John C. Beckman

א4 . Proper Nouns

Reading Biblical HebrewChapter 4: Proper Nouns

2016-08-24

Goal: Understand English Versions of Hebrew Names

Be able to• Pronounce proper nouns in Hebrew• Figure out the English names of Hebrew proper nouns

Outline• Discuss some principles of figuring out English names of

Hebrew proper nouns• Pronounce and Anglicize all proper nouns that occur 49 or

more times in the Hebrew Bible• The name יהוה ‘The LORD’

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Principles for guessing

the English version

of Hebrew proper nouns

Caveats about English Forms of Hebrew Proper Nouns

The English forms of proper nouns vary with the translation

Many Hebrew proper nouns have several forms• Jeremiah is spelled both ירמיה and ירמיהו• Uzziah is spelled both עזיה and עזריה

Some well-known proper nouns have irregular English forms• שלמה shlomo Solomon

Some Hebrew proper nouns are completely different in English• ים mitsrayimמצר Egypt• ארם aram Syria

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Most Hebrew Consonants Come into English as Expectedנ N א Omitted

ס S ב/ ב B

ע Omitted ג G

פ P ד D

פ PH ה H or Omitted

צ Z ו V

ק K or C ז Z

ר R ח H

ש S ט T

ש S or SH י I (J if word-initial, except י is still I)

ת T כ/ כ CH (rarely K or C)

ת TH ל L

מ M

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Most Vowels in Names Anglicize as Expected

A vowels A E vowels E י י I vowels I (rarely E) י O vowels O ו◌U vowels U ו◌Vocal shva E Silent shva omitted

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Surprises in Anglicizing Vowels in Proper Nouns

Vowel letters with ה treat ה as a consonant!• ה AH• ה ה / EH• ה OH

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Dagesh Ḥazaq Doubles as Expected

Dagesh has meaning IFF preceded by a vowel, not shva• Meaningful dagesh (‘dagesh ḥazaq’) doubles a consonant• עמון Ammon

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יהו יהו / IAH or JAH

The endings יהו and יהו IAH

• הו ירמי Jeremiah

• הו אלי Elijah

• הו צדקי Zedekiah

• הו יאשי Josiah

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The Demonymic Ending י Demonym = A word that refers to a member of a people group• American, Canadian, Israelite, New Yorker, Spaniard• δῆμος 'people‘ + ὄνομα 'name'

Demonymic endings turn a place name into a demonym• American, Canadian, Israelite, New Yorker, Spaniard

English and Hebrew use the same words also as adjectives• ‘American’ can also be an adjective ‘the American economy’

The Hebrew demonymic ending• י a Jew, a Judean, Jewish =יהודי• י ם . is plural םיהודי . = Jews

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The 79Hebrew proper nouns

that occur49 or more times in the Bible

6828 יהוה2507 ישראל1075 דוד819 יהודה766 משה681 ים מצר643 ם ירושל406 שאול350 לוי349 יעקב

The LORD Discussed later

Israel

David

Judah

Moses Irregular

Egypt Completely different word

Jerusalem Vowels assume ירושליםSaul

Levi

Jacob

347 אהרן293 שלמה290 פלשתי274 פרעה262 בבל218 יהושוע213 יוסף183 ירדן180 ים אפר180 מואב

Aaron

Solomon Irregular

Philistine Demonymic ending י Pharaoh

Babylon Irregular

Joshua

Joseph

Jordan

Ephraim

Moab

175 אברהם167 בנימן154 ציון151 אשור150 מנשה145 יואב140 שמואל129 הו ירמי125 ארם109 אבשלום

Abraham

Benjamin

Zion

Assyria Irregular

Manasseh

Joab

Samuel

Jeremiah

Syria Completely different word

Absalom

109 שמרון108 יצחק106 עמון104 ירבעם102 גלעד100 אדום97 עשו93 אחאב93 ען כנ92 יהודי

Samaria Irregular (expected Shomron)

Isaac Irregular (expected Izhak)

Ammon

Jeroboam

Gilead

Edom

Esau ו treated like וAhab

Canaan

Judean, Jew, Jewish Demonymic ending י

87 אמרי84 יהושפט82 יהונתן80 על ב80 כשדים74 הו חזקי73 בית־אל72 אלעזר72 גד72 ראובן

Amorite Demonymic ending י Jehoshaphat

Jonathan

Baal

Chaldeans Plural demonymic ending י םHezekiah

Bethel

Eleazar

Gad

Ruben

71 חברון71 לבנון70 כנעני69 דן67 לך אבימ63 אבנר63 הו אלי62 נבוכדראצר61 אברם61 בלעם

Hebron

Lebanon

Canaanite Demonymic ending י Dan

Abimelech

Abner

Elijah

Nebuchadnezzar Irregular

Abram

Balaam

60 בשן60 מרדכי60 שכם59 מדין58 איוב58 אלישע58 אסא58 יהוא57 ירחו56 הו צדקי

Bashan

Mordecai

Shechem

Midian

Job Irregular (expected iiob)

Elisha

Asa

Jehu

Jericho

Zedekiah

55 אסתר55 לבן54 המן53 צדוק52 הו יאשי51 יהוידע51 נפתלי50 רחבעם49 יה

Esther

Laban

Haman

Zadok

Josiah

Jehoidah

Naphtali Not demonymic ending

Rehoboam

Yah Short form (nickname) of יהוה

The Name יהוה

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Vowels on יהוה Indicate Substitute Word

Reverence for the name Substitute another word in speech

Usually substitute אדני ‘Lord’• Write the vowels of אדנייהוה or יהוה• LXX translation κύριος

Substitute אלהים ‘God’ if דניאיהוה or דנייהוהא• Write the vowels of םלהיא . יהוה or יהוה• LXX translation θεὸς

The Name ‘Jehovah’

The name יהוה occurs 6828 times

The KJV translates יהוה as ‘Jehovah’ 4 Times• The rest of the time it translates it ‘LORD’ or ‘GOD’• Also, the combination-names Jehovahjireh, Jehovahnissi,

and Jehovashalom once each

‘Jehovah’ comes from converting יהוה like other names• Initial yod J, vocal shva E, etc.• Attempt to translate it as a name rather than as a title• The original vowels aren’t there, so they used the substitutes

People Used to Pronounce יהוה16 times in the book of Ruth• But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go, return

each of you to her mother's house. May יהוה deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.” (Ruth 1:8)

• And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “יהוה be with you!" And they answered, “יהוהbless you.“ (Ruth 2:4)

Elsewhere too• And [Ehud] said to them, "Follow after me, for יהוה has given

your enemies the Moabites into your hand.“ (Judges 3:28)

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The ‘Correct’ Pronunciation is Said to be Yahweh

Consonants יהוהCorrect pronunciation is said to be ‘Yahweh’ יהוה• Short form is יה ‘ya’ or יה ‘yah’• Based on verb היה (Exodus 3:14 ‘I am who I am’),

the final ה would be the vowel letter ה ‘eh’• Greek transcriptions ΙΑΟΥΑΙ and ΙΑΒΕ

Caveat: Pronunciation changes over time• Moses, David, and Ezra may have pronounced it differently

from each other.• Verb היה probably spelled הוי in Moses’ day.

• So the name might have been יהוי

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