Making Sense of the Divine Name in the Book of Exodus

Making Sense of the Divine Name in the Book of Exodus
Author: Austin Surls
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2017-05-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1575064847

The obvious riddles and difficulties in Exod 3:13–15 and Exod 6:2–8 have attracted an overwhelming amount of attention and comment. These texts make important theological statements about the divine name YHWH and the contours of the divine character. From the enigmatic statements in Exod 3:13–15, most scholars reconstruct the original form of the name as “Yahweh,” which is thought to describe YHWH’s creative power or self-existence. Similarly, Exod 6:3 has become a classic proof-text for the Documentary Hypothesis and an indication of different aspects of God’s character as shown in history. Despite their seeming importance for “defining” the divine name, these texts are ancillary to and preparatory for the true revelation of the divine name in the book of Exodus. This book attempts to move beyond atomistic readings of individual texts and etymological studies of the divine name toward a holistic reading of the book of Exodus. Surls centers his argument around in-depth analyses of Exod 3:13–15, 6:2–8 and Exod 33:12–23 and 34:5–8. Consequently, the definitive proclamation of YHWH’s character is not given at the burning bush but in response to Moses’ later intercession (Exod 33:12–23). YHWH proclaimed his name in a formulaic manner that Israel could appropriate (Exod 34:6–7), and the Hebrew Bible quotes or alludes to this text in many genres. This demonstrates the centrality of Exod 34:6–7 to Old Testament Theology. The character of God cannot be discerned from an etymological analysis of the word yhwh but from a close study of YHWH’s deliberate ascriptions made progressively in the book of Exodus.

Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica
Author: Hugh Chisholm
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1090
Release: 1910
Genre: Encyclopedias and dictionaries
ISBN:

This eleventh edition was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time and it is considered to be a landmark encyclopaedia for scholarship and literary style.

Jesus and Yahweh

Jesus and Yahweh
Author: Harold Bloom
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2007
Genre: Christianity and other religions
ISBN: 9781594482212

This brilliant and provocative study of Jesus and Yahweh is a paradigm-changing literary criticism that will challenge and illuminate Jews and Christians alike, and may make readers rethink everything they take for granted about what they believed was a shared heritage.

The Origins of Yahwism

The Origins of Yahwism
Author: Jürgen van Oorschot
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2017-06-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3110447118

This compendium examines the origins of the God Yahweh, his place in the Syrian-Palestinian and Northern Arabian pantheon during the bronze and iron ages, and the beginnings of the cultic veneration of Yahweh. Contributors analyze the epigraphic and archeological evidence, apply fundamental considerations from the cultural and religious sciences, and analyze the relevant Old Testament texts.

Bearing Yhwh’s Name at Sinai

Bearing Yhwh’s Name at Sinai
Author: Carmen Joy Imes
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2023-06-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1646022661

The Name Command (NC) is usually interpreted as a prohibition against speaking Yhwh’s name in a particular context: false oaths, wrongful pronunciation, irreverent worship, magical practices, cursing, false teaching, and the like. However, the NC lacks the contextual specification needed to support the command as speech related. Taking seriously the narrative context at Sinai and the closest lexical parallels, a different picture emerges—one animated by concrete rituals and their associated metaphorical concepts. The unique phrase ns' shm is one of several expressions arising from the conceptual metaphor, election as branding, that finds analogies in high-priest regalia as well as in various ways of claiming ownership in the Ancient Near East, such as inscribed monuments, the use of seals, and the branding of slaves. The NC presupposes that Yhwh has claimed Israel by placing Yhwh’s own name on her. In this light, the first two commands of the Decalogue reinforce the two sides of the covenant declaration: “I will be your God; you will be my people.” The first expresses the demand for exclusive worship and the second calls for proper representation. As a consequence, the NC invites a richer exploration of what it means to be a people in covenant with Yhwh—a people bearing his name among the nations. It also points to what is at stake when Israel carries that name “in vain.” The image of bearing Yhwh’s name offers a rich source for theological and ethical reflection that cannot be conveyed nonmetaphorically without distortion or loss of meaning.

Yahweh before Israel

Yahweh before Israel
Author: Daniel E. Fleming
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2020-12-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108835074

Provides a ground-breaking new interpretation with which to consider and contextualize the name Yahweh before its relationship with Israel.

The Theology of the Book of Revelation

The Theology of the Book of Revelation
Author: Richard Bauckham
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 196
Release: 1993-03-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1107393086

The Book of Revelation is a work of profound theology. But its literary form makes it impenetrable to many modern readers and open to all kinds of misinterpretations. Richard Bauckham explains how the book's imagery conveyed meaning in its original context and how the book's theology is inseparable from its literary structure and composition. Revelation is seen to offer not an esoteric and encoded forecast of historical events but rather a theocentric vision of the coming of God's universal kingdom, contextualised in the late first-century world dominated by Roman power and ideology. It calls on Christians to confront the political idolatries of the time and to participate in God's purpose of gathering all the nations into his kingdom. Once Revelation is properly grounded in its original context it is seen to transcend that context and speak to the contemporary church. This study concludes by highlighting Revelation's continuing relevance for today.

Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish Messianism

Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish Messianism
Author: Benjamin Reynolds
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 509
Release: 2018-07-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004376046

The essays in Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish Messianism: Royal, Prophetic, and Divine Messiahs seek to interpret John’s Jesus as part of Second Temple Jewish messianic expectations. The Fourth Gospel is rarely considered part of the world of early Judaism. While many have noted John’s Jewishness, most have not understood John’s Messiah as a Jewish messiah. The Johannine Jesus, who descends from heaven, is declared the Word made flesh, and claims oneness with the Father, is no less Jewish than other messiahs depicted in early Judaism. John’s Jesus is at home on the spectrum of early Judaism’s royal, prophetic, and divine messiahs

The Real Name of God

The Real Name of God
Author: Rabbi Wayne Dosick
Publisher: Inner Traditions
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2012-05-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781594774737

Reveals the real, whole name of God and its place within each of us • Explains how none of the God-names commonly used in the Bible is God’s real name • Shows how the real name of God unites all religions from both West and East • Includes spiritual techniques, prayers, poems, and meditative chants to bring each of us into deep, personal, intimate, living relationship with God Of the many names of God commonly used in the Bible and other sacred literature, none is God’s real name. Every God-name, including YHWH, reflects only one of God’s many aspects, such as the loving creator, the militaristic authoritarian, or the all-knowing judge. None embodies the wholeness, the totality, the full Essence of God. Who then are we to speak to when we seek God? If you can’t truly know something until you know its name, how can we truly know God? The culmination of years of translation research and etymological investigation, Rabbi Wayne Dosick’s work digs through many layers of presumption and deeply ingrained beliefs to reveal the real name of God hiding in plain sight in the Bible: Anochi. He shows how this sacred name unites all religions--both of the West and the East. The name Anochi enables us to finally meet the whole, complete, real God--both the grand God of the vast universe and the God of breath, soul, and heart who dwells within each of us. This in-depth exploration of God’s name includes spiritual techniques, poems, guided prayers, and meditative chants to bring each of us into personal, intimate, and purposeful relationship with God. By knowing the real name of God, we can affirm the connection to the Divine at the core of our being. We can touch the face of God that resides deep within us all.