Understanding YHWH The Name of God in Biblical, Rabbinic, and Medieval Jewish Thought /

• Main Author: Ben-Sasson, Hillel (Author, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
• Edition: 1st ed. 2019.
• Series: Jewish Thought and Philosophy
• Subjects: Judaism-Doctrines.; Language and languages-Philosophy.; History.; Jewish Theology.; Philosophy of Language.; History, general.
• Physical Description: XII, 304 p. online resource.
• ISBN: 9783030323127
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-32312-7

This book unlocks the Jewish theology of YHWH in three central stages of Jewish thought: the Hebrew bible, rabbinic literature, and medieval philosophy and mysticism. Providing a single conceptual key adapted from the philosophical debate on proper names, the book paints a dynamic picture of YHWH's meanings over a spectrum of periods and genres, portraying an evolving interaction between two theological motivations: the wish to speak about God and the wish to speak to Him. Through this investigation, the book shows how Jews interpreted God's name in attempt to map the human-God relation, and to determine the measure of possibility for believers to realize a divine presence in their midst, through language.