At first it was considered the same as the "I" but Latin had no "J." But in the Late Roman period a "J" was (and perhaps other European languages from "I" to "J." Originally The fourth step involved a shift in Latin, English, and French Shift in Latin and Some European Languages from "I" Vowel pointing for Adonai (inserted into the Tetragrammaton)Ĥ. Presumed correct vowel pointing for Yahweh These vowel points were intended to prevent a reader from accidentally pronouncing the divine name, but they created a strange spelling of the word for those who didn't understand what was happening. When the Masoretes added vowel points to the Hebrew text in the tenth century, instead of pointing the vowels of YHWH that would help the reader pronounce the name, instead they added the vowel points that would go with the regularly substituted word ´adonay or ´elohim. The third step occurred when the vowel points for Adonai were substituted in YHWH. But ancient Hebrew (such as found in Hebrew manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls) and modern Hebrew use no such vowel points. The Hebrew Bible with their vowel points is known as the Masoretic text. To retain the correct pronunciation, they introduced vowel points - a series of dots and dashes under the Hebrew consonants - to indicate the vowels for each word. But in 906 AD, a group of Hebrew scholars at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee known as Masoretes were concerned that because fewer and fewer people were actually speaking Hebrew at that time, the memory of the language and how it was pronounced would die out. As mentioned, early Hebrew had no vowels, only consonants. The second step was vowel pointing to indicate pronunciation. The first step in the transition from Yahweh to Jehovah was the substitution of Adonai for Yahweh when the Scripture was read. They refer to YHWH as the Ineffable Name, the Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. To this day, orthodox Jews avoid even spelling God, and render it G-d out of reverence. If you compare "kingdom of God" in Luke, written for a Gentile audience, with "kingdom of heaven" in Matthew, written for a Jewish audience, you can see this phenomenon of avoiding the divine name in some of the Gospels. When it appeared in the Hebrew Scriptures read in the synagogue, they would substitute the word ´adon or ´adonay, meaning "lord, master" (which we'll consider in chapter 6). But by the end of the pre-Christian era, a fear of misusing God's name developed (based on Exodus 20:7 Deuteronomy 5:11) to such a degree that pious Jews avoided speaking the divine name out loud. Probably the early Israelites actually pronounced the name Yahweh. Here are the steps that moved us from the (presumed) original Yahweh to Jehovah. The four letters of the divine name are YHWH, known as the Tetragrammaton (a Greek word meaning "four letters" from tetra "four" and gramma "letter). The pronunciation can never be certain, since early Hebrew had no vowels, only consonants, though evidence from several sources, such as early Greek transliterations, point to the pronunciation as Yahweh. Why the change? Fasten your seat belt this gets technical fast. But today the correct pronunciation and spelling is believed to be Yahweh. The American Standard Version of 1901 actually used the word Jehovah whenever God's name appeared in the Old Testament. Beginning the Journey (for new Christians).Ī previous generation pronounced God's name as Jehovah, not Yahweh.
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