Recently the topic of The Tetragrammaton has arisen, most recently by an ill-informed individual. I will start by mentioning that I am by no means an expert, but certainly my decade-long endeavour as a dedicated student of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures ( I can speak some Ancient Hebrew, Koine Greek,as well as Latin)My study of Rabbinic writings and history, and my in-depth research into these very matters should help to clarify things.
To start: YHVH is technically called the Tetragrammaton (meaning Four Letters). They are: Yodh-He-Vau-He. Ancient Hebrews did not use consonants in their writing(A,E,I,O,U) so the listener or reader supplied their own, as they were familiar with them. Vowel pointing did not come into use until the 1st half of the 1st millennium. Today we can only guess as to how these were actually pronounced. Some, like the Catholics, assert that his Name was Yahweh, based on information from noted scholars such as Jerome of the 4th century who brought us The Vulgate, outside sources such as historians like Josephus, who was actually a contemporary of the 1st century Christians like St. Paul and St. John, and as a Jew, was most interested in Jewish history following their exile to Babylon until his time. By Josephus' time however, the Name had generally fallen into dis-use among everyday Jews. He even cited in Jewish Antiquities, II, 276: "Then God revealed to him (Moses)His name, which ere had not come to men's ears, and of which I am forbidden to speak" (xii, 4). There was even a death penalty for anyone caught speaking the Name, save for the High Priest and other priestly and scribe castes, via public stoning. This stipulation was due to the fact that the Priests felt his name was too holy to be spoken by mortal lips, hence, they substituted such terms as Adho.ni' (Sovereign Lord),or Elo.him (God)in it's place. Evidence of this surfaces in the Greek Septuagint (3rd-2nd cent. B.C.E.) It wasn't until the Catholic Douay Version (1607)that the Tetragrammaton was finally given a name: Yahweh, or Jehovah. It can also be found in the King James Version (1611), both in Exodus and in Isaiah, same passages as Douay. Today, we are most familiar with Jehovah, as many of us have crossed paths with the well-intentioned, but overzealous proselytizers who bear his name. While I am not a Christian anymore (Too restrictive and I didn't feel the need to constantly beg forgiveness for a condition the Bible states isn't even my fault; I am also an incredibly carnal and visceral being)I did devote a decade of intense study to archaic language and Scripture. He was a tribal God to the Israelites and those who became Israelites. Outside of the clarification, there really is no significance to this name for anyone who does not attach themselves to this particular Deity.
Latin Vulgate: Jerome (4th Cent);
The Mishna, trans. by H. Danby, London 1954;
Jewish Antiquities, Josephus (1st cent.)
Hopefully this will clear up any confusion to this name, and we shall avoid nonsensical gibberish in the future.
And I might add that all this mathematical nonsense attached to this name we see on the web is just that: nonsense. Some people are naïve and gullible and will believe anything a self-proclaimed "expert" has to say. And like our prior "teacher" on the subject, know nothing of which they profess. Again, I stress the need to do research, and not assert things about which they are in the dark about.
In qabalah YHVH is a formula under which one can divide things into four. The four qabalistic worlds or planes of existence; Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiah. The four parts of the soul- Chiah, Neschemah, Ruach and Nephesch.
It is also representative of the four elements- Yod is fire, Heh is water, Vau is air and Heh is Earth. It has been speculated that the tarot is a pictoral form of the qabalah, if it was not true before it is true now. The first modern, most widely used deck is the Rider Waite and this was developed by a man who was in the Golden Dawn, he gave their qabalaistic tarot attributions, but concealed some information.
The 9 of discs corresponds to the principles of Yesod in the plane of Assiah, this information is then balanced with the astrological attribution, again given by the golden dawn, to determine the meaning of the card.
Yod- Father.
Heh-Mother
Vav-Son
Heh-Daugher.
In the western mystery tradition of the Golden Dawn and oreders derived from it. We are heh seeking union with vau,in order to become the other heh and know yod. This is the attainment of tiphareth- knowledge and conversation of the holy guardian angel, Binah and crossing of the abyss- heh, Union of Chokmah and Binah- Knowledge of Kether. The supernal triad are all really one anyway.
The name of god is YHVH because the universe as mapped out on the tree of life is expressed through YHVH- The god which resides in the triple veils of negativity above the tree of life utters the word which is YHVH- Creates the four planes of existence- The Archetypal world, The creative world, the formative world and the material world.
I had to post this because a lot of things in my tradition rely on this formula and I have no specific attatchment to this deity at all.
Hadit- I was not aware that your particular belief system was built upon the premise of mathematics related to the Tetragrammaton, I apologise. I just needed to clarify, as this topic is oft incredibly misunderstood. I have learned something entirely new, and I humbly bow to you!
Not mathmatics of the sort demonstrated yesterday....it really only extends to the fact that hebrew letters also have numerical values. I didnt understand a word of what was written on the posts mentioned.
This was more of a rebuttal and clarification about those posts this Hexagram prattled on about the other day. For some reason, I could just not get those out of my head. Can't believe I let him live there rent-free the last two days, but they really disturbed me.
Ancient Hebrew was an incredibly flavourful language. Very verb and noun heavy, and just seems to roll off the tongue like a river. What little I do know always arouses something deep within, as does Koine Greek, where many of the words we take for granted come from. It is like connecting with an ancient culture that never really died. That is just the linguist nerd in me :)
