[osis-core] semantics of <divineName>?

[Troy A. Griffitts]

In an effort to elaborate on the reasoning for <divineName> being 
specific to YHWH-- besides appealing to the fact that practically all 
modern literal translations small-cap this anomaly--  I have attempted 
to detail and defend their practice, below.

I believe the history of the anomaly is that even as far back as the 
LXX, YHWH has been left untranslated from the Hebrew, out of reverence.

I believe Jews were not permitted to pronounce aloud YHWH ever, and only 
in prayer and reading of Scripture do they even come close by 
substituting for יְהוָה (YHWH), אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) ("the Lord" (Divine 
Plural)).  Some have suggested that the exact pronunciation was not 
known, and rather than guess and be wrong, it remained 
untranslated/unspoken.  In any case...  The LXX either leaves YHWH 
completely untranslated or substitutes the Greek κύριος (Lord).  And our 
modern translations have followed suite.

http://crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?del=all&add=KJV&add=WLC&add=LXX&key=Gen.2.8#cv

Bibles desiring to indicate where they have done this substitution 
almost always use small caps.  Without the small caps, it would be 
ambiguous if "Lord" was from the Hebrew אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) or was substituted 
for the Hebrew יְהוָה (YHWH).

http://crosswire.org/study/parallelstudy.jsp?del=all&add=KJV&add=WLC&add=LXX&key=Gen.15.2#cv

Sorry to be so verbose, but this issue has lingered since the 1.0 days 
and I'm hoping a more detailed explanation might clear things up.


	-Troy.



Patrick Durusau wrote:
> Troy,
> 
> Then how do translators deal with the other forms of the divine name if 
> there is no attribute? Often those are also styled differently and/or 
> one wants to search for all of the occurrences of the divine name, 
> whatever its form.
> 
> A single element with attributes meets both needs.
> 
> Hope you are having a great day!
> 
> Patrick
> 
> Troy A. Griffitts wrote:
> 
>> The original purpose for this tag is the designate the tetragrammaton in 
>> the text when it has been translated LORD, GOD, or other.  This is a 
>> distinctly marked element in most all translations and we need a tag to 
>> be clearly and intentionally for this purpose.
>>
>> The example in the guide is wrong.  The schema is correct-- in my opinion.
>>
>> i.e.  No other type/usages beyond the tetragrammaton.
>>
>>
>>
>> Patrick Durusau wrote:
>>  
>>
>>> Chris,
>>>
>>> Sorry for the delayed response! I picked up your original post after 
>>> seeing you mention it again.
>>>
>>> Agree, the current situation at least as represented in the manual is 
>>> ambiguous.
>>>
>>> DM, can you send a list of the types that we would need on <divineName> 
>>> to cure this problem?
>>>
>>> Hope you are having a great day!
>>>
>>> Patrick
>>>
>>> Chris Little wrote:
>>>
>>>    
>>>
>>>> Hi Folks,
>>>>
>>>> What are the semantics of the <divineName> element? My understanding 
>>>> of where we stood as of the last time <divineName> was brought up at a 
>>>> meeting was that it should be used for tagging translations of the 
>>>> tetragrammaton (or conceivably the tetragrammaton itself) exclusively, 
>>>> since it is largely a signal to do things like small-caps "Lord". All 
>>>> other divine epithets (e.g. "El Shaddai") or small-caps text (e.g. 
>>>> small-caps "Branch" and "Jesus") would thus need to use another 
>>>> element (e.g. <name>). This decision was part of the reason for not 
>>>> giving any types to <divineName>.
>>>>
>>>> DM Smith pointed out that the manual specifically includes 
>>>> "<divineName>El Shaddai</divineName>" as an example usage of 
>>>> <divineName>. And another example includes "<divineName 
>>>> type="x-yhwh">Lord</divineName>".
>>>>
>>>> I think we either need to limit <divineName> to the tetragrammaton 
>>>> (and note this in the manual) or add (potentially many, but I think DM 
>>>> Smith can supply us a list) registered types for Yahweh, El Shaddai, 
>>>> etc. Otherwise there is ambiguity since we can't depend on everyone to 
>>>> just assume that "x-yhwh" is the right way to type a <divineName> 
>>>> corresponding to the tetragrammaton.
>>>>
>>>> --Chris
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>      
>>>>
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