Some notes on use of the Holy Name and Language in General (24 February 2017, 28 Shevet, 5777)
In 2nd Temple times the Holy Name of the Almighty was NOT used by the Sages, nor by Religious Jews in general, and nor by the general populace.
Attempts to use the name for magical purposes etc were made by pagans, pagan and/or half-pagan Jewish magicians in Egypt, by Edomites, by Roman heathen, etc.
The article below discusses this subject.
Contents:
1. Query and Brit-Am Answer on the Holy Name
2. Pronunciation of the Holy Name
3. Who tries to pronounce the name in our time?
4. Historical Precedents
5. Aramaic
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1. Query and Brit-Am Answer on the Holy Name
"FLOYD TOMLINSON"Â wrote:
I have some questions about the era around the turn of BC into AD times.
It is understood the 'Name' was not pronounced. Did the sages continue to write it in their writings, however, knowing it wouldn't be pronounced, or did they write a substitute?
It is said Hebrew was 'dead'; did the sages write in it during this time?
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Brit-Am Reply:
They used substitutes.
The Mishna was written about 200 CE. It contains sources dating back from long before it right up to its own time.
It is in what appears to be vernacular Hebrew.
There are also inscriptions from Masada and Bar Kokba etc. These too are in colloquial Hebrew.
[In addition we have early Midrashim [Sifrei, etc].
Later Aramaic was used. Aramaic had also been used before that.
it could be that the two tongues existed side by side?
Aramaic was a lingua franca and also used by surrounding peoples.
This is not my field, check it up on the web.
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Additional Notes:
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2. Pronunciation of the Holy Name
Contrary to certain claims no-one today knows how the Name was pronounced.
It was forbidden to pronounce the name. A substitute (Hebrew: "kinui" i.e. nickname) was used when necessary.
Nevertheless the name was written. It is found with its letter in Torah scrolls etc.
It would have been a punishable offence to try and pronounce regardless as to whether or not that attempt was succcesful.
It is obvious that some people would now and again try to pronounce the name.
These would usually be they who did not know much, the mentally unstable, non-Jews who read Hebrew, and would-be heretics.
Strangely enough the same situation exists today.
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3. Who tries to pronounce the name in our time?
Answer:
People who are ignorant.
Nutcases.
Eccentrics.
Gentiles who know little Hebrew if any.
Judeophobes i.e. they who hate the Jews.
Would be rebels against convention who often also may be ascribed to one of the above listed categories.
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4. Historical Precedents
Foreign people such as magicians in Egypt, etc, Edomites, and Roman pagans attempted to use the name.
We are concerned here with 2nd temple Times but it is worth noting that the Ten Tribes before their exile and despite their paganism did not pronounce the name but deliberately changed its pronunciation.
Also inscriptions probably ascribable to pagans from the Tribe of Simeon BUT maybe those of neighboring Edom show the name linked with an Egyptian god and the Canaanite goddess Asherah.
For details on these matters,
See:
Holy Name? Uncovering the Misconception Behind Attempts to Utter the Sacred Name of the Almighty
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/name/name.html
History of the Name. When the Name was recalled and Why it is no longer Done so.
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/name/namehistory.html
Even the New Testament seems to be against use of the name, see:
Kyros (lord). How Use of the Holy Name was Avoided by the Christian Messiah
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/name/lord.html
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5. Aramaic
At a recent meeting we had with someone who had been misled concerning the Name the person concerned was surprised to learn that all early extant versions of the New Testament are in a Greek dialect ("Koine") and in neither Hebrew nor Aramaic.
It appears that whenever Jews were a majority in the Land of Israel the Hebrew Language prevailed.
When Jews became a minority, due to Roman persecution, exile, etc, Aramaic was more dominant.
Aramaic in many ways may be considered a dialect of Hebrew.
An inscription from east of the Jordan indicates that the Tribes to the east employed a mixed Hebrew-Aramaic dialect of their own.
Expressions in Aramaic are found in the Hebrew Bible, see Genesis 31:47 (Yagar sahaduta), an expression in Isaiah, and in the Books of Daniel and Ezra.