TRR 41-44

REFERRING TO GOD AS YAHVE

QUESTION:

A young member of my congregation, a student in Skidmore College, is taking a course in Bible. The textbook is by Samuel Sandmel, who states that in Biblical studies he uses the name Yahve. The class professor also uses the term regularly. The student feels that this use of Yahve as God’s name is irreverent. What should be our attitude in the matter? (Asked by Rabbi Murray 1. Rothman, Newton, Massachusetts.)

ANSWER:

The question asked by this student is a difficult one because it involves the almost unanswerable disagreement between tradition and what is considered to be modern scientific usage. The Biblical criticism which began in Germany classifies the Bible into documents, contrasting those which use Yahve as God’s name and those which use Elohim. The respective anonymous authors of these two Biblical documents are therefore denominated as “Yahvists” and “Elohists.” Sandmel says he finds it convenient therefore in discussing the era of these documents to refer to God as these Biblical critics do, as Yahve.

That this use of God’s name goes contrary to Jewish traditional sentiment is beyond question. And it is of some importance to our discussion to note just how abhorrent this use is to our tradition. The avoidance of Yahve as referring to God is especially striking when we realize that this name is used five thousand four hundred and ten times in Scripture. But it is noteworthy that on the later Biblical books, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, it is less frequently used. The avoidance of the name is already well established in the time of the Mishnah. The Mishnah records that this name (the four-lettered name YHVH, the tetragrammaton) was used only by the High Priest in the Temple of Jerusalem. On Yom Kippur, the High Priest used it ten times during the whole day in his public confessions (Mishnah Yoma 2:2; 39b). When the people heard that name used, they prostrated themselves (Yoma 6:2). It was declared to be a sin for anybody other than the High Priest to use the name (Sanhedrin 10:1).

It is not too clear why this name of God, which was used so many times in Scripture, should have come to be avoided, and the term Adonai, “the Lord,” substituted for it. Evidently, it was deemed too sacred for daily use and it was feared that frequent use of it could lead to the Name being desecrated. As, indeed, it was being used in magical formulas, as we are told (J. Sanhedrin 28b) that it was so used by the Samaritans.

Of course, an additional fear was that the name might be erased. This led to a sensitiveness with regard to the other substitute names, namely, a fear that they might be erased. That fear is based upon Deuteronomy 12.3 f, where the Children of Israel were warned to wipe out the very names of the idols and the next verse says, “Do not do so to the Lord your God.” This led to the prohibition of the erasing of the name of God. That is why pious people do not even spell out the English word God in full.

In the face of all this deep-rooted sensitiveness, should we or should we not in scientific or classroom use, use the name Yahve? Dr. Sandmel, in the quotation cited from his book, also says he would find the use of the name Yahve repugnant if used in prayer. Perhaps the use of the name by the German critics had a touch of anti -Jewishness because the use of a proper name is needed in order to distinguish one among equals, so it was implied that as Baal was a god and Dagon a god, so Yahve would be identified as one of many.

Of course, this is merely speculation. It remains, however, that in this regard Dr. Sandmel is partially justified. It is hard to study this type of Biblical analysis without the use of the term which it had introduced. Perhaps the proper balance between the intense centuries- old Jewish feeling and the modern technical usage could be somewhat as follows: We could continue using the descriptive noun “Yahvist” and ” Elohist,” because after all they refer to (suppositious?) human authors; but not use the name Yahve in referring directly to God.

ADDENDUM

A detailed discussion of the proper pronunciation of the name of God has been undertaken by Isaac Liebes (Bet Avi, Vol. 4). He answers a question from a teacher of a group of Jewish people who do not know Hebrew, but who are learning now to participate in traditional prayer service. The question is asked how the name of God should be taught to these people, inasmuch as blessings which do not have the name of God properly pronounced are no true blessings. After a long and detailed discussion of the various pronunciations of the name of God, he concludes that the best thing to do is to use the Hebrew name adonai eloheinu, written out in English letters.