Two important portant second-century sources, the Epistle of Barnabas (9.7-8) and Clement ent of Alexandria (Strom. 6.278-80), refer to this form, and specifically note its numerical value (I H = 18), in commenting on the 318 servants of Abraham in Genesis 14:14.59 Both of these writers were familiar with Greek copies of Genesis in which the number was written as T I H, and they both see in this letter compendium a foreshadowing of Jesus and his cross: T 300) = his cross, and I H (= 18) = Jesus' name.
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In short, I H seems to have been a way of representing Jesus' name that was reasonably well known and very early in origin, and that must have arisen among Christians familiar with Jewish exegetical techniques.63 It is improbable that writing Jesus' name as I H was derived from the curious exegesis of the number in Genesis 14:14. Instead, writing the 318 in that passage as the Greek characters T I H almost certainly presupposes and derives rives from the prior Christian use of I H for Jesus' name (and the Christian use of the tau as a symbol for Jesus' cross).64 In these conclusions, I am simply providing further support for views expressed previously by other scholars familiar with the data.65 Can we, however, say more? I propose that this suspended form of Jesus' name (I H) was likely the originating device from which the whole scribal practice of the nomina sacra then developed. Moreover, my argument involves the suggestion that I H originated in Jewish Christian circles (or among Christians sufficiently acquainted with relevant Jewish traditions) as a gematria, the numerical value of eighteen, perhaps an allusion to the numerical value of the Hebrew brew word for "life" ('n ).66 In early Christian views of Jesus, he can be thought of as the embodiment of resurrection life, indeed, himself the life-giving giving Lord (e.g., Rom. 8:1-2, 10-11; 1 Cor. 15:20-23, 45; Phil. 3:20-21; John 1:3-4;11:25;14:6; 20:31!), and so an allusion to "life" in a suspended form of Jesus' name would certainly have resonated profoundly with Christian piety. ety. As for the allusion requiring some acquaintance with the numerical value of Hebrew characters, I have already noted parallel phenomena in the other early instances cited in first-century Christian texts from the New Testament that reflect this knowledge.67
It is an advantage of this proposal that it accounts well for features often ten not otherwise explained. In particular, we have a cogent explanation for the puzzling supralinear stroke that became characteristic in Christian nomina sacra. According to the view advocated here, this mark began its special Christian usage with the writing of Jesus' name as I H, and originally functioned in its more familiar capacity as a signal to readers that this two-letter compendium could also be read as a number, eighteen.
- Larry W. Hurtado. The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins
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In short, I H seems to have been a way of representing Jesus' name that was reasonably well known and very early in origin, and that must have arisen among Christians familiar with Jewish exegetical techniques.63 It is improbable that writing Jesus' name as I H was derived from the curious exegesis of the number in Genesis 14:14. Instead, writing the 318 in that passage as the Greek characters T I H almost certainly presupposes and derives rives from the prior Christian use of I H for Jesus' name (and the Christian use of the tau as a symbol for Jesus' cross).64 In these conclusions, I am simply providing further support for views expressed previously by other scholars familiar with the data.65 Can we, however, say more? I propose that this suspended form of Jesus' name (I H) was likely the originating device from which the whole scribal practice of the nomina sacra then developed. Moreover, my argument involves the suggestion that I H originated in Jewish Christian circles (or among Christians sufficiently acquainted with relevant Jewish traditions) as a gematria, the numerical value of eighteen, perhaps an allusion to the numerical value of the Hebrew brew word for "life" ('n ).66 In early Christian views of Jesus, he can be thought of as the embodiment of resurrection life, indeed, himself the life-giving giving Lord (e.g., Rom. 8:1-2, 10-11; 1 Cor. 15:20-23, 45; Phil. 3:20-21; John 1:3-4;11:25;14:6; 20:31!), and so an allusion to "life" in a suspended form of Jesus' name would certainly have resonated profoundly with Christian piety. ety. As for the allusion requiring some acquaintance with the numerical value of Hebrew characters, I have already noted parallel phenomena in the other early instances cited in first-century Christian texts from the New Testament that reflect this knowledge.67
It is an advantage of this proposal that it accounts well for features often ten not otherwise explained. In particular, we have a cogent explanation for the puzzling supralinear stroke that became characteristic in Christian nomina sacra. According to the view advocated here, this mark began its special Christian usage with the writing of Jesus' name as I H, and originally functioned in its more familiar capacity as a signal to readers that this two-letter compendium could also be read as a number, eighteen.
- Larry W. Hurtado. The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins
This is intriguing. Thoughts?