[B-Greek] YHWH into Greek

Rolf Furuli furuli at online.no
Tue Dec 6 04:10:55 EST 2005


Dear Gene,

Your question is difficult, since different languages have different stocks 
of phonemes. We therefore see many "strange" results when names are 
transcribed from one language to another. Another reason for this is that a 
language often has different dialects which use vowels differently.   For 
example, the Norwegian word for "snow" is written "sne" in one part of the 
country, "snö" in another part, and "sny" in a third.

Your question regarding why the renderings of the early writers differ has 
four sides, 1) the Vorlage, 2) pronunciation, 3) the number of syllables, 
and 4)  the value of the vowels, 4)

1) Vorlage: I am not aware of any direct link between the early Greek 
writers you mention and the Hebrews of old. So, it is likely that Greek 
manuscripts similar to the ones mentioned in my last post were used as 
sources in some cases. and Hebrew manuscripts (causing the translitteration 
PIPI) in others. One Greek writer may also have copied the form used by 
another.

2) Pronunciation: We have no knowledge of the pronunciation of the name by 
Hebrew-speaking people  in the centuries B.C.E. Sometimes Epiphanus and 
Theodoret are used as witnesses for an old Hebrew pronunciation JABE. But 
you correctly ascribe this to the Samaritans. It is interesting that when 
Theodoret ascribes JABE to the Samaritans, he contrasts this with the Hebrew 
pronunciation IA. (The Hebrew form IAH (long vowel) evidently is a shortened 
form of YHWH often used in poetic contexts.)  One list-member wroteto me 
off-list and said that the Samaritans still pronounce the name as `AYEV.

3) As already mentioned, there is good evidence that the Hebrew vowels and 
consonants of YHWH constituted three syllables. The Greek forms you mention 
have two syllables and in one case one syllable. Since the early Greek 
writers, as far as we know, had no knowledge of the Hebrew pronunciation of 
the name, it is likely that their point of departure was the phonetic 
transcription IAW from old LXX manuscripts. Phonetic transcription means 
pronunciation, and IAW has two syllables. But would not the transcription 
IAW in the LXX suggest that the Hebrew word YHWH had only two syllables? Not 
necessarily. The Elephantine evidence shows the form YHW (since the last H 
probably is a vowel). And the knowledge of the LXX translators of similar 
Hebrew forms could have caused them the write IAW with two syllables, even 
though the people at Elephantine and other places may have used three 
syllables in their pronunciation. I will also mention that the form YHW is 
found in the Amun temple of Amenhoteph III in Soleb in Sudan from the 14the 
century B.C.E. This also suggests three syllables, but the vowels are 
unknown,

4) Vowels: We do not know, but the theophoric names in the Hebrew Bible may 
suggest that the vowel of the second syllable was O or U and that the vowel 
of the first syllable was A or E.

An interesting discussion is found in G. W. Buchanan, "Some Unfinished 
Business with the Dead Sea Scrolls" Revue de Qumran 1988, 13:49-52.


Best regards

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene Gardner" <g_gardner1234 at yahoo.com>
To: <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 12:02 AM
Subject: [B-Greek] YHWH into Greek


>                      Rolf,
>
>
> Thanks for your input. I found this list of early writers, and their 
> understanding of the name from the Greek.
>
>
>
>   Diodorus Siculus writes Jao  (I, 94);
>
>   Origin ("in Joh.", II,  1, in P.G., XIV, col. 105), Jao;
>
>   the Valentinian heretics (Ir.,  "Adv. Haer.", I, iv, 1, in P.G., VII, 
> col. 481), Jao;
>
>   Irenaeus ("Adv. Haer.",  II, xxxv, 3, in P. G., VII, col. 840), Jaoth;
>
>   Clement of Alexandria ("Strom.",  V, 6, in P.G., IX, col. 60), Jaou;
>
>   Epiphanius ("Adv. Haer.",  I, iii, 40, in P.G., XLI, col. 685), Ja or 
> Jabe;
>
>   the Samaritans (Theodoret, in "Ex.  quaest.", xv, in P. G., LXXX, col. 
> 244), Jabe;
>
>   Pseudo-Jerome ("Breviarium in  Pss.", in P.L., XXVI, 828), Jaho;
>
>   James of Edessa (cf.. Lamy, "La  science catholique", 1891, p. 196), 
> Jehjeh;
>
>   Porphyry (Eus., "Praep.  evang", I, ix, in P.G., XXI, col. 72), Jeuo;
>
>        Jerome  ("Ep. xxv ad Marcell.", in P. L., XXII, col. 429) speaks 
> of certain ignorant Greek  writers who transcribed the Hebrew Divine name 
> II I II I.
>
>
>   It appears that their renderings vary a bit according to the above list. 
> Do you have any understanding of why this might be?
>
>
> Thanks,
>  Gene
>




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