Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ken Smith" <kens AT 180solutions.com>]

Title: Message

I’m sure other folks could answer this, but I’ll jump in.

 

As you know, the consonants for the original “name” of God were YHWH, and the current “chetib” for the MT substitutes the vowels for AeDoNaY.  According to the Anchor Bible Dictionary:

 

“The form ‘Jehovah’ results from reading the consonants of the Tetragrammaton with the vowels of the surrogate word Adonai.  The dissemination of this form is usually traced to Petrus Galatinus, confessor to Pope Leo X, who in 1518 AD transliterated the four Hebrew letters with the Latin letters jhvh together with the vowels of Adonai, producing the artifical form ‘Jehovah.’  (This confused usage may, however, have begun as early as 1100 AD.)  While the hybrid form Jehovah has met much resistance, and is universally regarded as an ungrammatical aberration, it nonetheless passed from Latin into English and other European languages and has been hallowed by usage in hymns and the ASV; it is used only a few times in KJV and not at all in RSV.”

 

See also:

 

http://www.yhwh.com/jehovah.htm

 

Ken Smith

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Juan Stam [mailto:juanstam AT racsa.co.cr]
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2002 8:34 PM
To: Ken Smith; Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Re: Curious abut "G-d"

 

 

Greetings from Costa Rica.

 

Can anyone tell us how, when , where and by whom the hybrid name "Jehovah" (consonants of tettragrammaton, vowels of Edonay) was in troduced? In what language?  How ancient?

 

Many thanks

 

Juan Stam (National University of Costa Rica)

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Ken Smith

To: Biblical Hebrew

Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 7:51 PM

Subject: RE: Curious abut "G-d"

 

Thanks for the response.  I hadn't been aware of the distinction between writings that were intended to last, and writings that weren't.

 

But I guess I'm still curious.  The "name" of God isn't "God", nor is it "Elohim".  According to various passages in Exodus, it's the Tetragrammaton, right, i.e., YHWH?  I'm familiar with, and at one level or another can understand, the care about YHWH, but I wasn't aware that the same care was taken with )LHYM.  (Or is it?) If not, why is it taken with the English "God"?

 

Sorry, hope I'm not being excessively dense here.

 

Ken Smith

-----Original Message-----
From: MGSKamerun AT aol.com [mailto:MGSKamerun AT aol.com]
Sent: Friday, January 18, 2002 1:10 PM
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: Re: Curious abut "G-d"

Hi,
I think they don't want to write the name of God on a paper (or in a mail) because they know that the concerned script is not meant to last forever. In other terms: If you know that you will delete your E-Mail or throw away your paper you come in conflict with the one of the ten commandments not to use the name of God in vain. There is a tradition not to throw away or burn used Tora scrolls but to bury them like a mortal remain because the name of God is written on it.
There is also the tradition to write elokim instead of the name of God, or two jod for the Tetragrammaton.
Yours sincerely
Martin Schroeder

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