Yahweh vs. Jehovah
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
A previous generation pronounced God's
name as Jehovah, not Yahweh. The American Standard Version of 1901 actually used
the word Jehovah whenever God's name appeared in the Old Testament. But today
the correct pronunciation and spelling is believed to be Yahweh. Why the change?
Fasten your seat belt; this gets technical fast.
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.
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). Here are the steps that moved us from the (presumed) original Yahweh
to Jehovah.
1. Substitution of Adonai for YHWH
Probably the early Israelites actually pronounced the name
Yahweh. 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.
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).
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.
To this day, orthodox Jews avoid even spelling God, and
render it G-d out of reverence. They refer to YHWH as the Ineffable Name, the
Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. The first step in the transition from
Yahweh to Jehovah was the substitution of Adonai for Yahweh when the Scripture
was read.
2. Vowel Pointing to Indicate Pronunciation
The second step was vowel pointing to indicate
pronunciation. As mentioned, early Hebrew had no vowels, only consonants. 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.
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.
The Hebrew Bible with their vowel points is known as the
Masoretic text. But ancient Hebrew (such as found in Hebrew manuscripts from the
Dead Sea Scrolls) and modern Hebrew use no such vowel points.
3. Vowel Points for Adonai in YHWH
The third step occurred when the vowel points for Adonai
were substituted in YHWH. 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.
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.
Here's what happened: Presumed correct vowel pointing for
Yahweh YaHWeH Vowel pointing for Adonai (inserted into the Tetragrammaton)
YeHoWaH
4. Shift in Latin and Some European Languages from "I" and
"Y" to "J"
The fourth step involved a shift in Latin, English, and
French (and perhaps other European languages from "I" to "J." Originally Latin
had no "J." But in the Late Roman period a "J" was introduced. At first it was
considered the same as the "I" but was used at the end of words that ended with
"I."2
Following the French conquest of England in the Battle of
Hastings (1066 AD), French and Latin influence increased in England. But from
the early 1200s through the 1700s, "J" sound was slowly replacing "I" in words
that began with "I," especially where "I" was used as a consonant.
Names like Iames became James, Iakob became Jacob, and
Yohan became John. In addition, Ioshua became Joshua and Iehouah became Jehovah.
The pronunciation didn't necessarily change at the same time as the letter
change.
You can see the shift from I to J in the chart below. The
King James Version uses Jehovah by itself only four times: Exodus 6:3; Psalm
83:18; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4. In addition, the KJV version includes the word Jehovah
in compound names three times: Genesis 22:14; Exodus 17:15; and Judges 6:24.
I have compared these verses, plus passages that show the
spelling of Joshua and Jesus in several early English translations. By 1611 when
the King James Version was published, the shift from I to J was fairly complete.
5. Shift in Pronunciation of the J Sound
Finally, while pronunciation didn't necessarily change at
the same time as the shift from "I" to "J," gradually the spelling of the words
probably began to influence their pronunciation. In Germany, the "J" has a "Y"
sound. In Spain the "J" is silent. But in English, the "J" developed to have a
harder sound, that in the Divine Name developed into our present pronunciation
of Jehovah.
Hopefully this long explanation helps you see how the
presumed original Yahweh came to be pronounced as Jehovah, both with the
different vowel sounds and with a "J" instead of "Y" at the beginning
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