A Version the name Yaua in Early Christianity
The Thesis
We plan to put the positive side of the argument of the use of the name Yaua first. Afterwards we can go into the questions and doubts. Later on we will do a critique based on the sources and their authority.
Did the Original Christian Manuscripts Contain the Name Yaua?
Did Christians use the name Yaua in their writings?
A point made by one scholar is that “of the thirty-seven (37) quotations made by Jesus of the Old Testament Text, thirty (30) are almost verbatim from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) and they do not agree with many many words from the masoretic text of the eighth century”. When we look through the later Christian manuscripts of the LXX it is apparent that the Orthodox Christian scribes of the 4th century onwards were in the habit of replacing the name Yaua with two main greek words: kurios (Lord) and theos (God). Some Christian manuscripts come from the 2nd and 3rd century and they also represent a scribal tradition where the proper name Yaua is replaced by the common Greek nouns Kurios and theos. So if we take a cursory glance at the available manuscripts in the table below we can get some idea of the scribal traditions represented:
1John Rylands MS (130A.D.)
2 Bodmer Papyrus II (150-200A.D.)
3 Chester Beatty Papyrus (200A.D.)
4 Diatessaron (160AD)
5 Codex Vaticanus (325-350A.D.)
6 Codex Sinaiticus (350A.D.)
7 Codex Alexandrius (400A.D.)
8 Codex Ephraemi (400A.D.)
9 Codex Bezae (450A.D.+)
10Codex Washingtonensis (ca 450 A.D.)
12 Codex Claromontanus (500A.D.)
These documents and fragments represent the 12 of earliest Christian manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. And among them the name Yaua is only retained in the short form ya, represented in Revelation 19:1, 3, 6, and 6 in the exhortation alleluya. In all other cases the scribes of these documents have literally replaced the proper name Yaua with the two common greek nouns kurios and theos. This evidence if standing by itself would appear to be a solid ground upon which to stand when saying the Christian scribes of the first 2 centuries did not write the name Yaua but always substituted other words for it. But a number of historical problems arise from taking this simple position. The first is the dating of the copies. The earliest is a tiny fragment of the gospel of John dated to 130 AD. Only 4 of the documents or fragments are dated before 200 AD. This means at least fifty years until the time of writing of the gospels,, usually dated to around 80AD. Secondly we need to note that the scribes of the New Testament are almost all Jews and not Gentiles. By the middle of the second and especially by the 4th century the scribes would generally have been Gentiles. This is significant because (a) the name Yaua has been replaced in all Christian copies of the Old Testament. And (b) because the name Yaua has not been replaced in almost any of the surviving Jewish fragments of the LXX until the middle of the second century A.D.
For almost all the fragementary evidence of the LXX and other Greek versions of the Old Testament from that period indicate that Jewish scribes wrote the name Yaua in one of four forms and did not replace it with kurios or theos. Kahle states
We now know that the Greek Bible text as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the divine name by kurios, but the Tetragrammaton written with Hebrew or Greek letters was retained in such MSS. It was the Christian s who replaced the Tetragrammaton by kyrios, when the divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood any more.” (1 The Cairo Geniza, Oxford 1959, p 222)
Apart from the manuscript evidence which supports the position that Jewish scribes of the time of Christ used various forms of name in their manuscripts of the LXX, Christian scholars Origen and Jerome who knew Hebrew confirmed that the practice continued into their time. Thus at the same time as the manuscripts above were replacing the name Yaua with kurios and theos at least two Christians were making use of the Hebrew form of Yaua and other forms in their studies in regard to reading and writing. This being the case even if their manuscripts were in Greek. So fragments of Origen’s Hexapla, demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Christian used Yaua in his work. Waddell has noted “In Origens Hexapla ...the Greek versions of Aquila, Symachus, and LXX [Septuagint] all represented JWHW by [pi iota pi iota] ; in the second column of the Hexapla the Tetragrammaton was written in Hebrew characters.” (The Journal of Theological Studies, Oxford, Vol XLV, 1944, pp158, 159)
Origen states that “in the most accurate manuscripts THE NAME occurs in Hebrew characters, yet not in today’s Hebrew [characters], but in the most ancient ones” ( )
Another Christian who made use of the name Yaua in his studies was Jerome. He not only represents late Christian use of the name but a witness to its continued use in Greek manuscripts. He states “And we find the name of God, the Tetragrammaton, in certain Greek volumes even to this day expressed in ancient letters. (Prologue to Samuel and Kings).
Because of the significance of of these divergent scribal practices to our understanding of the use of the name Yaua among Jews and Christians in their writings it is necessary to look more closely at the scribal evidence presented by these earlier “Jewish” and later “Christian” manuscripts:
LXX P. FouadInv. 266 2nd cent B.C. Yaua in Hebrew square characters
4Q LXX Levb 1st cent B.C. Yau transliterated in Greek letters
Nahal Hever (NH) Scroll 1st cent A.D. Yaua in paleo Hebrew characters
LXX IEJ12 (NH) 1st cent A.D. Yaua in paleo Hebrew characters
LXX VTS 10b (NH) 1st cent A.D. Yaua in paleo Hebrew characters
Codex Vaticanus 4th cent A.D kurios and theos as nomina sacra
Codex Sinaiticus 4th cent A.D Yaua replaced by nomina sacra
Codex Alexandrius 5th cent A.D Yaua replaced by nomina sacra
There are also manuscripts parallel to the Christian ones above which contain Yaua in various forms. We will not look into these at this time but we should be aware that they present evidence for the sribal traditions regarding the name Yaua.
What we see in our short list above is soemthing very significant. We see that the Jewish scribal tradition from the 2nd or even 3rd century B.C. texts right through the period when John the Baptist and Jesus began to proclaim the kingdom of God and on through the priod when the Nazarene seact or the early “Christians” proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins, the Jewish scribes used to write the name Yaua into Greek texts. But by the time we get to the fourth century Orthodox Christian documents, those documents have completely removed the name in every form and replaced it mainly with nomina sacra or abbreviated forms of the common nouns kurios and theos. Our job is to attempt to see and perhaps even chart what happened during this period. We are not only dealing with written literary texts both primary sources and secondary sources but archaeological artifacts and inscriptions. Both fill out the evidence indicating that the name Yaua or its shortened froms Yau and Ya were presesnt and in use in the first century of Hebrews and Christians. Since we are dealing with the Greek use of the name let us first turn to the evidence regarding the transliteration of the name Yaua into Greek.
IAW
The earliest use of this transliteration of the name Yaua to Greek occurs in our dead sea scroll 4Q LXX Levb (Troyer, 2005, 22) . In this fragment the name is simply transliterated. It is not written in any way which distinguish it from the rest of the text. This means quite simply that it was written in such away as to be read. The idea of silent reading is a modern concept. In the days of the early Church texts were written and read orally. For an example see Pauls instructions regarding the letter to the Colossian Church. With out any external indicators it is clear that the scribe of the 4Q LXX Levb intended that whoever read his text read the name IAW or Yau as it is written. This indictaes that the Jew who translated this passage was one who was not trying to set the name IAW apart from other parts of the book of Leviticus. All the words then would be treated as holy as all the other words. All recieved the same treatment. We must also remember that Leviticus is a book for priests. Even if there was a prohibition on reading the name, the last group it would apply to would be the priests. They were given the specific charge according to the Law of Moses of placing Yaua’s name ont to Israel. Further evidence to support this position would be if evidence indicating Jews pronounced the name Yaua as iaw.This Greek evidence we will look into a little later but first we will observe the effect of the change from iaw to ks or ths or vise versa would have on the reading and hearing of a Biblcal text. If we take the two passages represented by this fragment as examples. In the Brenton printed edition of the LXX which is based on Codex Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus and Vaticanus, the texts are Leviticus 3:27 and Leviticus 4:27
4th Century Text:
Lev 3:12
εαν δε απο των αιγων το δωρον αυτου και προσαξει εναντι κυριου
EAN DE APO TWN AIGWN TO DWRON AUTOU KAI PROSAXEI
ENANTI KURIOU
EAN DE APO TWN AIGWN TO DWRON AUTOU KAI PROSAXEI
ENANTI IAW
εαν δε ψυχη μια αμαρτη ακουσιως εκ του λαου της γης εν τω ποιησαι μιαν απο πασων των εντολων κυριου η ου ποιηθησεται και πλημμεληση
EAN DE YUCH MIAN AMARTH AKOUSIWS EK LAOU THS
GHS EN TW POIHSAI MIAN APO PASWN TWN ENTOLWN KURIOU
H OU POIQHSETAI KAI PLHMMIELHSH
EAN DE YUCH MIAN AMARTH AKOUSIWS EK LAOU THS
GHS EN TW POIHSAI MIAN APO PASWN TWN ENTOLWN IAW
H OU POIQHSETAI KAI PLHMMIELHSH
From, The New World Translation Reference Edition, 1984, ©Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
[Photo Illustration] LXXP. Fouad Inv. 266, first century B.C.E., retained the divine name יהוה in the Greek translation in De 32:3, 6.
[Photo Illustration] Codex Alexandrinus (A) , fifth century C.E., replaced the divine name (יהוה) with abbreviated forms of Kyrios in the Greek translation in De 32:3, 6.
[Photo Illustration] The Aleppo Codex (A1), tenth century C.E., in Hebrew, preserved the divine name (יהוה) that appeared in the early Hebrew text in De 32:3, 6.**From The Aleppo Codex, edited by Moshe H. Goshen-Gottstein (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1976). Copyright © by Hebrew University Bible Project and reprinted with their permission.
Over the past several decades many fragments of ancient Greek versions of the Hebrew Scriptures have been discovered wherein the divine name was found written, usually in Hebrew letters. This indicates that the divine name was used in Greek versions until well into the ninth century C.E. We are presenting ten manuscripts that contain the divine name, along with pertinent information.
(1) LXXP.Fouad Inv. 266 renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in square Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: De 18:5; 24:4, 9; 25:15, 16; 19:8, 14; 20:4, 13, 18; 21:1, 8; 23:5; 24:4, 9; 25:15, 16; 26:2, 7, 8, 14; 27:2, 3, 7, 10, 15; 28:1, 1, 7, 8, 9, 13, 61, 62, 64, 65; 29:4, 10, 20, 29; 30:9, 20; 31:3, 26, 27, 29; 32:3, 6, 19. Therefore, in this collection the Tetragrammaton occurs 49 times in identified place in Deuteronomy. In addition, in this collection the Tetragrammaton occurs three time in unidentified fragments, namely, in fragments 116, 117 and 123. The papyrus, found in Egypt, was dated to the first century B.C.E.
In 1944 a fragment of this papyrus was published by W. G. Waddell in JTS, Vol. 45, pp. 158-161. In 1948, in Cairo, Egypt, two Gilead-trained missionaries of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society obtained photographs of 18 fragments of this papyrus and permission to publish them. Subsequently, 12 of these fragments were published in the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 1950, pp. 13, 14. Based on the photographs in this publication, the following three studies were produced: (1) A. Vaccari, "Papiro Fuad, Inv. 266. Analisi critica dei Frammenti pubblicati in: 'New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures.' Brooklyn (N. Y.) 1950, pp. 13s.," published in Studia Patristica, Vol. I, Part I, edited by Kurt Aland and F. L. Cross, Berlin, 1975, pp. 339-342; (2) W. Baars, "Papyrus Fouad Inv. No. 266," published in the Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift, Vol. XIII, Wageningen, 1959, pp. 442-446; (3) George Howard, "The Oldest Greek Text of Deuteronomy," published in the Hebrew Union College Annual, Vol. XLII, Cincinnati, 1971, pp. 125-131.
Commenting on this papyrus, Paul Kahle wrote in Studia Evangelica, edited by Kurt Aland, F. L. Cross, Jean Danielou, Harald Riesendfeld and W. C. van Unnik, Berlin, 1959, p. 614: "Further pieces of the same papyrus were reproduced from a photo of the papyrus by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in the introduction to an English translation of the New Testament, Brooklyn, New York, 1950. A characteristic of the papyrus is the fact that the name of God is rendered by the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew square letters. An examination of the published fragments of the papyrus undertaken at my request by Pater Vaccari resulted in his concluding that the papyrus, which must have been written about 400 years earlier than Codex B, contains perhaps the most perfect Septuagint text of Deuteronomy that has come down to us."
A total of 117 fragments of LXXP. Fouad Inv. 266 were published in Etudes de Papyrologie, Vol. 9, Cairo, 1971, pp. 88-150, 227, 228. A photographic edition of all the fragments of this papyrus was published by Zaki Aly and Ludqwig Koenen under the title Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy, in the series "Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen," Vol. 27, Bonn, 1980.
(2) LXXVTS 10a renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: Jon 4:2; Mic 1:1, 3; 4:4, 5, 7; 5:4, 4; Hab 2:14, 16, 20; 3:9; Zep 1:3, 14; 2:10; Zec 1:3, 3, 4; 3:5, 6, 7. This leather scroll, found in the Judean desert in a cave in Nabal Hever, was dated to the end of the first century C.E. The fragments of this scroll were published in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol. X, Leiden, 1963, pp. 170-178.
(3) LXXIEJ 12 renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in Jon 3:3. This shred of parchment, found in the Judean desert in a cave in Nabal Hever, was dated to the end of the first century C.E. It was published in Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 12, 1962, p. 203.
(4) LXXVTS 10b renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: Zec 8:20; 9:1, 1, 4. This parchment scroll, found in the Judean desert in a cave in Nahal Hever, was dated to the middle of the first century C.E. It was published in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol. X, 1963, p. 178.
(5) 4Q LXXLevb renders the divine name in Greek letters ΙΑώ (IAO) in Le 3:12; 4:27. This papyrus manuscript, found in Qumran Cave 4, was dated to the first century B.C.E. A preliminary report of this manuscript was presented in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol. IV, 1957, p. 157.
(6) LXXP.Oxy.VII.1007 renders the divine name by abbreviating the Tetragrammaton in the form of a double Yohdh ([illustrated]) in Gen 2:8, 18. This vellum leaf, dated to the third century C.E., was published in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part VII, edited with translations and notes by Arthur S. Hunt, London, 1910, pp. 1, 2.
(7) AqBurkitt renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: 1Ki 20:13, 13, 14; 2Ki 23:12, 16, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27. These fragments of the Greek text of the version of Aquila were published by F. Crawford Burkitt in his work Fragments of the Books of Kings According to the Translation of Aquila, Cambridge, 1898, pp. 3-8. These palimpsest fragments of the books of Kings were found in the synagogue genizah in Cairo, Egypt. They were dated to the end of the fifth century or the beginning of the sixth century C.E.
(8) AqTaylor renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: Ps 91:2, 9; 92:1, 4, 5, 8, 9; 96:7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13; 97:1, 5, 9, 10, 12; 102:15, 16, 19, 21; 103:1, 2, 6, 8. These fragments of the Greek text of the version of Aquila were published by C. Taylor in his work Hebrew-Greek Cairo Genizah Palimpsests, Cambridge, 1900, pp. 54-65. These fragments were dated after the middle of the fifth century C.E., but not later than the beginning of the sixth century C.E.
(9)SymP.Vindob.G.39777 renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in archaic Hebrew characters ([illustrated] or [illustrated]) in the following places: Ps 69:13, 30, 31. This fragment of a parchment roll with part of Ps 69 in Symmachus (68 in LXX), kept in the Osterreichesche Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, was dated to the third of fourth century C.E. It was published by Dr. Carl Wessely in Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde, Vol. XI., Leipzig, 1911, p. 171.
Here we reproduce the fragment of this papyrus containing the divine name.
[Photo illustration showing three instances of the Tetragrammaton.]
(10) Ambrosian O 39 sup. renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in square Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in all five columns in the following places: Ps 18:30, 31, 41, 46; 28:6, 7, 8; 29:1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3; 30:1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 10, 12; 31:1, 5, 6, 9, 21, 23, 23, 24; 32:10, 11; 35:1, 22, 24, 27; 36:Sup, 5; 46:7, 8, 11; 89:49 (in columns 1, 2 and 4), 51, 52. This codex, dated to the end of the ninth century C.E., has five columns. The first column contains a transliteration of the Hebrew text into Greek, the second column has the Greek version of Aquila, the third column has the Greek version of Symmachus, the fourth column contains the LXX and the fifth column contains the Greek version of Quinta. A facsimile edition of this palmsest, together with a transcript of the text, was published in Rome in 1958 by Giovanni Mercati under the title Psalterii Hexapli Reliquiae . . . Pars prima. Codex Rescriptus Bybliothecae Ambrosianae O 39 sup. Phototypice Expressus et Transcriptus.
These ten manuscript fragments indicate that the translators of the Hebrew text into Greek used the divine name where it occurred in the Hebrew text. Moreover, the occurrence of the Tetragrammaton in Zec 9:4 corroborates the claim that the Jewish Sopherim replaced the Tetragrammaton with Adhonai (Sovereign Lord) in the Hebrew text in 134 places.—See App 1B.
Appendix 1
Jerome also presents later fouth century evidence regarding the ineffability of the name in some Jewish circles: The ninth [name of God] is the Tetragrammaton, which they considered [anekphonoton], that is, unspeakable, and it is written with these letters Iod, He, Vau, He. Certain ignorant ones, because of the similarity of the characters , when they would find it in Greek books , were accustomed to read it [pipi]. Thus we see a tradition among those who had the scripture of attempting to read the text out loud. If this was the case then if they had come across the name written in Greek letters transliterating the name we could expect them to read the name out loud as IAW.
We plan to put the positive side of the argument of the use of the name Yaua first. Afterwards we can go into the questions and doubts. Later on we will do a critique based on the sources and their authority.
Did the Original Christian Manuscripts Contain the Name Yaua?
Did Christians use the name Yaua in their writings?
A point made by one scholar is that “of the thirty-seven (37) quotations made by Jesus of the Old Testament Text, thirty (30) are almost verbatim from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) and they do not agree with many many words from the masoretic text of the eighth century”. When we look through the later Christian manuscripts of the LXX it is apparent that the Orthodox Christian scribes of the 4th century onwards were in the habit of replacing the name Yaua with two main greek words: kurios (Lord) and theos (God). Some Christian manuscripts come from the 2nd and 3rd century and they also represent a scribal tradition where the proper name Yaua is replaced by the common Greek nouns Kurios and theos. So if we take a cursory glance at the available manuscripts in the table below we can get some idea of the scribal traditions represented:
1John Rylands MS (130A.D.)
2 Bodmer Papyrus II (150-200A.D.)
3 Chester Beatty Papyrus (200A.D.)
4 Diatessaron (160AD)
5 Codex Vaticanus (325-350A.D.)
6 Codex Sinaiticus (350A.D.)
7 Codex Alexandrius (400A.D.)
8 Codex Ephraemi (400A.D.)
9 Codex Bezae (450A.D.+)
10Codex Washingtonensis (ca 450 A.D.)
12 Codex Claromontanus (500A.D.)
These documents and fragments represent the 12 of earliest Christian manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. And among them the name Yaua is only retained in the short form ya, represented in Revelation 19:1, 3, 6, and 6 in the exhortation alleluya. In all other cases the scribes of these documents have literally replaced the proper name Yaua with the two common greek nouns kurios and theos. This evidence if standing by itself would appear to be a solid ground upon which to stand when saying the Christian scribes of the first 2 centuries did not write the name Yaua but always substituted other words for it. But a number of historical problems arise from taking this simple position. The first is the dating of the copies. The earliest is a tiny fragment of the gospel of John dated to 130 AD. Only 4 of the documents or fragments are dated before 200 AD. This means at least fifty years until the time of writing of the gospels,, usually dated to around 80AD. Secondly we need to note that the scribes of the New Testament are almost all Jews and not Gentiles. By the middle of the second and especially by the 4th century the scribes would generally have been Gentiles. This is significant because (a) the name Yaua has been replaced in all Christian copies of the Old Testament. And (b) because the name Yaua has not been replaced in almost any of the surviving Jewish fragments of the LXX until the middle of the second century A.D.
For almost all the fragementary evidence of the LXX and other Greek versions of the Old Testament from that period indicate that Jewish scribes wrote the name Yaua in one of four forms and did not replace it with kurios or theos. Kahle states
We now know that the Greek Bible text as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the divine name by kurios, but the Tetragrammaton written with Hebrew or Greek letters was retained in such MSS. It was the Christian s who replaced the Tetragrammaton by kyrios, when the divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood any more.” (1 The Cairo Geniza, Oxford 1959, p 222)
Apart from the manuscript evidence which supports the position that Jewish scribes of the time of Christ used various forms of name in their manuscripts of the LXX, Christian scholars Origen and Jerome who knew Hebrew confirmed that the practice continued into their time. Thus at the same time as the manuscripts above were replacing the name Yaua with kurios and theos at least two Christians were making use of the Hebrew form of Yaua and other forms in their studies in regard to reading and writing. This being the case even if their manuscripts were in Greek. So fragments of Origen’s Hexapla, demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Christian used Yaua in his work. Waddell has noted “In Origens Hexapla ...the Greek versions of Aquila, Symachus, and LXX [Septuagint] all represented JWHW by [pi iota pi iota] ; in the second column of the Hexapla the Tetragrammaton was written in Hebrew characters.” (The Journal of Theological Studies, Oxford, Vol XLV, 1944, pp158, 159)
Origen states that “in the most accurate manuscripts THE NAME occurs in Hebrew characters, yet not in today’s Hebrew [characters], but in the most ancient ones” ( )
Another Christian who made use of the name Yaua in his studies was Jerome. He not only represents late Christian use of the name but a witness to its continued use in Greek manuscripts. He states “And we find the name of God, the Tetragrammaton, in certain Greek volumes even to this day expressed in ancient letters. (Prologue to Samuel and Kings).
Because of the significance of of these divergent scribal practices to our understanding of the use of the name Yaua among Jews and Christians in their writings it is necessary to look more closely at the scribal evidence presented by these earlier “Jewish” and later “Christian” manuscripts:
LXX P. FouadInv. 266 2nd cent B.C. Yaua in Hebrew square characters
4Q LXX Levb 1st cent B.C. Yau transliterated in Greek letters
Nahal Hever (NH) Scroll 1st cent A.D. Yaua in paleo Hebrew characters
LXX IEJ12 (NH) 1st cent A.D. Yaua in paleo Hebrew characters
LXX VTS 10b (NH) 1st cent A.D. Yaua in paleo Hebrew characters
Codex Vaticanus 4th cent A.D kurios and theos as nomina sacra
Codex Sinaiticus 4th cent A.D Yaua replaced by nomina sacra
Codex Alexandrius 5th cent A.D Yaua replaced by nomina sacra
There are also manuscripts parallel to the Christian ones above which contain Yaua in various forms. We will not look into these at this time but we should be aware that they present evidence for the sribal traditions regarding the name Yaua.
What we see in our short list above is soemthing very significant. We see that the Jewish scribal tradition from the 2nd or even 3rd century B.C. texts right through the period when John the Baptist and Jesus began to proclaim the kingdom of God and on through the priod when the Nazarene seact or the early “Christians” proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins, the Jewish scribes used to write the name Yaua into Greek texts. But by the time we get to the fourth century Orthodox Christian documents, those documents have completely removed the name in every form and replaced it mainly with nomina sacra or abbreviated forms of the common nouns kurios and theos. Our job is to attempt to see and perhaps even chart what happened during this period. We are not only dealing with written literary texts both primary sources and secondary sources but archaeological artifacts and inscriptions. Both fill out the evidence indicating that the name Yaua or its shortened froms Yau and Ya were presesnt and in use in the first century of Hebrews and Christians. Since we are dealing with the Greek use of the name let us first turn to the evidence regarding the transliteration of the name Yaua into Greek.
IAW
The earliest use of this transliteration of the name Yaua to Greek occurs in our dead sea scroll 4Q LXX Levb (Troyer, 2005, 22) . In this fragment the name is simply transliterated. It is not written in any way which distinguish it from the rest of the text. This means quite simply that it was written in such away as to be read. The idea of silent reading is a modern concept. In the days of the early Church texts were written and read orally. For an example see Pauls instructions regarding the letter to the Colossian Church. With out any external indicators it is clear that the scribe of the 4Q LXX Levb intended that whoever read his text read the name IAW or Yau as it is written. This indictaes that the Jew who translated this passage was one who was not trying to set the name IAW apart from other parts of the book of Leviticus. All the words then would be treated as holy as all the other words. All recieved the same treatment. We must also remember that Leviticus is a book for priests. Even if there was a prohibition on reading the name, the last group it would apply to would be the priests. They were given the specific charge according to the Law of Moses of placing Yaua’s name ont to Israel. Further evidence to support this position would be if evidence indicating Jews pronounced the name Yaua as iaw.This Greek evidence we will look into a little later but first we will observe the effect of the change from iaw to ks or ths or vise versa would have on the reading and hearing of a Biblcal text. If we take the two passages represented by this fragment as examples. In the Brenton printed edition of the LXX which is based on Codex Sinaiticus, Alexandrinus and Vaticanus, the texts are Leviticus 3:27 and Leviticus 4:27
4th Century Text:
Lev 3:12
εαν δε απο των αιγων το δωρον αυτου και προσαξει εναντι κυριου
EAN DE APO TWN AIGWN TO DWRON AUTOU KAI PROSAXEI
ENANTI KURIOU
EAN DE APO TWN AIGWN TO DWRON AUTOU KAI PROSAXEI
ENANTI IAW
εαν δε ψυχη μια αμαρτη ακουσιως εκ του λαου της γης εν τω ποιησαι μιαν απο πασων των εντολων κυριου η ου ποιηθησεται και πλημμεληση
EAN DE YUCH MIAN AMARTH AKOUSIWS EK LAOU THS
GHS EN TW POIHSAI MIAN APO PASWN TWN ENTOLWN KURIOU
H OU POIQHSETAI KAI PLHMMIELHSH
EAN DE YUCH MIAN AMARTH AKOUSIWS EK LAOU THS
GHS EN TW POIHSAI MIAN APO PASWN TWN ENTOLWN IAW
H OU POIQHSETAI KAI PLHMMIELHSH
From, The New World Translation Reference Edition, 1984, ©Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.
[Photo Illustration] LXXP. Fouad Inv. 266, first century B.C.E., retained the divine name יהוה in the Greek translation in De 32:3, 6.
[Photo Illustration] Codex Alexandrinus (A) , fifth century C.E., replaced the divine name (יהוה) with abbreviated forms of Kyrios in the Greek translation in De 32:3, 6.
[Photo Illustration] The Aleppo Codex (A1), tenth century C.E., in Hebrew, preserved the divine name (יהוה) that appeared in the early Hebrew text in De 32:3, 6.**From The Aleppo Codex, edited by Moshe H. Goshen-Gottstein (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1976). Copyright © by Hebrew University Bible Project and reprinted with their permission.
Over the past several decades many fragments of ancient Greek versions of the Hebrew Scriptures have been discovered wherein the divine name was found written, usually in Hebrew letters. This indicates that the divine name was used in Greek versions until well into the ninth century C.E. We are presenting ten manuscripts that contain the divine name, along with pertinent information.
(1) LXXP.Fouad Inv. 266 renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in square Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: De 18:5; 24:4, 9; 25:15, 16; 19:8, 14; 20:4, 13, 18; 21:1, 8; 23:5; 24:4, 9; 25:15, 16; 26:2, 7, 8, 14; 27:2, 3, 7, 10, 15; 28:1, 1, 7, 8, 9, 13, 61, 62, 64, 65; 29:4, 10, 20, 29; 30:9, 20; 31:3, 26, 27, 29; 32:3, 6, 19. Therefore, in this collection the Tetragrammaton occurs 49 times in identified place in Deuteronomy. In addition, in this collection the Tetragrammaton occurs three time in unidentified fragments, namely, in fragments 116, 117 and 123. The papyrus, found in Egypt, was dated to the first century B.C.E.
In 1944 a fragment of this papyrus was published by W. G. Waddell in JTS, Vol. 45, pp. 158-161. In 1948, in Cairo, Egypt, two Gilead-trained missionaries of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society obtained photographs of 18 fragments of this papyrus and permission to publish them. Subsequently, 12 of these fragments were published in the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 1950, pp. 13, 14. Based on the photographs in this publication, the following three studies were produced: (1) A. Vaccari, "Papiro Fuad, Inv. 266. Analisi critica dei Frammenti pubblicati in: 'New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures.' Brooklyn (N. Y.) 1950, pp. 13s.," published in Studia Patristica, Vol. I, Part I, edited by Kurt Aland and F. L. Cross, Berlin, 1975, pp. 339-342; (2) W. Baars, "Papyrus Fouad Inv. No. 266," published in the Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift, Vol. XIII, Wageningen, 1959, pp. 442-446; (3) George Howard, "The Oldest Greek Text of Deuteronomy," published in the Hebrew Union College Annual, Vol. XLII, Cincinnati, 1971, pp. 125-131.
Commenting on this papyrus, Paul Kahle wrote in Studia Evangelica, edited by Kurt Aland, F. L. Cross, Jean Danielou, Harald Riesendfeld and W. C. van Unnik, Berlin, 1959, p. 614: "Further pieces of the same papyrus were reproduced from a photo of the papyrus by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in the introduction to an English translation of the New Testament, Brooklyn, New York, 1950. A characteristic of the papyrus is the fact that the name of God is rendered by the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew square letters. An examination of the published fragments of the papyrus undertaken at my request by Pater Vaccari resulted in his concluding that the papyrus, which must have been written about 400 years earlier than Codex B, contains perhaps the most perfect Septuagint text of Deuteronomy that has come down to us."
A total of 117 fragments of LXXP. Fouad Inv. 266 were published in Etudes de Papyrologie, Vol. 9, Cairo, 1971, pp. 88-150, 227, 228. A photographic edition of all the fragments of this papyrus was published by Zaki Aly and Ludqwig Koenen under the title Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy, in the series "Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen," Vol. 27, Bonn, 1980.
(2) LXXVTS 10a renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: Jon 4:2; Mic 1:1, 3; 4:4, 5, 7; 5:4, 4; Hab 2:14, 16, 20; 3:9; Zep 1:3, 14; 2:10; Zec 1:3, 3, 4; 3:5, 6, 7. This leather scroll, found in the Judean desert in a cave in Nabal Hever, was dated to the end of the first century C.E. The fragments of this scroll were published in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol. X, Leiden, 1963, pp. 170-178.
(3) LXXIEJ 12 renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in Jon 3:3. This shred of parchment, found in the Judean desert in a cave in Nabal Hever, was dated to the end of the first century C.E. It was published in Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 12, 1962, p. 203.
(4) LXXVTS 10b renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: Zec 8:20; 9:1, 1, 4. This parchment scroll, found in the Judean desert in a cave in Nahal Hever, was dated to the middle of the first century C.E. It was published in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol. X, 1963, p. 178.
(5) 4Q LXXLevb renders the divine name in Greek letters ΙΑώ (IAO) in Le 3:12; 4:27. This papyrus manuscript, found in Qumran Cave 4, was dated to the first century B.C.E. A preliminary report of this manuscript was presented in Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, Vol. IV, 1957, p. 157.
(6) LXXP.Oxy.VII.1007 renders the divine name by abbreviating the Tetragrammaton in the form of a double Yohdh ([illustrated]) in Gen 2:8, 18. This vellum leaf, dated to the third century C.E., was published in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part VII, edited with translations and notes by Arthur S. Hunt, London, 1910, pp. 1, 2.
(7) AqBurkitt renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: 1Ki 20:13, 13, 14; 2Ki 23:12, 16, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27. These fragments of the Greek text of the version of Aquila were published by F. Crawford Burkitt in his work Fragments of the Books of Kings According to the Translation of Aquila, Cambridge, 1898, pp. 3-8. These palimpsest fragments of the books of Kings were found in the synagogue genizah in Cairo, Egypt. They were dated to the end of the fifth century or the beginning of the sixth century C.E.
(8) AqTaylor renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in ancient Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in the following places: Ps 91:2, 9; 92:1, 4, 5, 8, 9; 96:7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13; 97:1, 5, 9, 10, 12; 102:15, 16, 19, 21; 103:1, 2, 6, 8. These fragments of the Greek text of the version of Aquila were published by C. Taylor in his work Hebrew-Greek Cairo Genizah Palimpsests, Cambridge, 1900, pp. 54-65. These fragments were dated after the middle of the fifth century C.E., but not later than the beginning of the sixth century C.E.
(9)SymP.Vindob.G.39777 renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in archaic Hebrew characters ([illustrated] or [illustrated]) in the following places: Ps 69:13, 30, 31. This fragment of a parchment roll with part of Ps 69 in Symmachus (68 in LXX), kept in the Osterreichesche Nationalbibliothek, Vienna, was dated to the third of fourth century C.E. It was published by Dr. Carl Wessely in Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyruskunde, Vol. XI., Leipzig, 1911, p. 171.
Here we reproduce the fragment of this papyrus containing the divine name.
[Photo illustration showing three instances of the Tetragrammaton.]
(10) Ambrosian O 39 sup. renders the divine name by the Tetragrammaton written in square Hebrew characters ([illustrated]) in all five columns in the following places: Ps 18:30, 31, 41, 46; 28:6, 7, 8; 29:1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3; 30:1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 10, 12; 31:1, 5, 6, 9, 21, 23, 23, 24; 32:10, 11; 35:1, 22, 24, 27; 36:Sup, 5; 46:7, 8, 11; 89:49 (in columns 1, 2 and 4), 51, 52. This codex, dated to the end of the ninth century C.E., has five columns. The first column contains a transliteration of the Hebrew text into Greek, the second column has the Greek version of Aquila, the third column has the Greek version of Symmachus, the fourth column contains the LXX and the fifth column contains the Greek version of Quinta. A facsimile edition of this palmsest, together with a transcript of the text, was published in Rome in 1958 by Giovanni Mercati under the title Psalterii Hexapli Reliquiae . . . Pars prima. Codex Rescriptus Bybliothecae Ambrosianae O 39 sup. Phototypice Expressus et Transcriptus.
These ten manuscript fragments indicate that the translators of the Hebrew text into Greek used the divine name where it occurred in the Hebrew text. Moreover, the occurrence of the Tetragrammaton in Zec 9:4 corroborates the claim that the Jewish Sopherim replaced the Tetragrammaton with Adhonai (Sovereign Lord) in the Hebrew text in 134 places.—See App 1B.
Appendix 1
Jerome also presents later fouth century evidence regarding the ineffability of the name in some Jewish circles: The ninth [name of God] is the Tetragrammaton, which they considered [anekphonoton], that is, unspeakable, and it is written with these letters Iod, He, Vau, He. Certain ignorant ones, because of the similarity of the characters , when they would find it in Greek books , were accustomed to read it [pipi]. Thus we see a tradition among those who had the scripture of attempting to read the text out loud. If this was the case then if they had come across the name written in Greek letters transliterating the name we could expect them to read the name out loud as IAW.
posted by Evangelist Edi Nachman Bsc. PGCE @ 10:05 PM
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