Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Rolf wrote:

"I do not suggest a particular Hebrew pronunciation behind IAOUE, but 
in the light of the different ways patah and shewa were rendered in 
Greek, the antecedent of IAOUE could even be YEHOWA. I mention this, 
not to argue for a particular pronunciation, but to show the great 
difficulties for a reconstruction of the pronunciation of the divine 
name also in Greek."

This argument would only be valid if you assume YEHOWA with a final 
patah. But patah is never word final, and so YEHOWA would have to end 
with a qamets. Rolf did not give data for qamets, but I would be 
surprised to see qamets rendered by E.

If the original pronunciation was YEHOWA, would one not expect to see 
sometimes a consonantal text with a mater YHWWH?

Peter Kirk