Hallelu-YaH - all honor to YaHUaHNL versie
  

The Significant Name of God (14)

The myth of the missing vowels

André H. Roosma
7 June 2020 (NL original: 8 Oct. 2015)

The glorious Name of God, יהוה - YaHUaH 1 consists of four letters in Hebrew. The theory often taught is that the Hebrew ’aleph-bet consists only of consonants, and that the original Hebrew script had no vowels. Therefore, it is also thought that God’s glorious Name consists of con­sonants only, and thus, the glorious Name is usually transliterated (that is, in this case: transferred letter by letter to our alphabet) as YHWH.

However, the theory that the oldest Hebrew script knew only consonants is a myth. It is based on the fact that people have not looked back far enough and have reasoned on the false assumption that a sign represents either a vowel or a consonant. The most ancient script, from which the Paleo-Hebrew ’aleph-bet is derived, was a script where each sign represented a consonant and a vowel. I am referring here to the collection of characters that appear on West Semitic inscriptions excavated near Byblos. One of the scientists who has made a very in-depth study of the various excavated West Semitic inscriptions from the second millennium BC (or even before) speaks of the oldest form as a logo syllabary (i.e. of which the characters can represent either a whole word (logos) or a syllable).2

It is well known among scientists who study the historical development of languages ​​(historical linguists or whatever you want to call them) that older aspects of a language have often been better preserved in historical names than in other words. So in this situation it is good, to especially look at old Biblical names. And there too, we see the use of letters as vowels or as a combination of a vowel and a consonant, ever since ancient times. Some examples:

  • יה - YaH or IaH = yad: arm with open hand, branch ah: human figure with raised hands and bent knees = Ia/Ya + ah contracted to YaH, the short Name of God;
  • אדם - ’Adam = ’alp: ox head dalt: door, entrance mu: water, abundance = ’A - da - mu (the final -u was common in the older East Semitic and probably is original; when we change that ending to the feminine form, we get the word ’a - da - m - ah = earth; often considered in parallel as primal mother / matriarch);
  • חוה - Chuah = chet: tent-canvas wawu: tent pin ah: human figure with raised hands and bent knees = Ch - u - ah (according to the Jewish explanation: Cha - ww - ah, but regarding early transliterations into other languages, it must have been Chuah) = Eve;
  • שמואל - Shemu’el = shad: breasts, spring, source mu: water, abundance wawu: tent pin ’alp: ox head lam: shepherd's staff = she - m - u - ’e - l = Samuel;
  • רות - Rut = raisu: head (sideways) wawu: tent pin tav: cross-sign = R - u - t (see ‘Namen in de Bijbel (3)’ on the Dutch sister-site);
  • יונה - Jonah = yad: arm with open hand, branch wawu: tent pin nun: seed ah: human figure with raised hands and bent knees = J - u/o - n - ah;
  • חורי - Chori of Churi = chet: tent canvas wawu: tent pin raisu: head (sideways) yad: arm with open hand, branch = Ch - u/o - r - i;
  • אליהוא - ’Elihu = ’alp: ox head lam: herdersstaf yad: arm with open hand, branch ah: human figure with raised hands and bent knees wawu: tent pin ’alp: ox head = ’E - l - i - h - u - ’;
  • אהוד - ’Ehud = ’alp: ox head ah: human figure with raised hands and bent knees wawu: tent pin dalt: door, entrance = ’E - h - u - d;
  • דינה - Dinah = dalt: door, entrance yad: arm with open hand, branch nun: seed ah: human figure with raised hands and bent knees = D - i - n - ah.

In these names the use of the ו wav as vowel u (oo), the י yod as vowel i, and the ה he as combination ah are particularly striking. So, even from the earliest phase of Hebrew, these letters had a function as a vowel as well, or as a vowel-consonant combination.

Against the background of the above, it is not surprising that Josephus, a high priest from the first century of our era, told us very clearly that the glorious Name consisted not of four consonants, but of four vowels.3 So, to pronounce the glorious Name of the God of Israel, we do not need to add any vowels at all anymore!
Also in the Talmud – in which the authors want to urge us to not pro­nounce the glorious Name – we find the note that the glorious Name may not be pronounced according to its own letters. This also implies that pronunciation is possible without adding additional vowels, although the Talmud-writers considered this as undesirable.

So, which four vowels are the ones involved? Well, as we saw above, the four Hebrew characters constituting The Name have these significations as vowels: י = i, ה = a, usually with an h-sound added, so: ah, ו = u (oo) and again ה = ah. The pronounciation then becomes I-ah-oo-ah, often written as YaHUaH.

Hallelu YaHUaH !


Notes

1 The names in the Bible have meaning. That is why I transliterate them carefully so that they remain recognizable. Especially the glorious Name of God I represent here as accurately as possible from the oldest Hebrew original, instead of replacing this grand personal Name of The Most High by a common word, such as ‘Lord’. For more background information see:
André H. Roosma, ‘The wonderful and lovely Name of the God Who was there, Who is there, and Who will be there.pdf document, extensive Accede! / Hallelu-YaH! study, July 2009.
2 See a.o. these artiles by Brian E. Colless:
The Origin of the Alphabet: An Examination of the Goldwasser Hypothesis’, Antiguo Oriente, Vol.12, 2014; ISSN 1667-9202; p.71–104. A recent and extensive article about it.
Recent Discoveries Illuminating the Origin of the Alphabet’, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Vol.26, 1988; p.30-67.
Proto-Alphabetic Inscriptions from the Wadi Arabah.pdf document, Antiguo Oriente, Vol.8, 2010; ISSN 1667-9202; p.75-96.
3 Josephus wrote: “A mitre also of fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue ribbon, about which there was another golden crown, in which was engraven the sacred name [of God]: it consists of four vowels (φωνήεντα τέσσαρα - phoneënta tessara).” (Wars of the Jews, Book 5, Ch.5, pt.7).

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