You wouldn't ask a German man for advice on how to speak Chinese or a Russian for advice on how to speak Swahili.  So why do some people consult Greek for how to say the Hebrew Name?  Beats me. 

Some people have concluded the divine name is "YaHiWaH" because Theodoret wrote it as AIA is Greek.  Other have concluded it is said "YaHoWuH" because some manuscripts of Clement record IAOU.  Of course other manuscripts of Clement record IAOUE leading other people to use YaHoWeH. 

 

• IAHO was used by Pseudo-Jerome ("Breviarium in Pss.", in P.L., XXVI, 828 )
• IAOTH was used by Irenaeus ("Adv. Haer.", II, xxxv, 3, in P. G., VII, col. 840)
• IEUO was used by Porphyry (Eusebius, "Praep. evang", I, ix, in P.G., XXI, col. 72)
• IEHIEH was used by James of Edessa (cf. Lamy, "La science catholique", 1891, p. 196)
• AIA was used by Theodoret (Question 15 in Exodus 7)
• IAOUE or IAOU is in Clement's text - multiple manuscripts disagree with each other.

A variety of other opinions also exist (see footnotes below) but all these people are violating the Scriptures to base a decision on what any of these men wrote.  Why?  Multiple reasons. 

 

Scripture tells us "by the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses shall every word (דבר) be established." (Deut 19:15).   Dare we establish one of the most important words - the Eternal One's Name - based on only one witness?  The only non-Hebrew witnesses that seem to agree, don't use enough vowels to fill out all 4 letters with syllables.  "IAO" was used by Diodorus Siculus (I, 94); the Valentinian heretics (Irenaeus, "Adv. Haer.", I, iv, 1, in P.G., VII, col. 481), and Origen ("in Joh.", II, 1, in P.G., XIV, col. 105).  But even if you argue there's an implied SHWA/SHEVA in here, where would it go?  Is this YaHoWH or YahWoH?  No way of telling what they meant by this other than to say it is not complete.  So where we get 3 Greek witnesses to agree on a spelling, it doesn't seem to agree with the Hebrew spelling enough to be useful.  So much for complying with the two witness rule!!!  Without two witnesses saying the same thing about how to pronounce it, we would be violating Torah to conclude that is how to say the Name. 

There's also the whole problem of whether a Greek witness is a competent witness to a Hebrew pronunciation.  After all, Greek has no way to write a "y" sound, no way to write a "w" sound, and can't write a syllable that ends with a "h" sound - only one that begins with an "h" sound.  It can't record a SHWA, or differentiate between a QAMATS versus a PATACH or a SEGUL versus a TSERE, can't distinguish between a log or short CHIRIK.  In other words, Greek can't spell any of the 4 consonants used in the Divine Name and has some sort of trouble with pretty much every vowel except the CHOLAM - and even that one leaves questions open about using VAV as a mater.

So why do some people consult Greek commentators to solve a Hebrew problem with all these very comical problems that exist?  Mostly because they have those Greek texts translated into English and they don't have any Hebrew texts translated into English.  Which essentially means they are making an English based decision, which is almost guaranteed to yield the wrong results. 

 

For the most part one should not draw any firm conclusions about using any pronunciation without seeing a pronunciation used by at least two Hebrew witnesses. 

 

I've combed through an enormous volume of Hebrew writings from the pages of history and presented the results of those findings at http://www.messiahalive.com/thename.htm so you can see what HEBREW writers have to say about this issue.  I've even translated one of the more crucial documents of such into English because its content helps you understand how different the Jewish attitude was many years ago about saying the Name. 

At http://www.messiahalive.com/thename.htm you'll find:

• Video Part 1: Halachah on the Name.  Discussing a few important issues about the Name. 
• Video Part 2: Pronouncing the Name.  Here I dig into what HEBREW SPEAKERS recorded about the Divine Name from ancient Hebrew writings, most of which have never been translated into English. 
• PDF:  I used this to record some stuff not fit for Video format.  The Video also contains some info not as well suited for written text form.  The PDF includes a translation of SEGULAH NIFLAH from Shulcan Aruch that will blow your mind and destroy a lot of theology you have been taught wrongly about the Divine Name. 

So if you haven't seen these 2 videos yet, then don't delay.  Hurry up and check it out for yourself!