Examining the Name of GOD Controversy (יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים) and Lord GOD (יהוִה אֲדֹנָי)

ARTICLE: https://x.com/TovRose/article/1844473294503989605

SYNOPSIS

There is no historical or textual evidence that the tetragrammaton was pointed as a 'qere' in the ancient biblical manuscripts. The claim that JHWH is a qere for Adonai is ahistorical and there are only conjectures and not proofs for the qere claim.

Moreover, the structure of the Hebrew grammar proves the tetragrammaton cannot be two syllables, as in the modern neologism, 'yahweh'. The tetragrammaton has to be three syllables, JE-HO-VAH and its shortened form is two syllables: JEHO. Its poetic form is one syllable: YAH and JAH. And there is no support for YAHWEH.

Today we are told that the tetragrammaton or 'sacred name of God' was not pronounced out of 'reverence' for the divine name. This is a Hellenist myth and wasn't even started by Hebrew-speaking people. The tetragrammaton was spoken often inside and outside of the temple, with certain rules about when and where and why it was to be spoken. But there was no actual rule or custom against speaking it--Just rules about making sure to not speak it amiss.

NOTES

Upon reading this article some things stand out to me.

Many claim that the divine name was not spoken and was substituted with 'qere' to avoid speaking it out of reverence for the name. And this is a lie.

Anyone who reveres a name actually wants to speak it and does so with respect and pride, rather than substituting a nickname. It is when we hate someone that we refuse to speak their name or prohibit others from speaking it. For example, most of the world hates the mustache man, and invoking his name is discouraged in polite conversation.

The Hebrew bible text itself repeatedly commands Israel to proclaim the divine name, not to hide it behind nicknames. Any reverence for God and his commandments would prohibit the use of 'qere' substitutions. Thus those who invented these customs were not revering God--they were dishonoring him deceitfully.

So the claim that the name was not to be spoken is nonsensical religious dogma of certain mystical sects, and not historical practice of either the temple priests or the Christians who inherited the Levitical tradition after the destruction of the temple. We must remember true history: When the temple was destroyed, the surviving Jews in Jerusalem were carried off into captivity into other parts of the world by Rome. The Jews who had converted to following Jesus before the destruction of the temple had already escaped Jerusalem before the Roman siege, and carried the traditions with them, and preserved them in early Christianity. These first Christians, most of whom were Jews, had no such custom or injunction against saying the divine name, and it shows in their writings, and in their predecessors copious transliteration of the name. Their tradition was the foundation of European Christianity, which joined forces with the Sephardim to preserve the Old Testament and Hebrew language for over a millennium of years. The Masoretes properly pointed all the words, including the divine name, to preserve their pronunciations.

The entire purpose of the Masoretic vowel pointings was specifically to preserve the correct pronunciation of every Hebrew word in the text, not to hide the pronunciation. There would have been a worldwide uproar in the scholarly community over such a practice as wrongly writing the divine name or mispronouncing it. The historical record is silent on such a thing ever occurring.

The name Jehovah with the 'J' sound is correct ancient Hebrew pronunciation of the divine name. Just as the Sephardim scribes have preserved it all these centuries, the Christian scribes took over their tradition and continued to preserve it from the time of the reformation onward. When Tyndale rendered the name as IEHOUA, he was using the pronunciation taught by the Masoretic scribes and their Christian cohorts. It was not an 'invention' but rather a transliteration into English characters of the day.

We are now at a new crossroads in history where many occultists, kabbalists, pagans, and sectarians are once again attacking the divine name and trying to cloud it with confusion and false myths. This is what liars have always done--invent stories to support their delusions. Perhaps in the coming centuries we should expect another vanguard to come and take of the tradition of preserving the name against this army of confusion.

#Bible #MasoreticText #Translation #Theology #History #Philology #Myths #SacredNames #NominaSacra #Judaism #Christianity #Hebrew #TiberianHebrew

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