-----Original Message-----
From: Uri Hurwitz
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2013 1:56 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [b-hebrew] Theophoric names
Karl,
What about Moses' mother YKBD, Yocheved, where the theophoric element of
the name is the prefix? By tradition David and his court follow Moses by
many centuries.
The prefix YW- or YHW is quite common in such names, though in most
yahwistic personal names the divine name appears as a suffix. It does not
change the meaning. Cf. Jonathan and N'tanyahu.
The suffixes -YHW or -YH have the same meaning; the first suffix is most
prevalent in pre-exilic inscriptions such as seals or bullae. The second is
exclusive in post-exilic inscriptions.
A similar trend appears in biblical texts, but more gradually.
Uri Hurwitz
Hi Uri
I have always been interested in the custom of theophorics and what appears
to be a pattern. During the 1st temple period, there was no problem voicing
the name of God. When the theophoric was a prefix to a name, it appears to
have been יְהֹו "Yeho" (yod-tsere) such as Yeho-shua, Yeho-nathan,
Yeho-sef, Yeho-Yakhin, and as a suffix, Yirmi-yahu, Yesha-yahu, Hizqi-yahu.
Inscriptions on bullae or LMLK impressions reveal the full suffix
theophoric, i.e. חִזְקִיָּהוּ hzqyhw while the Biblical translations are
"HezekYAH. I think the 2nd temple prohibition on the Shem haMeforash
resulted in truncations, such as Ye-shua for Yehoshua, Yo-sef for Yeho-sef,
Yesha-ya for Yesha-yahu (Isaiah). Does anyone else see this pattern for
theophoric use and its altered praxis post-exilic? Does the prefix YE-ho
and suffix YA-hu tell us anything about the actual voicing of YHWH?
Jack Kilmon
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