Jump to content

Transcribing JHVH

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Pvasiliadis (talk | contribs) at 16:37, 25 March 2006 (→List of published Bible Editions and Translations that use the form "Jehovah" or similar). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Deities of the ancient Near East
Ancient Egyptian
Arabian
Eblaite
Elamite
Hurrian and Hittite
Levantine
(Canaanite and Ugaritic)
Mesopotamian
Religions of the ancient Near East
See main article, Tetragrammaton.

Jehovah is a spelling[1] form [2]of the vocalization[3] of "יהוה", ie, the Tetragrammaton that appeared premedievally at Europe. The Tetragrammaton is the proper name of God in the Hebrew Scriptures (see chart).

This form of the divine name has been widely used for centuries in Bible translations, religious literature, fine arts, coins and other items of daily use. It is a restoration of the original pronounciation of the Biblical name of God, though many modern-day scholars hold the opinion that "Yahweh" restores more precisely the original vocalization of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton.


The use of "Jehovah" in old versions of the Old Testament

Under the topic "Yahweh", the editors of The online Encyclopedia Britannica of 2006 propose an explanation of the origin of the spelling "Jehovah":

The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars again began to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.[4]

Iehouah (1530), Jehovah (1769)

In 1530 A.D. Tyndale transcribed the tetragrammaton as "Iehouah" not "Jehovah" in the title page of his translation of the Bible.

Sir Godfrey Driver wrote:"The Reformers preferred Jehovah, which first appeared as Iehouah in A.D. 1530 in Tyndale's translation of the Pentateuch (Exodus 6.3), from which it passed into other Protestant Bibles."

Tyndale's English transcription "Iehouah" was changed to "Iehovah" and in the 1762-1769 reprint of the King James Bible introduced "Jehovah."

Note: This spelling change from "Iehouah" to "Iehovah" to "Jehovah" simply reflects the separation of 'I' into the vowel 'I' and semi-consonant 'J' and 'V' into the vowel 'U' and the consonant 'V.'

The English transcriptions "Iehovah," and Jehovah" are accurate spellings of the Medieval pointing "יְהֹוָה", which according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon occurs 6518 times in the Masoretic Text. It is the Jewish Masoretes themselves, who pointed YHWH with the Hebrew vowel points that are found in "יְהֹוָה" in Medieval times. Scholarship has since shown that these Medieval pointings were incorrect.

Furthermore, scholarship concludes that "יְהֹוָה" is a hybrid name with the consonants of YHWH and the vowel points of a different Hebrew word [i.e. Adonai]. The Medieval Masoretes placed the vowel points of Adonai ( "אֲדֹנָי" my Lord) over the consonants of the Tetragrammaton to remind readers to say Adonai, instead of "יהוה", since Jewish interpretation of such Jewish texts as Exodus 20:7 and Leviticus 24:11 led to the name "יהוה" being regarded as too sacred for expression.

Famous encyclopedias view

The Encyclopædia Britannica of 2006 summarizes the scholarship that has replaced the Medieval "Jehovah" with the ancient "Yahweh," reminding the reader that "this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost."

In regard to Exodus 3.14, the editors of The Jewish Encylopedia of 1901-1906 state:

"This passage is decisive for the pronunciation "Yahweh";
for the etymology was undoubtedly based on the known word."

The above quote is found under the Article Heading: "Meaning and Etymology"

Ancient Greek transcription of the tetragrammaton

Ιαουε = Yahweh

See main article: Iaoue.

The pronunciation of YHWH "Yahweh" was never really lost. It remained in ancient Greek documents that survive to this day. (See quotation from Encylopædia Britannica above.)

Hebrew originally had no vowels. The vowel-pointings of Masoretic manuscripts are Medieval; the oldest Masoretic texts date to ca 1000 AD. Moreover, the pointings are controversial for several words in the text, particularly for YHWH. Unlike ancient Hebrew, Greek always had vowels. The Greek spellings each favor the vocalization "Yahweh."

In its article Church Fathers and Magic Papyri, The Jewish Encyclopedia gives a thorough account of the forms of the word that appeared in a group of ancient papyri:

It was in connection with magic that the Tetragrammaton was introduced into the magic papyri and, in all probability, into the writings of the Church Fathers. These two sources containing the following forms, written in Greek letters: "Iaoue," "Iabe,"... It is evident that [such] represents 'יהוה'.
[5]

This means that Iaoue and Iabe represent the tetragrammaton (YHWH). Ιαουε (Iaoue) is pronounced "ya⋅WAY" and Ιαβε (Iabe) "ya⋅VAY".

Thus Ιαουε and Ιαβε both yield the transcription "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" is unsupported.

This is corroborated by Yahwitic names of the Masoretic text, the Peshitta Aramaic and the Marashu texts. The pronunciation of Yahweh is also preserved in ancient transliterations of the name written in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, cuneiform and Greek, all of which had written vowels.

Clement of Alexandria

As noted in the previous section, the editors of the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906 state that Iaoue ("Ya-WAY") and Iabe ("Ya-VAY") were two Greek forms that were used to write יהוה [i.e. the Tetragrammaton].

The Greek name Ιαουε is found in the writings of Clement of Alexandria (ca 140 AD - ca 215 AD).

The New Bible Dictionary (1962) says:

The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by transliterations of the name into Greek in early Christian literature, in the form Ιαουε (Clement of Alexandria) (For Theodoret this was Ιαβε and by this time β had the pronunciation of v)

Professor Anson F. Rainey, of Tel-Aviv University in Israel, writes:

Clement of Alexandria said "The mystic name which is called the tetragram­maton ... is pronounced Iαουε, which means ‘Who is, and who shall be.’ "

This yields the vocalization "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" is unsupported.

Other ancient Greek transcription of the Tetragrammaton

The evidence of the Greek church fathers shows the forms Jabe and Jâo to be traditional, as well as the shortened Hebrew forms of the words Jah (see Psalms 68:4, for example) and Jahu (in proper names). It could indicate that the name was originally spoken Jaweh or Yahwe (often spelled Yahweh in modern usage).

This is corroborated by Yahwitic names of the Masoretic text, the Peshitta Aramaic and the Marashu texts. The pronunciation of Yahweh is also preserved in ancient transliterations of the name written in Egyptian Hieroglyphics, cuneiform and Greek, all of which had written vowels. The older interpreters explain the verb in a metaphysical and abstract sense; the "I am" of Scripture is "He who is," the absolutely existent. The word occurs some 6823 times in the Hebrew bible.

Josephus: four vowels, not five

In Book V of his Wars of the Jews, the ancient Jewish historian Josephus (ca 37 AD - ca 100 AD) wrote:

A mitre also of fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue ribbon, about which there was another golden crown, in which was engraven the sacred name [of God]: it consists of four vowels.[6]

The "vowels" include what modern linguists call semivowels: Y and W. This supports "Yahweh," in agreement with Greek manuscripts. The vocalization "Jehovah" would require five vowels and semivowels.

Thus, Josephus does not support "Jehovah."

Wilhelm Gesenius view

File:YHWH.png
A vocalization of the Tetragrammaton as Yahweh.

By the 19th-century the Medieval vowel-pointing of "יהוה" was disputed. Preeminent scholars such as Wilhelm Gesenius (1786-1842), concluded that the ancient pronunciation of "יהוה" was "Yahweh". The original pronunciation occurred before Medieval pointing came into existence.

He corrected the pointing to יַהְוֶה. (See image to the right.) In this vocalization the (ו) is repesented in English by "w".

In his 1863 A Dictionary of the Bible,

William Smith concurs:
"Gesenius punctuates the word ( i.e. "יהוה" ) as יַהְוֶה ( i.e. Yahweh )..."
William Smith also wrote:
"There remains to be noticed the suggestion of Gesenius that the form יַהְוֶה , which he adopted, might be the Hiph. fut. of the substantive verb."

The editors of The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon, which also adopted the Lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius, summarizes:

יהוה c. 6823 i.e. יַהְוֶה n.pr.dei Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel-

The editors of the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon state as a fact that יַהְוֶה" ("Yahweh") is "the proper name of the God of Israel".

Theophoric Names comparison

  • In the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition (New York: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1910-11, vol. 15, pp. 312, in the Article “JEHOVAH”) it states:
The name Jhvh enters into the composition of many names of persons in the Old Testament, either as the initial element, in the form Jeho- or Jo- (as in Jehoram, Joram), or as the final element in the form -jahu or -jah (as in Adonijahu, Adonijah).
These various forms are perfectly regular if the divine name was Yahweh, and, taken altogether, they cannot be explained on any other hypothesis.
If the explanation of the form above given be the true one, the original pronunciation must have been Yahweh ( יַהְוֶה ) or Yahaweh ( יַהֲוֶה ). From this the contracted form Jah or Yah ( יהּ ) is most readily explained, and also the forms Jeho or Yeho ( יַהְוְ = יְהַו = יְהוֹ ) and Jo or Yo ( יוֹ contracted from יְהוֹ ), which the word assumes in combination in the first part of compound names, and Yahu or Yah ( Hebrew font omitted ) in the second part of such names.

List of published Bible Editions and Translations that use the form "Jehovah" or similar

More uses of the form "Jehovah" or similar

Books

Music

Personalities

  • Albert Einstein, reference at the magazine Physics Today, by a member of Rutgers University about her impressions of Einstein’s letters to his ‘old crony,’ Michele Besso. According to her, the letters showed that Einstein studied "God’s works . . . in the laws of physics. There are numerous references to Jehovah in the letters." (Awake! 1977 22/7 p. 29)

Coins

  • Reichstaler (a German Taler), coin from the Duchy of Silesia. The picture on the coin’s reverse side, says: "Under the radiant name JEHOVAH, rising up out of the midst of clouds, is a crowned shield with the Silesian coat of arms" (Source: Deutsche Taler (The German Taler), 1967, Germany’s Federal Bank), 1634, "JEHOVAH".

Churches

Footnotes

  1. ^ In The American Heritage dictionary of the English language. 4th ed, "transliterate" is defined as:"To represent [ letters or words ] in the corresponding characters of another alphabet." Since Hebrew had no letters to represent vowels, "Jehovah" is not a transliteration of the Hebrew letters. Literally, "trans·literate" means to change letters.
  2. ^ May have appeared even as early as 1100 C.E. (Keilschriftliche Bibliothek, ed. E. Schrader. Berlin, 1889-1915). Also Encyclopedia Britannica ed. 1911, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (dates at 1530 C.E.), Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature by McClintock & Strong, etc.
  3. ^ The name YHWH, as well as every other Hebrew word written in the original ancient Hebrew manuscripts, had only consonants. In The Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary [ Tenth Edition ] "vocalize" is defined as: "to furnish ( as a consonantal Hebrew or Arabic text ) with vowels or vowel points." The Masoretes vocalized every word in the Medieval Hebrew manuscripts by adding vowel points above and below the consonants.
  4. ^ Source: The Anchor Bible Dictionary vol. 6, Catholic Encyclopedia, Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible by Zodhiates, etc.
  5. ^ The Anchor Bible Dictionary, under "Yahweh", comments: "The pronunciation of yhwh as Yahweh is a scholarly guess" preferable to "Jehovah."

See also

Scholarly encyclopedias

Articles that advise against the spelling "Jehovah":

Personal websites

Articles that advocate for the spelling "Jehovah":

Official website of the Jehovah's Witnesses

  • God's Name—Its Meaning and Pronunciation - Teaches that the tetragrammaton is the one and only name for God and that the form "Jehovah" "cannot be supplanted." Thus as "Yahweh" replaces "Jehovah," fewer among the public will be able to recognize what the phrase "Jehovah's Witnesses" means.


Technical note

The Hebrew characters in this article may be displayed in some browsers at a size too small for clarity; printing the article out, or cutting-and-pasting text from the web-browser into a word processor and increasing the font size, may help.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Transcribing_JHVH&oldid=45433626"