Sárospataki Füzetek 17. (2013)

2013 / 1-2. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Doedens, Jacob J. T.:Ókori izraelita politeista feliratok: Aséra mint JHVH felesége?

A HI NT ISRAELITE POLYTHEISTIC INSCRIPTIONS.

6. wl '[sjrttf

Keel and Uehlinger translate:

1. “Uriyahu, the honorable, has written [this] (or “this inscription”)

2. Blessed is / be Uriyahu by Yahweh

3. And [because?] from his oppressors, by his5 * * * * 10 * 12 13 * asherah, he has saved him

4. [written?] by Oniyahu.

5. ... by his asherah . . .

6. ... and by his asherah . . .”u

A slightly different transliteration, and therefore different translation, is provided by Zevit,

1. 'ryhw h 'sr ktbh

2. brktn 'ryhw lyhwh

3. wmmsrryyh/r hi 'srth hws 'lhn

4. Vbyhw

5. [ ] d/r/b ’g/?wll’srth

6. [ ] '??rthlA

5 Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 237-239.

10 'srth - the third-person masculine pronominal suffix was in pre-exilic Biblical Hebrew also written

with h instead of the later common w. Cf. John A. Emerton, “Are There Examples of Enclitic mem in

the Hebrew Bible?” in Text, Temples, and Traditions: A Tribute to Menahem Haran (ed. Michael V. Fox

et al.; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1996), 324.

11 Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 237-239. Cf. “Khirbet el-Qom,” translated by P. Kyle McCarter in COS 2.52:179, “Uriyahu, the rich: (This is) his inscription. Blessed was Uriyahu to Yahweh, and from his enemies, by his asherah, he saved him. (Written by?) ’ Oniyahu. ... to his asherah . . . and to his asherah.” See also Keel and Uehlinger, Gods, Goddesses, 237—240, for a discussion on the translation.

12 The final t is read by Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 360 nt. 10, as a full letter identical to the t in ktbh from line 1, and not as a word divider.

13 Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 362, suggests to ignore the ghost letters, caused by either the author or a visitor who traced with a fingernail or a tool the outline of the original letters. The sequence of signs, then, to be translated is wmsryh I'srth hws lh.

4 Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 360.

2013/1-2 SÁROSPATAKI FÜZETEK 43