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TETRAGRAMMATON (rerrapa, four; ypciµµ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 670 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TETRAGRAMMATON (rerrapa, four; ypciµµa, See also:letter) , a See also:Greek See also:compound, found in See also:Philo and See also:Josephus, which designates the divine name composed of the four See also:Hebrew letters J H V H (iwe). The derivation and See also:pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is still doubtful. The See also:form " See also:Jehovah " (q.v.) used in some of the See also:English Versions is an See also:error which arosein the 16th See also:century. It is now generally assumed that the word is the causative form (hiph'il) and should be pronounced Yahveh or Yahweh (See also:accent on second syllable). The See also:Jews quite See also:early ceased to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, substituting (as the Books of See also:Chronicles and the LXX See also:translation already indicate) the word See also:Lord ('Adonai). The priests continued to use the name in the See also:Benediction of the See also:People (See also:Numbers vi. 22-27), and on the See also:Day of See also:Atonement the High See also:Priest pronounced it (See also:Leviticus xvi. 30) amidst the prostrations of the assembled multitude. It is recorded in the See also:Talmud that Rabbis communicated the true pronunciation to their disciples once in seven years (Qiddushin, 71a). The Jews called the Tetragrammaton by a Hebrew See also:denomination, See also:Shem Hammephorash OPT= Dv), i.e. the distinctive excellent name. It was considered an See also:act of See also:blasphemy for a layman to pronounce the Tetragrammaton. This avoidance of the See also:original name was due on the one See also:hand to reverence and on the other to fear lest the name be desecrated by heathens.

Partly in consequence of this See also:

mystery and partly in See also:accord with widespread superstitions, the Tetragrammaton figures in magical formulae from the See also:time of the Gnostics, and on amulets. Many a See also:medieval See also:miracle-worker was supposed to derive his competence from his knowledge of the See also:secret of the Name.

End of Article: TETRAGRAMMATON (rerrapa, four; ypciµµa, letter)

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