Iabe

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For a full discussion of various transliterations (Jehovah, Yahweh) of the Tetragrammaton in English, and the discussion on its original pronunciation, see Tetragrammaton. This article only focuses on one aspect.

Iabe is an English transliteration of the Greek name "ιαβε". The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906 states that "ιαβε" was used in the writings of the Church Fathers to represent the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, "יהוה". Under the Article Heading, "Church Fathers and Magic Papyri", it says:

"It was in connection with magic that the Tetragrammaton was introduced into the magic papyri and, in all probability, into the writings of the Church Fathers, these two sources containing the following forms, written in Greek letters: (1) "Iaoouee," "Iaoue," "Iabe,";...
It is evident that (1) represents “יהוה”,...
The three forms quoted under (1) are merely three ways of writing the same word, [i.e. “יהוה”] though "Iabe" is designated as the Samaritan pronunciation. ¹

1 Who are the Samaritans
2 The Catholic Encyclopedia and Iabe [i.e. Jabe]
3 The 1910-1911 Encyclopedia Britannica supports Iabe
4 Footnotes

[edit] Who are the Samaritans

[edit] [538-330 B.C.] Exile ends, Temple of Jerusalem rebuilt, Samaritan Temple built.

article3jerusalem says:

When the exile ended in 538 B.C. and the exiles returned home again, they found that their former homeland was now populated by other people who had claimed this land as their own and that their former glorious capital still lay in ruins.

According to 2 Chronicles 36.22–23, the Persian Emperor Cyrus, who returned the exiles to their homeland, explicitly ordered the people to rebuild the temple. The prophet Isaiah identified Cyrus as "Yahweh’s anointed" (meshiach; see Isa 45.1). The temple was rebuilt over a period of several decades.

The project was first led by Sheshbazzar (about 538 B.C.), later by Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and later still by Haggai and Zechariah (520–515 B.C.).

Ezra 4 tells us how the local inhabitants of the land offered to assist with the building of the new temple during the time of Zerubbabel, but their offer was rejected. According to Ezra, this rejection precipitated a further interference not only with the rebuilding of the temple but also with the reconstruction of Jerusalem.

The text is not clear on this matter, but one possibility is that these "people of the land" were thought of as Samaritans. We do know that Samaritan and Jewish antagonism continued to increase, and that the Samaritans eventually built their own temple on Mount Gerizim, perhaps around 330 B.C.

[edit] [330 B.C.] The Samaritans build a temple on Mount Gerizan

The precise date of the schism between Samaritans and Jews is unknown, but was certainly complete by the end of the fourth century BCE. Archaeological excavations at Mount Gerizim suggest that a Samaritan temple was built there c. 330BCE, and when Alexander the Great (356-323) was in the region, he is said to have visited Samaria and not Jerusalem. ³

...it was on Mount Gerizim that Abraham offered Isaac (Gen 22:2).

It was also understood to be the place where God chose to establish His name (Deut 12:5).

Although this and similar references are to Jerusalem, the Samaritan identification of the "place" as Mount Gerizim made it the focus of their spiritual values.

As the Samaritan woman informed Jesus, the mountain was center of their worship (John 4:20).

[edit] [174-164 B.C.] Antiochus Epiphanes attempts to Hellenize the Jews and the Samaritans

article3jerusalem says:

In the second century B.C. a particularly bitter series of events eventually led to a revolution.

When Antiochus Epiphanes IV, a Syrian king who had control of the region, tried to obliterate Jewish religion, he proclaimed himself the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus and placed his statue in the most holy place in the temple, where he sacrificed pigs.

The authority of the high priesthood was severely damaged when first Jason and then Meneleus bought their office from Antiochus.

The persecution and death of faithful Jewish persons who refused to worship and kiss Antiochus’ image eventually led to a revolt led by Judas Maccabeus and his family.

Judas's priestly family, the Hasmoneans, introduced a dynasty that ruled during a period of conflict, with tensions arising both from within the family as well as from external enemies.

[edit] [174-164 B.C.] Under duress, the Samaritans dedicate their Temple to Jupiter Hellinius

Antiochus Epiphanes was on the throne of Syria from 175 to 164 BC. His determined policy was to Hellenize his entire kingdom. The greatest obstacle to his ambition was the fidelity of the Jews to their historic religion. snip/snip
The universal peril led the Samaritans, eager for safety, to repudiate all connection and kinship with the Jews. They sent ambassadors and an epistle asking to be recognized as belonging to the Greek party, and to have their temple on Mt. Gerizim named "The Temple of Jupiter Hellenius." The request was granted. This was evidently the final breach between the two races indicated in John 4:9, "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. ⁴

Several centuries before the birth of Christ, the Samaritans had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim to rival the one in Jerusalem. Here, they offered sacrifices according to the Mosaic code. Anderson notes that during the reign of Antiochus IV (175-164 B.C.):

“the Samaritan temple was renamed either Zeus Hellenios

(willingly by the Samaritans according to Josephus)

or, more likely, Zeus Xenios

(unwillingly in accord with 2 Macc. 6:2)”

(Bromiley, 4.304). ⁵

Josephus Book 12, Chapter 5 quotes the Samaritans as saying:

We therefore beseech thee, our benefactor and saviour, to give order to Apolonius, the governor of this part of the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of thy affairs, to give us no disturbances, nor to lay to our charge what the Jews are accused for, since we are aliens from their nation and from their customs, but let our temple which at present hath no name at all, be named the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius.

II Maccabees 6:1-2 says:

Shortly afterwards, the king sent Gerontes the Athenian to force the Jews to violate their ancestral customs and live no longer by the laws of God; and to profane the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicate it to Olympian Zeus, and the one on Mount Gerizim to Zeus, Patron of Strangers, as the inhabitants of the latter place had requested.

In 167 B.C. a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanus set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is known as the “abomination of desolation.” ⁶

This Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim was destroyed by John Hyracanus in about 128 B.C., having been in existence about 200 years. Only a few stone remnants of it exist today.

[edit] [26 A.D.] Jesus Criticizes the Samaritan Worship

The dates listed below in bold type, have been taken from "The Chronological Bible" King James Version by Edward Reese, 1977:

[26 A.D.] In John 4:19-26 Jesus criticizes the Samaritan worship:

19. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

20. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

21. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

25. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

[27 A.D.] Jesus restricts where His disciples are to go. Jesus tells His disciples not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. Matthew 10:5–7 says::

5. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[29 A.D.] After His death and resurrection Jesus authorizes his disciples to go and teach all nations. Matthew 28:18–20 says:

18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

[edit] [35-36 A.D.] The Samaritans receive the Holy Ghost

The dates listed below in bold type, have been taken from "The Chronological Bible" King James Version by Edward Reese, 1977:

[35-36 A.D.] Philip goes to the city of Samaria and preaches Christ. Acts 8:4-8 says:

4. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

5. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.

6. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.

8. And there was great joy in that city.

[35-36 A.D.] Peter and John go to Samaria lay hands on the Samaritans that they might receive The Holy Ghost. Acts 8:12-17 says:

12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

13. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

14. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:

15. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:

16. (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

17. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.

[edit] [4th Century A.D.] Theodoret said the Samaritans called YHWH "Iabe"

The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 6 [1972] states:

Instances of the divine name written in Greek letters, such as Iao (equivalent to “Yaho”), Iabe (known to the Samaritans, Theodoret [4th century A.D.], and Epiphanius), Iaoue, Iaouai (Clement of Alexandria [3rd century]), and Iae also favor the form “Yahweh” (NWDB, 453).

[edit] The Catholic Encyclopedia and Iabe [i.e. Jabe]

In the Article “Jehovah (Yahweh)” in The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1910, it says under the sub-heading “To take up the ancient writers”:⁷

The judicious reader will perceive that the Samaritan pronunciation Jabe probably approaches the real sound of the Divine name closest; the other early writers transmit only abbreviations or corruptions of the sacred name.
Inserting the vowels of Jabe into the original Hebrew consonant text, we obtain the form Jahveh (Yahweh), which has been generally accepted by modern scholars as the true pronunciation of the Divine name.
It is not merely closely connected with the pronunciation of the ancient synagogue by means of the Samaritan tradition, but it also allows the legitimate derivation of all the abbreviations of the sacred name in the Old Testament.

[edit] The 1910-1911 Encyclopedia Britannica supports Iabe

In the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition (New York: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1910-11, vol. 15, pp. 312, in the Article “JEHOVAH”) it states:

The early Christian scholars, who inquired what was the true name of the God of the Old Testament, had therefore no great difficulty in getting the information they sought.
Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 212) says that it was pronounced ιαουε.
Epiphanies (d. 404), who was born in Palestine and spent a considerable part of his life there, gives Iαβε (one cod. Iανε).
Theodoret (d. c. 457), born in Antioch, writes that the Samaritans pronounced the name Iαβε (in another passage, Iαβαι), the Jews Aια.
The latter is probably not Jhvh but Ehyeh (Exod. iii. 14), which the Jews counted among the names of God; there is no reason whatever to imagine that the Samaritans pronounced the name Jhvh differently from the Jews. This direct testimony is supplemented by that of the magical texts, in which Iαβε ξεβνθ (Jahveh Sebaoth), as well as Iαβα, occurs frequently.
In an Ethiopic list of magical names of Jesus, purporting to have been taught by him to his disciples, Yawe is found.
Finally there is evidence from more than one source that modern Samaritan priests pronounce the name Yahweh or Yahwa.
There is no reason to impugn the soundness of this substantially consentient testimony to the pronunciation Yahweh or Jahveh, coming as it does through several independent channels.
It is confirmed by grammatical considerations. The name Jhvh enters into the composition of many names of persons in the Old Testament, either as the initial element, in the form Jeho- or Jo- (as in Jehoram, Joram), or as the final element in the form -jahu or -jah (as in Adonijahu, Adonijah).
These various forms are perfectly regular if the divine name was Yahweh, and, taken altogether, they cannot be explained on any other hypothesis.
Recent scholars, accordingly, with but few exceptions, are agreed that the ancient pronunciation was Yahweh (the first h sounded at the end of the syllable).