The pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton according to Gérard Gertoux (page 2)

neyank

Hi Mary.

"the reason no one today knows how to pronounce His name, is because in ancient Hebrew there were no vowels, hence, no one today is quite sure how the YHVH should be pronounced."

Of course you are right about this.

My point was that if God wanted His name to be known and used He would have made it so when they were translating the scriptures into english and other languages.

Now it can't be too dificult for God to make sure of that if it was important.

neyank

NeonMadman

Sooo Gertoux is a JW after all! That was my first impression, but when I asked him he did not admit to being one (did not deny either). Not exactly "in line with the organization" though.

I note that, in the samples from the book presented on his web page, routine Bible quotations are taken from the NWT. I'd take that, also, as a pretty strong indication that the author is a JW.

AlanF

Narkissos, I'm not sure whether Gertoux is a JW or not. I misspoke when I said he's on a JW-only email list. The list is oriented toward JWs but they let others on, too. My impression is that Gertoux is not a JW but is sympathetic toward them. The JWs on the list don't seem to address him the same as they do their fellow JWs.

AlanF

Narkissos

AlanF: on Earnest's link too Gertoux is mentioned as a JW...

Gertoux is not a Bible scholar though. On the other hand, Rolf Furuli seems to be one, and when I read "Rolf Furuli's an elder" (Euph) I couldn't help thinking of him sitting in a judicial committee for some "apostasy" hearing...

Earnest

Here is the review of the book which I referred to in my previous post :

THE NAME OF GOD Y.eH.oW.Ah WHICH IS PRONOUNCED AS IT IS WRITTEN I_Eh_oU_Ah: ITS STORY. By Gérad Gertoux. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2002. Pp. ix + 328. $47.00, ISBN 0-7618-2204-6.

In contrast to the long-held Jewish tradition, the author claims that the name of God in the HB should be pronounced. His claim is based on Exod 9:16, " . to make my name resound through all the earth" and Maimonides' work, stressing the impossibility of a deep, personal relationship with a nameless God. With a survey of the historical record from "Adam" to the American Standard Version, Gertoux argues that the letters Y, W, H are read as the vowels I (or E), U (or O), and A. For the H, a mute e could be added in order to be better heard. The tetragrammaton, YHWH, is therefore read I-eH-U-A (Iehoua), the equivalent of YeHoWaH in Masoretic punctuation. This means that the name is to be pronounced as it is written, or according to its letters. The result is that the tetragrammaton is the only Hebrew name constituted, not of four consonants, but of four vowels, as noted by Josephus. This detailed treatment of the Name is useful for those who are interested in the history of its translation over the centuries.

Won W. Lee [Associate Professor of Old Testament]
Calvin College [Grand Rapids, Michigan]

Religious Studies Review Volume 29, Number 3, July 2003, page 285, published by the Council on the Study of Religion, Valparaiso University.

I note that there are a number of other reviews which Gertoux refers to on his website. Golden Age Books (which is included in the reviews) is run by a JW (as you may guess from the name) and the reference to Bruce Metzger is slightly misleading as Gertoux is only mentioned in the footnote. Nevertheless, the remaining reviews seem to be objective and indicate his book is worth reading.

Earnest

AlanF

I was just informed by a scholarly JW that Gertoux is indeed a JW.

AlanF

wasasister

Alan F says:

Gertoux occasionally posts to a JW-only email list that I subscribe to.

Oxymoron if I ever heard one.

onacruse

wasa:

Oxymoron if I ever heard one.

roflmao!!!!!!

I'm reminded of Asimov's "The Nine Billion Names of God."

Narkissos

The result is that the tetragrammaton is the only Hebrew name constituted, not of four consonants, but of four vowels, as noted by Josephus.

Sounds like phonetic nonsense which could only emerge when the name had already slipped out of common language into esoteric / magic use (probably via an intermediary "liturgical-only" stage).

Another problem for Gertoux, I guess, is that with his three-syllable pronunciation the approximate pun in Exodus 3 ('ehyeh) is made even worse...

Tenacious

I realize it's been 15 years since this thread was started but I wanted all to know that this maggot Gerard Gertoux is indeed a JW and nowhere near a scholar although he likes to pretend he is. Be careful my dear Christian brothers.

This imbecile wants to shove the satanic name of "Jehovah" down Christian's throats when it's not even close to how the sacred name would have been pronounced.

For those that are interested and something he completely overlooks, on purpose I might add, is that "Yah" or "Jah" is mentioned many times in the Old Testament which is derived from the word "HalleluJAH." Which is inline with what Christian scholars have been saying all along about the sacred name being spelled something like "Jahweh." So in effect, saying "Hallelujah" is saying praise God or God be praised.

Okay, I'm done

The pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton according to Gérard Gertoux

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