi on Judges 13:18:1
והוא פלאי. מכוסה, תמיד הוא משתנה ואין ידוע למה משתנה היום (ספרי נשא מב):
When it is mystical. It is concealed. It changes constantly, so that its identity remains unknown on any given day.

Duncan said...

NRSV - Psalm 139:20 Cn: Meaning of Heb uncertain