Chapter 9

Evidence for Yahweh

Several Early Greek Writers?

What's wrong with the following statement? "Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced Yahweh." The Modern Judaica Encyclopedia, Vol. 7 p. 679
YHWH is a Hebrew name!

On the surface the above quote sounds pious doesn't it? Very few scholars detected anything. Who were these Greek writers?

"The pronunciation, Yahweh, is indicated by the transliteration of the name into Greek in early Christian literature. . .'by Clement of Alexandria, and by Theodoret. . . . Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only name of god." The New Bible Dictionary p. 478 by J.D. Douglas. Not mentioned in the quote, but also used for evidence for Yahweh, is Epiphanius (who wrote Iabe) and Origen who wrote (Iae).

The Catholic Church quoted fairly:"... Judging from Greek transcriptions, the Set-Apart Name .. . YHWH ought to be pronounced Yahweh." ⁸

Gesenius stated in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon "this same form appears on the gems of the Egyptian Gnostics as the name of God . . .[but these gems are not of the most remote antiquity; they are the work of heretics of the second and third centuries]." (brackets not supplied) under #3068 Jehovah

Clement of Alexandria was a teacher of the Gnostic's; Origen was one of his students. The Masons and Catholics alike claim Clement, Origen, Theodoret and Epiphanius as the forefathers of their faith.

Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24) was the father of Gnostic heresies, also pseudo-messiah, he was a teacher who went to Rome and taught angelology and astrology.

The school in Alexandria was mixing paganism in the true apostolic faith and promoting "sun worship." It was the school of Gnosticism that prepared the way for the Papacy to be established. Constantine was also a Gnostic Christian. Some of their heretical beliefs:

Predestination from astrology! The body could never be saved! That prophets were not dependable for inspiration! They believed in magic! Believed in speaking in tongues like today's charismatics, which does not edify believers in truth! Sprinkling instead of baptism by immersion! Sunday worship! Hatred for the Torah!

The Jesuits restored Gnosticism in the Council of Trent:

"The Society of Jesus proposed to subordinate the Holy Scriptures and in their place substitute the interpretations of the Bible by the ecclesiastical writers of the first centuries whom they call the 'fathers'. All the errors and vagaries of the allegorizers who confused and darkened the first three centuries were selected. The first great papal council which assembled after the Reformation, the Council of Trent (A.D. 1545-1563), was dominated by the Jesuits. This assembly laid down the law, and no papal authority has dared since to dispute it." Truth Triumphant p. 317

Why use Greek writers for evidence anyway? Greeks were notorious for altering Hebrew names.

Compare Hebrew and Greek Names

Notice the "a" ending in Hebrew vs. "e" in Greek!

The Roman Catholic Douay version was largely based on the Greek Septuagint and thus many names ended with an "e".

Though the Greeks loved to walk around in white pretentious robes, our Creator labeled them as a kingdom with spots "like a leopard." Dan. 7:6. Can the leopard change his spots? (Jer. 13:23). How then can they do good that are accustomed to do evil, including changing names? Our Creator knew that the Grecians would seek to remove the children of Israel far from their border! YAHUSHUA is coming back for a glorious congregation "not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph 5:27

In the last days our Creator said: "I will turn to the people a pure language." For what purpose? "That they may call upon the name of YAHUWAH, to serve Him with one consent." Zephaniah 3:9. What language should we consult to derive the true pronunciation of the set-apart name? Certainly not the Greek! However Scripture tells us which language it is.

Thus saith YAHUWAH of hosts, "In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all the languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Yahudi, saying, 'We will go with you: for we have heard that Elohim is with you.'" Zechariah 8:23. It seems strange that scholars only mention the evidence of the early Greek writers. Why do they not give all the other evidences?

The evidence from Origen is "Iae", but this was also the name of a pagan god. In the Dictionary of World Mythology by Cotterell under Kuat, who is "The sun god in Kamaiuran mythology." We find that "Iae" was the moon god, and brother to Kuat. Strange that Origen came up with this, when Clement his teacher used Iaoue.

"Clement, most famous of the Alexandrian college faculty and teacher of Origen, boasted that he would not teach Christianity unless it were mixed with pagan philosophy." Truth Triumphant p. 47

The Greek language does not even have a "Y" sound, or an H sound in the middle of a word, nor a W, nor an "sh" sound. Neither did the Latin have a W sound, nor an "sh" sound. Therefore many early believers contended that the Messiah's name could only be pronounced from the Hebrew correctly.

Celsus, a pagan editorialist who lived about 185 C. E., finds fault with Christians, and so reports that many of their beliefs are from Jews, paganism and folly. Upon reading through his book, however, it is obvious that what Celsus calls "Christian" is not always what we would call a believer today. Celsus lumps everybody together. Celsus is obviously categorizing together both those who claim to be Christians and those in the Faith once transmitted to the Apostles. Regardless of the distinction, he comments, "... they assume that by pronouncing the name of their teacher they are armored against the powers of the earth and air and that their God will send armies to protect them....And they are quite insistent on the efficacy of the name as a means of protection: pronounce it improperly, they say, and it is ineffective. Greek and Latin will not do; it must be said in a barbaric tongue to work." Celsus, On the True Doctrine, [Joseph Hoffman, Translator, Oxford University Press, 1987] page 118.

Since Celsus ridicules the Jewish faith and the Jewish race, it seems he considered them to be the lowest forms of human life on earth. Thus, the language referred to as "barbaric" can be none other than Hebrew.

The fact is that the early Gnostic Greek writers did not speak according to the law and the testimony. How could they? They hated it. Thus they had no light in them. If you ask the Greek writers what the set-apart name is, you will get several different answers. Some would say, Iaoue, or Iape, or Iao, or Iae, or, Iaoth, or as Philo, the one who amalgamated Judaism and mythology producing Gnosticism said, the name was "leuo". Does it seem like they really knew what the set-apart name was!?!

"Alexandria and Antioch were always antagonists, Alexandria presenting a mystical transcendentalism and promoting the allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures; Antioch insisting on the grammatico-historical interpretation of the Scriptures, and having no sympathy with mystical modes of thought." A Manuel of Church History, Vol. 1, p. 297

This quotation shows a bit of the background of what we are dealing with concerning the name Yahweh. Clement of Alexandria said: "The name of God too, among the Greeks, contains four letters." Stromata, Book V Chap. VI. The English text shows "Jave".

Often, it can be seen in various literature like the Catholic Encyclopedia and The Jehovah Witness Bible- the elegant edition where they show the form "Jahve". We have already seen how the "J" began having a "g" sound about the middle of the 17th century; before that it was a fancy i, often having a y sound. Earlier words with "J" were spelled with "I", thus Jove would be spelled Iove and pronounced Yahve, the priests have introduced it to the Spanish community as Yave.

According to Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary, under the word ALLELUIAH, we learn that "Io" is a corruption of Jah or Yah.

How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?

"There are two opinions as to what was the actual pronunciation of the set-apart name while Hebrew was still a spoken language. On the one hand, we may gather from the contemporary Assyrian monuments that it was pronounced "Yahu." Wherever an Israelitish name is met with in the cuneiform inscriptions which, like Jehu or Hezekiah is compounded with the heavenly title, the latter appears as Yahu; Jehu being Yahua, and Hezekiah Khazaki-yahu. Even according to the Masoretes it must be read Yeho (that is, Yahu) when it forms part of a proper name. The early Greek characters, wrote Iao (that is, Yaho). On the other hand, the four consonants, YHVH, can hardly have been pronounced otherwise, than as Yahveh; and this pronunciation is supported by the two Greek writers Theodoret and Epiphanios, who say that the word was sounded Yave. The form Yahveh, however, is incompatible with the form Yahu (Yeho), which appears in proper names." The Century Cyclopedia (1900)

However, Professor Eerdman's article showed that it is not safe to follow the Samaritan pronunciation advocated by Theodoret and Epiphanius, because the Samaritans were opposed to the Jewish way. "They built their own temple on Gerizim and had their own priesthood. They thwarted the Jews whenever they could. On the count of their attitude, we may safely assume that the Samaritans had their own [different] pronunciation of the holy name. For this reason the Samaritan pronunciation should not have been regarded [by modem scholars] as evidence for the Jewish pronunciation." Quoted in The Good News Nov-Dec 1972 (Magazine of The World Wide Church of God).

References

8) The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 14 p. 1065

Chapter 10 / Index