[B-Greek] EGW EIMI hO WN (LXX of Exodus 3:14)

Eric S. Weiss papaweiss1 at yahoo.com
Thu Mar 27 19:55:14 EDT 2008


> No, it really isn't totally accurate.  The Hebrew has the 
> imperfect (prefix form) of the existential verb twice and 
> would more accurately be translated "I will be who / what 
> I will be."  I think I'll leave the Greek to your own 
> efforts. It would almost seem that the LXX was translated 
> under some Platonic influence.
> 
> george
> gfsomsel

Richard Elliott Friedman chooses "I am who I am" and Robert 
Alter chooses "I will be who I will be." Both discuss the 
other one's choice, and Alter also discusses using "what" 
instead of "who." Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (The Living Torah) 
goes with "I will be who I will be," and also refers to 
Rambam's Moreh Nevukhim 1:63 (1200 A.D.) when he says that 
the name "denotes that God has absolute existence," and 
refers the reader to the Septuagint; and that He is 
outside the realm of time (Rabbi Ovadia ben Yaakov Sforna, 
1567 A.D.).

Thus, it appears that the Hebrew imperfect need not be 
translated with the future, according to some 
Jewish/Hebrew scholars, and the concept of hO WN may not 
be Platonic (or maybe Rambam was a Platonist?).

I am not asking for theological or philosophic arguments 
(which would violate B-Greek rules), but if you have some 
Hellenic texts that show how hO WN might have been used by 
Platonists (or other Greek philosophers) with reference to 
the Deity, and/or that show The Seventy's understanding of 
the Hebrew and/or Jewish tradition to be properly expressed 
by translating the Hebrew as hO WN, it would help address 
my question.

Thanks!



  Eric S. Weiss
  

       
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