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The Divine Name *Yahwa

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The Origins of Yahwism
This chapter is in the book The Origins of Yahwism
JosefTropperTheDivine Name*Yahwa1. It haslongbeenknownthatthedivinename“Yahweh,”which is attested inJewishpersonalnamesinAkkadiancuneiformtextsof theneo-BabylonianandAchaemenidperiods,appearsin syllabicscript¹eitherasia-a-ḫu-ú(andsimilar)²or asia-a-ma(andsimilar).³Theuseof thetwovariantsis dependenton thepo-sitionin thename:theia-a-ḫu-ú-variantis usedwhenthedivinenameformsthefirstcomponentof thenameas atheophoricelement(type:ia-a-ḫu-ú-X), whiletheia‐a-maformappearsonlyinsecond(last)position(X-ia-a-ma).⁴Both var-iantscanbe precededby thedeterminative“dingir”(fordeity);it occursquitefrequentlybeforeia-a-ḫu-úbutonlyveryrarelyinfrontofia-a-ma.It is certainthatsyllabicia-a-ḫu-ústandsfor /yahû/and thuscorrespondstothealphabeticalwritingyhw.Theinterpretationofia-a-mais notquiteas unan-imous.Thatthis,too,is arenditionof the“Yahwe”-nameisundisputed.Follow-ing Cross(1962, 253, n. 122)⁵,Coogan (1976,53) andothers, it is usually postulatedthatia-a-mastandsfor /yaw/and consequentlycorrespondsto thealphabeticalwritingyw.Thispresupposes,firstly, thatthesignMAcanhave thephoneticvaluewa6in LateBabylonian(anunproblematicassumption),⁶and,secondly,thatthefinalvowelwas notarticulatedandis irrelevantfor theinterpretation.In thefollowing,the syllabic writingia-a-ma,orbetteria-a-wa6,will be ex-aminedmoreclosely. Despitethefactthatis attestedwell over 100timesandConcerningspellingvariantsandattestationsin detailseeespeciallyM.D.Coogan,West Se-miticPersonalNamesin theMurašûDocuments(HSM7; Missoula,Montana1976), 49–50.52–53 andR. Zadok,TheJewsin BabyloniaDuringtheChaldeanand AchaemenidPeriodsAccordungto theBabylonianSources(Haifa1979),7–8; seealsoF. JoannèsandA. Lemaire,“Tr oistablettescunéiformesàonomastiqueouest-sémitique(collectionSh.Moussaïeff),”Transeuphratène17(1999),17–34.Themostimportantvariantsareia-(a‐)ḫu-u,ia-ku-úandia-ʾ-ú.Themostimportantvariantsareia-maandiá-a-ma.Forinstance,ʾabī-ia -a-ma,ʾaḥī-ia-a-ma,banā-ia-a-ma,barak-ia-a-ma,barīk- ia-a‐ma,gadal-ia-a-ma,ḥanan-ia‐a‐ma,yigdal-ia-a-ma,yadaʿ-ia-a-ma,mīka -ia-a-ma,mantan-ia-a-ma,ʿaqab-ia-a-ma,pa-da-a-maandnērī-ia-a-ma.F.M. Cross,“Yahweh andtheGodof thePatriarchs,”HThR55 (1962),225–259.Thephoneticvaluewa6for the signMAis mentionedin the pertinentsignlistsandsyllabariesandcanalsobe detected in genuinelyAkkadian word formsfrom the LateBabylonianperiodon(e.g., in theroyal inscriptionsof Nabonidus);seeCoogan,West SemiticPersonalNames(seen.1), 63, n. 69 andM. Weippert,Art.“Ja hwe,”RlAV(1977),249.DOI10.1515/9783110448221-001
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

JosefTropperTheDivine Name*Yahwa1. It haslongbeenknownthatthedivinename“Yahweh,”which is attested inJewishpersonalnamesinAkkadiancuneiformtextsof theneo-BabylonianandAchaemenidperiods,appearsin syllabicscript¹eitherasia-a-ḫu-ú(andsimilar)²or asia-a-ma(andsimilar).³Theuseof thetwovariantsis dependenton thepo-sitionin thename:theia-a-ḫu-ú-variantis usedwhenthedivinenameformsthefirstcomponentof thenameas atheophoricelement(type:ia-a-ḫu-ú-X), whiletheia‐a-maformappearsonlyinsecond(last)position(X-ia-a-ma).⁴Both var-iantscanbe precededby thedeterminative“dingir”(fordeity);it occursquitefrequentlybeforeia-a-ḫu-úbutonlyveryrarelyinfrontofia-a-ma.It is certainthatsyllabicia-a-ḫu-ústandsfor /yahû/and thuscorrespondstothealphabeticalwritingyhw.Theinterpretationofia-a-mais notquiteas unan-imous.Thatthis,too,is arenditionof the“Yahwe”-nameisundisputed.Follow-ing Cross(1962, 253, n. 122)⁵,Coogan (1976,53) andothers, it is usually postulatedthatia-a-mastandsfor /yaw/and consequentlycorrespondsto thealphabeticalwritingyw.Thispresupposes,firstly, thatthesignMAcanhave thephoneticvaluewa6in LateBabylonian(anunproblematicassumption),⁶and,secondly,thatthefinalvowelwas notarticulatedandis irrelevantfor theinterpretation.In thefollowing,the syllabic writingia-a-ma,orbetteria-a-wa6,will be ex-aminedmoreclosely. Despitethefactthatis attestedwell over 100timesandConcerningspellingvariantsandattestationsin detailseeespeciallyM.D.Coogan,West Se-miticPersonalNamesin theMurašûDocuments(HSM7; Missoula,Montana1976), 49–50.52–53 andR. Zadok,TheJewsin BabyloniaDuringtheChaldeanand AchaemenidPeriodsAccordungto theBabylonianSources(Haifa1979),7–8; seealsoF. JoannèsandA. Lemaire,“Tr oistablettescunéiformesàonomastiqueouest-sémitique(collectionSh.Moussaïeff),”Transeuphratène17(1999),17–34.Themostimportantvariantsareia-(a‐)ḫu-u,ia-ku-úandia-ʾ-ú.Themostimportantvariantsareia-maandiá-a-ma.Forinstance,ʾabī-ia -a-ma,ʾaḥī-ia-a-ma,banā-ia-a-ma,barak-ia-a-ma,barīk- ia-a‐ma,gadal-ia-a-ma,ḥanan-ia‐a‐ma,yigdal-ia-a-ma,yadaʿ-ia-a-ma,mīka -ia-a-ma,mantan-ia-a-ma,ʿaqab-ia-a-ma,pa-da-a-maandnērī-ia-a-ma.F.M. Cross,“Yahweh andtheGodof thePatriarchs,”HThR55 (1962),225–259.Thephoneticvaluewa6for the signMAis mentionedin the pertinentsignlistsandsyllabariesandcanalsobe detected in genuinelyAkkadian word formsfrom the LateBabylonianperiodon(e.g., in theroyal inscriptionsof Nabonidus);seeCoogan,West SemiticPersonalNames(seen.1), 63, n. 69 andM. Weippert,Art.“Ja hwe,”RlAV(1977),249.DOI10.1515/9783110448221-001
© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Introduction VII
  4. The Divine Name *Yahwa 1
  5. YHWH’s Original Character: Questions about an Unknown God 23
  6. The Beginnings of Yahwism from an Assyriological Perspective 45
  7. The Origins and Beginnings of the Worship of YHWH: The Iconographic Evidence 67
  8. The Tetragrammaton in Egyptian Sources – Facts and Fiction 93
  9. The Origin of YHWH and its Attestation 115
  10. Three Theses on the Early History of Israel 145
  11. YHWH’s Provenance from the South A New Evaluation of the Arguments pro and contra 157
  12. “I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exod 20:2) Reflections on the Status of the Exodus Creed in the History of Israel and the Literary History of the Hebrew Bible 181
  13. The Origins of YHWH in Light of the Earliest Psalms 207
  14. God and the Gods in the Tetrateuch 239
  15. The Origins of Yahwism from the Perspective of Deuteronomism 267
  16. The Beginnings of YHWH and “Longing for the Origin” A historico-hermeneutical query 283
  17. Bibliography 309
  18. Authors 341
  19. Index of Modern Authors 343
  20. Index of Subjects and Names 349
  21. Index of Ancient Sources 355
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110448221-001

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Introduction VII
  4. The Divine Name *Yahwa 1
  5. YHWH’s Original Character: Questions about an Unknown God 23
  6. The Beginnings of Yahwism from an Assyriological Perspective 45
  7. The Origins and Beginnings of the Worship of YHWH: The Iconographic Evidence 67
  8. The Tetragrammaton in Egyptian Sources – Facts and Fiction 93
  9. The Origin of YHWH and its Attestation 115
  10. Three Theses on the Early History of Israel 145
  11. YHWH’s Provenance from the South A New Evaluation of the Arguments pro and contra 157
  12. “I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Exod 20:2) Reflections on the Status of the Exodus Creed in the History of Israel and the Literary History of the Hebrew Bible 181
  13. The Origins of YHWH in Light of the Earliest Psalms 207
  14. God and the Gods in the Tetrateuch 239
  15. The Origins of Yahwism from the Perspective of Deuteronomism 267
  16. The Beginnings of YHWH and “Longing for the Origin” A historico-hermeneutical query 283
  17. Bibliography 309
  18. Authors 341
  19. Index of Modern Authors 343
  20. Index of Subjects and Names 349
  21. Index of Ancient Sources 355
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