Dr. Claude Mariottini has posted another entry on his blog today on the pronunciation of the divine name Yahweh. In his post, he references quite a number of Jewish scriptures as well as ancient letters that include the divine name. Mariottini’s perspective can be summarized with the point he stresses the most…
This reluctance to pronounce God’s name is contrary to God’s will as expressed by God himself to Moses on Mount Sinai. When God revealed his name to Moses, God said: “Say to the Israelites, ‘YHWH, the God of your fathers– the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob– has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation” (Exodus 3:15).
Mariottini further argues that the name of God was celebrated in the liturgy of Israel. But he laments the fact that no one knows how to pronounce the tetragrammaton YHWH anymore. He promises another post on the reasons the divine name cannot be pronounced and whether or not Christians should pronounce it.
UPDATE 2008-08-28: Dr. Mariottini has posted his Part 3 of Pronouncing the Divine Name
28 August, 2008 at 10:54 am
That’s an interesting argument. If sound, it is more evidence that we are really good at not doing what we are told. :)