THE
TETRAGRAM - AN
APPEAL FOR A FINAL RES0LUTION, by Dr. C.J. Koster
We were prompted to do this study
because of the disturbing remark we read in Grote Winkler Prins
Encyclopedie1 (Dutch), that the uncertainty as to the true pronunciation of the Name
constantly causes embarrassment to Bible translators. But this uncertainty
causes much perplexity as well as embarrassment to all believers. Although not
always admitted, we firmly believe that this uncertainty has been a major
reason for us to be satisfied with, and rather accept and use the surrogate of
the Tetragram, up to this day.
Surely, the prophetic promise of the
revelation of His Name has been given to us, and must be fulfilled:
1. "Therefore My
people shall know My Name…”, Isa.
52:6.
2. “and
they shall know that My Name is ", Jer. 16:21.
3. "For
then will I turn to the people a pure language (lip), that they may all call
upon the Name of יהוה”,
Zeph. 3:9.
4. “and we will walk in the Name of יהוה our
Elohim forever and ever”, Micah 4:5.
5. "And
ye shall ... praise the Name of יהוה your
Elohim”, Joel 2:26.
6. "they shall call on My Name, and I will hear them",
Zech. 13:9.
7. "they
shall walk up and down in His Name, saith יהוה”, Zech. 10:12.
8. "So
I will make My holy Name known in the midst of My
People Israel”, Eze. 39:7.
9.
"and I have made Thy Name known to
them, and will make it known", John 17:26. NASB. This is a fulfilment of
the prophetic promise of Ps. 22:22 which is also repeated in Heb. 2:12. But
John 17:26b clearly promises a further fulfilment, for us too.
Before we proceed, we would like to warn
against placing undue emphasis on the Name and neglecting the most important,
i.e. emphasis 'due to the Person Himself. This can be prevented if we realize
that shem in
Hebrew means much more than name in English. Shem in Hebrew, as
we find it in the Scriptures, is not a mere label of identification. It is an
expression of the essential nature of the bearer. Very often it speaks foremost
of the authority of the person e.g. Ex. 23:21, John 5:43. A person's name
reveals his character and often it is the person that is revealed. It also
comprises that person's stability, his faithfulness and his justice; and even
the remembrance of that person. To reiterate, in Hebrew ha shem identifies the person and
his character; and his personality identifies his name. The person, his
authority and his name are one, in Hebrew. We should be extremely careful not
to detach the Name from His Person. But let us be assured: an unseen person
cannot be identified by our visual perception. An unseen person can only be
identified by his name. Likewise, our Heavenly Father must also be identified
by His Name.
We will now continue this study under
five headings:
1. "What
is His Name?" Prov. 30:4.
2. Was
it used in pre-exilic and post-exilic Israel?
3. The present
substitution (and disguising) of the Name.
4. How
is it pronounced - or transliterated?
5. Conclusion
and appeal.
1. "What is His Name?"
Proverbs 30:4
This question, as well as the admonition
of Ps. 83:16-18, should prompt us to search for His Name. Let us search the
Scriptures to find whether He Himself did declare His Name:
1. In
reply to Moses' question as to His Name, He declared in Ex. 3:152 “Thus
shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, יהוה Elohim
of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, the Elohim of
Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is My Name for ever, and this is My memorial
unto all generations".
2. "I
am יהוה : that is My Name", Isa. 42:8.
3. "But
I am יהוה thy Elohim… יהוה of
hosts is His Name", Isa. 51:15.
4. "and they shall know that My Name is יהוה.” Jer. 16:21.
5. Let
us further search the Scriptures to see the prophets revealing His Name:
a)
יהוה is
His Name, Ex. 15:3.
b)
יהוה of
hosts is His Name, Isa. 47:4.
c)
יהוה of
hosts is His Name, Isa. 54:5.
d) יהוה of hosts is His
Name, Jer. 10:16.
e)
יהוה of
hosts is His Name, Jer. 31:35.
f)
יהוה is
His Name, Jer. 33:2.
g)
“saith the
King, whose Name is יהוה of
hosts, Jer. 51:57.
h)
יהוה is
His memorial" (name - RSV and NASB) - Hos. 12:5.
i)
יהוה the
Elohim of hosts, is His Name, Amos 4:13.
j)
יהוה is His
Name, Amos 5:8.
k)
“saith יהוה,
the Elohim of hosts, is His Name", Amos 5:27 according to the Hebrew Text
(the incorrect rendering in most translations, which have followed the
incorrect placing of the comma in translations of the Septuagint, creates a single
apparent discrepancy, which should not exist).
l)
יהוה is
His Name, Amos 9:6.
We do not find any other O.T. Scripture
which reveals another name for our Heavenly Father. There is none other to be
found. Therefore, The New Bible Dictionary on p. 478 is quite correct in
stating that "Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only name…” G. von Rad, Old Testament Theology, 1, translated by D.M.G.
Stalker, p. 186, n. 26, says: "Jahweh had only
one name". In fact, in every Scripture where it speaks about His Name, the
singular form of shem
(singular: name) is used. Nowhere do we read of His
"Names" (plural).
Elohim (and
El) cannot be called His Name, His proper Name, because of the following three
reasons:
1) Because
the article the precedes the word Elohim in
numerous places. This practice is inconceivable in the case of a proper name
such as יהוה.
2) The
Scriptures do not state anywhere, not by יהוה
Himself, nor by His prophets, that His Name is: Elohim.
3) Common
people are called elohim in the
Scriptures, e.g.
a.
“and you (Moses) shall be for him (Aaron) an elohim",
Ex. 4:16 according to the Hebrew Text. (See Green's Interlinear Bible and
Luther's German Bible).
b.
Again in Ex. 7:1 יהוה;
appoints Moses to be an elohim to
Pharaoh “I have made you (Moses) an elohim to
Pharaoh” according to the Hebrew Text. (See Green's Interlinear Bible and
Luther's German Bible).
c.
The word elohim has also
been translated in the A.V. as judges in Ex. 21:6, Ex. 22:8 and 9 -
ordinary human beings thus.
d.
Compare Ps. 82:1 in the various translations. The Hebrew text
reads "Elohim standeth in the congregation of
the el. He judgeth among the elohim".
We can only conclude that elohim and el
are titles, given to יהוה, or
to His Son, or to human beings.
e. Ps.
97:7c reads elohim and infers to
judges, rulers or even idols (as the A.V. does).
Therefore we must conclude that the word
elohim is not a proper name, but only a common name
or a title. Any Hebrew lexicon will confirm that it means mighty or mighty
one, or mighty ones if used in a plural sense.
2. Was it used in pre-exilic and
post-exilic Israel?
The O.T. Scriptures give ample proof of
the common, although reverential use of the Name in Israel before the time of
captivity and in the immediate post-exilic period - 6823 times. Indeed, the
frequency of its use exceeds by far the use of any other person's name.
"And …Eve… said, I have gotten a man from יהוה,” Gen. 4:1.
"Then men began to call upon the Name of יהוה", Gen. 4:26.
"And he (Noah) said, Blessed be יהוה Elohim
of Shem", Gen. 9:26.
“And there he (Abram) builded an altar
unto יהוה, and called upon the
Name of יהוה,”
Gen. 12:8.
“And there Abram called- upon the Name of יהוה, Gen. 13:4.
"And He said unto him (Abram), I am יהוה that
brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees", Gen.
15:7.
"And Abraham ... called there on the Name of יהוה, the everlasting
El,” Gen. 21:33.
"And Abraham called the name of that place, יהוה –Yireh,” Gen. 22 : 14 .
"And Isaac intreated יהוה for
his wife", Gen. 25:21.
“And he (Isaac) ... called upon the name יהוה,” Gen. 26:25.
"And behold , יהוה stood
above it, and said, I am יהוה Elohim
of Abraham thy father", Gen. 28: 13.
"And Jacob ... said, Surely יהוה is
in this place", Gen. 28: 16.
"And Moses built an altar and called the name of it יהוה - nissi", Ex. 17:15.
“As he called. upon
the Name of יהוה,”
Ex. 34:5 NASB.
"And יהוה spoke
unto Moses, saying, ... On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel,
saying unto them, יהוה bless
thee and keep thee; יהוה make
his face shine upon thee ... יהוה lift
up his countenance upon thee…” Numbers 6:22-26.
"Because I will publish the Name of יהוה,” Deut. 32:3.
"Then Gideon built an altar there unto יהוה, and called it יהוה -
shalom", Judges 6:24.
"And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the
reapers, יהוה be
with you. And they answered him, יהוה bless
thee", Ruth 2:4.
After the return from the captivity, Nehemiah still used the Name
as we read in Neh. 1:5 and 11, 3 in Neh. 8:6 and 10, and in
Neh. 9:7.
Ezra also still used it, as we read in Neh. 8:6 and 10. At that
time the Levites also used it - Neh. 9:4, 5, 6 and 7.
In Psalms we find numerous referrals to
the positive use of the Name, e.g. Ps. 9:10, Ps. 20:1 and 7, Ps. 22:22, Ps.
29:2, Ps. 33:21, Ps. 34:3, Ps. 45:17, Ps. 68:4 (the short form יה )
Ps. 69:30 and 36, Ps. 72:17-19, Ps. 74:18, Ps. 79:6, Ps. 83:16-18, Ps. 89:16,
Ps. 91:34, Ps. 96:5, Ps. 99:6, Ps. 102:15 and 21, Ps. 115:1, Ps. 116:4
and 13 and 17, Ps. 135:13, Ps. 138:2, Ps. 140:13, Ps. 145:2.1.
All the prophetical books use the Tetragram freely, and as we have shown at the beginning of
this study, almost all of them prophesied about the restoration of the Name.
3. The present substitution (and
disguising) of the Name
According to Jer. 23:27 ancient Israel
also forgot the Name (including His authority, His character; His holiness -
all of Him) and accepted an idol's name instead. But at the time applicable to
Jeremiah's prophecy this was again the case. However, the removal of the
surrogate names is promised, and has not been fulfilled yet, of which we read,
in Hosea 2:16-17, Zeph. 3:9, Zech. 13:9, Isa. 52:6, Jer. 16:21, Joel 2:26, Eze. 39:7 etc.
The present-suppression started + 2300
years ago, and the process is commonly described as follows:
At least until the destruction of the
First Temple in 586 B.C.E. the Name, the Tetragram,
was freely used, 4 as we have also proved from the Scriptures quoted previously. But
at least by the third century B.C.E. the pronunciation of the Name יהוה was
avoided and Adonai was substituted for
it.4 But why
was this done? Nehemiah and Ezra led the People to a reformation. But what
happened after that? According to rabbinic tradition, the period following the
reformation was characterized by the rule of the Men of the Great Synagogue.
The identity of these legendary figures
cannot be certain, but it seems likely that they were scribes or leaders of the
people drawn from the scribes. 5 Later on we
read of a "synagogue of the scribes" at the time of the Seleucid
Hellenizing of Israel. Sometime in the Greek period an influential group of
"lay scribes" succeeded in forming a popular, democratic political
party; they came to be known as the Pharisees. These "lay scribes"
belonged mainly to the party of the Pharisees, but as a body were distinct from
them. 6 These Men of the Synagogue, up to many years 5 later,
continually endeavoured to interpret the Law and the Scriptures, thereby
adding to the law their own traditions, which our Saviour objected against in
the N.T. These man-made laws, traditions, interpretations, became known as the Oral
Law. This Oral Law is contained in the Mishna.
But what did these scribes (sopherim) do about the Tetragram?
Firstly, they graphically substituted the Name with Adonai
in 134 places. The complete list is given in Massorah
(55 107-115, Ginsburg's edition). This was done out of extreme, but
mistaken reverence for the Name. 7 The Sopherim also emended the Scripture in 18 places, as is
admitted by them. 8 Later, the Talmud ordered the reader to refrain from pronouncing
the Name and to say Adonai instead, 24 in
the remaining almost 7000 places where the Tetragram
was still retained in the copying of the Scriptures. "This is My Name,
to be hidden", is their oral command, allegedly given by the Almighty,
and became the written teaching in the Talmud. 9 Again
we read their command that the Name is "to be kept secret". 10
The Name was thus suppressed, although
it was retained in most of the places in the copied Scriptures. And then we
also read an interesting passage in the Mishnaic Text
of Tamid vii.2 (= Sota vii. 6): "In the sanctuary they (the priests)
were accustomed to pronounce the Name as it is written; in the town, by
disguising it.'' 11 This reveals to us that the Name was still pronounced, but only in
the Temple (at Jerusalem), and that the Name was disguised in other places or
synagogues. We will return to this question of disguising later on in
this study, under heading 4.
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest
regularly called out the Tetragram, but after the
death of Simeon the Just in + 290 B.C.E., they ceased to
do it, or perhaps they substituted it. 12
With the destruction
of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. the Tetragram finally
and completely ceased in the Temple.
At first, יהוה was
substituted with Adonai, orally, as well as in
non-Scriptural writings. But subsequently even Adonai
became “verboten", and Ha-Shem was read. And in many places in
the Targum יי was
written in the place where יהוה stood
in the Scriptures. We all know that this was done for the Jews' fear of
profanation of the Name. The incidence in Lev. 24:10-16 is also cited at times
as a reason for the suppression of the Name. However, this Scripture clearly
tells us that this son of an Israelite woman was stoned because he
"blasphemed and cursed the Name". Using the Name in reverence and
calling on the Name is absolutely Scriptural, because we have the reverential
example of Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David (see above), and
indeed, we are instructed to do so - Joel 2:32, Zeph. 3:12, Zech. 13:9 - all of
these texts having a special eschatological application.
Further, the Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 7, p. 680, says of this substitution
"The avoidance of pronouncing the name YHWH is generally ascribed to a
sense of reverence. More precisely it was caused by a Commandment is very
interesting, because it is confirmed by the Syriac Peshitta text, the Targum
Jerusalem, the Targum of Onkelos,
the Rotherham Version, the 1917 Version of the Jewish Publication Society of
America, and the New Jewish Version (recently released), and is also the
primary interpretation of most rabbinical commentators.
Here in South Africa in 1972, both Prof.
Wouter C. van Wyk, professor of Hebrew at the
University of Pretoria, as well as Prof. A. van Selms,
emeritus professor of Hebrew at the same university, expressed their preference
for the rendering of the Third Commandment to be "You shall not swear
falsely by the Name This is also substantiated by the following fact:
all the commandments of the Decalogue
are repeated in the rest of the O.T. as well as in the N.T., except for the
Third Commandment as it has been commonly rendered, such as in the A.V. The
incorrect rendering of the A.V. in Ps. 139:20 and Prov. 30:9 is not a
repetition of the Third Commandment. Nevertheless, even the common rendering
does not prohibit the reverential use of the Name,
neither does Scripture permit the substitution of the Name. In fact, the
Scriptures clearly prohibit its substitution Deut. 4:2, Deut. 12:4 and 32,
Prov. 30:5 and 6.
Returning to the history of the suppression,
we see that the early copies of the Septuagint did retain the Tetragram. In his article The Tetragram
and the New Testament in J.B.L. 96 (1977) 63-83, George Howard presents the
fact that Pap. Fuad 266, which dates to the first or
second century B.C.E., clearly retains the Tetragram
in Aramaic letters within the Creek text itself. Also, that
in 1952 fragments of a scroll of the Twelve Prophets were found in Nahal Hever in the Judean Desert.
D. Barthelemy published his analysis in 1963, which
stated that the Tetragram was retained in the Greek
text, but differed from Pap. Fuad. 266 in that it had the Tetragram in paleo-Hebrew
letters. In 1962 B. Lifshitz published nine
fragments of a Greek Scroll of which the Tetragram
was preserved in Jonah 3:3. Howard continues and quotes Skehan's
findings of Greek Bible fragments found in the Qumran caves which use ‘ΙΑΟ’ and
not Kurios. In the same article Howard states that in
the post New Testament period, Greek versions of the Hebrew Bible retained the
Hebrew Tetragram. 13 Again,
in 1897 F.C. Burkitt published fragments of Aquila
where the Hebrew Tetragram was retained by Aquila. He
also mentions Theodoret of Cyrus 14 using
the form AIA, also in the post-New Testament period. We will discuss the form
AIA, as well as the other transliterated forms Ιαουε
(of Clement) and Ιαωουηε
(of the Greek Papyri), under heading 4.
Howard continues "But by the time
we reach the Christian codices of the LXX, the Tetragram
is not to be found. Instead, the words Kurios,
and occasionally theos,
stand for the divine name". He concludes that this surrogation
of the Tetragram in the Christian LXX probably
started by the beginning of the second century, and labels it the work of
Gentile Christians who took over from the originally Hebrew Christians. Arnold, in his excellent article in J.B.L. vol. XXIV (1905), p.
136-137, quotes Origen 15 and Jerome 16, both pointing out that old Greek manuscripts
exhibited the Hebrew form of the Name.
Except for the Hebrew O.T. which still
retains the Tetragram, translations of the O.T. today
do not have the Tetragram, even in its transliterated
form, except for a few translations that have appeared in the last 150 years. A
few of these are available in English. 19
4. How is it pronounced or transliterated?
The Tetragram's
transliteration remained surrogated by the Greek Kurios,
the Latin Dominus, and our modern Lord etc., for almost 1400
years, without any challenge, as far as we know. Then the form Jehovah started
to appear. This is generally ascribed to the work of Peter Galatin
in the year 1516. This pronunciation Jehovah was contested by Le
Mercier, J. Drusius, and L. Capellus,
as against grammatical and historical propriety. 17 Genebrardus in the year 1567, was the first to
suggest the pronunciation Jahve, 18 largely
on the strength of Theodoret's assertion that the
Samaritans used the pronunciation Iabe. However,
most scholars today will not accept this form of the Samaritans. In 1815 Gesenius, in his Lexicon, used the transliteration Jahweh.
Subsequently, there followed a few
German O.T. translations with the Name Yahweh (German: Jahiwe) appearing as the transliteration of יהוה, three Dutch O.T.
translations with Jahwe or Jahweh, and five in English, 19 till
this day. The advocates of the form Yahweh contested the form Jehovah
for the following reasons:
1) Because
of the Talmud's instruction that Adonai must
be read where יהוה written,
they postulated or assumed that the vowel pointing was to remind the reader e o a to say
Adonai. This will be discussed later.
2) The Masoretes gave a double pointing to the ו
in the Name, an o-pointing as well as a w-pointing. This is
difficult to explain.
3) The
shortened form of the Name with its vowel points reads Yah, it is found
forty nine times in the O.T. This differs from Jeho-vah.
4) Yahwistic
names, ending with part of the Name, is vowel pointed -yah
or -yahu. This also differs from Jeho-vah. We will elaborate on this further on.
5) Some
objected to the presence of consonants in the form Jehovah because of Josephus'
clear statement in Wars of the Jews, book V, chapter V, 7, that
"the sacred name consists of four vowels" - in spite of the
popular-held belief that the Name consists of four consonants, and
notwithstanding the common rule of Hebrew-grammar that vowels must be
interrupted by consonants.
6)
C.R. Driver The Original Form of the Name Yahweh: Evidence and
Conclusions 20 says there are indications that a ה following
a י determines the reading to be Yah.
7)
Clement of Alexandria 21 transliterates
the Name as Ιαουε which
differs totally from Jehovah.
8)
All Greek transliterations of the Name - Ιαουε
(Clement), Ιαωουηε
(Greek Papyri). Ιαω (Theodoret), Ιαω
and ΙαΒϵ (Epiphanius), Ιαη
(Origen), as well as the Latin form Jaho by
Jerome in 400 C.E., 22 all clearly indicate that the Name starts with Ya- and not Ye-.
The evidence against the form Jehovah
is so convincing that the Jehovah's witnesses themselves admit that Jehovah
is a "wrong spelling” and then offers arguments in favour of Yahweh as
“the correct and original pronunciation”.23 But
they persist with Jehovah "because of people's familiarity with it
since the 14th century", as they state.
So the form Yahweh became
generally accepted. However, we began to feel uneasy about it for the following
reasons:
1) The
uncertainty of Grote Winkler Prins Encyclopedie as mentioned at the beginning of this article, is shared by most honest Hebrew scholars and
students of the Scriptures.
2) The
pronunciation of the form Yahweh differs considerably, and none of them sound
well, especially if the emphasis is on the last syllable, because in Hebrew it
should not be on the first syllable.
3) It
is difficult to understand why the Yahwistic names
contained tile shortened form - yahu, while the form Yahweh
has a w instead of a u.
4) Because
of the clear statement by Josephus that the Name consists of four vowels, it
was difficult to accept the w in Yahweh.
5) Because
the form Yahweh started from Genebrardus' form Jahve which he deducted from Theodoret's
assertion of the Samaritan’s rendering: Iabe. As
mentioned before, the form Iabe is not reliable. Dr.
M. Reisel regards the form Iabe
"as of no value". We therefore propose that the form Jahve (and subsequently Yahweh), started
from an erroneous basis.
We all know of the hellenization
of Old Testament Israel. Realizing also that the Greeks hellenized the N.T. faith, which faith originated
amongst the Hebrews, our search condensed to the following conflict: Did the
Greeks deceive us with the form Ιαουε,
the apparent full form of the Name, as used by Clement and others, or did
the Masorite Jews deceive us with the form Jehovah?
Who was telling the truth? Have we slavishly accepted the form Yahweh?
First of all, we discovered the
following: we have been taught that the Talmud instructed the Jews to say Adonai where יהוה is
written. 24 This is quite correct. But we have also been taught that the Masoretes added the vowel points e o a under the Name in order to remind the people to read Adonai instead. We became unhappy with this
theory for the following reasons:
1) The Qere ("to be read") does not appear
in connection with the Tetragram in the margin or in
the footnotes. The application of Qere Perpetuum in this case is only an inference, especially
if reasons 2 and 3 are considered.
2) In order
to attempt to reconcile the vowel points e o a with
the vowels "a o ai"
of Adonai, explanations have been put forth, but they
are not quite convincing.
3)
If the Jews tried to remind us to say Adonai
instead of the Tetragram by adding e o a to the Name,
why did they also add the e o to the Yahwistic.
Names of people whose names started with יהו, such
as Jehoshaphat? We were unable to find any explanation offered for this.
Apparently no one has even attempted to comment on this. Surely, it is just
logical to believe that the reason for adding the e o a should be
the same as the reason for adding e o to Yahwistic names.
So, for a while, we were at a loss as to
the reason for the addition of e o a, unless it really was for the sole purpose of preserving the
pronunciation. But, as previously stated, this latter proposition was contrary
to the Hebrew rules of grammar, as was reasoned by the supporters of the form Yahweh.
Our earnest search compelled us to go
right back to the well-known passage in Ex. 3:13-15. In verse 13 Moses asks
Elohim what he should tell Israel, what is His Name? In verse 14 Elohim gives
the etymology of His Name: ehyeh asher ehyeh,
and then continues "Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, ehyeh hath sent
me unto you". In verse 15 Elohim finally gives tile answer "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, יהוה Elohim
of your fathers hath sent me unto you: this is My Name for ever, and this is My memorial (memorial name) unto all generations". It
is obvious that the final answer was given in verse 15. But verse 14 has
confused many scholars, because of the apparent contradiction between 14b and
15, some even accusing 25 the copyist of substituting the Tetragram
with ehyeh in 14b, and others even
accusing verse 14 to be a later addition. 26 Our
belief that verse 14 gives the etymology of the Tetragram, is supported by
Dr. M. Reisel in The Mysterious Name of Y.H.W.H., p.
26. Nevertheless, the ambiguous meaning of 14b caused many scholars to think
that ehyeh (eyeh)
could have been His Name at some stage. Perhaps the earliest example of this
was the fact that Jerome in one of his letters to Marcella (Migne,
xxii, 429) cited ESER IEIE from Ex. 3:14 as one of the ten names of the Father.
This thought, that ehyeh could have
been the Name, is an important clue in our search, because we afterwards find
quite a few eminent scholars linking ehyeh with
the frequent transliteration of the "Name" in Greek translations and
writings, viz. AIA. Gesenius 27 also
thought it reproduced the ehyeh of Ex.
3:14. Obermann, in his article YHWH In Recent Discovertes 28 felt
inclined to agree. Dr. M. Reisel 29 also
agreed to this possibility. Theodoret in his Haeret. fabul. refers
to the Hebrew Names of Elohim, among others the word AIA "which is
often interpreted as ehyeh" -according to G.J.
Thierry. 30 How is it possible that ehyeh in Hebrew
could have been transliterated into Greek as AIA? Then we remembered the
most interesting rendering of Ex. 3:14 in the Lamsa
Bible (Aramaic), where the word AHIAH is twice used in this verse. Is it then
possible that the Jews changed this word from ahyah
into ehyeh by adding the vowel
points of e? These eminent scholars' suspicion was thus enhanced by the
Aramaic Bible's rendering of Ex. 3:14. Our theory was further supported by the
fact that the Murasu 31 texts
revealed Yahwistic names starting with Yahu - instead of the Masoretic
vowel-pointed Yeho-. For instance it
renders Yahuzabad instead of the Jehozabad of the Masoretic
Text.
Another example is Yahunatanu
instead of the Masoretic Yehonathan.
(The Masoretic Text usually renders it as Yehonathan and less frequently as Yonathan). This was thus further evidence of
the proposition we make, viz. that the Masoretes
added the vowel points e o a in
order to hide the Name by disguising it.
In summary, we have the documented
evidence of the Sopherim's deliberate substitution of
the Name in 134 places (see heading 3). Secondly we have the well-known oral
substitution of the Name as instructed by the Talmudic rabbis. And thirdly, on
the grounds of the above mentioned evidence, we can see the Jews, in their
determination to hide the Name, how they added the wrong vowel points to יהוה, and to the אהיה of
Ex. 3:14, thereby succeeding in disguising the Name, as they did admit in Sota vii. 6. 32 (The
word translated disguising, is the Hebrew word kinoi,
which has the meaning of disguise, or byname,
or nickname, or substitute word. It comes from the verb kanah which usually means to modify, such
as Meg. iv:9 "he who modifies in
translating the laws of incest").
Previously we had been sceptic about the
reliability of the form Ιαουε,
but now that we came to realize that the Greeks were not specifically
motivated, as the Jews were, to disguise the Name, we turned to this transliteration
to thoroughly consider it. The information we found made all the pieces fall
into their places and a clear picture started emerging. Apart from Clement's Ιαουε,
another similar form, Ιαωουηε
frequently occurred in papyri. 33 Dr. Reisel,
especially, paid much attention to this frequent form of the transliteration in
the papyri, as this confirms the form of the Name as mentioned by Clement. Dr. Reisel then reminds us, as all agree, that the Greek
diphthong ου is a vowel, pronounced “oo” (u), as in “through,” especially when it appears in the
middle of a word. This similarity between the Greek ου
and the Hebrew ו, is
mentioned by Field in his Introduction to the Hexapla,
p. LXXII-LXXIV. 34
Therefore, the form Ιαουε
can only be pronounced I-a-oo-ěh.
This is clearly supported by Josephus'
statement (vide supra) that the Name consists of four vowels, יהוה, thus transliterated
into Greek as Ι-α-ο-υ-ε, and in English as Y-ah-oo-ěh, Yahoo-ěh, Yahuěh. Dr. M. Reisel then quoted35 the
publication by R. Basset, in 1896, of the proposed form Yahoue
(in French) because of this form of the Name that has been preserved for us
in the Ethiopian Apocrypha. (The French ou is
also pronounced oo).
Another evidence as to the importance of
hu in the Name, is the following: In G.H.
Parke-Taylor's book Yahweh: The Divine Name In The
Bible, pp. 70-78, the author discusses the almost mysterious clue of the
term ani Hu (I
am He) that is found in Isa. 41:4; Isa. 43:10, 13, 25; Isa. 46:4 and Isa.
48:12. He quotes S. Mowinckel who commented on this:
"It can scarcely be denied that hu is
here very close to a sort of divine name". After discussing other
scholars' remarks, Parke-Taylor states: "The
personal pronoun hu is virtually a
surrogate for the divine Name". He twice mentions the proposition that ani Hu is an
abbreviate of ani YHWH (I am יהוה ), which we so often find in the prophets. This might even
challenge knowledgeable Hebrew scholars to explain the Tetragram
even more clearly. Suffice it to say, at this stage, that this serves as
further evidence as to the importance of the retention of hu
in the Name. It should not be omitted or substituted, as has been done in
the past. We may even 11 compare it to the importance of a keystone (an apex stone) of an
arch or doorway! We came to the conclusion that not only has the Name been
suppressed, but also the u has been suppressed. This fact struck us
when, some time ago, we read the O.T. Scriptures in Hebrew and found that in
approximately 70% of the appearances of the Yahwistic
names ending with -yah, the names actually end with -yahu! This fact has been hidden from all Bible readers,
except from those who read the Hebrew O.T. Further, A.E. Cowley,
Aramaic Papyri of the 5th Century B.C.E. (1923) p. xviii, gave the Name
as Ja'u. The Name Yahu,
called the Trigrammaton, also appears in the
Elephantine Papyri as well as in the Lachish Letters.
And the final two witnesses as to the
full form of the Name, the Tetragrammaton (Tetragram), were found in:
1) Grande
Encyclopedie (French) on Jehovah: “the
pronunciation of Yahveh is probably more exactly
reproduced by writing Yahouéh". (The French ou pronounced oo).
2)
The Oxford English Dictionary on Jehovah:
"It is now held that the original name was IaHUeH".
Unfortunately it then attempts to reconcile it with the better known form Jahveh
or Yahweh.
Two linguistic factors also were to
blame for the confusion. up to now:
1)
The ו in Hebrew is either a vowel
(o or u) or else a consonant (w). The Sephardic Jews preserved the W-sound but the
Ashkanazic Jews picked up the harsh V-sound from the
Germans and other Eastern European nations. This could have been contributory
to the incorrect form Jahve.
2)
The Latin u and v were
used interchangeably for many centuries. Only since the 17th century have they
begun to reserve the u as a vowel and the v as a consonant.
Apparently this confusion contributed to the apparently perplexed conclusion
which The Oxford English Dictionary makes (vide supra).
5. Conclusion and appeal
The prophecies as to the revelation of
the Name must be fulfilled. Apart from the short form יה (Yah)
and the intermediate form יהו (the
Trigrammaton, Yahu), the
Heavenly Father has only one full Memorial Name or Covenant Name. We have
searched for the correct rendering of this Name. His Name cannot have many
forms, for the eschatological text of Zech. 14:9 says
that His Name will be one. Considering all the evidence, we can only
conclude that His Name must be rendered YAHúEH. We
feel that the emphasis must be on the second syllable because of the emphasis
on the second syllable of the Yahwistic names Yehóadah, Yehóaddan, Yehóahaz, Yehóash, Yehóiada, Yehóiakin, Yehóiakim, Yehóiarib, Yeliónadab, Yehónatan, Yehóshaphat, Yehóram etc.
Therefore we propose the acceptance of the pronunciation to be: YAHúEH.
If we have received more Light, let us
walk therein, as we read in 1 John 1:5-7, then we will have "fellowship
one with another". Our Saviour prayed for us in John 17. He prayed for
unity and love amongst us. He said, in prayer, in verse 26 that the making
known of His Father's Name will cause us to have the same love in us that His,
Father had for Him. We need this "fellowship one with another" so
badly. If the "making known" of His Father's Name is going to bring the
unity and the love that we read of in this wonderful prayer - chapter, John 17,
amongst the body of believers, dare we ignore it?
Finally, I appeal to all of you, learned
in the Scriptures, intelligent and wise men, to whom millions are looking up to
for guidance and sound teaching: consider, and be challenged by the appeal of
Micah 6:9 "Wisdom shall see Thy Name", Hebrew text. The A.V. reads
"The man of wisdom shall see Thy Name".
NOTES
1.
Under the title Jahweh.
2. We
agree with Thierry Oudtestamentische Studien Part V (1948) pp. 38-39, and do not
regard v. 14 as the reply to Moses' question in v. 13. Rather, we
regard v. 14 as the etymological explanation of His Name. This is often done in
Scripture, although this is mostly done afterwards and not beforehand.
3. In
v. 11 it was later on substituted with Adonai - one
of the 134 acknowledged substitutions.
4. Encyclopaedia
Judaica vol. 7 p. 680.
5.
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the
Bible vol. 4, p. 247.
6. The
New Bible Dictionary p. 1151, and Acts 23:9, Mk. 2:16.
7.
Dr. E.W. Bullinger The
Companion Bible appx. 30 and 32.
8.
ibid. appx. 33.
9. Pesahim 50a.
10. Kiddushin 71a.
11. Arnold
The Divine Name in Exodus 3:14 J.B.L. vol. 24 (1905) p. 144.
12. ibid.
pp. 66 and 71.
13. Jerome
Ep. 25 (ad Marcellam), Giovanni Card. Mercati Bib. 22(1941) pp. 340-342, N.F. Marcos Sefarad 35 (1975) pp. 91-106.
14. Bib.
30 (1949) pp. 520-523.
15. On
Psalm 2, Migne's Patrologia
Graeca xii, 1104.
16. Prologus galeatus,
and in his letters to Marcella (Migne
xxii, 429).
17. Oxford
Gesenius p. 218.
18. Genebrardus Chronologia
(1567), ed. Paris, 1600, pp. 79f.
19. Rotherham's
Emphasized Bible, The Anchor Bible, The Jerusalem Bible, The Holy Name Bible, The Sacred Scriptures.
20. Z.A.W.
(1928) pp. 20-21.
21. Stromata, edited
by 0. Stählin (Leipzig 1906).
22. Comment.
in Ps. VIII.
23. Let
Your Name Be Sanctified pp. 16 and 20. See also their New
World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures p. 25 of the foreword.
24. Jerusalem
Talmud Megilla 71d.
25. Arnold
The Divine Name in Exodus 3:14 J.B.L. vol. 24 p. 133.
26. Werner
H. Schmidt Biblischer Kommentar
Altes Testament 112,
P.131.
27. Thesaurus
p. 577.
28. J.B.L.
vol. 68 (1949) p. 323.
29. The
Mysterious Name of Y.H.W.H. p. 57.
30. The
Pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, Oudtestamentische Studiën,
Part V (1948) p. 33.
31.
a)
G.R. Driver The Oriqinal Form of the Name Yahweh: Evidence and Conclusions Z.A.W.
XUI (1928) p. 12.
b)
M.W. Stolper American Schools of
Oriental Research Bulletin (1976).
c) Dr.
M. Reisel The Mysterious Name of Y.H.W.H. p.
43.
d)
M.D. Coogan West Semitic Personal
Names in Muraš_ Documents, pp. 1-62.
31. Arnold
The Divine Name in Exodus 3:14, J.B.L. vol. 24, p. 144.
32.
a)
B. Alfrink Jehova
O.T.S., Part V (1948) pp. 45-46.
b)
Dr. M. Reisel The Mysterious Name of
Y.H.W.H. pp. 36-37.
33. ibid.
pp. 38 and 103.
34. ibid.
pp. 38, 40 and 74.