Naming God in Early Judaism : : Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek / / Anthony Meyer.

• Superior document: Studies in Cultural Contexts of the Bible ; 2
• VerfasserIn: Meyer, Anthony,
• Place / Publishing House: Paderborn : : Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, , 2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in Cultural Contexts of the Bible ; 2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (341 pages)

This study brings together all ancient evidence to tell the story of the divine name, YHWH, as it travels in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek through the Second Temple period, the most formative era of Judaism. During the Second Temple period (516 BCE–70 CE), Jews became reticent to speak and write the divine name, YHWH, also known by its four letters in Greek as the tetragrammaton. Priestly, pious, and scribal circles limitted the use of God’s name, and then it disappeared. The variables are poorly understood and the evidence is scattered. This study brings together all ancient Jewish literary and epigraphic evidence in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek to describe how, when, and in what sources Jews either used or avoided the divine name. Instead of a diachronic contrast from use to avoidance, as is often the scholarly assumption, the evidence suggests diverse and overlapping naming practices that draw specific meaning from linguistic, geographic, and social contexts.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Table of Contents -- Abstract -- Acknowledgments -- Part I Introduction -- Chapter 1 The Name of God -- 1.1 Sources and Method -- 1.2 Names and Epithets -- Chapter 2 YHWH Adrift and the Quest of Modern Scholars -- 2.1 Summary of Modern Scholarship -- Part II Naming God in Aramaic -- Chapter 3 From Elephantine to the British Museum Drachm -- 3.1 The Elephantine Papyri and Ostraca -- 3.2 Ostraca -- 3.3 Mibtahiah Archive -- 3.4 Anani Archive -- 3.5 Jedaniah Archive -- 3.6 Papyrus Amherst 63 -- 3.7 Idumean 'House of YHW' Ostracon -- 3.8 British Museum Drachm -- 3.9 Conclusion -- Chapter 4 Mount Gerizim, Ezra, and Daniel -- 4.1 Mount Gerizim Inscriptions -- 4.2 Ezra -- 4.3 Daniel -- Chapter 5 Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls -- 5.1 Enoch -- 5.2 The Book of Giants -- 5.3 Birth of Noah (or: Elect of God) -- 5.4 Genesis Apocryphon -- 5.5 Tobit -- 5.6 The Aramaic Levi Document -- 5.7 Testament of Qahat -- 5.8 Visions of Amram -- 5.9 Words of Michael -- 5.10 4QTestament of Judah? -- 5.11 Son of God Text (or: Aramaic Apocalypse) -- 5.12 Four Kingdoms and other Visionary Texts -- 5.13 Prayer of Nabonidus -- 5.14 Pseudo-Daniel Texts -- 5.15 Jews at the Persian Court -- 5.16 New Jerusalem -- 5.17 Other Aramaic Texts -- 5.18 Aramaic Translations: Job, Leviticus, and Isaiah -- 5.19 Summary of Divine Titles and Epithets in Aramaic -- Part III Naming God in Hebrew -- Chapter 6 Qumran "Biblical" Scrolls -- 6.1 The Divine Name and the Tripartite Division of Hebrew Scrolls -- 6.2 The Qumran Biblical Scrolls -- 6.3 Text-Critical Observations on Divine Name Transmission -- 6.4 Divine Name Variant Patterns -- 6.5 Scribal Changes and Corrections to the Divine Name -- 6.6 Paleo-Hebrew Script in Qumran Biblical Scrolls -- Chapter 7 Qumran Yahad Scrolls -- 7.1 Use and Avoidance of the Divine Name -- 7.2 The title אל replaces the Tetragrammaton.

7.3 The titles אדני and אלהים replace the Tetragrammaton -- 7.4 The Paleo-Hebrew Script for Divine Names in Qumran Yahad Scrolls -- Chapter 8 Qumran Scrolls of Non-Yahad Origin -- 8.1 Temple Scroll (11Q19-21, 4Q524) -- 8.2 Apocryphon of Moses (1Q29, 4Q376, 4Q408) -- 8.3 Jubilees -- 8.4 4QProphecy of Joshua (4Q522) -- 8.5 8QHymn (8Q5) and 11QApocryphal Psalms (11Q11) -- 8.6 Summary: Naming God in Hebrew -- Part IV Naming God in Greek -- Chapter 9 Earliest Jewish-Greek Scriptures -- 9.1 The Divine Name ιαω -- 9.2 YHWH in the Square Aramaic Script -- 9.3 YHWH in the Paleo-Hebrew Script -- Chapter 10 ΚΥΡΙΟΣ in the Second Temple Period -- 10.1 K(ΥΡΙΟ)C in Septuagint Manuscripts of the Common Era -- 10.2 The Earliest Evidence for κύριος -- 10.3 The Literary Use of Κύριος -- 10.4 Κύριος in the Graeco-Roman World: Comparative Backdrop -- Chapter 11 The Original Rendering -- 11.1 Stages of Development in Greek Manuscripts -- 11.2 Critique of the Divine Name as Original in the LXX -- 11.3 The Originality of ιαω -- Part V The Name "YHWH" in Early Judaism -- Chapter 12 A Linear Paradigm? -- Chapter 13 Speech and Text in the Second Temple Period -- Appendices for Evidence of Use and Non-use of the Tetragrammaton -- The Tetragrammaton in Biblical Quotations of Yahad Works -- Divine Name Variants and Replacements -- Bibliography.