Proper Nouns.א 4. Reading Biblical Hebrew Chapter 4: Proper Nouns. John C. Beckman

Transcription

1 Proper Nouns.א 4 Reading Biblical Hebrew Chapter 4: Proper Nouns John C. Beckman

2 Goal: Understand English Versions of Hebrew Names 2 Be able to Pronounce proper nouns in Hebrew Figure out the English names of Hebrew proper nouns Outline Discuss some principles of figuring out English names of Hebrew proper nouns Pronounce and Anglicize all proper nouns that occur 49 or more times in the Hebrew Bible The name יהוה The LORD

3 Principles for guessing the English version of Hebrew proper nouns

4 Caveats about English Forms of Hebrew Proper Nouns 4 The English forms of proper nouns vary with the translation Many Hebrew proper nouns have several forms י ר מ י ה ו and י ר מ י ה Jeremiah is spelled both ע ז ר י ה and ע ז י ה Uzziah is spelled both Some well-known proper nouns have irregular English forms shlomo Solomon ש למ ה Some Hebrew proper nouns are completely different in English mitsrayim Egypt מ צ ר י ם aram Syria א ר ם

5 Most Hebrew Consonants Come into English as Expected N נ Omitted א S ס Omitted ע P פ PH פ Z צ K or C ק R ר S ש B ב ב / G ג D ד H or Omitted ה V ו Z ז H ח T ט I) is still י I (J if word-initial, except י S or SH ש T ת TH ת C) CH (rarely K or כ / כ L ל M מ 5

6 ו ו Most Vowels in Names Anglicize as Expected 6 A vowels A E vowels E י י I vowels I (rarely E) י O vowels O U vowels U Vocal shva E Silent shva omitted

7 Surprises in Anglicizing Vowels in Proper Nouns 7 Vowel letters with ה treat ה as a consonant! AH ה ה ה / EH ה OH

8 Dagesh Ḥazaq Doubles as Expected 8 Dagesh has meaning IFF preceded by a vowel, not shva Meaningful dagesh ( dagesh ḥazaq ) doubles a consonant Ammon ע מ ון

9 IAH or JAH י ה ו / י ה ו 9 The endings י ה ו and י ה ו IAH י ר מ י ה ו א ל י ה ו צ ד ק י ה ו י אש י ה ו Jeremiah Elijah Zedekiah Josiah

10 is = י The Demonymic Ending 10 Demonym = A word that refers to a member of a people group American, Canadian, Israelite, New Yorker, Spaniard δῆμος 'people + ὄνομα 'name' Demonymic endings turn a place name into a demonym American, Canadian, Israelite, New Yorker, Spaniard English and Hebrew use the same words also as adjectives American can also be an adjective the American economy The Hebrew demonymic ending י. ים = a Jew, a Judean, Jewish י ה וד י. י ה וד ים plural Jews

11 The 79 Hebrew proper nouns that occur 49 or more times in the Bible

12 יהוה 6828 י ש ר א ל 2507 ד ו ד 1075 י ה וד ה 819 מ ש ה 766 מ צ ר י ם 681 י ר וש ל ם 643 ש א ול 406 ל ו י 350 י ע ק ב 349 The LORD Israel David Judah Moses Egypt Jerusalem Saul Levi Jacob Discussed later Irregular Completely different word י ר וש ל י ם Vowels assume

13 347 א ה ר ן 293 ש למ ה 290 פ ל ש ת י 274 פ ר ע ה 262 ב ב ל 218 י ה וש וע 213 י וס ף 183 י ר ד ן 180 א פ ר י ם 180 מ וא ב Aaron Solomon Philistine Pharaoh Babylon Joshua Joseph Jordan Ephraim Moab Irregular י Demonymic ending Irregular

14 א ב ר ה ם 175 ב נ י מ ן 167 צ י ון 154 א ש ור 151 מ נ ש ה 150 י וא ב 145 ש מ וא ל 140 י ר מ י ה ו 129 א ר ם 125 א ב ש ל ום 109 Abraham Benjamin Zion Assyria Manasseh Joab Samuel Jeremiah Syria Absalom Irregular Completely different word

15 ש מ ר ון 109 י צ ח ק 108 ע מ ון 106 י ר ב ע ם 104 ג ל ע ד 102 א ד ום 100 ע ש ו 97 א ח א ב 93 כ נ ע ן 93 י ה וד י 92 Samaria Irregular (expected Shomron) Isaac Irregular (expected Izhak) Ammon Jeroboam Gilead Edom Esau ו treated like ו Ahab Canaan י Judean, Jew, Jewish Demonymic ending

16 א מ ר י 87 י ה וש פ ט 84 י ה ונ ת ן 82 ב ע ל 80 כ ש ד ים 80 ח ז ק י ה ו 74 ב ית א ל 73 א ל ע ז ר 72 ג ד 72 ר א וב ן 72 Amorite Jehoshaphat Jonathan Baal י Demonymic ending ים Chaldeans Plural demonymic ending Hezekiah Bethel Eleazar Gad Ruben

17 ח ב ר ון 71 ל ב נ ון 71 כ נ ע נ י 70 ד ן 69 א ב ימ ל ך 67 א ב נ ר 63 א ל י ה ו 63 נ ב וכ ד ר אצ ר 62 א ב ר ם 61 ב ל ע ם 61 Hebron Lebanon Canaanite Dan Abimelech Abner Elijah Nebuchadnezzar Abram Balaam י Demonymic ending Irregular

18 ב ש ן 60 מ ר ד כ י 60 ש כ ם 60 מ ד י ן 59 א י וב 58 א ל יש ע 58 א ס א 58 י ה וא 58 י ר ח ו 57 צ ד ק י ה ו 56 Bashan Mordecai Shechem Midian Job Elisha Asa Jehu Jericho Zedekiah Irregular (expected iiob)

19 א ס ת ר 55 ל ב ן 55 ה מ ן 54 צ ד וק 53 י אש י ה ו 52 י ה וי ד ע 51 נ פ ת ל י 51 ר ח ב ע ם 50 י ה 49 Esther Laban Haman Zadok Josiah Jehoidah Naphtali Rehoboam Yah Not demonymic ending יהוה Short form (nickname) of

20 יהוה The Name 20

21 Vowels on יהוה Indicate Substitute Word Reverence for the name Substitute another word in speech Usually substitute א ד נ י Lord י הו ה or י ה ו ה א ד נ י Write the vowels of LXX translation κύριος Substitute א לה ים God if Write the vowels of LXX translation θεὸς א ד נ י יהוה or יהוה א ד נ י י הו ה or י ה ו ה. א לה ים

22 The Name Jehovah The name יהוה occurs 6828 times The KJV translates יהוה as Jehovah 4 Times The rest of the time it translates it LORD or GOD Also, the combination-names Jehovahjireh, Jehovahnissi, and Jehovashalom once each Jehovah comes from converting י ה ו ה like other names Initial yod J, vocal shva E, etc. Attempt to translate it as a name rather than as a title The original vowels aren t there, so they used the substitutes

23 יהוה People Used to Pronounce times in the book of Ruth But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May יהוה deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. (Ruth 1:8) And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the יהוה answered, be with you!" And they יהוה reapers, bless you. (Ruth 2:4) Elsewhere too And [Ehud] said to them, "Follow after me, for יהוה has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand. (Judges 3:28)

24 The Correct Pronunciation is Said to be Yahweh 24 יהוה Consonants י ה ו ה Yahweh Correct pronunciation is said to be Short form is י ה ya or י ה yah Based on verb היה (Exodus 3:14 I am who I am ), the final ה would be the vowel letter ה eh Greek transcriptions ΙΑΟΥΑΙ and ΙΑΒΕ Caveat: Pronunciation changes over time Moses, David, and Ezra may have pronounced it differently from each other. Verb היה probably spelled הוי in Moses day. יהוי So the name might have been