This section is a bit difficult, since it relies heavily on what is happening in the minutiae of the Hebrew vowels in specific words and how this applies to the Tetragrammaton. For more information about the specific rules, you can see “The Rule of Šĕwāʾ ” (Seow §5.3) and “The Preposition מִן” (Seow §5.5). Full bibliographic information about Seow’s grammar appears on the main page of this article.
There is a set of four prepositions in Hebrew that are attached to the word or phrase that they govern. Three of these together form the acronym כָּלֵב “Caleb,” and the fourth is the preposition מִן. Those that form the acronym are: כְּ־ “like, as, according to,” לְ־ “to, for,” and בְּ־ “in, on, at, against.” Of course, when מִן “from, out of” attaches to a word, it drops the ן (nun), which assimilates into the following letter as a dagesh (a doubling dot).
| Form | Process | Gloss |
| כְּשֶׁ֫מֶן | כְּ + שֶׁ֫מֶן > | “like oil” |
| לְשֶׁ֫מֶן | לְ + שֶׁ֫מֶן > | “to oil” |
| בְּשֶׁ֫מֶן | בְּ + שֶׁ֫מֶן > | “in oil” |
| מִשֶּׁ֫מֶן | מִן + שֶׁ֫מֶן > *מִנְשֶׁ֫מֶן > *מִשְׁשֶׁ֫מֶן > | “from oil” |
If the noun is definite, the article is swallowed up under the preposition, thus:
| Form | Process | Gloss |
| כַּשֶּׁ֫מֶן | כְּ + הַשֶּׁמֶן > *כְּהַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > | “like the oil” |
| לַשֶּׁ֫מֶן | לְ + הַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > *לְהַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > | “to the oil” |
| בַּשֶּׁ֫מֶן | בְּ + הַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > *בְּהַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > | “in the oil” |
| מֵהַשֶּׁ֫מֶן | מִן + הַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > *מִנְהַשֶּׁ֫מֶן > *מִהַּשֶּׁ֫מֶן > | “from the oil” |
The first three prepositions are not found separate from a word. So, we will not see לְ־בֵית הָאֱלֹהִים as “to the house of God.” Rather, it will always be לְבֵית הָאֱלֹהִים – such that it is attached to whatever word or expression it governs. However, מִן can be separated from its noun, so that מֵהַשָּׁמַ֫יִם “from heaven” has the same meaning as מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֫יִם “from heaven.”
Now, the proposal that יהוה should be pointed and pronounced as יְהוָֹה has a few major issues, one of which is how it behaves when one of these prepositions is attached to it. We will look at what happens to words that begin with יְ [yod-shva], what happens with composite shva (אֲ אֱ אֳ), what happens with אֲדֹנָי and then at what happens with יהוה (which begins with יְ according to the proposed pronunciation יְהוָֹה Yəhōvâ).
Attaching Prepositions and Vocalic Changes
The prepositions have their own vowels, which often come into conflict with the vowels of the nouns themselves. Thus, if a word begins with a shva (םְ) in the first syllable, that would create a situation in which there are two vocal shvas one after the other – and Hebrew doesn’t like that. It forces a resolution of the combination in some way. Generally it does this by turning the first shva into chirik. So, *לְזְמַן קָצָר *ləzəman qāṣār becomes לִזְמַן קָצָר lizman qāṣār “for a short time.” This is a regular rule of Hebrew vocalization.
However, when the vowel at the beginning of the word is a composite shva (which means that the word begins with a guttural and a reduced vowel, for whatever reason), the shva of the preposition will match the vowel class of the composite shva and take the full short version of that vowel. So, *לְאֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית *ləʾărôn habbərîṯ becomes לַאֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית laʾărôn habbərîṯ “in the ark of the covenant” (in which לְ becomes לַ to match the ă of אֲרוֹן ʾărôn).
In other words, Hebrew doesn’t tolerate having two vocal shvas in a row—whether these are two simple vocal shvas (CəCə) or a simple vocal shva followed by a composite shva (ă, ĕ, or ŏ). In these situations, it will change the first shva either into chirik or into the matching vowel of the composite shva (reduced vowel). The composite shva appears under gutturals with redueced vowels:
| Form | Transliteration | Gloss |
| בַּאֲרוֹן | baʾărôn | “in an ark” |
| בֶּאֱמֹר | beʾĕmōr | “in saying” |
| בָּאֳנִיָּה | boʾŏnîyâ | “in a boat” |
| בַּעֲמֹרָה | baʿămōrâ | “in Gomorrah” |
When we have a word that begins with vocal shva under yod, we see a two-step resolution. First, the vocal shva under the preposition resolves to chirik, then the shva under the yod disappears and the yod becomes a full vowel letter (chirik-yod).
| Form | Process | Transliteration | Gloss |
| בִּיהוּדָה | בְּ + יְהוּדָה > *בְּיְהוּדָה > *בִּיְהוּדָה > | bîhûḏâ | “in Judah” |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִַם | בְּ + יְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם > *בְּיְרוּשָׁלִַם > *בִּיְרוּשָׁלִַם > | bîrûšāláyim | “in Jerusalem” |
| לִיהוֹנָתָן | לְ + יְהוֹנָתָן > *לְיְהוֹנָתָן > *לִיְהוֹנָתָן > | lîhônāṯān | “to Jonathan” |
| מִירוּשָׁלִַם | מִן + יְרוּשָׁלִַם > *מִנְיְרוּשָׁלִַם > *מִיְּרוּשָׁלִַם > *מִיְרוּשָׁלִַם | mîrûšāláyim | “from Jerusalem” |
| מִיהוֹאָב | מִן + יְהוֹאָב > *מִנְיְהוֹאָב > *מִיְּהוֹאָב > *מִיְהוֹאָב | mîhôʾāḇ | “from Joab” |
About this process:
| בְּ + יְהוּדָה | bə + Yəhûḏâ | The two words before being joined |
| *בְּיְהוּדָה | *bəyəhûḏâ | Two shvas up against each other (needs resolution) First shva shifts to chirik |
| *בִּיְהוּדָה | *biyhûḏâ | Chirik yod followed by shva (needs resolution) Shva drops out—becomes long vowel |
| בִּיהוּדָה | bîhûḏâ | Real, resolved form |
Adding Prepositions to אֲדֹנָי and אֱלֹהִים
Something special happens with three words in Hebrew that begin with alef (א) when they are attached to one of these prepositions. First, the word אֱמֹר “saying” can be found with the prefixed prepositions. When it is attached to בְּ־ or כְּ־, nothing special happens with it. The normal rules apply, and we see בֶּאֱמֹר beʾĕmōr and כֶּאֱמֹר keʾĕmōr. However, when it is attached to לְ־, something special happens. The two eʾĕ vowels combine to one long ēʾ, and the alef quiesces (becomes unpronounced). So, we actually find לֵאמֹר lēʾmōr instead of the expected *לֶאֱמֹר *leʾĕmōr in the Bible.
So it is when adding the prepositions to the words אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy “the Lord” (which is one of the names of God in the Bible, used over 400 times) and אֱלֹהִים ʾĕlōhîm “God.” According to the “Rule of Šĕwāʾ” (Seow §5.3), we would expect to see *בַּאֲדֹנָי *baʾăḏōnāy and *בֶּאֱלֹהִים beʾĕlōhîm. However, with all of the prefixed prepositions, we see the following:
| Form | Transliteration | Gloss |
| כַּאדֹנָי | kaʾḏōnāy | “like the Lord” |
| לַאדֹנָי | laʾḏōnāy | “to the Lord” |
| בַּאדֹנָי | baʾḏōnāy | “in the Lord” |
| מֵאֲדֹנָי | mēʾăḏōnāy | “from the Lord” |
| Form | Transliteration | Gloss |
| כֵּאלֹהִים | kēʾlōhîm | “like God” |
| לֵאלֹהִים | lēʾlōhîm | “to God” |
| בֵּאלֹהִים | bēʾlōhîm | “in God” |
| מֵאֱלֹהִים | mēʾĕlōhîm | “from God” |
It is significant that: (1) each of the attached prepositions adopts the vowel from the alef of אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy while dropping the vowel itself (there is no vowel on the alef), and (2) the attached preposition מִן min behaves regularly, as it always does with gutturals, and leaves the vowel on the alef untouched. One other peculiarity of the pointing of אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy will need to be addressed on a separate page regarding the omission of its cholam in the Aleppo Codex (we see the unpronounceable אֲדנָי ʾăḏnāy rather than אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy). For now, let’s look at the forms of יְהוָֹה when it is attached to prepositions.
The Attached Prepositions on the Divine Name
When we deal with the appearance of the Divine Name (יהוה), we need to think of what we expect to see of a name that begins with יְ and what we see with the word אֲדֹנָי and אֱלֹהִים. Here’s a comparison of the forms:
| Expected | Yəhônāṯān | Real | ʾĂḏōnāy |
| כִּיהוָֹה | כִּיהוֹנָתָן | כַּיהוָֹה | כַּאדֹנָי |
| לִיהוָֹה | לִיהוֹנָתָן | לַיהוָֹה | לַאדֹנָי |
| בִּיהוָֹה | בִּיהוֹנָתָן | בַּיהוָֹה | בַּאדֹנָי |
| מִיהוָֹה | מִיהוֹנָתָן | מֵיְהוָֹה | מֵאֲדֹנָי |
If the name were supposed to be pronounced as Yəhōvâ, we should expect to see לִיהוָֹה lîhōvâ in the same way that we see לִיהוֹנָתָן lîhônāṯān and לִיהוֹשָׁפָט lîhôšāp̄āṭ. Instead, we see the abnormal לַיהוָֹה layhōvâ (and so with all of the prepositions), following the exact vocalization pattern of אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy, despite the fact that all theophoric names follow the regular pattern completely. There is no explanation for this distinction except that the vowels written on יְהוָֹה actually belong to אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy, as per the traditional explanation of the vowels.
An objection has been raised that the composite shva on the alef of אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy is not the same as the shva on the yod of יְהוָֹה, and this objection is aimed at saying that the lack of exactitude rules out the claim that the vowels have been copied over. This objection does not take place with regard to the use of the vowels of אֱלֹהִים ʾĕlōhîm on the Tetragrammaton as יְהוִֹה, which appears nearly a hundred times in the combination אֲדֹנָי יְהוִֹה, read ʾăḏōnāy ʾĕlōhîm. No one disagrees that יְהוִֹה is carrying the vowels of אֱלֹהִים ʾĕlōhîm. Even Nehemia Gordon admits that this is the case:
Another point worth noting is that in the Aleppo Codex, the most precise manuscript of the biblical text, the name YHVH gets the vowels Yᵉhovih when it is juxtaposed to the word Adonai. It seems that the “i” (chiriq) in Yᵉhovih is a reminder to the reader to read this word as Elohim (God), since reading it Adonai would result in Adonai twice in a row. (Gordon, 2003, p. 9)
We see that even Nehemia Gordon (who openly that יהוה appears as יְהוִֹה with vowels that are not its own) agrees that it is possible for the vowels not to belong to the word itself. In this case, it appears with the vowels of אֱלֹהִים ʾĕlōhîm. If the vowels יְהוִֹה are actually a signal to the reader to pronounce it as אֱלֹהִים ʾĕlōhîm, then the position can easily be argued that the vowels of יְהוָֹה are a signal to the reader to pronounce it as אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy, which I will go on to do.
The conclusion that can be drawn on this specific part of the article is that when it appears with the attached prepositions, the name YHWH does not behave like other words with similar pointing. The most obvious reason for this is that the vowels written on YHWH do not belong to the name itself. We should now turn to where the vowels come from and how we know.
Why Does It Matter?
Any basic Hebrew grammar will tell you that the vowels written on יְהוָֹה are taken from the word אֲדֹנָי ʾăḏōnāy as a reminder to read the latter word any time that יְהוָֹה appears. Here are some examples:
«Quote from Seow»
«Quote from Gesenius»
«Quote from Van Pelt»
«Quote from another grammar»