Friday, 31 January 2014
Friday, 6 April 2012
Does 'Hovah' really mean 'a ruin, disaster'?
Does 'Hovah' mean 'a
ruin, disaster' in Strong's Concordance?
Many opposer’s have
tried to use this clever tactic to make users of the name Jehovah
question the use of that transliteration of the Divine name.
I was asked, Why do you
use the name 'Jehovah' when 'hovah' in the Strong's Concordance means
'a ruin, disaster'.
If 'hovah' does mean 'a
ruin, disaster' in Strong's concordance then 'Jehovah' or 'Yehovah' can not mean 'he
causes to become' or 'he is, he was, he will be' but rather something more negative like he causes or is a
disaster.....or can it?!
Before my own limited evidence I will quote from a Hebrew Scholar Nehemia Gordon (who holds a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a bachelors Degree in Archaeology) whose book I have just read, Shattering the conspiracy of silence.
Before my own limited evidence I will quote from a Hebrew Scholar Nehemia Gordon (who holds a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a bachelors Degree in Archaeology) whose book I have just read, Shattering the conspiracy of silence.
"...the rather silly claim that Yehovah יהוה comes from the Hebrew word HOVAH הוה meaning “disaster.” As I have explained in the past, this would be like saying that the word “assume” comes from the English words “ass,” “you,” and “me.” I call this “Hovah-logic,” which is defined as “knowing just enough Hebrew to be a disaster to yourself and others.”
In reality, Yehovah comes from the root HYH היה, meaning “to be,” whereas the word HOVAH (disaster) comes from the root HVH הוה. The two words only sound similar to someone blissfully ignorant of Hebrew grammar. For those who actually know Hebrew, Hoveh is a perfectly normal word meaning “he is” and Hovah is the feminine form meaning “she is” (both from HYH). Yehovah comes from Hoveh/ Hovah (“he/ she that is”). Neither has anything to do with the word “HOVAH” meaning “disaster” (from HVH).
My Laotian friend provides another example from Hebrew of how disastrous Hovah-logic can be. The Hebrew word for elephant, “PIL” פיל, sounds similar to “PILegesh” פילגש, meaning “concubine.” Using Hovah-logic, you could come up with some bizarre explanations. You might break down the word PILegesh into two words: PIL “elephant” and the verb GESH meaning “approach!” You could then say that ancient concubines were immensely fat and their paramours would shout at them, “Pil, Gesh!” “Approach, elephant!” As silly as this sounds, it’s actually more plausible than the name Yehovah having anything to do with the word for “disaster!”. "
Also.....
This question almost invariably comes from people who either don't know Hebrew or know just enough to be dangerous to themselves. I'm not putting these people down. I applaud them for trying to understand Hebrew the best they can with the limited tools available to them. This is just me venting my frustration at having to explain basic Hebrew grammatical concepts.
The question starts off with the observation that the Hebrew word hovah means "disaster, calamity". This word appears three times in the Tanach, once in Isaiah and twice in a single verse in Ezekiel:
"Evil is coming upon you which you will not know how to charm away; disaster (hovah) is falling upon you which you will not be able to appease; coming upon you suddenly is ruin of which you know nothing." (Ezekiel 7:26)
(Isaiah 47:11) "Calamity (hovah) shall follow calamity (hovah), and rumor follow rumor. Then they shall seek vision from the prophet in vain; instruction shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders."
Since hovah means "disaster" or "calamity", the question goes, doesn't this mean that Yehovah also means "disaster" or "calamity".
I guess this makes sense to those innocent of basic Hebrew grammar but in the Hebrew language this makes no sense. This would be like saying that the English word "assume" is derived from the word "ass" because when you assume you make an ass of you and me. Someone actually told me this many years ago and they were dead serious. Of course, an examination of any historical English dictionary will reveal that "assume" actually comes from the Latin verb "assume(re)" and not from the English word for a donkey.
Let's look at some Hebrew basics before we get ourselves in trouble assuming. With a few exceptions, every word in the Hebrew language has a three letter root, something proven in the 11th century by the Spanish rabbi Yonah Ibn Janah. Modern linguistics has confirmed this, observing that the three letter root is a basic characteristic of all Semitic languages. Most Hebrew roots are "whole" roots meaning all three letters of the root are present regardless of how the root is used in different grammatical forms.
For example, the Hebrew root SH.M.R. has the basic meaning "to guard". Hebrew can use this root in dozens of ways, each with a different shade of meaning, such as the verbs SHaMaRti "I guarded" and hiShaMeR "be careful" (be on guard), the noun miSHMeRet meaning "duty" (which a person has to be on guard to keep), and the names SheMeR and SHoMRon. As a "whole" root, the letters shin mem resh are always present in words derived from this root. The opposite of a "whole" root is a "hollow" root.
In "hollow" roots, one or more of the three letters of the root can be absent in certain grammatical forms. For example, the root BNH בנה" to build" loses the third letter of the root in the verb baniti (spelled BNYty בניתי" (I built". In this form of the verb, the H of BNH drops and is replaced by a Yod. If you didn't know about hollow verbs and saw the word baniti you might think the root was BNY בני when in fact it is BNH בנה.
You're probably thinking, "When is he gonna talk about the name?!"
Ok, here goes. The name Yehovah derives from the threeletter root HYH which means "to be". We know this from Exodus 3:14 in which the Almighty explains his name as "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh". The word Ehyeh is an "imperfect" verb from the root HYH meaning "to be". In later Hebrew, the "imperfect" form took on the meaning of "future" but in Biblical Hebrew it primarily expresses a repetitive action. In plain English, Ehyeh means "I am now and I will continue to be in the future". This is why Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh can be translated as "I am that which I am" but also as "I will be that which I will be". Both of these translations are correct even if they are a bit inaccurate. An accurate translation would be: "I am now and will continue to be in the future that which I am now and will be continue to be in the future". That's quite a mouthful and you can see why most translations prefer to dumb it down.
The word eHYeH has all three letters of the root HYH which may lead you to conclude that HYH is a "whole" root. However, in other forms of the verb, the second and third letter drop which means it is a "hollow" root. For example, HaYiti (spelled HYYty הייתי" (I was" is missing the third letter of the root H and in its place has a Yod. On the other hand, the masculine singular imperative Heveh (pronounced Heh Vay) "be!" is missing the second letter of the root and in its place has a Vav.
This last piece of information is crucial becomes it means in certain forms the root looks like HVH even though in fact it is HYH. This can be confusing because there is an unrelated root which really is HVH and which has an entirely different meaning from HYH. Don't worry, I'm almost done with the crash course in Hebrew grammar.
Now back to the name. Yehovah comes from the same root as Ehyeh: the hollow root HYH. Yehovah is actually a combination of three verbforms: Hayah "he was", Hoveh "he is", and Yih'yeh "he is now and will continue to be in the future". Together Hayah, Hoveh, and Yih'yeh combine into the name Yehovah. But does the meaning of the name tell us its pronunciation? Not necessarily. Many ancient Hebrew names stray from the vowel patterns found in common nouns and verbs. For example, my name Nehemia (pronounced N'chemYah) means "Yah comforts". However, if I said "Yah comforts" in a regular Biblical Hebrew sentence it would be Neechaym Yah. Why is my name pronounced N'chemYah and not NeeChaymYah? As we say in Hebrew: Kachah! Just because!
Hebrew names don't follow the same rules as common nouns and verbs. Deal with it! The bottom line is the meaning of YHVH as "he that was, he that is, and he that will be" doesn't tell us how to pronounce the name. The pronunciation Yehovah is based on Hebrew Masoretic manuscripts, but for that you'll have to read Keith's little study.
Let's get back to the hollow verbs. We saw that "Yehovah" comes from the hollow root HYH and as a result the Y can be replaced with a V in certain forms. To the untrained eye this makes it look like the root is HVH when in fact it is HYH. Remember the word Hovah meaning "disaster"? That word actually does come from the root HVH, which means "destruction". There is no connection between the name Yehovah and the word hovah because they are from two unrelated Hebrew roots: HYH "to be" and HVH "destruction". Pronouncing the name as Yehovah doesn't change this situation. Even though Yehovah sounds like it contains the word hovah "disaster" within it, this is a pure coincidence, just like the word "assume" which sounds like it contains the word "ass" in it. It doesn't mean that Yehovah means "disaster" nor does it mean Yehovah is connected in any way to the word for "disaster". If you assume that to be the case, then you're just making an ass of yourself.
Also.....
This question almost invariably comes from people who either don't know Hebrew or know just enough to be dangerous to themselves. I'm not putting these people down. I applaud them for trying to understand Hebrew the best they can with the limited tools available to them. This is just me venting my frustration at having to explain basic Hebrew grammatical concepts.
The question starts off with the observation that the Hebrew word hovah means "disaster, calamity". This word appears three times in the Tanach, once in Isaiah and twice in a single verse in Ezekiel:
"Evil is coming upon you which you will not know how to charm away; disaster (hovah) is falling upon you which you will not be able to appease; coming upon you suddenly is ruin of which you know nothing." (Ezekiel 7:26)
(Isaiah 47:11) "Calamity (hovah) shall follow calamity (hovah), and rumor follow rumor. Then they shall seek vision from the prophet in vain; instruction shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders."
Since hovah means "disaster" or "calamity", the question goes, doesn't this mean that Yehovah also means "disaster" or "calamity".
I guess this makes sense to those innocent of basic Hebrew grammar but in the Hebrew language this makes no sense. This would be like saying that the English word "assume" is derived from the word "ass" because when you assume you make an ass of you and me. Someone actually told me this many years ago and they were dead serious. Of course, an examination of any historical English dictionary will reveal that "assume" actually comes from the Latin verb "assume(re)" and not from the English word for a donkey.
Let's look at some Hebrew basics before we get ourselves in trouble assuming. With a few exceptions, every word in the Hebrew language has a three letter root, something proven in the 11th century by the Spanish rabbi Yonah Ibn Janah. Modern linguistics has confirmed this, observing that the three letter root is a basic characteristic of all Semitic languages. Most Hebrew roots are "whole" roots meaning all three letters of the root are present regardless of how the root is used in different grammatical forms.
For example, the Hebrew root SH.M.R. has the basic meaning "to guard". Hebrew can use this root in dozens of ways, each with a different shade of meaning, such as the verbs SHaMaRti "I guarded" and hiShaMeR "be careful" (be on guard), the noun miSHMeRet meaning "duty" (which a person has to be on guard to keep), and the names SheMeR and SHoMRon. As a "whole" root, the letters shin mem resh are always present in words derived from this root. The opposite of a "whole" root is a "hollow" root.
In "hollow" roots, one or more of the three letters of the root can be absent in certain grammatical forms. For example, the root BNH בנה" to build" loses the third letter of the root in the verb baniti (spelled BNYty בניתי" (I built". In this form of the verb, the H of BNH drops and is replaced by a Yod. If you didn't know about hollow verbs and saw the word baniti you might think the root was BNY בני when in fact it is BNH בנה.
You're probably thinking, "When is he gonna talk about the name?!"
Ok, here goes. The name Yehovah derives from the threeletter root HYH which means "to be". We know this from Exodus 3:14 in which the Almighty explains his name as "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh". The word Ehyeh is an "imperfect" verb from the root HYH meaning "to be". In later Hebrew, the "imperfect" form took on the meaning of "future" but in Biblical Hebrew it primarily expresses a repetitive action. In plain English, Ehyeh means "I am now and I will continue to be in the future". This is why Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh can be translated as "I am that which I am" but also as "I will be that which I will be". Both of these translations are correct even if they are a bit inaccurate. An accurate translation would be: "I am now and will continue to be in the future that which I am now and will be continue to be in the future". That's quite a mouthful and you can see why most translations prefer to dumb it down.
The word eHYeH has all three letters of the root HYH which may lead you to conclude that HYH is a "whole" root. However, in other forms of the verb, the second and third letter drop which means it is a "hollow" root. For example, HaYiti (spelled HYYty הייתי" (I was" is missing the third letter of the root H and in its place has a Yod. On the other hand, the masculine singular imperative Heveh (pronounced Heh Vay) "be!" is missing the second letter of the root and in its place has a Vav.
This last piece of information is crucial becomes it means in certain forms the root looks like HVH even though in fact it is HYH. This can be confusing because there is an unrelated root which really is HVH and which has an entirely different meaning from HYH. Don't worry, I'm almost done with the crash course in Hebrew grammar.
Now back to the name. Yehovah comes from the same root as Ehyeh: the hollow root HYH. Yehovah is actually a combination of three verbforms: Hayah "he was", Hoveh "he is", and Yih'yeh "he is now and will continue to be in the future". Together Hayah, Hoveh, and Yih'yeh combine into the name Yehovah. But does the meaning of the name tell us its pronunciation? Not necessarily. Many ancient Hebrew names stray from the vowel patterns found in common nouns and verbs. For example, my name Nehemia (pronounced N'chemYah) means "Yah comforts". However, if I said "Yah comforts" in a regular Biblical Hebrew sentence it would be Neechaym Yah. Why is my name pronounced N'chemYah and not NeeChaymYah? As we say in Hebrew: Kachah! Just because!
Hebrew names don't follow the same rules as common nouns and verbs. Deal with it! The bottom line is the meaning of YHVH as "he that was, he that is, and he that will be" doesn't tell us how to pronounce the name. The pronunciation Yehovah is based on Hebrew Masoretic manuscripts, but for that you'll have to read Keith's little study.
Let's get back to the hollow verbs. We saw that "Yehovah" comes from the hollow root HYH and as a result the Y can be replaced with a V in certain forms. To the untrained eye this makes it look like the root is HVH when in fact it is HYH. Remember the word Hovah meaning "disaster"? That word actually does come from the root HVH, which means "destruction". There is no connection between the name Yehovah and the word hovah because they are from two unrelated Hebrew roots: HYH "to be" and HVH "destruction". Pronouncing the name as Yehovah doesn't change this situation. Even though Yehovah sounds like it contains the word hovah "disaster" within it, this is a pure coincidence, just like the word "assume" which sounds like it contains the word "ass" in it. It doesn't mean that Yehovah means "disaster" nor does it mean Yehovah is connected in any way to the word for "disaster". If you assume that to be the case, then you're just making an ass of yourself.
First I will show you
what is Truthful about the question then I will show you what is
twisted.
These are the Hebrew
words and lexical numbers from Strong's concordance involved in this
argument.
הוָֹה
Lexical number
H1943
Transliteration
= hovah
Meaning
= Misfortune, calamity, adversity.
יְהֹוָה
Lexical number
H3068
Transliteration
= Yehovah
Meaning
= Jehovah, name of the supreme God of the Hebrews.
הָיָה
Lexical number
H1961
Transliteration
= hayah
Meaning
= To be, to become, exist.
הָוָה
Lexical number
H1933
Transliteration
= hava'
Meaning
= Shall be, may be, will occur.
Basically
the lexical number for the Tetragrammaton יְהֹוָה
in the Strong's
concordance is H3068, and that reference lists the root word (how we
make up the preceding word) as H1961 'hayah, to become', which comes
from the Primitive root H1933 'hava', Shall be', and that is the
finishing point for the four letters יְהֹוָה
in the Strong's
concordance.
So
if the Tetragrammaton is transliterated as Yehovah which comes from
the root 'to become', why does the hovah bit of Yehovah mean
'misfortune, calamity'?
This
is because, hovah is a transliteration in itself that is NEVER
applied to יְהֹוָה
in the Hebrew
text. Each Hebrew word comes from a root verb or noun, hovah is a
feminine noun that actually comes from the root havvah which means
'wickedness, mischief'.
To
show this in scripture, Strong's lists two texts where hovah is used,
but there is no sign of the Divine name.
Isaiah
47:11 and Ezekiel 7:26
Isa
47:11 KJV with Strong's Hebrew lexical references
“..and
mischiefH1943
shall fallH5307
uponH5921
thee;”
Did
you see that H1943 hovah is used for mischief and not for the Divine
name.
Here
is the full verse in Hebrew, notice NO Tetragrammaton יְהוָה
just
hovah H1943 הֹוָה,
וּבָא
עָלַיִךְ רָעָה,
לֹא
תֵדְעִי שַׁחְרָהּ,
וְתִפֹּל
עָלַיִךְ הֹוָה,
לֹא
תוּכְלִי כַּפְּרָהּ;
וְתָבֹא
עָלַיִךְ פִּתְאֹם שֹׁאָה,
לֹא
תֵדָעִי.
The
NWT puts it this way
“..And
upon you calamity (hovah) must come”
This
verse is better because it has two references in one verse, H1943 and
H1961.
Ezekiel
7:26 KJV
with Strong's Hebrew lexical references
MischiefH1943
shall comeH935
uponH5921
mischief,H1943
and rumourH8052
shall
beH1961
uponH413
rumour;H8052
In
the Hebrew text it is clear there is no Tetragrammaton יְהוָה
just
hovah הֹוָה,
and hava הְיֶה
הֹוָה
עַל-הֹוָה
תָּבוֹא,
וּשְׁמֻעָה
אֶל-שְׁמוּעָה
תִּהְיֶה;
וּבִקְשׁוּ
חָזוֹן,
מִנָּבִיא--וְתוֹרָה
תֹּאבַד
Again
the NWT puts it this way
“There
will come adversity
(hovah) upon adversity
(hovah), and there will
occur
(hava) report upon report”
Here
are two verses in English then in Hebrew that have hovah (calamity,
mischief) first then the Tetragrammaton יְהֹוָה
(Jehovah)
in the next verse, proving they are not the same or have the same
meaning or are in anyway linked, except, as in these two verses when
they are in the same chapter!
Ezekiel
7:26,27
NWT
26 There
will come adversity
upon adversity,
and there will
occur
report upon report, and people will actually seek a vision from a
prophet, and the law itself will perish from a priest and counsel
from elderly men. 27 The
king himself will go into mourning; even a chieftain will clothe
himself with desolation, and the very hands of the people of the land
will get disturbed. According to their way I shall act toward them,
and with their judgments I shall judge them; and they will have to
know that I am Jehovah.’”
KJV
with strongs Hebrew lixical refererences
MischiefH1943
shall comeH935
uponH5921
mischief,H1943
and rumourH8052
shall
beH1961
uponH413
rumour;H8052
then shall they seekH1245
a visionH2377
of the prophet;H4480
H5030
but the lawH8451
shall perishH6
from the priest,H4480
H3548
and counselH6098
from the ancients.H4480
H2205
The
kingH4428
shall mourn,H56
and the princeH5387
shall be clothedH3847
with desolation,H8077
and the handsH3027
of the peopleH5971
of the landH776
shall be troubled:H926
I will doH6213
unto them after their way,H4480
H1870
and according to their desertsH4941
will I judgeH8199
them; and they shall knowH3045
thatH3588
IH589
am
the
LORD.H3068
Hebrew
text
Remember
Hebrew is read from right to left. Notice the first word is calamity
הֹוָה
and
the last word is Jehovah יְהוָה
הֹוָה
עַל-הֹוָה
תָּבוֹא,
וּשְׁמֻעָה
אֶל-שְׁמוּעָה
תִּהְיֶה;
וּבִקְשׁוּ
חָזוֹן,
מִנָּבִיא--וְתוֹרָה
תֹּאבַד מִכֹּהֵן,
וְעֵצָה
מִזְּקֵנִים.
הַמֶּלֶךְ
יִתְאַבָּל,
וְנָשִׂיא
יִלְבַּשׁ שְׁמָמָה,
וִידֵי
עַם-הָאָרֶץ,
תִּבָּהַלְנָה;
מִדַּרְכָּם
אֶעֱשֶׂה אֹתָם,
וּבְמִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶם
אֶשְׁפְּטֵם,
וְיָדְעוּ,
כִּי-אֲנִי
יְהוָה.
So
we can clearly see that the Hebrew word Transliterated into hovah is
used for words like calamity and mischief but it isnt used or linked
in any way to the Tetragrammaton thus to Jehovah.
References
for Hebrew Text http://www.mechon-mamre.org
,
for
KJV with Strong's References www.e-sword.net
for
Strong's Concordance online http://www.blueletterbible.org
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