Comments on: Is Yahweh a Hermaphrodite?

By: Anita Del Aguila

Anita Del Aguila — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:57:50 +0000

I agree that manipulations such as this are simply dangerous and not, necessarily, the intended use of the Word. I agree with the rabbi’s desire to open people’s minds and think of God outside of the box, but to use the term hermaphrodite is limiting, as most language. For me the term spurs physical thoughts as opposed to spiritual ones. God is not a hermaphrodite with a human body, both systems as the terms states; but rather a spirit with, yes, both masculine and feminine characteristics. But, again, this is limiting for He is not solely those two but so much more. Thanks for letting me share.

By: harkabir

harkabir — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:19:46 +0000

This works equally well for Arabic. In Arabic YHWH would be يهوه and read backwards it reads HW HY هو هي “he” “she”.
A very interesting aspect to a divine name of God. Thanks for posting.

By: Tyler F. Williams

Tyler F. Williams — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:19:20 +0000

Hey Rob,

I’m not sure calling God a hermaphrodite is the same as saying God is neither male or female. Either way, I too would like to read the article to find out why it too so long to “discover” this interpretation. Perhaps this could be another “bawdy and naughty” bit of the Hebrew Bible (though I don’t think it would pass the “Zevit” test).

By: Rob Manning

Rob Manning — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 19:53:50 +0000

I was always under the impression that Christians (and Jews) always taught that God was neither male nor female. The only reason that we refer to God as Father is because of the inherent masculinity of Hebrew and the fact that God’s traits were more often associated with a Father (though sometimes as a Mother as well).

So why did it take this Rabbi 13 years to discover something that everyone knew already and why did it take doing such an obviously sketchy method to enlighten him. If I used his method in my exegesis of a Hebrew passage I’m sure Tyler would give me a big fat F!

Weird.

By: Tyler F. Williams

Tyler F. Williams — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:57:23 +0000

Hey Bob… I too like Barth’s interpretation of the image as incorporating male and female (the poetic parallelism supports it), but to argue that from a mystical understanding of the Tetragrammaton is a bit much. As Kevin demonstrates, you can demonstrate almost anything with such manipulations (e.g., Bible codes).

By: Bob MacDonald

Bob MacDonald — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:12:05 +0000

The statement that God’s image is male and female is explicit on the 6th day (Gen 1:27). I read the last two cola ‘in the image of God made he him, male and female made he them’ as parallels, the second elaborating on the first. I am sure I am not the first to do this. Personally I find this a liberating verse. It stops me from considering woman as defective male. It stops me from considering myself as defective male also! We’re both allowed our share of tenderness and strength.

By: Kevin A. Wilson

Kevin A. Wilson — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:39:16 +0000

If God’s name spelled backwards reads “he/she”, thereby indicating that God is a hermaphrodite, by the same logic the fact that Moses’ name spelled backwards is ha-shem should indicate that Moses is God. Then, by applying the transitive property of equality, we can definitely state that Moses was a hermaphrodite. QED.

It would explain the unisex robes everyone wore back then.