"to call upon the name of ..."

Kevin L. Barney klbarney at yahoo.com
Mon Oct 12 22:58:10 EDT 1998


Below is a message I tried to send several days ago that apparently never 
got through.  I have been unable to get through to the Lyris server until 
just now, so I suspect it was down for awhile.

In Genesis 4:26, the "name" is significant.  I would read "then began men 
to call upon the name of the LORD" to mean that at that time people began 
to worship God by his name YHWH.  I suspect, however, that in many contexts 
"to call upon the name of X" is simply a pleonastic way of saying "to call 
upon X."  Compare such Semitic expressions as "by the arm of the LORD" 
(="by the LORD") or "by the mouth of his prophets" (="by his prophets").

Kevin L. Barney
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
klbarney at yahoo.com



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