Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Eduardo M. Acuna" <eacuna AT mail.giga.com>]

> 4QLXXLevb translates YHWH as IAW, which is a greek phonetic transcription
> for an inverse (i.e., magic) substitution of the (incomplete) vowels of
> ADONAI : IANODA.
> 
Correction: IAW is the transliteration of the phonetic transcription IAO.
>
> The complete phonetic transcription of the vowels from IANODA, IAWA, was
> not used probably because it could lead common people to the knowledge of
> the magic spell, something occult reserved only for the initiated.
> 
> The incomplete phonetic transcription of the magic spell, the inverted
> ADONAI, is probably the origin for the non pronunciation of the Name YHWH.
>
This explanation strongly suggests that this is the origin of the later
masoretic practice for punctuating YHWH with ADONAI´s vowels.

Eduardo.