Showing posts with label I am that I am. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I am that I am. Show all posts

Monday 7 November 2011

I am that I am Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh אהיה אשר אהיה

There was a devine creature that gave Moses a reply when He was asked who he was and said: "I am that I am" or "I am who shall be" and He became known as the "I am": Ehyeh asher ehyeh (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה )
“God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.  {Or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE}

Tetragrammaton-related-Masoretic-vowel-points

This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’"” (Exodus 3:14 NIV)

YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"),


The Tetragrammaton itself derives from the same verbal root.  The King James version of the Bible translates the Hebrew as "I am that I am" and uses it as a proper name for God, and is usually translated as "I will be"
(or "I shall be").

“And God said unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM." And He said, "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ‘I AM hath sent me unto you.’"” (Exodus 3:14 KJ21) “And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14 KJBPNV)

The Aramaic Targum Onkelos leaves the phrase untranslated and is so quoted in the Talmud (B.  B.  73a).

Many rabbinical scholars consider the word Ehyeh to be a first-person derivation of the Tetragrammaton.  Ehyeh is the first-person singular imperfect form of hayah, "to be".  Ehyeh is usually translated "I will be", since the imperfect tense in Hebrew denotes actions that are not yet completed (e.g.  Exodus 3:12, "Certainly I will be [ehyeh] with thee.")

“And he said, Certainly I will be with you; and this shall be a token to you, that I have sent you: When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12 KJBPNV)

In medieval Jewish tradition they liked very much this form to talk about the Most High Creator of everything.
The phrase is also found in other world religious literature, used to describe the Supreme Being, generally referring back to its use in Exodus.

But it is also used just to indicate that God or somebody else would be or would be with some one or somewhere.

“stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, because I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants.  I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Avraham your father—” (Genesis 26:3 CJB)

“ And I have brought them in, They have dwelt in the midst of Jerusalem, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, In truth and in righteousness.” (Zechariah 8:8 YLT)

In appearance, it is possible to render YHWH (יהוה ) as an archaic third person singular imperfect form of the verb hayah (אהיה) "to be" meaning, therefore, "He is".  It is notably distinct from the root El, which can be used as a simple noun to refer to the creator deity in general, as in Elohim, meaning simply "God" (or gods).  This interpretation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — ehyeh "I am".  Other scholars regard the triconsonantal root of hawah (הוה) as a more likely origin for the name יהוה   Yahuwah (Jehovah).

Dutch version / Nederlandstalige versie:


Hashem השם, Hebrew for "the Name"

In Judaism, the name and titels of God are more than a distinguishing title; they represent the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world.

Those who copied the scrolls were avare of their difficult but important part to keep all Names and titles and each word correct. To demonstrate the sacredness of the name and titles of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for them, the scribes of sacred texts treated them with absolute sanctity when writing and speaking them. The various titles for God in Judaism represent God as He is known, as well as the divine aspects which are attributed to Him.

File:Tetragrammaton benediction.png

יברכך יהוה וישמרך
יאר יהוה פניו אליך ויחנך
ישא יהוה פניו אליך וישם לך שלום
"May YHWH bless you and keep you; may YHWH cause his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may YHWH lift up his countenance upon you and grant you peace."

Many are confused and take titles for names but the Tetragammaton YHWH stands for the only One Name (Jehovah/Yahweh) which is the only proper "name of God" in the Tanakh, in the sense that Abraham or Sarah are proper names by which you call a person. Whereas words such as Elohim (god, or authority), El (mighty one), Shaddai (almighty), Adonai (master), Elyon (most high), Avinu (our father), etc. are not names but titles, highlighting different aspects of YHWH, and the various roles which God has. This is similar to how someone may be called 'father', 'husband', 'brother', 'son', etc, but their personal name is the only one that can be correctly identified as their actual designation. In the Tanakh, YHWH is the personal name of the God of Israel, whereas other 'names' are titles which are ascribed to God.

Through the years it became the custom to speak about God as over the master or the "gentleman", for which in the Roman catholic (katholische) Church in the 4° Century agreed with the local rulers to put on a resemblance with the then most important god "Lord" as Baal also was named.

In the Judaisme, one chose the word "Master" or the Hebrew word for "Gentleman" Hashem above the word for "Bale" "Baal", "Lord" in English "Heer" in Dutch. Therefore we still would prefer to better use the word "Master" "Hashem" instead of "Lord" what refers to the idol Baal. 

Halakha requires that secondary rules be placed around the primary law, to reduce the chance that the main law will be broken. As such, it is common Jewish practice to restrict the use of the word Adonai to prayer only. In conversation, many Jewish people, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God "HaShem", השם, which is Hebrew for "the Name" (this appears in Leviticus 24:11).
"And the Yisra’ĕlite woman’s son blasphemed the Name (Hashem), and cursed. So they brought him to Mosheh. Now his mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Diḇri, of the tribe of Dan." (Leviticus 24:11 The Scriptures 1998+)

Many Jews extend this prohibition to some of the other titles for the Most High like:

Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) from adon "lord, owner",
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh אהיה אשר אהיה (I am that I am),
El  אל (deity),
Elah  אֵלָה (awesome),

Eloah אלוהּ ("a god", as opposed to Allah meaning "The God" and in Aramaic (Elaha)),

Elohim  אלהים ("He is the Power (singular) over powers (plural)") For these reasons many Trinitarians cite the apparent plurality of elohim as evidence for the basic Trinitarian doctrine of the Trinity. This was a traditional position but there are some modern Christian theologians who consider this to be an exegetical fallacy.

`Elyon עליון ("supreme"),
Roi (El Roi) “seeing". To Hagar, God revealed Himself as “The God Who sees".

Shaddai [ El Shaddai was therefore the "god of Shaddai"] (Shaddai was a late Bronze Age Amorite city on the banks of the Euphrates river, in northern Syria.)

Shekhinah שכינה "Sakina سكينة" ( presence or manifestation of God which has descended to "dwell" among humanity)

Yah,

YHWH Tzevaot (tzevaot or sabaoth: "hosts" or "armies", Hebrew: צבאות)

HaMakom המקום ("The Omnipresent" (literally, The Place)


Jews will add additional sounds to alter the pronunciation of a name when using it outside of a liturgical context, such as replacing the "h" with a "k" in names of God such as "kel" and "elokim".
While other names, or better titles, of God in Judaism are generally restricted to use in a liturgical context, HaShem is used in more casual circumstances.
HaShem is used by Orthodox Jews so as to avoid saying Adonai outside of a ritual context. For example, when some Orthodox Jews make audio recordings of prayer services, they generally substitute HaShem for Adonai; a few others have used Amonai. [Read more about this in:
Stanley S. Seidner, "HaShem: Uses through the Ages". Unpublished paper, Rabbinical Society Seminar, Los Angeles, CA, 1987.] On some occasions, similar sounds are used for authenticity, as in the movie Ushpizin, where Abonai Elokenu [sic] is used throughout.

Dutch version / Nederlandse versie: