************************************************************************* *From the Out Basket Last month we provided a pronunciation guide to help with Hebrew words frequently used on the Tree of Life and in certain rituals. This time the topic is a bit more arcane, but it is a logical extension of what has gone before. Of all the questions about pronunciation, probably the single most frequent address the Tetragrammaton itself. Unfortunately, there is no clear and simple answer. In what follows, twelve pronunciations of the Tetragrammaton will be discussed. Of these, six will be developed in full and the remaining six are related to those by one simple variation: a silent Heh on the end of the word, or one pronounced --- thus providing twelve pronunciations of Tetragrammaton. Elohim is also discussed here, and more briefly, Adonai. All the vowel pointings discussed here and those of the other divine names on the Tree of Life can be seen on the illustration following this presentation in the printed edition --- not available in the electronic edition. TETRAGRAMMATON, THE LOST WORD ELOHIM, THE LOST GODS Adapted from the MS: "32 Emanations and the Tree of Life" by Bill Heidrick, 1975 e.v., all rights reserved. Yahweh Elohim, Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh Aleph-Lamed-Heh-Yod-Memfinal, is the divine name of Binah, the third Sephira. The first part, Yahweh, is also pronounced "Jehovah" and a number of other ways. This first part is the Tetragrammaton, the Great Name of four letters. Tradition says that this name has a secret pronunciation. The "true" pronunciation of this Shem, or divine name, was lost during the destruction of the Temple of Solomon. There are several less well attested traditions that the pronunciation of Tetragrammaton has been preserved secretly to the present day. There are several standardized pronunciations with many minor variations. Several ways for pronouncing Yahweh use vowels from Elohim. The other major variations use vowel pointing from Adonai. When the Elohim vowels are used, the result is represented in English by "Yahweh". The Adonai form is often spelled "Jehovah" in English. The Adonai form means, with minor variation in sound, "He Is" or "She Is". The Elohim form can mean: "He is", "She is", "He Creates", or "She Creates". If the vowel point "Seghol" is replaced with the rare vowel point "Qamas Qatan" for the last letter, the pronunciation changes slightly; and the meaning becomes "She Creates". Some sources leave the final Heh silent, while others put a dot called "Mapiq" inside the letter so that it will be pronounced. When a dot appears in the center of other letters, it is called a "Daghesh", and has a different effect. Heh never takes the Daghesh. Mapiq indicates that the Heh is a consonant, otherwise it acts as a vowel carrier. Daghesh either may indicate that a letter is doubled in pronunciation or that it takes aspirate pronunciation. Daghesh only doubles letters following short vowels. In the variations given immediately below, Mapiq has been used. Without Mapiq, the final "H" is silent. Yahweh (Jehovah) is the most frequently used divine name in the Torah. Yahweh, meaning "He Is" --- Ye-Veh --- Both e's like in met. V like w in wind. Yahweh, meaning "She Is" --- Ye-Voh --- e like in met. o like in born. Yahweh, meaning "He Creates" --- Ya-He-Veh --- a like in bard. First e like first e in believe. Last e like in met. Yaweh, meaning "She Creates" --- Ya-He-Voh --- a like in bard. e like first e in Believe. o like in born. Elohim, the second part of the Binah divine name, has only one Sephardic pronunciation; but there are unusual complications with the meaning. Most English translations of the Old Testament render "Elohim" as "God". This oversimplifies and hides a strong suggestion of polytheism under bland monotheism. Elohim is a plural form of Eloh. Eloh means "Goddess". The suffix "-im" is the plural ending used for many masculine nouns. If the word Elohim occurred only once in the Bible, this combination of a masculine plural on a feminine singular noun would easily be dismissed as a copier's error. However, Elohim is used to represent the deity in more that 30% of the divine namings in the Bible. Only Yahweh (Jehovah) is used more often. Elohim is also the first divine name used in Genesis (First chapter, first verse, third word in the Hebrew). The obvious conclusion regarding this name is that an unusual meaning is intended. Orthodox Jewish and Christian argument tries to dismiss the plural meaning of Elohim by saying that a plural can mean "great" and need not mean "more than one". In support of this, the orthodox note that kings, emperors, presidents and popes often refer to themselves as "We" ("We order...", "We believe...", etc.). Authors and teachers occasionally use the plural to represent themselves or their "professional opinion." This argument fails on analysis. The plural applied to one person often means that one person is speaking for his colleagues (a teacher, author, or monarch speaking for other teachers, authors, or monarchs). Another use of the plural for one person is intended to place that person in a tradition or historic line (When a king says "We" he may be saying "I am now speaking as the current monarch of this royal house. The previous and future monarchs of this royal house would say the same thing."). In Roman times, the plural was often used to mean that a famous person shared his fame with his family and that his name would be multiplied through the generations. When a human being is believed to have a familiar spirit, genius or spiritual inspiration, the plural is often applied to the combination. In every case, the use of the plural for one person refers directly or indirectly to some multiple aspect and not to one individual alone. The use of a word meaning "Goddess" as the basis of Elohim greatly complicates any attempt to dismiss the plural ending on this name. A few Christians have suggested that Elohim represents the divine trinity of "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." "Eloh" represents a feminine Holy Spirit; while the plural masculine ending "-im" represents the Father and the Son. A simpler theory says that the Elohim are angels who perform the work of creation at the direction of Yahweh-Jehovah. The latter view is supported by frequent appearance of Jehovah (or Yahweh) Elohim in the Bible. When these two words are in combination, it is usual to pronounce Yahweh as Jehovah. This adds the vowels of Adonai to a divine name using Elohim. For general use of this pair of divine names, that's good. For use of these two names as a compound name for the Sephira Binah, it is better to use the vowels of Elohim for the Tetragrammaton. The pronunciation then follows the Yahweh Elohim style and allows for a meaning, "He (or She) creates gods and goddesses." Elohim --- Elo-Him --- E as in met but shorter. o as in bore. i as in police. Last syllable louder. If Jehovah is pronounced with the Adonai vowels so that the meaning is "He Is", this is the method: Ye-Ho-Vah --- e like first in believe. o like in bore. v like English w. a like in father. Accent last. To provide a meaning "She Is", nearly the same vowel points are used; but the last one, Qamas Gadol, is replaced by Qamas Qatan. The resulting change in sound is hardly detectable in Ashkenazic pronunciation, but there is a distinct change in Sephardic: Ye-Ho-Voh --- e like first in believe. First o like in bore. v like English w. Last o like in born. Accent last. The strong link between "Jehovah" and "Adonai" goes beyond sharing vowel points. The Orthodox Jews usually say "Adonai" in place of "Jehovah" when reading the Tetragrammaton aloud. English translations often render Jehovah as "Lord", the proper translation of Adonai. This practice is explained as a showing of respect. Various other words are occasionally substituted: Dodi, Dalet-Vau-Dalet-Yod , "Loving One", replaces Jehovah in some books. This euphemism has an appearance evocative of the four letters of the proper word. A rare substitution for Jehovah is Jehovat, Yod-Heh-Vau-Taw . Ha-Shem, Heh--Shin-Memfinal, "The Name", is often used. This tendency to euphemise names for the divinity has passed into English. Many Jewish writers spell "God" as "G-d". -------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliographic note to The Divine Names and the Tree of Life. The divine names of the Sephiroth were collected and published by "Christian Qabalists" during the European Renaissance. Such sources include: "De Arte Cabalistica" by Johannes Reuchlin, 1517 e.v. "De Occulta Philosophica" by Cornelius Agrappa, 1533 e.v. "Calendarium Naturale Magicum ..." by Tyco Brahe, 1582 e.v. "Oedipus Aegyptiacus" by Athanssi Kircher, 1653 e.v. Those "Christian Qabalists" in their turn obtained the names from writings of the Jewish "Practical Qabalists", the Balim Shem, "Masters of the Name". -- TSG