Ehyeh asher Ehyeh and the Tetragrammaton: Between Eternity and Necessary Existence in Saadya, Maimonides, and Abraham Maimonides

Abstract

Saadya Gaon translates Ehyeh asher Ehyeh into Arabic as “the eternal (beginningless) that will not cease to be.” Abraham Maimonides makes a conceptual identification between Saadya’s interpretation of Ehyeh asher Ehyeh as eternity and the assertion of his father that Ehyeh asher Ehyeh signifies Necessary Existence. Moses Maimonides draws an allusive relationship between Ehyeh asher Ehyeh and the Tetragrammaton, perhaps hinting at a connection between the Tetragrammaton and the root hayah he is hesitant to openly spell out. As his son suggests, Maimonides hints that Ehyeh asher Ehyeh offers an explication of the Tetragrammaton.