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  • How to Pronounce God's Name?

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    THE KEY TO PRONOUNCING GOD'S NAME

    the Tetragrammaton is composed of four
    Hebrew consonants - YHVH or YHWH ().

    Hebrew is read from right to left.

    When the vowel points are added to these four
    consonants, the word is pronounced literally as Yehovah,
    or the Anglicized form, Jehovah. This is the straightforward
    pronunciation with the vowels.



    To determine the correct pronounciation of the
    Divine Name of God, using the Hebrew Tetragram,
    "Carr used a computer to sift through all the relevant
    vowel/consonant combinations found in Hebrew scripture.
    The computer eventually narrowed the list to 'e' 'o'
    and 'a' or YeHoWaH (Jehovah in English)."
    --The Daily Breeze

    Many biblical names Started with the Tetragram,
    and give insite as to how we would pronounce
    The Great Divine Name of God.

    The following Chart shows us some of these examples
    :

    Chart provided by :
    Christian Ginsburg, Introduction To
    the Massoretico-Critical Edition
    Of The Hebrew Bible, p 369.

    Thus we see by the chart above
    that the beginning letters of the tetragram
    are pronounced in english as JEHO -

    Thus, it is clear how the ancient Jews viewed
    the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton,
    for without exception the first two syllables in the
    above names are identical in pronunciation to the
    traditional pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton.

    We thus find in Hebrew : "Yehovah" and in English : "Jehovah"

    "Yehova, which was in agreement with
    the beginning of all the theophoric names,
    was the authentic pronunciation..."
    (
    Yehovah in Hebrew = Jehovah in English)
    - Paul Drach;
    De l'harmonie entre l'église et la synagogue
    (Of the Harmony between the Church and the Synagogue)
    published in 1842

    Thus, the Hebrew
    "ye-ru-sha-LA-yim"
    became "Jerusalem";
    "ye-ri-HO"
    became "Jericho";
    and "yar-DEN" become "Jordan".
    Hebrew personal names such as
    "yo-NA" became "Jonah",
    "yi-SHAI" became "Jesse"
    and "ye-SHU-a" became "Jesus".

    Likewise
    "Yehowah" became "Jehovah" in english.

    DO YOU SEE THE PATTERN ?

    "Jehovah is simply the form that conforms to normal
    English usage with respect to Hebrew names in the Bible.

    For example, in Hebrew, the name “Isaiah” was probably
    pronounced “Yeshayahu.” Similarly the English “Jerusalem”
    was, in Hebrew, pronounced “Yerushalaim.” “Jesus” was
    pronounced “Yeshua” or “Yehohshua”. The names Isaiah,
    Jerusalem and Jesus, were not the original Hebrew or
    Greek pronunciations. It is normal and proper for names
    to take on different pronunciations when they are
    transferred into another language. In Hebrew, God’s name
    was likely pronounced “Yehowah,” in Spanish it is Jehová
    (pronounced: ‘he-o-vá’), in English we say “Jehovah.”
    -The Divine Name of God;
    Pursuit of Scriptural Truth
    Home Christians.net


    WHAT DO THE SCHOLARS SAY
    ABOUT THE PRONOUNCIATION
    OF GOD'S NAME ?


    "That mystic name which is called
    the Tetragrammaton...is pronounced JEHOVAH
    (Iehovah), which means, Who is, and who shall be."
    -Nicetas, Bishop of Heraclea, 2nd century,
    From The Catena On The Pentateuch,
    Published In Latin
    By Francis Zephyrus, P 146

    "The oldest archeological testimony
    favors the pronunciation Jehovah.

    A short inscription dated of the time of
    Amenophis III (circa 1400 BCE)
    has been found at Soleb..."
    -M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar,
    specialist of the Tetragram;
    president of the Association Biblique
    de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits

    "According to postings on various forums, it has been
    stated that both Emanuel and Nehemiah Gordon believe
    that the Name of God is closer to Yehowah, which is
    similar to Jehovah in English. Nehemiah Gordon...
    defends Yehovah after extensive study of the Masoretic
    Text manuscripts. Nehemiah's view...based on studying
    the actual manuscripts under Emanuel Tov, is that...
    the earlier Masoretic manuscripts all have a Yehowah
    or Yehovah pronounciation..."
    - Seek God Association
    (Michael John Rood: Messianic Karaite Rabbi)

    "As a follower of Christ,
    Peter used Gods name, Jehovah
    .
    When Peters speech was put on record
    the Tetragrammaton (YHWH / Jehovah) was here used
    according to the practice during the first
    century B.C.E. and the first century C.E."
    - Paul Kahle; Studia Evangelica, edited by Kurt Aland,
    F. L. Cross, Jean Danielou, Harald Riesenfeld
    and W. C. van Unnik, Berlin, 1959, p. 614
    (See App 1C §1.)

    YEHOVAH FAVORED OVER YAHWEH


    "non-superstitious Jewish translators always favored
    the name Jehovah in their translations of the Bible.

    On the other hand one can note that there is NO Jewish
    translation of the Bible with Yahweh."
    -M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar,
    specialist of the Tetragram; president of the
    Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits

    "Concerted effort has been underway for the past
    several generations to alter the pronunciation of
    the Divine Name, known as the Tetragrammaton,
    from Jehovah into the Egyptian slur, Yahweh.
    In spite of these efforts, there is compelling evidence
    to stick with the traditional pronunciation."
    --LambLion; by Scott Jones

    "Actually, there is a problem with the
    pronunciation Yahweh
    . It is a strange
    combination of old and late elements."
    -Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
    (TWOT)

    "The pronunciation of yhwh as Yahweh
    is a scholarly guess."
    -Anchor Bible Dictionary, VI-1011.


    "The great name YHWH is vocalized
    as "Yehowah" in Hebrew
    ...(Jehovah in English)
    In the same way, as there were theophoric names
    elaborated from the great name, that is names
    beginning with Yehô- or its shortened form Y(eh)ô-, ...
    The Hebrews took care of making either their names begin
    with Yehô- or Yô-, or to end their names with -yah,
    theophoric names like: Joshua, Jonathan, Jesus, John, etc."
    For example, the name YHWHNN (John) is vocalized
    Yehôha-nan in Hebrew."
    - M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar,
    specialist of the Tetragram;
    president of the Association Biblique
    de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits


    "The tetragrammaton, YHWH, is therefore read
    I-eH-U-A (Iehoua), the equivalent of "YeHoWaH"
    in Masoretic punctuation. This means that the name
    is to be pronounced as it is written, or according
    to its letters."
    - (Won W. Lee professor at the Calvin College)
    published in the Religious Studies Review
    Volume 29 Number 3 July 2003 page 285.

    "There is some evidence that the Tetragrammaton,
    the Divine Name, (Jehovah), Appeared in some
    or all of the OT (Old Testament) quotations in the
    NT (New Testament) when the NT documents
    were first penned."
    - The ANCHOR BIBLE DICTIONARY
    Volume 6 Si-Z Pages 392-393


    "Numerous linguists have postulated that...this name
    was pronounced Yehowah in the first century..."
    -M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar,
    specialist of the Tetragram; president of the
    Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits


    "We have objective manuscript evidence
    to support placement of the sacred name
    (Jehovah) into the NT (New Testament) text,
    the era of guesswork is over."

    - A Collection of Evidence Supporting
    Original Hebrew-Aramaic New Testament
    by James Trimm - Chapter 4

    "The Jewish scholars known as Massoretes
    introduced a system of vowels and accents...
    In this way the Tetragrammaton became Ye-Ho-VaH
    and later on, in Western languages, Jehovah..."
    - B.9.2: The Biblical Background;
    Gilles C H Nullens

    "Yehovah - pronounced {yeh-ho-vaw'} -
    is the correct Hebrew rendering. "
    -Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible


    Religious authorities favor the name Ye.ho.va.
    Additionally non-superstitious Jewish translators always
    favored the name Jehovah
    in their translations of the Bible.
    On the other hand - there is NO Jewish translation of the
    Bible with the name Yahweh.

    See the chart below for examples :

    NAME OF VERSION
    (JEWISH)
    TONGUE PUBLISHED
    IN:
    DIVINE NAME
    RENDERED
    Immanuel Tremellius Latin 1579 Jehova
    Baruch Spinoza Latin 1670 Jehova*
    Samuel Cahen French 1836 Iehovah
    Alexander Harkavy English 1936 Jehovah**
    Joseph Magil (see below) English 1910 Jehovah
    Rabbi L. Golschmidt (see below) German 1921 Yehovah

    "Non-Superstitious Jewish translators always favored
    the name Jehovah in their translations of the Bible.

    On the other hand one can note that there is NO Jewish
    translation of the Bible with Yahweh."
    -M. Gérard GERTOUX; a Hebrew scholar,
    specialist of the Tetragram; president of the
    Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits


    TWO SYLLABLES OR THREE ?

    YAHWEH = (2 syllables)

    YEHOWAH = (3 syllables)


    Concerning the tetragrammaton in favor
    of the Hebrew name "Yehowah" (English-Jehovah)
    "The original form of the divine name
    was almost certainly three syllables, NOT two
    .
    The accumulated data points heavily in the
    direction of a "three" syllable word
    ."
    - George W. Buchanan,
    "Some Unfinished Business
    With the Dead Sea Scrolls,"
    RevQ 13.49-52 (1988), 416


    "When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced...
    it was pronounced in "three" syllables
    and it would have been 'Yahowah' "
    - George W. Buchanan,
    "How God's Name Was Pronounced,"
    BAR 21.2 (March-April 1995), 31-32

    "Many scholars believe...that it is more likely that
    the Divine name was originally pronounced
    in a three syllable form, ‘Yeh×o×wah.’ -
    ‘Jehovah’ is the English form of the divine name."
    -The Divine Name of God;
    Pursuit of Scriptural Truth
    Home Christians.net

    Poetry Confirms 3 Syllables

    "The correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton
    is either Yahohwah or Yahuwah. This can be shown
    from the use of the name in poetry and proper names
    that include the Tetragrammaton, such as Yahu-nathan
    or Eli-Yahu. "
    -Hebrew Scholar;
    Dr. George Wesley Buchanan
    Introduction to Intertextuality,
    page 9; footnote 15


    "In fact, from the evidence now available,
    it may be argued that Yahweh is incorrect
    and Jahoweh might be the true pronunciation.
    "
    -(The Law and the Prophets,pp. 215-224,
    edited by John H. Skilton, Milton C. Fisher,
    and Leslie W. Sloat).


    "Samaritan poetry employs the Tetragrammaton
    and then rhymes it with words having the same
    sound as Yah-oo-ay (three syllables)."
    -(Journal of Biblical Literature, 25, p.50
    and Jewish Encyclopedia, vol.9, p.161).


    "in the syllable division of the divine name
    it would have ended up as Jahoweh,
    a form...remarkably like the...form Jehovah"
    -Laird Harris; The Pronunciation of the Tetragram,
    in The Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies
    Prepared in Honor of Oswald Thompson Allis,
    ed. John H. Skilton
    (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian
    and Reformed Publishing, 1974), pgs 218-224


    "Thus the form Yahweh is an incorrect
    hybrid form with an early 'w' and a late 'eh'. "
    -The Law and the Prophets,
    ed. by John H. Skilton,
    Milton C. Fisher, and Leslie W. Sloat

    PRONOUNCING GOD'S NAME

    PRONOUNCING GOD'S NAME

    "Y" = "J"

    Many biblical names Started with the Tetragram,
    and give insite as to how we would pronounce
    The Great Divine Name of God in English.

    The Hebrew is read from right to left.

    The following Chart shows us some of these examples :



    Chart provided by :
    Christian Ginsburg, Introduction To
    the Massoretico-Critical Edition
    Of The Hebrew Bible, p 369.

    `

    THE BOTTOM LINE -

    "the pronunciation of YHWH
    is an academic matter and the God of Israel
    is more interested in our personal relationship
    to Him rather than the pronunciation of his name. "


    "What should be obvious in all this
    is that the pronunciation of YHWH
    is an academic matter and the God of Israel
    is more interested in our personal relationship
    to Him rather than the pronunciation of his name."
    -(The Law and the Prophets,pp. 215-224,
    edited by John H. Skilton, Milton C. Fisher,
    and Leslie W. Sloat).

    "God's Name...the spelling and the pronunciation are
    not highly important. What is highly important is to
    keep it clear that this is a personal name. There are
    several texts that cannot be properly understood if we
    translate this name by a common noun like ‘Lord’..."
    -Steven T. Byington,
    The Bible in Living English (p. 7)


    God's Name -
    It's Meaning and Pronunciation
    (click-here).......


    Is "LORD" an equivalent
    for JEHOVAH ???
    (click-here).......