God's name

[Raksha]

If you look at the original language. The name YHWH, as given to Moses when he asked, which has been translated as "I Am that I Am" is actually "I will be what I will be" which are the present and future tenses of the word...

Shawn,

The name you're referring to isn't YHVH, though. The name God gave to Moses when he spoke to him from the burning bush is EHIEH. That's the one that can be translated either "I Am that I Am" or "I will be what I will be."

I don't know where you're getting your information, but it doesn't seem to be from Jewish sources. I don't even read Hebrew, but even I know that! I do seem to retain the meaning of every Hebrew word I ever came across in my reading, though.

--Linda

 

[dauer]

Raksha,

the full name was Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh and it's sometimes accepted as suggestive of the meaning of YHWH. I think it's more likely a folk etymology that developed later, but theologically, in Judaism, it's sometimes used to explain the meaning of YHWH. In other cases within Jewish though Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh is taken as a separate title. Similarly, some communities substititute the word Havayah for YHWH, Havayah being a permutation of YHWH.

 

[shawn]

Shawn,

The name you're referring to isn't YHVH, though. The name God gave to Moses when he spoke to him from the burning bush is EHIEH. That's the one that can be translated either "I Am that I Am" or "I will be what I will be."

I don't know where you're getting your information, but it doesn't seem to be from Jewish sources. I don't even read Hebrew, but even I know that! I do seem to retain the meaning of every Hebrew word I ever came across in my reading, though.

--Linda

I just did a very brief google search to get something to back up what I wrote:
The Torah: Portion by Portion - Google Books

Exodus (Sh’mot) 3v14, wherein YHVH responds to the question asked by Moses (Moshe), “What is Your Name?” The answer given by YHVH in Hebrew was, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh.”

The flame-shaped Hebrew letters appear to come forth, out of the burning bush. From right to left and top to bottom, the letters are Aleph-Hey-Yod-Hey—Aleph-Shin-Resh—Aleph-Hey-Yod-Hey, most often translated as “I AM THAT I AM.” They could just as well be translated, as, “I have been what I am what I will be.”​

 

[Raksha]

Raksha,

the full name was Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh and it's sometimes accepted as suggestive of the meaning of YHWH. I think it's more likely a folk etymology that developed later, but theologically, in Judaism, it's sometimes used to explain the meaning of YHWH.

Dauer,

Thanks for the clarification. I've read the name "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" before, probably more than once, but momentarily forgot about it when I posted my note last night. Speaking of folk etymologies, though...the one I really like and never forgotten is that "Ehyeh" is the sound of a newborn baby's first cry. Later on, someone told me it's also the sound of our last breath, so that when our lives come full circle (if that's the right way to express it) they begin and end with this divine name.

In any case "Ehyeh" is the divine name I relate to the most, and the one I'm most likely to use in meditation, synchronized with my breathing. Which is NOT to suggest that I meditate all that often or that I'm very good at it! But whenever a mantra is suggested in any meditation exercise, that's the one I use.

In other cases within Jewish though Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh is taken as a separate title. Similarly, some communities substititute the word Havayah for YHWH, Havayah being a permutation of YHWH.

Havayah...now that's one I've never heard before. But I can see right away that it's a permutation of YHWH. Thanks for the information.

--Linda

 

[Raksha]

Exodus (Sh’mot) 3v14, wherein YHVH responds to the question asked by Moses (Moshe), “What is Your Name?” The answer given by YHVH in Hebrew was, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh.”

The flame-shaped Hebrew letters appear to come forth, out of the burning bush. From right to left and top to bottom, the letters are Aleph-Hey-Yod-Hey—Aleph-Shin-Resh—Aleph-Hey-Yod-Hey, most often translated as “I AM THAT I AM.” They could just as well be translated, as, “I have been what I am what I will be.”​

Shawn,

That's beautiful...thanks for the clarification. When I posted my note last night I didn't realize that although YHWH and Ehyeh are not the same name, that there is a traditional relationship between them. I like it when the meanings of these names are somewhat open-ended, ambiguous and not absolutely "fixed" to a standard definition, because that corresponds best with my sense of reality. There's a sense of mysterious layers of meaning waiting to be explored more deeply.

--Linda
​

 

[wil]

I find the burning bush quality of the shin quite interesting...

 

[dauer]

Wil,

are you aware that shin is associated with both fire and differentiation?

 

[wil]

No, can you expound, seems appropriate in this thread, no?

 

[dauer]

That's all I was going to say. Shin is one of the mother letters. You mentioned shin and fire so I thought it seemed relevant. Connecting it to the name YHWH: hei originates in shin, vav in aleph and yod in mem. hei/shin both relate to differentiatedness. Hei is actually in two parts. yod and mem are both unity. vav and aleph connect the two together.