god bible 4

GOD & THE BIBLE

BACK

It has long been held that the ancient Israelites were forbidden from speaking out the name of God. Thus, though the name of God (YHWH) could apparently be written down, it could not be pronounced. Thus to avoid ‘embarrassment’, the name of God was simply spoken out loud as ‘heaven’, thus, it is the Word of ‘Heaven’ not the Word of God. (That would be embarrassing.)

READING ANCIENT HEBREW SCRIPTURE

Hebrew and Semitic languages were written and read from right to left. From the Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible:

“The Hebrew language was written with some 22 consonantal signs and no vowels (except those added to the consonantal signs centuries later. Some words can no longer be construed with any certainty.”

The ancient script of the Hebrews was written without vowels, it was written without spaces between words, without punctuation and it was written from right to left. For example, we examine the official modern translation of Psalm 23 as is offered by the Jewish Publication Society:

“The Lord is my shepherd;

I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me to water in places of repose.”

If it were to be written as it was done in ancient Israelite times (without vowels and without spaces between words), it would appear as:

THLRDSMSHPHRDLCKNTHNGHMKSMLDWNNGRNPSTRSHLDSMTWTRNPLCSFRPS

We must also recall that the ancient Hebrew script was written from right to left. The above verse would actually be written:

SPRFSCLPNRTWTMSDLHSRTSPNRGNNWDLMSKMHGNHTNKCLDRHPHSMSDRLHT

Since vowels for pronunciation were necessary, just where and which vowels were to be used became a part of the oral tradition that was “handed down from teacher to pupil through countless generations… precisely which vowels went with the consonants that appeared on the page.”

In order to mark the place of the vowels, punctuation signs were created for each vowel sign. Adding to the difficulty was the always present danger that the slightest change of a sign – a slightly too long mark or an accidentally shortened mark – could change the vowel and thus change the meaning of a word.