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Aug
19
Vatican Says “Yahweh” Not to Be Pronounced
August 19, 2008 | 10 Comments
A note from the Vatican has reiterated a directive that the name of God revealed in the tetragrammaton YHWH is not to be pronounced in Catholic liturgy.
Bishop Arthur Serratelli, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, in a note informing prelates of the Vatican directive, said the indications “do not force any changes to official liturgical texts,” but might cause “some impact on the use of particular pieces of liturgical music in our country as well as in the composition of variable texts such as the general intercessions for the celebration of the Mass and the other sacraments.”
Commonly used songs with phrases such as “Yahweh, I know you are near,” will need to be modified.
The June 29 Vatican message, from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, clarified that the name of God revealed in YHWH was not pronounced by the first Christians, following the tradition already in use.
It explained: “The venerable biblical tradition of sacred Scripture, known as the Old Testament, displays a series of divine appellations, among which is the sacred name of God revealed in a tetragrammaton YHWH — hwhw. As an expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God, it was held to be unpronounceable and hence was replaced during the reading of sacred Scripture by means of the use of an alternate name: ‘Adonai,’ which means ‘Lord.’
“The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the so called Septuagint, dating back to the last centuries prior to the Christian era, had regularly rendered the Hebrew tetragrammaton with the Greek word Kyrios, which means ‘Lord.’ Since the text of the Septuagint constituted the Bible of the first generation of Greek speaking Christians, in which language all the books of the New Testament were also written, these Christians, too, from the beginning never pronounced the divine tetragrammaton.”
Theology
The Vatican goes on to note that this practice had “important implications” for New Testament Christology.
“When in fact, St. Paul, with regard to the crucifixion, writes that ‘God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name” (Phil 2:9), he does not mean any other name than ‘Lord,’ for he continues by saying, ‘and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord’ (Phil 2:11; cf. Isaiah 42:8: ‘I am the Lord; that is my name’),” the Vatican note explained.
“The attribution of this title to the risen Christ corresponds exactly to the proclamation of his divinity,” it continued. “The title in fact becomes interchangeable between the God of Israel and the Messiah of the Christian faith, even though it is not in fact one of the titles used for the Messiah of Israel.”
“Avoiding pronouncing the tetragrammaton of the name of God on the part of the Church has therefore its own grounds,” the Vatican concluded. “Apart from a motive of a purely philogical order, there is also that of remaining faithful to the Church’s tradition, from the beginning, that the sacred tetragrammaton was never pronounced in the Christian context, nor translated into any of the languages into which the Bible was translated.” Courtesy Zenit.org
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To All Who Love God’s Name:
The new directive from the Vatican to stop using the Divine name YHWH (Yahweh) in songs and prayers has no authorization from Scripture.
The truth is, no one knows the exact pronunciation of even the Hebrew name “Jesus” which was most likely “Yeshua.” This doesn’t keep us from expressing the name of God’s Son does it?
It goes without saying we must have deep reverence for God but where in Scripture are we authorized to pluck out God’s name? We can’t point to the traditions of the Jews because Jesus said they made the word of God “invalid” because of their man-made traditions. (Matthew 15:1-6)
Jesus, on the other hand, came to make God’s name known. (John 17:26) He knew the third commandment tells us not to use God’s name “disrespectfully” not to stop using it.
Beyond that, there are many Bible examples in the Bible of God’s servants of old, like Abraham and David, using and saying God’s name frequently in song and prayer. Apparantly the angels felt it was fine to praise God using his name. Hallelujah actuall means “praise Jah” Jah being an abbreviated form of Jehovah. (Revelation 19:1)
The LXX had God’s name, YHWH, all over it before it was eventually removed. This can easily be seen by comparing LXX early manuscripts with later ones.
The big question is. Where were scribes given permission to do this? They weren’t but did anyway. The Vatican should reexamine their decision to hide this most wonderful name that reigns supreme in the earliest, most sacred documents-the Holy Scriptures.
Nick Batchelor
nickhawaii@gmail.com
Oh, one more thing. Doesn’t the Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913, Vol. VIII, page 329 admit: “Jehovah, the proper name of God in the Old Testament; hence the Jews called it the name by excellence, the great name, the only name.”
Nick Batchelor
Yahweh is the English rendering of יַהְוֶה, a proposed vocalization of the Tetragrammaton יהוה as it appears in the Hebrew Bible. It is commonly subordinated into the title ‘God’ in popular bibles, or the Tetragrammaton translated as ‘JHVH’‘ Jehovah’ both of which remain commonly disputed.
Modern observant Jews no longer voice the name יהוה aloud. It is believed to be too sacred to be uttered and is often referred to as the ‘Ineffable’, ‘Unutterable’ or ‘Distinctive Name’. Various proposals still exist for the vocalization of יהוה in which the stem of the name Yahweh (Yah) remains widely accepted but discrepancies exist on agreement of the ending (’weh’)Early Christian literature written in Greek used spellings like Ιαβε and Ἰαουε that can be transcribed by ‘Yahweh’. This pronunciation and spelling, as with many religious and scholarly issues, remains the subject of ongoing debate.
Why “Yahweh” Isn’t Used in Catholic Liturgy
Br. Michael Anthony is right. No one knows the exact pronunciation of the Divine Name. Even the pronunciation of “Yahweh,” is hotly debated. Especially since the Divine Name most likely has 3 syllables and many scholars believe it was most likely something like Yehowah. No vowels in ancient Hebrew make it difficult to verify exactly how it was originally uttered, but this doesn’t stop anyone from using or pronouncing any other Hebrew name does it?
What needs to be reexamined is “Why not use the name?” Nowhere, anywhere, are we told to stop using it. Only by some superstitious Jews who had no basis whatsoever for doing so, Never are we given permission anywhere in Scripture to hide it.
Nick Batchelor
nickhawaii@gmail.com
Isn’t Hallelujah a derivative of the phrase “Praise to Yahweh”? Why isn’t the directive banning that? It seems inconsistent.
I recently found out about the directive. I must have been really distracted not to hear about it, however,I just saw it in the newly printed musical collections at church. And I have only one thing to say: was there anything else more urgent to discuss and decide upon? Churches are empty, violence spreads, children go hungry… reminds me of a certain Council in the early centuries of the Church, when the holy fathers were debating whether angels were male or female, and the barbarians were tearing down the city walls, torching, raping and pillaging.
[...] hymns were contemporary. One bore the footnote that in August 2008 the Vatican struck the use of the word “Yahweh” from the hymn and that it had been edited as a [...]
Maybe this is an evidence of Divine Intervention.
God wishes only those in whom he finds pleasure to bear and use His Name. As it was in times past, so it is now.
I am sure that God ,Jehovah would want to be addressed by his name as would all of you above who have names. Ny husband and I have many bibles in our collection from all faiths and we found the the newer the bible the less the name of God, Jehovah is in it. The bible that we have from 1902 has Jehovah’s name all over in it.
I would remind all of you to look to Revelation 22:18, 19 “This is my solemn attestation to all who hear the prophecies in this book; if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him every plague mentioned in the book; if anyone cuts anything out of the prophecies in this book, God will cut off his share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are described in the book.” New Jerusalem Bible March 1999.
I find it very disrespectful to Jehovah our grand creator to have his name now removed from use in the bible and now in their catholic songs and liturgy. I also find it disrespectful not to have Jehovah’s name on places of worship to identify them as TRUE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES!!
If I were STILL catholic I would ask the priests if they have ever really read the bible all of the way through!!