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What is the Bible about?
- Thread starter JLG
- Start date
Jonathan_Gale
Active
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If you have really taken a look at Deut. 32:8, you should've spotted a big problem - Israel wasn't born yet when God divided the sons of Adam, which is clearly referring to the Tower of Babel - "when earth was divided." That happened at the days of Peleg, which was 6 generations back from Abraham and 8 generations back from Israel/Jacob, there was no "sons of Israel". God didn't take any nation as His own portion until the law was given to Israel through Moses. So this is not just about translation, "sons of Israel" doesn't fit the context.Let's have a look at Deuteronomy 32:8 to analyze the translation of “the sons of God”!
Dead Sea scrolls read בְּנֵי אלהים, sons of God, not sons of Israel, end of discussion.
Biblical Dead Sea Scrolls - 4Q37 Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 32[2]
7 Remember the days of old.
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the children of men,
he set the bounds of the peoples
according to the number of the children of
[1] In this scroll, the passage beginning in Exodus 12:32 follows immediately after Deuteronomy 11:21.
[2] The scroll fragment ends after Exodus 13:5, and a new fragment begins at Deuteronomy 32:7. Therefore, it cannot be determined how long the original scroll actually stayed in Exodus.
[3] This reading matches the LXX.
- The problem is that the Septuagint is written in Greek so it is a translation from Hebrew to Greek!
- End of the discussion!
______________________________________________________________
How to read these pages:
• The translation to the left is based on the World English Bible. Words in regular black font are words in the scrolls matching the traditional text for that passage.
• Words in italics cannot be seen in the scroll, since the scroll is fragmentary. These words are supplied for readability by the World English Bible translation.
• Words present in the scroll but with some letters unreadable or missing are in blue like this: blue. One Hebrew word often is translated into multiple English words, and when this occurs, all the English words are in blue.
• Words present in the scroll but with spelling differences that do not affect the meaning are in green like this: green. This is common in Hebrew.
• If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the traditional text that are missing from the text of the scroll are marked through in red like this:
• If the scroll is different from the traditional text, words in the scroll that are not in the traditional text are underlined in red like this: new words.
Someone says:
So what is the "correct" translation and how do I know it is the only "correct" one?
Which translation are you using?
- I would say it's quite simple!
- When you look at the translation in English of the Dead Sea scroll, they changed sons of Israel by Sons of God because of the Septuagint but the Septuagint is in Greek meaning it's a translation from the original!
- That's why they put sons of God!
- But close to this expression you get the name Jacob!
- It's the same when I looked for another example!
- I took the first one ant it was Exodus 1:1!
- It is said the sons of Israel and then you get Jacob!
- It's the same when you look at the translation of God's name!
- Everywhere in the first part of the Bible you get the Tetragamm!
- But the Jews eradicate it and replaced it by a miserable title meaning nothing!
- And the translators of the Bible did the same!
- Thus everything was done to alter the original Hebrew text in something tasteless!
- Anyway, I will try to check if it's possible to get more information!
So what is the "correct" translation and how do I know it is the only "correct" one?
Which translation are you using?
- I would say it's quite simple!
- When you look at the translation in English of the Dead Sea scroll, they changed sons of Israel by Sons of God because of the Septuagint but the Septuagint is in Greek meaning it's a translation from the original!
- That's why they put sons of God!
- But close to this expression you get the name Jacob!
- It's the same when I looked for another example!
- I took the first one ant it was Exodus 1:1!
- It is said the sons of Israel and then you get Jacob!
- It's the same when you look at the translation of God's name!
- Everywhere in the first part of the Bible you get the Tetragamm!
- But the Jews eradicate it and replaced it by a miserable title meaning nothing!
- And the translators of the Bible did the same!
- Thus everything was done to alter the original Hebrew text in something tasteless!
- Anyway, I will try to check if it's possible to get more information!
Deuteronomy 32:8 - The Song of Moses
-I have copied all the commentaries from Biblehub!
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
-I have copied all the commentaries from Biblehub!
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(8, 9) Comp. Deuteronomy 21:16.
"when the Most High made nations to inherit,
When He parted the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the peoples,
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
For the portion of Jehovah is His people,
Jacob the cord [7] of His inheritance"
[7] i.e., limit.
The allusion is to the dispersion from Babel (Genesis 10, 11). The Jews were accustomed to reckon seventy nations and languages in that dispersion. Seventy members of Jacob's household went down into Egypt. And literally they interpret this passage to mean that in dividing the lands to the peoples, Jehovah left room for His own, so that they might inherit the promised land without any undue pressure upon other nations. It is noticeable that the children of Lot and Esau were carefully preserved from disturbance by Israel (Deuteronomy 2). But this is the bare literal interpretation. The true meaning of the passage is given by St. Paul in his speech at Athens: "He determined (for all nations) times before appointed, and the setting of the boundaries of their habitation, that they might seek the Lord." The nations were so disposed in the world, and so developed, that each might have its opportunity of seeking Jehovah, in due season, through contact with His people--"if, as was certainly not impossible, they might feel after Him and find Him, who is not far from any one of us. For we are even His offspring." Hence He appoints our inheritance. With some such thought as this, the LXX. translate the latter half of Deuteronomy 32:8, "He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels of God" The chosen people were to be His messengers to the nations. He chose Israel for His own portion, that through them He might inherit the world. And yet in the face of this glorious calling and mission, the undutiful behaviour of Israel was their one great blot. They had only to accept the position already prepared for them, and they refused! . . .
"when the Most High made nations to inherit,
When He parted the sons of Adam,
He set the bounds of the peoples,
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
For the portion of Jehovah is His people,
Jacob the cord [7] of His inheritance"
[7] i.e., limit.
The allusion is to the dispersion from Babel (Genesis 10, 11). The Jews were accustomed to reckon seventy nations and languages in that dispersion. Seventy members of Jacob's household went down into Egypt. And literally they interpret this passage to mean that in dividing the lands to the peoples, Jehovah left room for His own, so that they might inherit the promised land without any undue pressure upon other nations. It is noticeable that the children of Lot and Esau were carefully preserved from disturbance by Israel (Deuteronomy 2). But this is the bare literal interpretation. The true meaning of the passage is given by St. Paul in his speech at Athens: "He determined (for all nations) times before appointed, and the setting of the boundaries of their habitation, that they might seek the Lord." The nations were so disposed in the world, and so developed, that each might have its opportunity of seeking Jehovah, in due season, through contact with His people--"if, as was certainly not impossible, they might feel after Him and find Him, who is not far from any one of us. For we are even His offspring." Hence He appoints our inheritance. With some such thought as this, the LXX. translate the latter half of Deuteronomy 32:8, "He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels of God" The chosen people were to be His messengers to the nations. He chose Israel for His own portion, that through them He might inherit the world. And yet in the face of this glorious calling and mission, the undutiful behaviour of Israel was their one great blot. They had only to accept the position already prepared for them, and they refused! . . .
Pulpit Commentary
Verses 8, 9. - From the very beginning, when God first allotted to the nations a place and a heritage, he had respect in his arrangements to the sons of Israel, who were his portion, and had as it were kept their interest in view in all that he appointed and ordered. According to the number of the children of Israel. When the Most High portioned out to the nations the heritage of each, he reserved for Israel, as the people of his choice, an inheritance proportioned to its numbers. The LXX. has "according to the number of the angels of God," an arbitrary departure from the original text, in accommodation, probably, to the later Jewish notion of each nation having its guardian angel. The Lord's portion is his people (cf. Exodus 15:16; Exodus 19:5; 1 Samuel 10:1; Psalm 78:71). The lot of his inheritance; literally, the cord, etc., the allusion being to the measuring of land by a cord, equivalent to the portion by measure which Jehovah allotted to himself as his inheritance (cf. Psalm 16:6).
Benson Commentary
Deuteronomy 32:8. Their inheritance — When God, by his providence, allotted the several parts of the world to several people, which was done, Genesis 10:11. When he separated — Divided them in their languages and habitations, according to their families. He set the bounds — That is, he disposed of the several lands and limits of the people, so as to reserve a sufficient place for the great numbers of the people of Israel. And therefore he so guided the hearts of several people, that the posterity of Canaan, which was accursed of God, and devoted to ruin, should be seated in that country which God intended for the children of Israel, that so when their iniquities were ripe they might be rooted out, and the Israelites come in their stead.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
32:7-14 Moses gives particular instances of God's kindness and concern for them. The eagle's care for her young is a beautiful emblem of Christ's love, who came between Divine justice and our guilty souls, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree. And by the preached gospel, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, He stirs up and prevails upon sinners to leave Satan's bondage. In ver. 13,14, are emblems of the conquest believers have over their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, in and through Christ. Also of their safety and triumph in him; of their happy frames of soul, when they are above the world, and the things of it. This will be the blessed case of spiritual Israel in every sense in the latter day.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
That is, while nations were being constituted under God's providence, and the bounds of their habitation determined under His government (compare Acts 17:26), He had even then in view the interests of His elect, and reserved a fitting inheritance "according to the number of the children of Israel;" i. e., proportionate to the wants of their population. Some texts of the Greek version have "according to the number of the Angels of God;" following apparently not a different reading, but the Jewish notion that the nations of the earth are seventy in number (compare Genesis 10:1 note), and that each has its own guardian Angel (compare Ecclus. 17:17). This was possibly suggested by an apprehension that the literal rendering might prove invidious to the many Gentiles who would read the Greek version.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
That is, while nations were being constituted under God's providence, and the bounds of their habitation determined under His government (compare Acts 17:26), He had even then in view the interests of His elect, and reserved a fitting inheritance "according to the number of the children of Israel;" i. e., proportionate to the wants of their population. Some texts of the Greek version have "according to the number of the Angels of God;" following apparently not a different reading, but the Jewish notion that the nations of the earth are seventy in number (compare Genesis 10:1 note), and that each has its own guardian Angel (compare Ecclus. 17:17). This was possibly suggested by an apprehension that the literal rendering might prove invidious to the many Gentiles who would read the Greek version.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8, 9. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance—In the division of the earth, which Noah is believed to have made by divine direction (Ge 10:5; De 2:5-9; Ac 17:26, 27), Palestine was reserved by the wisdom and goodness of Heaven for the possession of His peculiar people and the display of the most stupendous wonders. The theater was small, but admirably suited for the convenient observation of the human race—at the junction of the two great continents of Asia and Africa, and almost within sight of Europe. From this spot as from a common center the report of God's wonderful works, the glad tidings of salvation through the obedience and sufferings of His own eternal Son, might be rapidly and easily wafted to every part of the globe.
he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel—Another rendering, which has received the sanction of eminent scholars, has been proposed as follows: "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam and set the bounds of every people, the children of Israel were few in numbers, when the Lord chose that people and made Jacob His inheritance" (compare De 30:5; Ge 34:30; Ps 105:9-12).
he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel—Another rendering, which has received the sanction of eminent scholars, has been proposed as follows: "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam and set the bounds of every people, the children of Israel were few in numbers, when the Lord chose that people and made Jacob His inheritance" (compare De 30:5; Ge 34:30; Ps 105:9-12).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
When God by his providence did allot the several parts of the world to several people, which was done Ge 10 Ge 11. See Deu 2:5,9 Am 9:7 Acts 17:26,27.
Separated the sons of Adam, i.e. divided them in their languages and habitations according to their families.
He set the bounds of the people, i.e. he disposed of the several lands and limits of the people, so as he did reserve a convenient and sufficient place for the great numbers of the people of Israel, whom he designed to make as numerous as the stars of heaven. And therefore he so guided the hearts of several people, that the posterity of Canaan, which was accursed of God, Genesis 9:25-27, and devoted to ruin, should be seated in that country which God intended for the children of Israel, that so when their iniquities were ripe, and God’s time came, they might be rooted out, and the Israelites might come in their stead.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance,.... In the times of Noah and his sons, in the days of Peleg, who had his name (that is "Division") from thence, Genesis 10:25; "the Most High" is a well known and proper, epithet of God; the dividing of the earth to the several nations of it, and giving to everyone their part and portion to possess and inherit, was the work of God; for though it was done by the sons of Noah, yet by the order, appointment, and direction of the Most High, who rules in heaven and in earth, Genesis 10:32; men might not and did not take what they pleased, or seize on as much as they could, but each had their parcel allotted and portioned out to them, by the Lord himself; so the Targum of Jonathan."when by lot the Most High divided the world to the people that sprung from the sons of Noah:"
when he separated the sons of Adam; one from another; distinguished by the persons from whom they descended, by the tribes and nations to which they belonged, and by the countries they inhabited; for though they descended from Noah and his sons, they were the sons of Adam, the first man: or rather "the children of men", as the wicked of that generation were called, in distinction from the sons of God, or his people and worshippers; and may have respect to the separation of them at Babel, where their languages were confounded, and they were scattered about, and some went into one part of the world, and some into another, according to the appointment and direction of divine Providence; so the builders of Babel are called, and this was what befell them, Genesis 11:5; which sense the above Targum confirms,"when he separated the writings, the languages of the children of men in the generation of the division:''
he set the bounds of the people; or nations, the seven nations of the land of Canaan; he pitched upon and fixed the land they should inherit, and settled the bounds of it, how far it should reach, east, west, north and south:
according to the number of the children of Israel: the sense is, that such a country was measured out and bounded, as would be sufficient to hold the twelve tribes of Israel, when numerous, and their time was come to inhabit it; and which, in the mean while was put into the hands of Canaan and his eleven sons to possess; not as their proper inheritance, but as tenants at will, until the proper heirs existed, and were at an age, and of a sufficient number to inherit; in which may be observed the wise disposition of divine Providence, to put it into the hands of a people cursed of God, so that to take it from them at any time could not have the appearance of any injustice in it; and their enjoying it so long as they did was a mercy to them, for so long they had a reprieve: now here was an early instance of the goodness of God to Israel, that he should make such an early provision of the land flowing with milk and honey for them, even before they were in being, yea, before their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, existed; as early as the days of Noah; and yet, ungrateful as they were despised and set at nought his Son, the rock of salvation, when sent unto them: thus the heavenly inheritance, typified by the land of Canaan, was not only promised, but prepared, provided, secured, and reserved for the spiritual Israel of God, before the foundation of the world, from all eternity, and which is appointed according to their number; there is room enough in it for them all, though they are many; in it are many mansions for the many sons to be brought to glory.
when he separated the sons of Adam; one from another; distinguished by the persons from whom they descended, by the tribes and nations to which they belonged, and by the countries they inhabited; for though they descended from Noah and his sons, they were the sons of Adam, the first man: or rather "the children of men", as the wicked of that generation were called, in distinction from the sons of God, or his people and worshippers; and may have respect to the separation of them at Babel, where their languages were confounded, and they were scattered about, and some went into one part of the world, and some into another, according to the appointment and direction of divine Providence; so the builders of Babel are called, and this was what befell them, Genesis 11:5; which sense the above Targum confirms,"when he separated the writings, the languages of the children of men in the generation of the division:''
he set the bounds of the people; or nations, the seven nations of the land of Canaan; he pitched upon and fixed the land they should inherit, and settled the bounds of it, how far it should reach, east, west, north and south:
according to the number of the children of Israel: the sense is, that such a country was measured out and bounded, as would be sufficient to hold the twelve tribes of Israel, when numerous, and their time was come to inhabit it; and which, in the mean while was put into the hands of Canaan and his eleven sons to possess; not as their proper inheritance, but as tenants at will, until the proper heirs existed, and were at an age, and of a sufficient number to inherit; in which may be observed the wise disposition of divine Providence, to put it into the hands of a people cursed of God, so that to take it from them at any time could not have the appearance of any injustice in it; and their enjoying it so long as they did was a mercy to them, for so long they had a reprieve: now here was an early instance of the goodness of God to Israel, that he should make such an early provision of the land flowing with milk and honey for them, even before they were in being, yea, before their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, existed; as early as the days of Noah; and yet, ungrateful as they were despised and set at nought his Son, the rock of salvation, when sent unto them: thus the heavenly inheritance, typified by the land of Canaan, was not only promised, but prepared, provided, secured, and reserved for the spiritual Israel of God, before the foundation of the world, from all eternity, and which is appointed according to their number; there is room enough in it for them all, though they are many; in it are many mansions for the many sons to be brought to glory.
Geneva Study Bible
When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the {e} people according to the number of the children of Israel.
(e) When God by his providence divided the world, he lent for a time that portion to the Canaanites, which would later be an inheritance for all his people Israel.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8. Most High] Heb. ‘Elyôn, Numbers 24:16, Isaiah 14:14, and many Pss.
gave … inheritance] See Deuteronomy 1:38.
separated] Genesis 10:32 (P).
children of Israel] The purpose of His division was to leave room for Israel’s numbers.
But for the sons of Israel LXX has ἀγγέλων θεοῦ, angels of God, i.e. sons of ’El, after a late Jewish conception of a guardian angel for each nation (Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20 f., Deuteronomy 12:1, Sir 17:17), an antithesis to Jehovah’s own guardianship of Israel in the following vv., which accordingly LXX introduces by and = but in place of Heb. for. This reading and interpretation is accepted by Steuern., Berth., Marti, Robinson. But the text as read by the LXX seems to be rather an adaptation of the Heb. to the conception aforesaid (Dillm.); and it is difficult to see how the Heb. arose out of the LXX text if the latter was original.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
"When the Most High portioned out inheritance to the nations, when He divided the children of men; He fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel: for the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob the cord of His inheritance." Moses commences his enumeration of the manifestations of divine mercy with the thought, that from the very commencement of the forming of nations God had cared for His people Israel. The meaning of Deuteronomy 32:8 is given in general correctly by Calvin: "In the whole arrangement of the world God had kept this before Him as the end: to consult the interests of His chosen people." The words, "when the Most High portioned out inheritance to the nations," etc., are not to be restricted to the one fact of the confusion of tongues and division of the nations as described in Genesis 11, but embrace the whole period of the development of the one human family in separate tribes and nations, together with their settlement in different lands; for it is no doctrine of the Israelitish legend, as Kamphausen supposes, that the division of the nations was completed once for all. The book of Genesis simply teaches, that after the confusion of tongues at the building of the tower of Babel, God scattered men over the entire surface of the earth (Deuteronomy 11:9), and that the nations were divided, i.e., separate nations were formed from the families of the sons of Noah (Genesis 10:32); that is to say, the nations were formed in the divinely-appointed way of generation and multiplication, and so spread over the earth. And the Scriptures say nothing about a division of the countries among the different nations at one particular time; they simply show, that, like the formation of the nations from families and tribes, the possession of the lands by the nations so formed was to be traced to God, - was the work of divine providence and government, - whereby God so determined the boundaries of the nations ("the nations" are neither the tribes of Israel, nor simply the nations round about Canaan, but the nations generally), that Israel might receive as its inheritance a land proportioned to its numbers.
(Note: The Septuagint rendering, "according to the number of the angels of God," is of no critical value, - in fact, is nothing more than an arbitrary interpretation founded upon the later Jewish notion of guardian angels of the different nations (Sir. 17:14), which probably originated in a misunderstanding of Deuteronomy 4:19, as compared with Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:20-21, and Daniel 12:1.)
(e) When God by his providence divided the world, he lent for a time that portion to the Canaanites, which would later be an inheritance for all his people Israel.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
8. Most High] Heb. ‘Elyôn, Numbers 24:16, Isaiah 14:14, and many Pss.
gave … inheritance] See Deuteronomy 1:38.
separated] Genesis 10:32 (P).
children of Israel] The purpose of His division was to leave room for Israel’s numbers.
But for the sons of Israel LXX has ἀγγέλων θεοῦ, angels of God, i.e. sons of ’El, after a late Jewish conception of a guardian angel for each nation (Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20 f., Deuteronomy 12:1, Sir 17:17), an antithesis to Jehovah’s own guardianship of Israel in the following vv., which accordingly LXX introduces by and = but in place of Heb. for. This reading and interpretation is accepted by Steuern., Berth., Marti, Robinson. But the text as read by the LXX seems to be rather an adaptation of the Heb. to the conception aforesaid (Dillm.); and it is difficult to see how the Heb. arose out of the LXX text if the latter was original.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
"When the Most High portioned out inheritance to the nations, when He divided the children of men; He fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel: for the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob the cord of His inheritance." Moses commences his enumeration of the manifestations of divine mercy with the thought, that from the very commencement of the forming of nations God had cared for His people Israel. The meaning of Deuteronomy 32:8 is given in general correctly by Calvin: "In the whole arrangement of the world God had kept this before Him as the end: to consult the interests of His chosen people." The words, "when the Most High portioned out inheritance to the nations," etc., are not to be restricted to the one fact of the confusion of tongues and division of the nations as described in Genesis 11, but embrace the whole period of the development of the one human family in separate tribes and nations, together with their settlement in different lands; for it is no doctrine of the Israelitish legend, as Kamphausen supposes, that the division of the nations was completed once for all. The book of Genesis simply teaches, that after the confusion of tongues at the building of the tower of Babel, God scattered men over the entire surface of the earth (Deuteronomy 11:9), and that the nations were divided, i.e., separate nations were formed from the families of the sons of Noah (Genesis 10:32); that is to say, the nations were formed in the divinely-appointed way of generation and multiplication, and so spread over the earth. And the Scriptures say nothing about a division of the countries among the different nations at one particular time; they simply show, that, like the formation of the nations from families and tribes, the possession of the lands by the nations so formed was to be traced to God, - was the work of divine providence and government, - whereby God so determined the boundaries of the nations ("the nations" are neither the tribes of Israel, nor simply the nations round about Canaan, but the nations generally), that Israel might receive as its inheritance a land proportioned to its numbers.
(Note: The Septuagint rendering, "according to the number of the angels of God," is of no critical value, - in fact, is nothing more than an arbitrary interpretation founded upon the later Jewish notion of guardian angels of the different nations (Sir. 17:14), which probably originated in a misunderstanding of Deuteronomy 4:19, as compared with Daniel 10:13, Daniel 10:20-21, and Daniel 12:1.)
Jonathan_Gale
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And the problem with “sons of Israel” is that it doesn’t fit the context of the Towel of Babel, end of discussion.
- The problem is that the Septuagint is written in Greek so it is a translation from Hebrew to Greek!
- End of the discussion!
Tetragrammaton - Wikipedia
The Tetragrammaton (/ˌtɛtrəˈɡræmətɒn/; from Ancient Greek τετραγράμματον (tetragrámmaton) '[consisting of] four letters'), or the Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym יהוה (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are yodh, he, waw, and he.[1] The name may be derived from a verb that means "to be", "to exist", "to cause to become", or "to come to pass".[2][3] While there is no consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, the form Yahweh is now accepted almost universally, though the vocalization Jehovah continues to have wide usage.[4][5][6]
The books of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and (with a possible instance of the short form יה in verse 8:6) the Song of Songs contain this Hebrew name.[5] Observant Jews and those who follow Talmudic Jewish traditions do not pronounce יהוה nor do they read aloud proposed transcription forms such as Yahweh or Yehovah; instead they replace it with a different term, whether in addressing or referring to the God of Israel. Common substitutions in Hebrew are Adonai ("My Lord") or Elohim (literally "gods" but treated as singular when meaning "God") in prayer, or HaShem ("The Name") in everyday speech.
Origins[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The Tetragrammaton is not attested other than among the Israelites, and seems not to have any plausible etymology.[7] The Hebrew Bible explains it by the formula Ehye ašer ehye ("I Am that I Am"), the name of God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14.[8] This would frame Y-H-W-H as a derivation from the Hebrew triconsonantal root היה (h-y-h), "to be, become, come to pass", with a third person masculine y- prefix, equivalent to English "he",[3][9] thereby affording translations as "he who causes to exist",[10][11] "he who is",[9] etc.; although this would elicit the form Y-H-Y-H (יהיה), not Y-H-W-H. To rectify this, some scholars proposed that the Tetragrammaton represents a substitution of the medial y for w, an occasionally attested practice in Biblical Hebrew as both letters represented matres lectionis; others proposed that the Tetragrammaton derived instead from the triconsonantal root הוה (h-w-h), "to be, constitute", with the final form eliciting similar translations as those derived from h-y-h.Modern scholars, however, consider Ehye ašer ehye to be a folk etymology; a later theological gloss invented at a time when the original meaning of the Tetragrammaton had been forgotten.[12]
Hebrew Bible[edit]
Masoretic Text[edit]
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia it occurs 5,410 times in the Hebrew scriptures.[55] In the Hebrew Bible, the Tetragrammaton occurs 6828 times,[2]: 142 as can be seen in Kittel's Biblia Hebraica and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. In addition, the marginal notes or masorah[note 1] indicate that in another 134 places, where the received text has the word Adonai, an earlier text had the Tetragrammaton.[56][note 2] which would add up to 142 additional occurrences. Even in the Dead Sea Scrolls practice varied with regard to use of the Tetragrammaton.[57] According to Brown–Driver–Briggs, יְהֹוָה (qere אֲדֹנָי) occurs 6,518 times, and יֱהֹוִה (qere אֱלֹהִים) 305 times in the Masoretic Text.
The first appearance of the Tetragrammaton is in the Book of Genesis 2:4.[58] The only books it does not appear in are Ecclesiastes, the Book of Esther, and Song of Songs.[2][5]
In the Book of Esther the Tetragrammaton does not appear, but it has been distinguished acrostic-wise in the initial or last letters of four consecutive words,[note 3] as indicated in Est 7:5 by writing the four letters in red in at least three ancient Hebrew manuscripts.[59][original research?]
The short form יָהּ/Yah (a digrammaton) "occurs 50 times if the phrase hallellu-Yah is included":[60][61] 43 times in the Psalms, once in Exodus 15:2; 17:16; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4, and twice in Isaiah 38:11. It also appears in the Greek phrase Ἁλληλουϊά (Alleluia, Hallelujah) in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6.[62]
Other short forms are found as a component of theophoric Hebrew names in the Bible: jô- or jehô- (29 names) and -jāhû or -jāh (127 jnames). A form of jāhû/jehô appears in the name Elioenai (Elj(eh)oenai) in 1Ch 3:23–24; 4:36; 7:8; Ezr 22:22, 27; Neh 12:41.
The following graph shows the absolute number of occurrences of the Tetragrammaton (6828 in all) in the books in the Masoretic Text,[63] without relation to the length of the books.
Leningrad Codex
Six presentations of the Tetragrammaton with some or all of the vowel points of אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) or אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) are found in the Leningrad Codex of 1008–1010, as shown below. The close transcriptions do not indicate that the Masoretes intended the name to be pronounced in that way (see qere perpetuum).
| Chapter and verse | Masoretic Text display | Close transcription of the display | Ref. | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis 2:4 | יְהוָה | Yǝhwāh | [64] | This is the first occurrence of the Tetragrammaton in the Hebrew Bible and shows the most common set of vowels used in the Masoretic Text. It is the same as the form used in Genesis 3:14 below, but with the dot (holam) on the first he left out, because it is a little redundant. |
| Genesis 3:14 | יְהֹוָה | Yǝhōwāh | [65] | This is a set of vowels used rarely in the Masoretic Text, and are essentially the vowels from Adonai (with the hataf patakh reverting to its natural state as a shewa). |
| Judges 16:28 | יֱהֹוִה | Yĕhōwih | [66] | When the Tetragrammaton is preceded by Adonai, it receives the vowels from the name Elohim instead. The hataf segol does not revert to a shewa because doing so could lead to confusion with the vowels in Adonai. |
| Genesis 15:2 | יֱהוִה | Yĕhwih | [67] | Just as above, this uses the vowels from Elohim, but like the second version, the dot (holam) on the first he is omitted as redundant. |
| 1 Kings 2:26 | יְהֹוִה | Yǝhōwih | [68] | Here, the dot (holam) on the first he is present, but the hataf segol does get reverted to a shewa. |
| Ezekiel 24:24 | יְהוִה | Yǝhwih | [69] | Here, the dot (holam) on the first he is omitted, and the hataf segol gets reverted to a shewa. |
ĕ is hataf segol; ǝ is the pronounced form of plain shva.
Dead Sea Scrolls[edit]
In the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Hebrew and Aramaic texts the Tetragrammaton and some other names of God in Judaism (such as El or Elohim) were sometimes written in paleo-Hebrew script, showing that they were treated specially. Most of God's names were pronounced until about the 2nd century BCE. Then, as a tradition of non-pronunciation of the names developed, alternatives for the Tetragrammaton appeared, such as Adonai, Kurios and Theos.[39] The 4Q120, a Greek fragment of Leviticus (26:2–16) discovered in the Dead Sea scrolls (Qumran) has ιαω ("Iao"), the Greek form of the Hebrew trigrammaton YHW.[70] The historian John the Lydian (6th century) wrote: "The Roman Varro [116–27 BCE] defining him [that is the Jewish God] says that he is called Iao in the Chaldean mysteries" (De Mensibus IV 53). Van Cooten mentions that Iao is one of the "specifically Jewish designations for God" and "the Aramaic papyri from the Jews at Elephantine show that 'Iao' is an original Jewish term".[71][72]
The preserved manuscripts from Qumran show the inconsistent practice of writing the Tetragrammaton, mainly in biblical quotations: in some manuscripts is written in paleo-Hebrew script, square scripts or replaced with four dots or dashes (tetrapuncta).
The members of the Qumran community were aware of the existence of the Tetragrammaton, but this was not tantamount to granting consent for its existing use and speaking. This is evidenced not only by special treatment of the Tetragrammaton in the text, but by the recommendation recorded in the 'Rule of Association' (VI, 27): "Who will remember the most glorious name, which is above all [...]".[73]
The table below presents all the manuscripts in which the Tetragrammaton is written in paleo-Hebrew script,[note 4] in square scripts, and all the manuscripts in which the copyists have used tetrapuncta.
Copyists used the 'tetrapuncta' apparently to warn against pronouncing the name of God.[74] In the manuscript number 4Q248 is in the form of bars.
In the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Hebrew and Aramaic texts the Tetragrammaton and some other names of God in Judaism (such as El or Elohim) were sometimes written in paleo-Hebrew script, showing that they were treated specially. Most of God's names were pronounced until about the 2nd century BCE. Then, as a tradition of non-pronunciation of the names developed, alternatives for the Tetragrammaton appeared, such as Adonai, Kurios and Theos.[39] The 4Q120, a Greek fragment of Leviticus (26:2–16) discovered in the Dead Sea scrolls (Qumran) has ιαω ("Iao"), the Greek form of the Hebrew trigrammaton YHW.[70] The historian John the Lydian (6th century) wrote: "The Roman Varro [116–27 BCE] defining him [that is the Jewish God] says that he is called Iao in the Chaldean mysteries" (De Mensibus IV 53). Van Cooten mentions that Iao is one of the "specifically Jewish designations for God" and "the Aramaic papyri from the Jews at Elephantine show that 'Iao' is an original Jewish term".[71][72]
The preserved manuscripts from Qumran show the inconsistent practice of writing the Tetragrammaton, mainly in biblical quotations: in some manuscripts is written in paleo-Hebrew script, square scripts or replaced with four dots or dashes (tetrapuncta).
The members of the Qumran community were aware of the existence of the Tetragrammaton, but this was not tantamount to granting consent for its existing use and speaking. This is evidenced not only by special treatment of the Tetragrammaton in the text, but by the recommendation recorded in the 'Rule of Association' (VI, 27): "Who will remember the most glorious name, which is above all [...]".[73]
The table below presents all the manuscripts in which the Tetragrammaton is written in paleo-Hebrew script,[note 4] in square scripts, and all the manuscripts in which the copyists have used tetrapuncta.
Copyists used the 'tetrapuncta' apparently to warn against pronouncing the name of God.[74] In the manuscript number 4Q248 is in the form of bars.
| PALEO-HEBREW | SQUARE | TETRAPUNCTA |
|---|---|---|
| 1Q11 (1QPsb) 2–5 3 (link: [1]) | 2Q13 (2QJer) (link: [2]) | 1QS VIII 14 (link: [3]) |
| 1Q14 (1QpMic) 1–5 1, 2 (link: [4]) | 4Q27 (4QNumb) (link: [5]) | 1QIsaa XXXIII 7, XXXV 15 (link: [6]) |
| 1QpHab VI 14; X 7, 14; XI 10 (link: [7]) | 4Q37 (4QDeutj) (link: [8]) | 4Q53 (4QSamc) 13 III 7, 7 (link: [9]) |
| 1Q15 (1QpZeph) 3, 4 (link: [10]) | 4Q78 (4QXIIc) (link: [11]) | 4Q175 (4QTest) 1, 19 |
| 2Q3 (2QExodb) 2 2; 7 1; 8 3 (link: [12] [13]) | 4Q96 (4QPso (link: [14]) | 4Q176 (4QTanḥ) 1–2 i 6, 7, 9; 1–2 ii 3; 8–10 6, 8, 10 (link: [15]) |
| 3Q3 (3QLam) 1 2 (link: [16]) | 4Q158 (4QRPa) (link: [17]) | 4Q196 (4QpapToba ar) 17 i 5; 18 15 (link: [18]) |
| 4Q20 (4QExodj) 1–2 3 (link: [19]) | 4Q163 (4Qpap pIsac) I 19; II 6; 15–16 1; 21 9; III 3, 9; 25 7 (link: [20]) | 4Q248 (history of the kings of Greece) 5 (link: [21]) |
| 4Q26b (4QLevg) linia 8 (link: [22]) | 4QpNah (4Q169) II 10 (link: [23]) | 4Q306 (4QMen of People Who Err) 3 5 (link: [24]) |
| 4Q38a (4QDeutk2) 5 6 (link: [25]) | 4Q173 (4QpPsb) 4 2 (link: [26]) | 4Q382 (4QparaKings et al.) 9+11 5; 78 2 |
| 4Q57 (4QIsac) (link: [27]) | 4Q177 (4QCatena A) (link: [28]) | 4Q391 (4Qpap Pseudo-Ezechiel) 36, 52, 55, 58, 65 (link: [29]) |
| 4Q161 (4QpIsaa) 8–10 13 (link: [30]) | 4Q215a (4QTime of Righteousness) (link: [31]) | 4Q462 (4QNarrative C) 7; 12 (link: [32]) |
| 4Q165 (4QpIsae) 6 4 (link: [33]) | 4Q222 (4QJubg) (link: [34]) | 4Q524 (4QTb)) 6–13 4, 5 (link: [35]) |
| 4Q171 (4QpPsa) II 4, 12, 24; III 14, 15; IV 7, 10, 19 (link: [36]) | 4Q225 (4QPsJuba) (link: [37]) | XḤev/SeEschat Hymn (XḤev/Se 6) 2 7 |
| 11Q2 (11QLevb) 2 2, 6, 7 (link: [38]) | 4Q365 (4QRPc) (link: [39]) | |
| 11Q5 (11QPsa)[75] (link: [40]) | 4Q377 (4QApocryphal Pentateuch B) 2 ii 3, 5 (link: [41]) | |
| 4Q382 (4Qpap paraKings) (link: [42]) | ||
| 11Q6 (11QPsb) (link: [43]) | ||
| 11Q7 (11QPsc) (link: [44]) | ||
| 11Q19 (11QTa) | ||
| 11Q20 (11QTb) (link: [45]) | ||
| 11Q11 (11QapocrPs) (link: [46]) |
Septuagint
Editions of the Septuagint Old Testament are based on the complete or almost complete fourth-century manuscripts Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus and consistently use Κύριος, "Lord", where the Masoretic Text has the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew. This corresponds with the Jewish practice of replacing the Tetragrammaton with "Adonai" when reading the Hebrew word.[76][77][78]
However, five of the oldest manuscripts now extant (in fragmentary form) render the Tetragrammaton into Greek in a different way.[79]
Two of these are of the first century BCE: Papyrus Fouad 266 uses יהוה in the normal Hebrew alphabet in the midst of its Greek text, and 4Q120 uses the Greek transcription of the name, ΙΑΩ. Three later manuscripts use , the name יהוה in Paleo-Hebrew script: the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522 and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5101.[80]
Other extant ancient fragments of Septuagint or Old Greek manuscripts provide no evidence on the use of the Tetragrammaton, Κύριος, or ΙΑΩ in correspondence with the Hebrew-text Tetragrammaton. They include the oldest known example, Papyrus Rylands 458.[81][82]
Scholars differ on whether in the original Septuagint translations the Tetragrammaton was represented by Κύριος,[83][84][85][86] by ΙΑΩ,[87] by the Tetragrammaton in either normal or Paleo-Hebrew form, or whether different translators used different forms in different books.[88]
Frank Shaw argues that the Tetragrammaton continued to be articulated until the second or third century CE and that the use of Ιαω was by no means limited to magical or mystical formulas, but was still normal in more elevated contexts such as that exemplified by Papyrus 4Q120. Shaw considers all theories that posit in the Septuagint a single original form of the divine name as merely based on a priori assumptions.[88] Accordingly, he declares: "The matter of any (especially single) 'original' form of the divine name in the LXX is too complex, the evidence is too scattered and indefinite, and the various approaches offered for the issue are too simplistic" to account for the actual scribal practices (p. 158). He holds that the earliest stages of the LXX's translation were marked by diversity (p. 262), with the choice of certain divine names depending on the context in which they appear (cf. Gen 4:26; Exod 3:15; 8:22; 28:32; 32:5; and 33:19). He treats of the related blank spaces in some Septuagint manuscripts and the setting of spaces around the divine name in 4Q120 and Papyrus Fouad 266b (p. 265), and repeats that "there was no one 'original' form but different translators had different feelings, theological beliefs, motivations, and practices when it came to their handling of the name" (p. 271).[88] His view has won the support of Anthony R. Meyer,[88] Bob Becking,[89] and (commenting on Shaw's 2011 dissertation on the subject) D.T. Runia.[90]
Mogens Müller says that, while no clearly Jewish manuscript of the Septuagint has been found with Κύριος representing the Tetragrammaton, other Jewish writings of the time show that Jews did use the term Κύριος for God, and it was because Christians found it in the Septuagint that they were able to apply it to Christ.[91] In fact, the deuterocanonical books of the Septuagint, written originally in Greek (e.g., Wisdom, 2 and 3 Maccabees), do speak of God as Κύριος and thus show that "the use of κύριος as a representation of יהוה must be pre-Christian in origin".[92]
Similarly, while consistent use of Κύριος to represent the Tetragrammaton has been called "a distinguishing mark for any Christian LXX manuscript", Eugen J. Pentiuc says: "No definitive conclusion has been reached thus far."[93] And Sean McDonough denounces as implausible the idea that Κύριος did not appear in the Septuagint before the Christian era.[94]
Speaking of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever, which is a kaige recension of the Septuagint, "a revision of the Old Greek text to bring it closer to the Hebrew text of the Bible as it existed in ca. 2nd-1st century BCE" (and thus not necessarily the original text), Kristin De Troyer remarks: "The problem with a recension is that one does not know what is the original form and what the recension. Hence, is the paleo-Hebrew Tetragrammaton secondary – a part of the recension – or proof of the Old Greek text? This debate has not yet been solved."
While some interpret the presence of the Tetragrammaton in Papyrus Fouad 266, the oldest Septuagint manuscript in which it appears, as an indication of what was in the original text, others see this manuscript as "an archaizing and hebraizing revision of the earlier translation κύριος".[95] Of this papyrus, De Troyer asks: "Is it a recension or not?" In this regard she says that Emanuel Tov notes that in this manuscript a second scribe inserted the four-letter Tetragrammaton where the first scribe left spaces large enough for the six-letter word Κύριος, and that Pietersma and Hanhart say the papyrus "already contains some pre-hexaplaric corrections towards a Hebrew text (which would have had the Tetragrammaton). She also mentions Septuagint manuscripts that have Θεός and one that has παντοκράτωρ where the Hebrew text has the Tetragrammaton. She concludes: "It suffices to say that in old Hebrew and Greek witnesses, God has many names. Most if not all were pronounced till about the second century BCE. As slowly onwards there developed a tradition of non-pronunciation, alternatives for the Tetragrammaton appeared. The reading Adonai was one of them. Finally, before Kurios became a standard rendering Adonai, the Name of God was rendered with Theos."[39] In the Book of Exodus alone, Θεός represents the Tetragrammaton 41 times.[96]
Robert J. Wilkinson says that the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever is also a kaige recension and thus not strictly a Septuagint text.[97]
Origen (Commentary on Psalms 2.2) said that in the most accurate manuscripts the name was written in an older form of the Hebrew characters, the paleo-Hebrew letters, not the square: "In the more accurate exemplars the (divine) name is written in Hebrew characters; not, however, in the current script, but in the most ancient." While Pietersma interprets this statement as referring to the Septuagint,[83] Wilkinson says one might assume that Origen refers specifically to the version of Aquila of Sinope, which follows the Hebrew text very closely, but he may perhaps refer to Greek versions in general.[98] [99]
Editions of the Septuagint Old Testament are based on the complete or almost complete fourth-century manuscripts Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus and consistently use Κύριος, "Lord", where the Masoretic Text has the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew. This corresponds with the Jewish practice of replacing the Tetragrammaton with "Adonai" when reading the Hebrew word.[76][77][78]
However, five of the oldest manuscripts now extant (in fragmentary form) render the Tetragrammaton into Greek in a different way.[79]
Two of these are of the first century BCE: Papyrus Fouad 266 uses יהוה in the normal Hebrew alphabet in the midst of its Greek text, and 4Q120 uses the Greek transcription of the name, ΙΑΩ. Three later manuscripts use , the name יהוה in Paleo-Hebrew script: the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522 and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5101.[80]
Other extant ancient fragments of Septuagint or Old Greek manuscripts provide no evidence on the use of the Tetragrammaton, Κύριος, or ΙΑΩ in correspondence with the Hebrew-text Tetragrammaton. They include the oldest known example, Papyrus Rylands 458.[81][82]
Scholars differ on whether in the original Septuagint translations the Tetragrammaton was represented by Κύριος,[83][84][85][86] by ΙΑΩ,[87] by the Tetragrammaton in either normal or Paleo-Hebrew form, or whether different translators used different forms in different books.[88]
Frank Shaw argues that the Tetragrammaton continued to be articulated until the second or third century CE and that the use of Ιαω was by no means limited to magical or mystical formulas, but was still normal in more elevated contexts such as that exemplified by Papyrus 4Q120. Shaw considers all theories that posit in the Septuagint a single original form of the divine name as merely based on a priori assumptions.[88] Accordingly, he declares: "The matter of any (especially single) 'original' form of the divine name in the LXX is too complex, the evidence is too scattered and indefinite, and the various approaches offered for the issue are too simplistic" to account for the actual scribal practices (p. 158). He holds that the earliest stages of the LXX's translation were marked by diversity (p. 262), with the choice of certain divine names depending on the context in which they appear (cf. Gen 4:26; Exod 3:15; 8:22; 28:32; 32:5; and 33:19). He treats of the related blank spaces in some Septuagint manuscripts and the setting of spaces around the divine name in 4Q120 and Papyrus Fouad 266b (p. 265), and repeats that "there was no one 'original' form but different translators had different feelings, theological beliefs, motivations, and practices when it came to their handling of the name" (p. 271).[88] His view has won the support of Anthony R. Meyer,[88] Bob Becking,[89] and (commenting on Shaw's 2011 dissertation on the subject) D.T. Runia.[90]
Mogens Müller says that, while no clearly Jewish manuscript of the Septuagint has been found with Κύριος representing the Tetragrammaton, other Jewish writings of the time show that Jews did use the term Κύριος for God, and it was because Christians found it in the Septuagint that they were able to apply it to Christ.[91] In fact, the deuterocanonical books of the Septuagint, written originally in Greek (e.g., Wisdom, 2 and 3 Maccabees), do speak of God as Κύριος and thus show that "the use of κύριος as a representation of יהוה must be pre-Christian in origin".[92]
Similarly, while consistent use of Κύριος to represent the Tetragrammaton has been called "a distinguishing mark for any Christian LXX manuscript", Eugen J. Pentiuc says: "No definitive conclusion has been reached thus far."[93] And Sean McDonough denounces as implausible the idea that Κύριος did not appear in the Septuagint before the Christian era.[94]
Speaking of the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever, which is a kaige recension of the Septuagint, "a revision of the Old Greek text to bring it closer to the Hebrew text of the Bible as it existed in ca. 2nd-1st century BCE" (and thus not necessarily the original text), Kristin De Troyer remarks: "The problem with a recension is that one does not know what is the original form and what the recension. Hence, is the paleo-Hebrew Tetragrammaton secondary – a part of the recension – or proof of the Old Greek text? This debate has not yet been solved."
While some interpret the presence of the Tetragrammaton in Papyrus Fouad 266, the oldest Septuagint manuscript in which it appears, as an indication of what was in the original text, others see this manuscript as "an archaizing and hebraizing revision of the earlier translation κύριος".[95] Of this papyrus, De Troyer asks: "Is it a recension or not?" In this regard she says that Emanuel Tov notes that in this manuscript a second scribe inserted the four-letter Tetragrammaton where the first scribe left spaces large enough for the six-letter word Κύριος, and that Pietersma and Hanhart say the papyrus "already contains some pre-hexaplaric corrections towards a Hebrew text (which would have had the Tetragrammaton). She also mentions Septuagint manuscripts that have Θεός and one that has παντοκράτωρ where the Hebrew text has the Tetragrammaton. She concludes: "It suffices to say that in old Hebrew and Greek witnesses, God has many names. Most if not all were pronounced till about the second century BCE. As slowly onwards there developed a tradition of non-pronunciation, alternatives for the Tetragrammaton appeared. The reading Adonai was one of them. Finally, before Kurios became a standard rendering Adonai, the Name of God was rendered with Theos."[39] In the Book of Exodus alone, Θεός represents the Tetragrammaton 41 times.[96]
Robert J. Wilkinson says that the Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever is also a kaige recension and thus not strictly a Septuagint text.[97]
Origen (Commentary on Psalms 2.2) said that in the most accurate manuscripts the name was written in an older form of the Hebrew characters, the paleo-Hebrew letters, not the square: "In the more accurate exemplars the (divine) name is written in Hebrew characters; not, however, in the current script, but in the most ancient." While Pietersma interprets this statement as referring to the Septuagint,[83] Wilkinson says one might assume that Origen refers specifically to the version of Aquila of Sinope, which follows the Hebrew text very closely, but he may perhaps refer to Greek versions in general.[98] [99]
Manuscripts of the Septuagint and later Greek renderings[edit]
The great majority of extant manuscripts of the Old Testament in Greek, complete or fragmentary, dated to the ninth century CE or earlier, employ Κύριος to represent the Tetragrammaton of the Hebrew text. The following do not. They include the oldest now extant.- Manuscripts of the Septuagint or recensions thereof
- 1st century BCE
- 4QpapLXXLevb – fragments of the Book of Leviticus, chapters 1 to 5. In two verses: 3:12; 4:27 the Tetragrammaton of the Hebrew Bible is represented by Greek ΙΑΩ.
- Papyrus Fouad 266b (848) – fragments of Deuteronomy, chapters 10 to 33.[100] The Tetragrammaton appears in square Hebrew/Aramaic script. According to a disputed view, the first copyist left a blank space marked with a dot, and another inscribed the letters.
- 1st century CE
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522 – contains parts of two verses of chapter 42 of the Book of Job and has the Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew letters.
- Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever – in three fragments whose contents were published separately.
- Se2grXII (LXXIEJ 12) has the Tetragrammaton in 1 place.
- 8HevXII a (LXXVTS 10a) in 24 places, in whole or part.
- 8HevXII b (LXXVTS 10b) in 4 places.
- 1st to 2nd century
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5101 – contains fragments of the Book of Psalms. It has YHWH in Paleo-Hebrew script.[101][102][103]
- 3rd century CE
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1007 – contains Genesis 2 and 3. The divine name is written with a double yodh.
- Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 656 – fragments of the Book of Genesis, chapters 14 to 27. Has Κύριος where the first copyist left blank spaces
- Papyrus Berlin 17213 – fragments of the Book of Genesis, chapter 19. One space is left blank. Emanuel Tov thinks it indicated the end of a paragraph.[102] It has been dated to 3rd century CE.
- Manuscripts of Greek translations made by Symmachus and Aquila of Sinope (2nd century CE)
- 3rd century CE
- Papyrus Vindobonensis Greek 39777. Has the Tetragrammaton in archaic Hebrew script.[104][105][106]
- 5th century CE
- AqTaylor, this manuscript of the Aquila version is dated after the middle of the 5th century, but not later than the beginning of the 6th century.
- AqBurkitt – a palimpsest manuscript of the Aquila version dated late 5th century or early 6th century.
- Manuscripts with Hexaplaric elements
- 6th century CE
- Codex Marchalianus – In addition to the Septuagint text of the prophets (with κς), the manuscript contains marginal notes from a hand "not much later than the original scribe" indicating Hexaplaric variations, each identified as from Aquila, Symmachus or Theodotion. Marginal notes on some of the prophets contain πιπι to indicate that κς in the text corresponds to the Tetragrammaton. Two marginal notes at Ezekiel 1:2 and 11:1 use the form ιαω with reference to the Tetragrammaton.[107]
- 7th century CE
- Taylor-Schechter 12.182 – a Hexapla manuscript with Tetragrammaton in Greek letters ΠΙΠΙ. It has Hebrew text transliterated into Greek, Aquila, Symmachus and the Septuagint.
- 9th century CE
- Ambrosiano O 39 sup. – the latest Greek manuscript containing the name of God is Origen's Hexapla, transmitting among other translations the text of the Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, and in three other unidentified Greek translations (Quinta, Sextus and Septima). This codex, copied from a much earlier original, comes from the late 9th century, and is stored in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) and B.D. Eerdmans:[108][109]
Peshitta[edit]
The Peshitta (Syriac translation), probably in the second century,[125] uses the word "Lord" (ܡܳܪܝܳܐ, pronounced māryā or moryo (Western pronunciation) for the Tetragrammaton.[126]
The Vulgate (Latin translation) made from the Hebrew in the 4th century CE,[127] uses the word Dominus ("Lord"), a translation of the Hebrew word Adonai, for the Tetragrammaton.[126]
The Vulgate translation, though made not from the Septuagint but from the Hebrew text, did not depart from the practice used in the Septuagint. Thus, for most of its history, Christianity's translations of the Scriptures have used equivalents of Adonai to represent the Tetragrammaton. Only at about the beginning of the 16th century did Christian translations of the Bible appear combining the vowels of Adonai with the four (consonantal) letters of the Tetragrammaton.[128][129]
- Diodorus Siculus (1st century BCE) writes[110] Ἰαῶ (Iao);
- Irenaeus (d. c. 202) reports[111] that the Gnostics formed a compound Ἰαωθ (Iaoth) with the last syllable of Sabaoth. He also reports[112] that the Valentinian heretics use Ἰαῶ (Iao);
- Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 215) reports: "the mystic name of four letters which was affixed to those alone to whom the adytum was accessible, is called Ἰαοὺ" (Iaoú); manuscript variants also have the forms ἰαοῦε (Iaoúe) and ἰὰ οὐὲ.[113]
- Origen (d. c. 254), Ἰαώ (Iao);[114]
- Porphyry (d. c. 305) according to Eusebius (died 339),[115] Ἰευώ (Ieuo);
- Epiphanius (died 404), who was born in Palestine and spent a considerable part of his life there, gives Ἰά (Ia) and Ἰάβε (pronounced at that time /ja'vε/) and explains Ἰάβε as meaning He who was and is and always exists.[116]
- Jerome (died 420)[117] speaks of certain Greek writers who misunderstood the Hebrew letters יהוה (read right-to-left) as the Greek letters ΠΙΠΙ (read left-to-right), thus changing YHWH to pipi.
- Theodoret (d. c. 457) writes Ἰαώ (Iao);[118] he also reports[119] that the Samaritans say Ἰαβέ or Ἰαβαί (both pronounced at that time /ja'vε/), while the Jews say Ἀϊά (Aia).[50] (The latter is probably not יהוה but אהיה Ehyeh = "I am " or "I will be", Exod. 3:14 which the Jews counted among the names of God.)[50]
- (Pseudo-)Jerome (4th/5th or 9th century),:[120] IAHO. This work was traditionally attributed to Jerome and, in spite of the view of one modern writer who in 1936 said it is "now believed to be genuine and to be dated before CE 392"[121] is still generally attributed to the 9th century[122] and to be non-authentic.[123][124]
Peshitta[edit]
The Peshitta (Syriac translation), probably in the second century,[125] uses the word "Lord" (ܡܳܪܝܳܐ, pronounced māryā or moryo (Western pronunciation) for the Tetragrammaton.[126]
Vulgate[edit]
The Vulgate (Latin translation) made from the Hebrew in the 4th century CE,[127] uses the word Dominus ("Lord"), a translation of the Hebrew word Adonai, for the Tetragrammaton.[126]
The Vulgate translation, though made not from the Septuagint but from the Hebrew text, did not depart from the practice used in the Septuagint. Thus, for most of its history, Christianity's translations of the Scriptures have used equivalents of Adonai to represent the Tetragrammaton. Only at about the beginning of the 16th century did Christian translations of the Bible appear combining the vowels of Adonai with the four (consonantal) letters of the Tetragrammaton.[128][129]
Usage in religious traditions[edit]
Especially due to the existence of the Mesha Stele, the Jahwist tradition found in Exod. 3:15, and ancient Hebrew and Greek texts, biblical scholars widely hold that the Tetragrammaton and other names of God were spoken by the ancient Israelites and their neighbours.[10][39][130]: 40
By at least the 3rd century BCE, the name was not pronounced in normal speech,[131] but only in certain ritual contexts. The Talmud relays this change occurred after the death of Simeon the Just (either Simon I or his great-great-grandson Simon II).[132] Philo calls the name ineffable, and says that it is lawful for those only whose ears and tongues are purified by wisdom to hear and utter it in a holy place (that is, for priests in the Temple). In another passage, commenting on Lev. 24:15: "If any one, I do not say should blaspheme against the Lord of men and gods, but should even dare to utter his name unseasonably, let him expect the penalty of death."[50] Some time after the destruction of the Second Temple, the spoken use of God's name as it was written ceased altogether, though knowledge of the pronunciation was perpetuated in rabbinic schools.[50]
Rabbinic sources suggest that the name of God was pronounced only once a year, by the high priest, on the Day of Atonement.[133] Others, including Maimonides, claim that the name was pronounced daily in the liturgy of the Temple in the priestly blessing of worshippers, after the daily sacrifice; in synagogues, though, a substitute (probably "Adonai") was used.[50] According to the Talmud, in the last generations before the fall of Jerusalem, the name was pronounced in a low tone so that the sounds were lost in the chant of the priests.[50] Since the destruction of Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Tetragrammaton has no longer been pronounced in the liturgy. However the pronunciation was still known in Babylonia in the latter part of the 4th century.[50]
The vehemence with which the utterance of the name is denounced in the Mishnah suggests that use of the name Yahweh was unacceptable in rabbinical Judaism. "He who pronounces the Name with its own letters has no part in the world to come!"[50] Such is the prohibition of pronouncing the Name as written that it is sometimes called the "Ineffable", "Unutterable", or "Distinctive Name", or "Explicit Name" ("Shem HaMephorash" in Hebrew).[134][135][136]
Halakha prescribes that although the Name is written יהוה "yodh he waw he", if not preceded by "my Lord" (אֲדֹנָי, Adonai) then it is only to be pronounced "Adonai" and if preceded by "Adonai" then it is only to be pronounced as "Our God" (אֱלֹהֵינוּ, Eloheinu), or, in rare cases, as a repetition of Adonai, e.g., the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (שְׁלוֹשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵה, Shelosh-'Esreh) in Exodus 34:6–7; the latter names too are regarded as holy names, and are only to be pronounced in prayer.[137][138] Thus when someone wants to refer in third person to either the written or spoken Name, the term HaShem "the Name" is used;[139][unreliable source?][140] and this handle itself can also be used in prayer.[note 5] The Masoretes added vowel points (niqqud) and cantillation marks to the manuscripts to indicate vowel usage and for use in ritual chanting of readings from the Bible in Jewish prayer in synagogues. To יהוה they added the vowels for "Adonai" ("My Lord"), the word to use when the text was read. While "HaShem" is the most common way to reference "the Name", the terms "HaMaqom" (lit. "The Place", i.e. "The Omnipresent") and "Raḥmana" (Aramaic, "Merciful") are used in the mishna and gemara, still used in the phrases "HaMaqom y'naḥem ethḥem" ("may The Omnipresent console you"), the traditional phrase used in sitting Shiva and "Raḥmana l'tzlan" ("may the Merciful save us" i.e. "God forbid").
Main article: Genizah
The written Tetragrammaton,[141] as well as six other names of God, must be treated with special sanctity. They cannot be disposed of regularly, lest they be desecrated, but are usually put in long-term storage or buried in Jewish cemeteries in order to retire them from use.[142] Similarly, writing the Tetragrammaton (or these other names) unnecessarily is prohibited, so as to avoid having them treated disrespectfully, an action that is forbidden. To guard the sanctity of the Name, sometimes a letter is substituted by a different letter in writing (e.g. יקוק), or the letters are separated by one or more hyphens, a practice applied also to the English name "God", which some Jews write as "G-d".[143] Most Jewish authorities say that this practice is not obligatory for the English name.[144]
See also: Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy
Kabbalistic tradition holds that the correct pronunciation is known to a select few people in each generation, it is not generally known what this pronunciation is. There are two main schools of Kabbalah arising in 13th century Spain. These are called Theosophic Kabbalah represented by Rabbi Moshe De Leon and the Zohar, and the Kabbalah of Names or Prophetic Kabbalah whose main representative is Rabbi Abraham Abulafia of Saragossa. Rabbi Abulafia wrote many wisdom books and prophetic books where the name is used for meditation purposes from 1271 onwards. Abulafia put a lot of attention on Exodus 15 and the Songs of Moses. In this song it says "Yehovah is a Man of War, Yehovah is his name". For Abulafia the goal of prophecy was for a man to come to the level of prophecy and be called "Yehovah a man of war". Abulafia also used the tetragrammaton in a spiritual war against his spiritual enemies. For example, he prophesied in his book "The Sign", "Therefore, thus said YHWH, the God of Israel: Have no fear of the enemy" (See Hylton, A The Prophetic Jew Abraham Abulafia, 2015).
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,[145] says that the tree of the Tetragrammaton "unfolds" in accordance with the intrinsic nature of its letters, "in the same order in which they appear in the Name, in the mystery of ten and the mystery of four." Namely, the upper cusp of the Yod is Arich Anpin and the main body of Yod is and Abba; the first Hei is Imma; the Vav is Ze`ir Anpin and the second Hei is Nukvah. It unfolds in this aforementioned order and "in the mystery of the four expansions" that are constituted by the following various spellings of the letters:
ע"ב/`AV : יו"ד ה"י וי"ו ה"י, so called "`AV" according to its gematria value ע"ב=70+2=72.
ס"ג/SaG: יו"ד ה"י וא"ו ה"י, gematria 63.
מ"ה/MaH: יו"ד ה"א וא"ו ה"א, gematria 45.
ב"ן/BaN: יו"ד ה"ה ו"ו ה"ה, gematria 52.
Luzzatto summarises, "In sum, all that exists is founded on the mystery of this Name and upon the mystery of these letters of which it consists. This means that all the different orders and laws are all drawn after and come under the order of these four letters. This is not one particular pathway but rather the general path, which includes everything that exists in the Sefirot in all their details and which brings everything under its order."[145]
Another parallel is drawn[by whom?] between the four letters of the Tetragrammaton and the Four Worlds: the י is associated with Atziluth, the first ה with Beri'ah, the ו with Yetzirah, and final ה with Assiah.
There are some[who?] who believe that the tetractys and its mysteries influenced the early kabbalists. A Hebrew tetractys in a similar way has the letters of the Tetragrammaton (the four lettered name of God in Hebrew scripture) inscribed on the ten positions of the tetractys, from right to left. It has been argued that the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, with its ten spheres of emanation, is in some way connected to the tetractys, but its form is not that of a triangle. The occult writer Dion Fortune says:
(The first three-dimensional solid is the tetrahedron.)
The relationship between geometrical shapes and the first four Sephirot is analogous to the geometrical correlations in tetractys, shown above under Pythagorean Symbol, and unveils the relevance of the Tree of Life with the tetractys.
The Samaritans shared the taboo of the Jews about the utterance of the name, and there is no evidence that its pronunciation was common Samaritan practice.[50][147] However Sanhedrin 10:1 includes the comment of Rabbi Mana II, "for example those Kutim who take an oath" would also have no share in the world to come, which suggests that Mana thought some Samaritans used the name in making oaths. (Their priests have preserved a liturgical pronunciation "Yahwe" or "Yahwa" to the present day.)[50] As with Jews, the use of Shema (שמא "the Name") remains the everyday usage of the name among Samaritans, akin to Hebrew "the Name" (Hebrew השם "HaShem").[139]
Judaism[edit]
Especially due to the existence of the Mesha Stele, the Jahwist tradition found in Exod. 3:15, and ancient Hebrew and Greek texts, biblical scholars widely hold that the Tetragrammaton and other names of God were spoken by the ancient Israelites and their neighbours.[10][39][130]: 40
By at least the 3rd century BCE, the name was not pronounced in normal speech,[131] but only in certain ritual contexts. The Talmud relays this change occurred after the death of Simeon the Just (either Simon I or his great-great-grandson Simon II).[132] Philo calls the name ineffable, and says that it is lawful for those only whose ears and tongues are purified by wisdom to hear and utter it in a holy place (that is, for priests in the Temple). In another passage, commenting on Lev. 24:15: "If any one, I do not say should blaspheme against the Lord of men and gods, but should even dare to utter his name unseasonably, let him expect the penalty of death."[50] Some time after the destruction of the Second Temple, the spoken use of God's name as it was written ceased altogether, though knowledge of the pronunciation was perpetuated in rabbinic schools.[50]
Rabbinic sources suggest that the name of God was pronounced only once a year, by the high priest, on the Day of Atonement.[133] Others, including Maimonides, claim that the name was pronounced daily in the liturgy of the Temple in the priestly blessing of worshippers, after the daily sacrifice; in synagogues, though, a substitute (probably "Adonai") was used.[50] According to the Talmud, in the last generations before the fall of Jerusalem, the name was pronounced in a low tone so that the sounds were lost in the chant of the priests.[50] Since the destruction of Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Tetragrammaton has no longer been pronounced in the liturgy. However the pronunciation was still known in Babylonia in the latter part of the 4th century.[50]
Spoken prohibitions[edit]
The vehemence with which the utterance of the name is denounced in the Mishnah suggests that use of the name Yahweh was unacceptable in rabbinical Judaism. "He who pronounces the Name with its own letters has no part in the world to come!"[50] Such is the prohibition of pronouncing the Name as written that it is sometimes called the "Ineffable", "Unutterable", or "Distinctive Name", or "Explicit Name" ("Shem HaMephorash" in Hebrew).[134][135][136]
Halakha prescribes that although the Name is written יהוה "yodh he waw he", if not preceded by "my Lord" (אֲדֹנָי, Adonai) then it is only to be pronounced "Adonai" and if preceded by "Adonai" then it is only to be pronounced as "Our God" (אֱלֹהֵינוּ, Eloheinu), or, in rare cases, as a repetition of Adonai, e.g., the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (שְׁלוֹשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵה, Shelosh-'Esreh) in Exodus 34:6–7; the latter names too are regarded as holy names, and are only to be pronounced in prayer.[137][138] Thus when someone wants to refer in third person to either the written or spoken Name, the term HaShem "the Name" is used;[139][unreliable source?][140] and this handle itself can also be used in prayer.[note 5] The Masoretes added vowel points (niqqud) and cantillation marks to the manuscripts to indicate vowel usage and for use in ritual chanting of readings from the Bible in Jewish prayer in synagogues. To יהוה they added the vowels for "Adonai" ("My Lord"), the word to use when the text was read. While "HaShem" is the most common way to reference "the Name", the terms "HaMaqom" (lit. "The Place", i.e. "The Omnipresent") and "Raḥmana" (Aramaic, "Merciful") are used in the mishna and gemara, still used in the phrases "HaMaqom y'naḥem ethḥem" ("may The Omnipresent console you"), the traditional phrase used in sitting Shiva and "Raḥmana l'tzlan" ("may the Merciful save us" i.e. "God forbid").
Written prohibitions[edit]
Main article: Genizah
The written Tetragrammaton,[141] as well as six other names of God, must be treated with special sanctity. They cannot be disposed of regularly, lest they be desecrated, but are usually put in long-term storage or buried in Jewish cemeteries in order to retire them from use.[142] Similarly, writing the Tetragrammaton (or these other names) unnecessarily is prohibited, so as to avoid having them treated disrespectfully, an action that is forbidden. To guard the sanctity of the Name, sometimes a letter is substituted by a different letter in writing (e.g. יקוק), or the letters are separated by one or more hyphens, a practice applied also to the English name "God", which some Jews write as "G-d".[143] Most Jewish authorities say that this practice is not obligatory for the English name.[144]
Kabbalah[edit]
See also: Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy
Kabbalistic tradition holds that the correct pronunciation is known to a select few people in each generation, it is not generally known what this pronunciation is. There are two main schools of Kabbalah arising in 13th century Spain. These are called Theosophic Kabbalah represented by Rabbi Moshe De Leon and the Zohar, and the Kabbalah of Names or Prophetic Kabbalah whose main representative is Rabbi Abraham Abulafia of Saragossa. Rabbi Abulafia wrote many wisdom books and prophetic books where the name is used for meditation purposes from 1271 onwards. Abulafia put a lot of attention on Exodus 15 and the Songs of Moses. In this song it says "Yehovah is a Man of War, Yehovah is his name". For Abulafia the goal of prophecy was for a man to come to the level of prophecy and be called "Yehovah a man of war". Abulafia also used the tetragrammaton in a spiritual war against his spiritual enemies. For example, he prophesied in his book "The Sign", "Therefore, thus said YHWH, the God of Israel: Have no fear of the enemy" (See Hylton, A The Prophetic Jew Abraham Abulafia, 2015).
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,[145] says that the tree of the Tetragrammaton "unfolds" in accordance with the intrinsic nature of its letters, "in the same order in which they appear in the Name, in the mystery of ten and the mystery of four." Namely, the upper cusp of the Yod is Arich Anpin and the main body of Yod is and Abba; the first Hei is Imma; the Vav is Ze`ir Anpin and the second Hei is Nukvah. It unfolds in this aforementioned order and "in the mystery of the four expansions" that are constituted by the following various spellings of the letters:
ע"ב/`AV : יו"ד ה"י וי"ו ה"י, so called "`AV" according to its gematria value ע"ב=70+2=72.
ס"ג/SaG: יו"ד ה"י וא"ו ה"י, gematria 63.
מ"ה/MaH: יו"ד ה"א וא"ו ה"א, gematria 45.
ב"ן/BaN: יו"ד ה"ה ו"ו ה"ה, gematria 52.
Luzzatto summarises, "In sum, all that exists is founded on the mystery of this Name and upon the mystery of these letters of which it consists. This means that all the different orders and laws are all drawn after and come under the order of these four letters. This is not one particular pathway but rather the general path, which includes everything that exists in the Sefirot in all their details and which brings everything under its order."[145]
Another parallel is drawn[by whom?] between the four letters of the Tetragrammaton and the Four Worlds: the י is associated with Atziluth, the first ה with Beri'ah, the ו with Yetzirah, and final ה with Assiah.
There are some[who?] who believe that the tetractys and its mysteries influenced the early kabbalists. A Hebrew tetractys in a similar way has the letters of the Tetragrammaton (the four lettered name of God in Hebrew scripture) inscribed on the ten positions of the tetractys, from right to left. It has been argued that the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, with its ten spheres of emanation, is in some way connected to the tetractys, but its form is not that of a triangle. The occult writer Dion Fortune says:
(The first three-dimensional solid is the tetrahedron.)
The relationship between geometrical shapes and the first four Sephirot is analogous to the geometrical correlations in tetractys, shown above under Pythagorean Symbol, and unveils the relevance of the Tree of Life with the tetractys.
Samaritans[edit]
The Samaritans shared the taboo of the Jews about the utterance of the name, and there is no evidence that its pronunciation was common Samaritan practice.[50][147] However Sanhedrin 10:1 includes the comment of Rabbi Mana II, "for example those Kutim who take an oath" would also have no share in the world to come, which suggests that Mana thought some Samaritans used the name in making oaths. (Their priests have preserved a liturgical pronunciation "Yahwe" or "Yahwa" to the present day.)[50] As with Jews, the use of Shema (שמא "the Name") remains the everyday usage of the name among Samaritans, akin to Hebrew "the Name" (Hebrew השם "HaShem").[139]
Christianity
It is assumed that early Jewish Christians inherited from Jews the practice of reading "Lord" where the Tetragrammaton appears in the Hebrew text (and where a few Greek manuscripts use it in the midst of their Greek translation). Gentile Christians, primarily non-Hebrew speaking and using Greek Scripture texts, may have read Κύριος ("Lord"), as in the Greek text of the New Testament and in their copies of the Greek Old Testament. This practice continued into the Latin Vulgate where Dominus ("Lord") represented the Tetragrammaton in the Latin text. At the Reformation, the Luther Bible used capitalized Herr ("Lord") in the German text of the Old Testament to represent the Tetragrammaton.[148]
In Christianity, when the Tetragrammaton is vocalized, the forms Yahweh or Jehovah are used.[6][149] Jah or Yah is an abbreviation of Jahweh/Yahweh, and often sees usage by Christians in the interjection "Hallelujah", meaning "Praise Jah", which is used to give God glory.[150]
Christian translations[edit]
The Septuagint (Greek translation), the Vulgate (Latin translation), and the Peshitta (Syriac translation)[126] use the word "Lord" (κύριος, kyrios, dominus, and ܡܳܪܝܳܐ, moryo respectively).
Use of the Septuagint by Christians in polemics with Jews led to its abandonment by the latter, making it a specifically Christian text. From it Christians made translations into Coptic, Arabic, Slavonic and other languages used in Oriental Orthodoxy and the Eastern Orthodox Church,[99][151] whose liturgies and doctrinal declarations are largely a cento of texts from the Septuagint, which they consider to be inspired at least as much as the Masoretic Text.[99][152] Within the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Greek text remains the norm for texts in all languages, with particular reference to the wording used in prayers.[153][154]
The Septuagint, with its use of Κύριος to represent the Tetragrammaton, was the basis also for Christian translations associated with the West, in particular the Vetus Itala, which survives in some parts of the liturgy of the Latin Church, and the Gothic Bible.
Christian translations of the Bible into English commonly use "LORD" in place of the Tetragrammaton in most passages, often in small capitals (or in all caps), so as to distinguish it from other words translated as "Lord".
Eastern Orthodoxy[edit]
The Eastern Orthodox Church considers the Septuagint text, which uses Κύριος (Lord), to be the authoritative text of the Old Testament,[99] and in its liturgical books and prayers it uses Κύριος in place of the Tetragrammaton in texts derived from the Bible.[155][156]: 247–248
Catholicism
In the Catholic Church, the first edition of the official Vatican Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio, editio typica, published in 1979, used the traditional Dominus when rendering the Tetragrammaton in the overwhelming majority of places where it appears; however, it also used the form Iahveh for rendering the Tetragrammaton in three known places:
In the second edition of the Nova Vulgata Bibliorum Sacrorum Editio, editio typica altera, published in 1986, these few occurrences of the form Iahveh were replaced with Dominus,[160][161][162] in keeping with the long-standing Catholic tradition of avoiding direct usage of the Ineffable Name.
On 29 June 2008, the Holy See reacted to the then still recent practice of pronouncing, within Catholic liturgy, the name of God represented by the Tetragrammaton. As examples of such vocalisation it mentioned "Yahweh" and "Yehovah". The early Christians, it said, followed the example of the Septuagint in replacing the name of God with "the Lord", a practice with important theological implications for their use of "the Lord" in reference to Jesus, as in Philippians 2:9–11 and other New Testament texts. It therefore directed that, "in liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers the name of God in the form of the Tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used or pronounced"; and that translations of Biblical texts for liturgical use are to follow the practice of the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, replacing the divine name with "the Lord" or, in some contexts, "God".[163] The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed this instruction, adding that it "provides also an opportunity to offer catechesis for the faithful as an encouragement to show reverence for the Name of God in daily life, emphasizing the power of language as an act of devotion and worship".[164]
Lutheranism and Anglicanism[edit]
In the Lutheran and Anglican psalters, the word LORD in "small capital letters [is used] to represent the tetragrammaton YHWH, the personal name of the deity". However, the Psalter of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer used by the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America uses Yahweh in two places, Psalms 68:4 and Psalms 83:18. Also the Hymnal 1982 as used by the Episcopal Church utilizes the hymn, "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah", Hymn 690 The Christian Life. Aside from those instances, LORD is typically used in the Liturgy of the Episcopal Church. [165]
Usage in art[edit]
Since the 16th century, artists have been using the tetragrammaton as a symbol for God,[166] or for divine illumination.[167] Protestant artists avoided to allegorize God in human form, but rather wrote the Hebrew name of God. This was done in book illustrations since 1530, then on coins and medals as well.[168] Since the 17th century, both Protestant and Catholic artists have used the tetragrammaton in church decoration, on top of altars, or in center of frescos, often in rays of light or in a triangle.[169]
Somebody says:
Is that also true for the Japanese, Somalian, Russian, etc. translations of those texts from the Hebrew?
These Bibles systematically transliterate the tetragrammaton (usually as Yahweh) in both the Old and New Testaments, as well as a Semitic form of the name of Jesus such as Yahshua or Yeshua. They consider the names of both God the Father, and God the Son, to be sacred.
Is that also true for the Japanese, Somalian, Russian, etc. translations of those texts from the Hebrew?
-
My answer:
Wikiwand - Sacred Name Bible
Transliterated Sacred Name Bibles
These Bibles systematically transliterate the tetragrammaton (usually as Yahweh) in both the Old and New Testaments, as well as a Semitic form of the name of Jesus such as Yahshua or Yeshua. They consider the names of both God the Father, and God the Son, to be sacred.
- The New Testament of our Messiah and Saviour Yahshua (1950)
- Holy Name Bible (1963)
- Restoration of Original Sacred Name Bible (1970)
- The Sacred Scriptures Bethel Edition (1981)
- The Book of Yahweh: The Holy Scriptures (1987)
- Sacred Scriptures, Family of Yah Edition (2000)
- The Holy Bible – Urim-Thummim Version (2001)
- The Word of Yahweh (2003)
- Mickelson Clarified Translation (2008, 2013, 2015, 2019)
- Hebraic Roots Bible (2009, 2012)
- The Restoration Study Bible (2011)
- Names of God Bible (2011, 2014)
- The Interpreted New Testament (2020)
- The Original Bible for Modern Readers (2017)
These Sacred Name Bibles use the tetragrammaton without vowels. They follow this practice in both the Old and New Testaments (though some translations are not complete).
- The Scriptures (ISR) Version (1993, 1998, 2009)
- Hebraic-Roots Version (2001, 2004)
- Restoration Scriptures: True Name Edition (2004)
- Zikarown Say'fer Memorial Scroll (2004)
- Sacred Name King James Bible (2005)
- The Seventh Millennium Version (2007)
- The Aramaic English New Testament (2008)
- HalleluYah Scriptures (2009, 2015)
- Abrahamic Faith Nazarene Hebraic Study Scriptures (2010)
- The Restored Name King James Version (2012?)
- Shem Qadosh Version (2014)
- His Name Tanakh (In Progress)
- Neno La Yahweh Swahili version (2014)
- NJV Bible - New Jerusalem Version (2019)
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