Don’t you know that the full vowels for Yehovah have been found thousands of times in ancient Hebrew manuscripts? Because of these amazing finds the name of Yahweh is not accurate.

Q     Don’t you know that the full vowels for Yehovah have been found thousands of times in ancient Hebrew manuscripts? Because of these amazing finds the name of Yahweh is not accurate.

 

A     Many who tell us this do not understand Hebrew or the concept of Kativ Qere. Qere and Ketiv are orthographic devices that were used by the Masoretes, i.e., Jewish scribes from the 6-10th centuries. Qere means, “what is read,” and ketiv means, “what is written.” It is found in existing Masoretic manuscripts dating to the 9th and 10th centuries, CE. There are several forms of Qere / Ketiv, including: ordinary, vowel, omitted, added, euphemistic, split, and qere perpetuum. Basically, the scribes would insert the vowels for Adonai or Elohim into the text so the reader would see the vowels for Adonai or Elohim as they came upon the tetragrammaton YHWH and would read either Adonai or Elohim based on the vowels written. See professor William Barrick explain this concept: https://youtu.be/jar1KQhG5dU?t=202

Many who push this idea will point to a claim that a certain Karaite Jew found the “full” vowels indicating the name Yehovah. What many do not understand is that in every instance and example of the name Yehovah we also see another name Yehovih. This is because the vowels for Adonai in the tetragrammaton read Yehovah and the vowels for Elohim in the tetragrammaton read Yehovih. Let’s go through some examples. If you do not have a basic concept of biblical Hebrew this may seem a bit complex.

יְהֹוִה
In 1Kings 2:26 we see the full vowels for Elohim in the text with the shewa, holem, and hireq (see above). In this instance the hateph seghol reverts to a simple shewa under the yod exactly as it does with the combination for Yehovah. This hateph vowel reverted to a simple shewa because the compound shewa was not needed under the yod as it is under the guttural aleph. This is the rule, however, there are exceptions. “Gutturals cannot take Vocal Shewa, but do take reduced (Hateph) vowels.” Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Chapter 2L – Hebrew Vowels. This is a rare occurrence, just as the rare occurrence of the full vowels of Adonai with the vocal shewa under the yod that we see in Genesis 3:14. (Pronunciation above: Yehovih with the full vowels for Elohim with the initial vocal shewa under the yod) biblehub.com/interlinear/1_kings/2-26.htm

יֱהֹוִה
In Judges 16:28 we see the full vowels for Elohim but in this case the hateph seghol does not revert to a simple shewa under the yod. This may be due to the fact that the title Adonai precedes the tetragrammaton and could lead to the reader saying Adonai twice, but this isn’t always the rule. (Pronunciation above: Yehovih with the full vowels for Elohim retaining the hateph seghol under the yod) biblehub.com/interlinear/judges/16-28.htm

יְהוִה
In Ezekiel 24:24 the tetragrammaton loses the holem and reverts to the shewa just as we see many times with the pointing for Adonai. See Genesis 2:4 for an example of this (יְהוָה) in your interlinear biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/2-4.htm (Pronunciation above: Yehvih with the vowels for Elohim minus the holem above the first heh) biblehub.com/interlinear/ezekiel/24-24.htm

יֱהוִה
In Genesis 15:2 the holem has been removed and the yod retains the hateph seghol. (Pronunciation above: Yehvih with the yod retaining the hatepeh seghol and the holem removed above the first heh) biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/15-2.htm
These examples above show vowel point combinations for Elohim in every aspect the same as we see with the vowel point combinations for Adonai (Yehovah). There is nothing special about the full vowels written as Yehovah any more than you could say the full vowels written as Yehovi (Yehovi) are indications of the proper name. One could use the same arguments and contend that the name Yehovih is proper. In most cases we see the holem dropped in both with only partial vowels. The scribe’s intent was never to put the proper pronunciation of the name of Yahweh in the text, but simply to use these vowels as code to either speak Elohim or Adonai rather than Yahweh.
One thing is for sure, we don’t see the vowel combination for Yahweh ever used in the text. The reason is simple – the scribes were hiding the name and this is what many today do not understand because of a false narrative to push the erroneous name Jehovah or Yehovah, which has been proven incorrect for decades. If we did see this vowel combination for Yahweh, then we would know instantly that this could not be the proper pronunciation. By simple deduction we can prove the name Yahweh by what “isn’t” in the text.

יְהֹוָה
Conclusion: The name Yehovah (above) was popularized by a narrative that a certain Karaite Jew found the full vowels of Yehovah as he was in the bowels of the Hebrew University, reading the Aleppo codex on 911, at the exact moment the planes were hitting the World trade Center. This narrative was of course to dazzle you into believing that this was a miracle in the making. The proper name has “now” been found by a supernatural event he excitingly proclaimed. Now that narrative is changed from one obscure, amazing find to literally thousands of occurrences. The narrative had to change, because the “full” vowels pointed for Adonai is not completely uncommon. Unfortunately, many do not see the elephant in the room. Was this man ignorant of all these occurrences? Most who follow him do not know Hebrew, although claiming to be in the “Hebrew Roots,” so how can he possibly be fact checked? You can’t have it both ways, it can’t be a scribal error and be everywhere at the same time. Maybe he wasn’t purposely trying to mislead? Maybe he was just ignorant that these vowels were not so obscure after all? Maybe with so many people finding examples of these “full vowels,” he had egg on his face and was forced to change the narrative? Why do his followers not ask these most basic of questions? In only the third chapter in the Bible, Genesis 3:14 in the Masoretic text (Leningrad Codex), we see the full vowels for Adonai (Yehovah) – shewa, holem, and qamets. They have been there for hundreds of years but only on 911 does he find them in the Aleppo codex! Don’t be sold a false bill of goods – a square peg in a round holem.

Note: Every instance above in which the 6th letter “waw” was used, we translated a “v” for consistency to the name Yehovah. In Biblical Hebrew, however, the 6th letter has a “w” sound as taught by every accredited biblical Hebrew class in the world, the foremost being the Hebrew university, Jerusalem. See: https://yrm.org/the-sixth-letter-waw-or-vav/

Biblehub Interlinear referenced above is based on the Leningrad Codex, 1008 CE. biblehub.com/interlinear

Posted in Q&A - Sacred name.
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2 years ago

[…] name but replace the name with Adonai and Elohim through an orthographic device called Kativ Qere. (See full vowels of Adonai vs. Elohim question) This is used in every synagogue every Sabbath as the torah is read.  To date, we have never seen […]