Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!iuvax!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Jewish Wisdom Message-ID: Date: 7 Oct 89 23:28:59 GMT References: Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department Lines: 30 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [In article , geoff@pmafire.UUCP (Geoff Allen) asked why a posting including some material by a Jewish author used G-d for God. Geoff understood the sensitivity about YHWH, but didn't think it would apply to Elohim, and the English word. --clh] Originally even the name of God was used, probably too much. The Commandment says not to take the Name of the Lord in vain. But it was still in use during the Second Temple. Traces of it survive in the Psalms; the "yah" in halleluyah (praise the Lord) comes from the Name. Later it became the practice not to make direct reference to God. Many will say "Elokim" instead of "Elohim" to avoid this direct reference. Others do not use the words "God" and "Lord", instead using "G-d" and "L-rd". As you see, I do not subscribe to this. The meaning of the Third Commandment seems to be not to use the Name of God to swear falsely. In the Talmudic period, Jews were cautioned not to swear at all unless required by a court or comparable body. The Talmud states, "Let you yea be yea and your nay be nay," meaning that you should feel bound by your word without swearing. [BTW, I am not quite sure about when to capitalize except when a clear proper noun is used. Hebrew has no capital letters, and German, of which English is a descendent, capitalizes all nouns.] -- Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907 Phone: (317)494-6054 hrubin@l.cc.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet, UUCP)