The precise pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is by no means easily
recovered, although the view most widely accepted today is that the divine name
was pronounced Yahweh. The literature on the subject is very extensive. ¹ In the
sixteenth century. Genebrardus suggested the pronunciation, Jahve, ² largely on
the strength of Theodoret's assertion that the Samaritans used the pronunciation
'Iabe, subsequent to the time when pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was
forbidden to the Jews. ³ The question as to the date when pronunciation of the
divine name was no longer permitted finds no certain answer. In only compara-
tively recent times has the pronunciation Yahweh been widely acknowledged.
Even though Gesenius gave the pronunciation as Yahweh in his lexicon of 1815,
scholars continued to employ the customary Jehovah, out of deference to tradi-
tion, until Ewald began to use Jahveh (= Yahweh) regularly in his writings.

Of the various alternative forms that have been proposed, the most probable
is Yāhō or Yāhū. A. Lukyn Williams ⁴ has argued for such a pronunciation on the
basis of theophorous names in the Old Testament ending in YHW, the Elephan-
tine evidence, the attestation of Diodorus Siculus to a form 'Iao, ⁵ various pas-
sages drawn from patristic sources, and charms and amulets which use the form

-79-