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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).......
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