Whats the difference between YHWH and YHVH ?

by lurk3r 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  lurk3r
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  Psychotic Parrot

  YHVH is how a German would say it.
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  Narkissos

  None. Latin transliterations of the Hebrew tetragrammaton were either IHVH or JHVH, with Latin I/J being equivalent to English Y and Latin V to English W. As an English transliteration YHWH is more consistent, YHVH being a mix of English and Latin transliterations.
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  villabolo

  I'm not a scholar but I know that there is not always a direct correspondence between two letters in different languages. It is sometimes a toss up as to which letter represents which sound the best in any given language. Example the chinese have a consonant that is somewhere between l and r in the english language making it difficult to pronounce our r.

  Bottom line YHWH is the same as YHVH the difference between V and W being small.
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  Reslight

  The big difference is that one has a "W" where the other one has a "V". This is speaking from the English alphabet standpoint. While there are many theories and assumptions presented by some who claim to know exactly what sound in English is represented by the corresponding Hebrew letters, in reality, we probably only have an approximation of those sounds represented by whatever English letters we use to correspond with similar sounds as they were originally spoken in the Hebrew. Nor do we know how the Hebrew sounds might have changed over the centuries of the Old Testament times. Some argue that the English vowels that should be supplied should be "a" and "e", giving us Yahweh or Yahveh. Others present some strong arguments that the Masoretic text is correct in the usgage of the vowel points, and thus an argument is made for Yehowah, or Yehovah. The two most commonly used renderings of the tetragrammaton into English are "Yahweh" (based on the Greek) and "Jehovah" (based on the Hebrew Masoretic text). However, it is not completely correct to say that either one of these are Hebrew; they are both English renderings of the same holy name. Similarly, we have two commonly used renderings of the name of the Son of God (and the son of Nun), that is, "Jesus" and "Joshua". Both are acceptable renderings, and should be viewed as variations of the same name, not as two separate names. Jesus is based on the Latin, while Joshua is based more on the Hebrew. The point is that names do change in pronunciation from language to language. Some make a big deal about "Jehovah" being an English name, and claim that Yahweh is an Hebrew name, etc. This is nonsense. Many, if not most, linguists refer to these changes in pronunciation from language to language and variations of the same name.
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  Narkissos

  Reslight

  As you extend the discussion beyond the original question, I think you're stepping back a bit too fast. All "variations" are not necessarily equal.

  Others present some strong arguments that the Masoretic text is correct in the usgage of the vowel points, and thus an argument is made for Yehowah, or Yehovah.

  The usage of the Masoretic text actually varies from one manuscript to another and within single manuscripts (if I'm not mistaken there must be five or six different vowel pointings of the tetragrammaton in the Leningrad Codex alone); more importantly, it cannot be deemed "correct" apart from its explicit function as perpetual qere', i.e. as a reminder for a substitution (whether it is 'adonay or shema' or anything else).

  "Jehovah" (based on the Hebrew Masoretic text).

  Based on a misreading of the Hebrew MT (see above). Even if one of the Masoretic usages happened to be a correct reflection of an older pronunciation that would be a coincidence.

  Similarly, we have two commonly used renderings of the name of the Son of God (and the son of Nun), that is, "Jesus" and "Joshua". Both are acceptable renderings, and should be viewed as variations of the same name, not as two separate names. Jesus is based on the Latin, while Joshua is based more on the Hebrew.

  As I recall, there is a variation within the Hebrew MT from Yehoshua` to Yeshua`, and in the Greek LXX Ièsous (which is closer to the latter) stands for both (regardless of the character, e.g. the son of Nun or the son of Yehoçadaq).
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  minimus

  a letter
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  Quirky1

  Dammit Min! You beat me to it!