Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Jerry Shepherd <jshepherd53 AT gmail.com>]

Hi Timothy (which name do you prefer to be addressed by, Timothy or Scott?)

 

Now this one is where I was less than clear.  When I referred to the practice of substituting Adonai for Yahweh, I am really referring to two distinct but related practices, neither of which caused changes in the consonantal Hebrew text.  The first practice is simply that of not pronouncing the divine name but pronouncing Adonai instead, and this practice probably goes back several centuries BCE.  The second practice is that of pointing the text in such a way as to direct the reader to say Adonai (or shema, or Elohim) rather than Yahweh.  This second practice is confirmatory of, and a continuation of, the first practice.  I'm not sure when the vowel pointing was done, but I believe the usual understanding is that it was begun around CE 600.

 

Blessings,

 

Jerry

Jerry Shepherd

Taylor Seminary

Edmonton, Alberta

jshepherd53 AT gmail.com