I was referred to you by someone on the internet as being an expert in Hebrew. I’m learning to read Hebrew and while studying I’ve learned something about the name ‘Jehovah’ which I shared with fellow Christians and was immediately challenged as spreading an untruth. One Christian (I don’t know his real name) who claims to know you personally suggested I consult with you to verify this.
It’s common knowledge that in original Hebrew scrolls they don’t write vowels and that the pronunciation of the four letter Tetragrammation name of God, (Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey) has been lost since it is not known what vowels went with it. In Jewish bibles, such as the Artscroll Stone Edition Tanach, where the Hebrew has vowels included for ease of reading, they sometimes place two sets of vowels on the four letter name. One set of vowels are the vowels used with the name Adonai and the other set are identical with the name Elohim, a hataf-segol ( Á ), holam haser ( É ), hirik ( Ä ) . These aren’t placed there to pronounce the four letter name as Yehovah, Yehhoveeh or any other transliteration such as Jehovah, but as a flag for Jews to read the four letter name as Elohim or Adonai. So in essence, the name Jehovah is not a real name of God. It has derived from an attempt to pronounce the four letter name using these vowel markers.
Would you be willing to substantiate what I’ve presented here? I appreciate any help on this matter.
Thank you,
May
- posted: July 16 2008 |
