Transcribing JHVH

See main article, Tetragrammaton.

Jehovah is a an English spelling of a Medieval vocalization of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton "יהוה", ie, YHWH. The name YHWH, as well as every other Hebrew word written in the original ancient Hebrew manuscripts, had only consonants. These ancient manuscripts had neither vowels nor vowel-pointings. In the Middle Ages, Jewish Masoretes vocalized every word in the Medieval Hebrew manuscripts by adding vowel points above and below the consonants. Thus today which and how many vowels appear in THE NAME is disputed. See Tetragrammaton

Historically, Jehovah (three vowels) first attained popular attention in reprints of the King James Bible wherein "יְהֹוָה" was rendered four times as "Jehovah" in the Old Testament . The original edition of 1611 used only "the Lord," reflecting usage from the Septuagint that predated the Masoretic texts by 700 years.

Although the spelling "Jehovah" survives somewhat in informal pop culture, Yahweh (two vowels) has become the established form of YHWH among most scholars writing in the English language over the past one hundred years. Beginning with the work of Wilhelm Gesenius ca 1830, scholarship has concluded that many of these Medieval vowel pointings were in error and corrects "Jehovah" with "Yahweh" to represent the putative ancient pronunciation.

History

The article on Yahweh for 2006 in the Encyclopædia Britannica explains 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.

St. Jerome

The foundations for the reconstructed pronunciation "Jehovah" of YHWH began when St. Jerome (ca 347 – 420), a Catholic classicist, embarked on his translation of the Old Testament in the Middle Ages. Previously the Western church had used the ancient Septuagint alongside various Latin translations from the Septuagint. The Septuagint was an ancient Greek translation from lost Hebrew manuscripts. Jerome turned to Jewish friends for texts in Hebrew that they claimed were superior to the texts that Christ and the Apostles quoted in the New Testament. Although Jerome did not introduce "Jehovah" (which did not yet exist), he did establish a precedent of using texts from Judaism as sources whence to translate the Old Testament. This precedence has not affected Eastern Orthodox churches, which continue to use the Septuagint.

When Martin Luther (1483 - 1546) embarked on his own translation of the Old Testament into German, he followed Jerome's example and sought Hebrew sources. The Hebrew texts available were the Masoretic, the oldest of which dates from ca 900 to 1100. The vowel-pointing that became the basis for the construction "Jehovah," may be as old as 1100.

Although there were substantive differences between these Medieval texts and the Septuagint and although these texts were at least seven hundred years newer than the Septuagint, scholars of the Reformation thought it important to use the Hebrew and not the Greek. Thus Jerome's precedence was later followed by Protestant Christians such as William Tyndale.

Iehouah (1530), Jehovah (1769)

In 1530William Tyndale (ca 1484 - 1536) transcribed YHWH as "Iehouah" not "Jehovah" (preserving the same vowels and syllables as Jehovah) in the title page of his translation of the Bible. "The Reformers preferred Jehovah, which first appeared as Iehouah in 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 1769 reprint of the King James Bible introduced "Jehovah."

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 (see "Scholarhsip").

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.

However, In Biblical Archaeology Review reference is made to the fact that a two-syllable pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” would not allow for the o vowel sound to exist as part of God’s name. Thus the article stated, “When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it was ‘Yah’ or ‘Yo.’ When it was pronounced in three syllables it would have been ‘Yahowah’ or ‘Yahoowah.’ If it was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been ‘Yaho.’”“ Thus “Jehovah” preserves three syllables, whereas “Yahweh” only two.

Jehovah's Witnesses

According to the religion known as Jehovah's Witnesses, YHWH is the one and only name for God and that the form "Jehovah" "cannot be supplanted" in English-language publications. Although the word is falling out of use in serious scholarship, Jehovah's Witnesses use it above all other forms of YHWH, retaining it in the official name of the religious organization.

Scholarship: not "Jehovah" but Yahweh

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

In Judaism: Yahweh

The Jewish Encylopedia of 2006 states in regard to Exodus 3.14 "This passage is decisive for the pronunciation "Yahweh"; for the etymology was undoubtedly based on the known word."

Ancient Greek > Yahweh

Ιαουε

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.) Ancient Greek documents are the oldest primary sources indicating the ancient pronunciation as it existed before redactors of Masoretic texts introduced Medieval vowel-pointing.

Originally, Hebrew had no vowels. The vowel-pointings of Masoretic manuscripts are Medieval; the oldest Masoretic texts date to ca 1000. 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 the article Church Fathers and Magic Papyri, the editors of the Jewish Encyclopedia give 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'.

This means that Iaoue (Yawé) and Iabe (Yavé) each represent YHWH.

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.

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

Clement of Alexandria: Yawé

As noted in the previous section, the editors of the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 state that Iaoue (Yawé) and Iabe (Yavé) were two Greek forms that were used to write יהוה (YHWH).

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

The New Bible Dictionary (1962) reads:

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 transcriptions > Yahweh

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 does not support "Jehovah."

Josephus > Yahweh

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.

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: Yahweh

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 correct pointing to reflect the ancient pronunciation was יַהְוֶה (See image to the right.) This is pronounced "Yahweh". The original pronunciation occurred before Medieval pointing came into existence.

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 elaborates:

"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 concur with Wilhelm Gesenius, summarize:

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

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

This confirms the consensus and not Jehovah.

Theophorics < Yahweh

The Encyclopedia Britannica of 1911 reads:

The name YWH 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.

The Jewish Encylopedia of 1906 under "Names of God" reads:

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 publications in which the word "Jehovah" has appeared

See main article: List of publications in which the word "Jehovah" has appeared.

Jehovah's Witnesses have compiled a list of publications in which the word "Jehovah" may have appeared.[1] The Jehovah's Witnesses is a religion that believes that YHWH is the one and only name for the Supreme Being and Jehovah is its one permissible rendition in English publications.

See also

• Christianity
• God
• Iaou
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Jehovah in the New Testament
• Judaism
• Names of God in Judaism
• Yahweh

External links

• "Jehovah" in Encylcopædia Britannica 2006 - Complete article
• "Yahweh" in Encylcopædia Britannica 2006 - Complete article available by subscription
• "Jehovah" in Encylcopædia Britannica 1911
• Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906: Jehovah
• Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906: Names of God: YHWH
• Catholic Encyclopedia of 1910: Jehovah (Yahweh): I. PRONUNCIATION OF JEHOVAH

Technical note

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