As explained
in Part 1, of the Name YHWH study,
"elohiym" and "adonay" have been used by the Yahudiym
(Jews, descendants and/or residents of the tribe of Yahudah [Judah], primarily
Rabbinic Judaism), as a substitute for the name dedi
[YHWH, Yahuweh], in the Scriptures. The substitution
of the name dedi
began before the capture of Yahudah, but increased tremendously after the
exile to
“To my
lord Yaush. May dedi send you good news this very day!
I am nothing but a dog, why should you think of me? May dedi help you find out what you need to
know!”
“May dedi send you, my lord, the very best
possible news this very day! I am nothing but a dog, why have you sent me
these letters? I am returning them to you. I pray that dedi will let you see a good harvest today.
Is TobYahu going to send me some of the king's’grain?"
During
the exile and afterward, the increasing use of substitute names and titles,
took the place of the name dedi,
even within the Scriptures themselves, as recorded in the Massorah (see The
Name YHWH Part 1 – The Tanak). This practice carried over from liturgical,
to everyday writings and communication, where the kohaniym [priests], as well
as the commoner no longer used the name dedi. “The Rabbis, however, were certain
that the true name of God was the Tetragrammaton. In the period of the Second
Temple, YHWH was never pronounced except by the high priest on Yom Kippur,
on which occasion the people would prostrate themselves and recite, ‘Praised
be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever’ (Yoma 6:2).”
[2]
Despite the fact that the Yahudiym knew that
dedi was His name, they came up with a
variety of terms and titles to call Him, except His name. “The name YHWH is
considered as the Name proper; it was known in the earliest rabbinical works
simply as the Name; also as Shem ha-Meyuhad (“the Extraordinary Name” ; Sifre,
Num. 143); as Shem ha-Meforash (“the Distinguished Name”; Yoma vi. 2); as
Shem ben Arba Otiyyot (“the Tetragrammaton” or “the Quadriliteral Name”; Kid.
71a); and as Yod He Waw He (spelling the letters of YHWH).”
[3]
“Theodoret (c.450) showed that in his time the
Jews did not pronounce the name and already called it the tetragrammaton (cf.
F. Field, Hexapla, i. 90, on Ex. vi. 3,
The following
is a list of substitutions used in the Jewish apocrypha.
“In the
Apocrypha, as in the Hebrew Bible, the most common names for the deity are
‘God’ (Gr. Theos; in Ben Sira usually Elohim but sometimes El), ‘Lord’ (Gr.
Kyrios, which no doubt generally stands for Adonai; but Ben Sira commonly
has YHWH, represented by three yods in the medieval mss.), ‘the Most High’
(Gr. ho Hypsistos, probably for Heb. Elyon, but perhaps at times for Ha-Gavoha
as in the Talmud), ‘the Lord Almighty’ (Gr. Kyrios Pantokrator for Heb. YHWH
Zevaot) or simply ‘the Almighty’ (Gr. ho Pantokrator for Heb. Zevaot alone),
‘the Eternal One’ (Gr. ho Aionios (I Bar.
Among the
terms used for God that are more or less peculiar to the Apocrypha are: ‘the
God of Truth’ (I Esd.
An interesting
passage occurs in IV Ezra 7:62 (132)–70 (140), where, based on Exodus 34:6–7,
the author of this book lists seven names of the Most High: ‘I know that the
Most High is called “the Compassionate One,” because He has compassion on
those who have not yet come into the world; and “the Merciful One,” because
He has mercy on those who repent and live by His law; and “the Patient One,”
because He is patient toward those who have sinned, since they are His creatures;
and “the Bountiful One,” because He would rather give than take away; and
“the One Rich in Forgiveness,” because again and again He forgives sinners,
past, present, and to come, since without His continued forgiveness there
would be no hope of life for the world and its inhabitants; and “the Generous
One,” because without His generosity in releasing sinners from their sins
not one ten-thousandth part of mankind could have life; and “the Judge,” because
if He did not grant pardon to those who have been created by His word by blotting
out their countless offenses there would probably be only a very few left
of the entire human race.’
The earliest
occurrences (except for Dan. 4:23: ‘It is Heaven that rules’) of the substitution
of the word ‘Heaven’ (God's abode) for ‘God’ (Himself) are found in the Apocrypha:
‘In the sight of Heaven’ (I Macc. 3:18), ‘Let us cry to Heaven’ (I Macc. 4:10),
‘They were singing hymns and glorifying Heaven’ (I Macc. 4:24), ‘All the people...
adored and praised Heaven’ (I Macc. 4:55), ‘With the help of Heaven’ (I Macc.
12:15), and ‘From Heaven I received these [sons]’ (II Macc. 7:11). In the
Christian Gospels this usage is especially common in the Judeo-Christian Gospel
of Matthew, where, e.g., ‘the kingdom of Heaven’ corresponds to ‘the kingdom
of God’ in the parallel passages of Mark and Luke (Matt. 3:2 = Mark 1:15;
Matt. 5:3 = Luke 6:20; et al.), but also in Luke 15:18, 21: ‘I have sinned
against Heaven.’ This usage still persists in such modern English expressions
as ‘Heaven help us!’ “
[5]
The following
are those listed in Rabbinic writings.
“The rabbis
evolved a number of additional names of God. All of them, without exception,
are references to His attributes, but curiously enough they are not included
in the list of the permitted names enumerated in the passage in Shevu'ot:
‘the Great, the Mighty, the Revered, the Majestic,’ etc. (35a–b). The most
common is Ha-Kadosh barukh Hu (‘the Holy One, blessed be He’; in Aramaic,
Kudsha berikh Hu). It is an abbreviation of ‘the Supreme King of kings, the
Holy One blessed be He.’ The full formula is found in the Mishnah (e.g., Sanh.
4:5; Avot 3:1), but more often the abbreviation is found (e.g., Ned.
Even though
the Scripture is quite clear, on the use of the name dedi, the Rabbis developed teachings to
justify their practice of substitution and non-use. One of which is based
on the verse in Shemoth [Exodus] 3:15. “And
dedi said further
to Mosheh, ‘Now you say to the sons of Yisrael, “dedi, elohey of your fathers, elohey of
Abraham, elohey of Yitschaq and elohey of Yaaqob, sent me to you. ‘This is
My Name forever, and this memorial for generation to generation.’ “ ‘ “ Now the word used for “forever” is L’OLM [mlol] (lamed, ayin, lamed, mem). According
to the rabbis, this rendering means to conceal. “The sages quoted, ‘This is my name for ever,
and this is my memorial unto all generations’ (Ex. iii. 15). Here the word
‘le-‘olam’ (forever) is written defectively, being without the ‘waw’ for the
vowel ‘o’ which renders the reading ‘le-‘allem’ (to conceal; Kid. 71a).”
[7]
This is the same note on Shemoth [Exodus] 3:15
that occurs in Rashi’s commentary to the Onkelos Pentateuch, “The Hebrew word
le’olam (‘forever’) is spelled defectively, without the letter vav, so that
it may be read le’alem, which means ‘to conceal,’ viz., ‘to conceal it’ that
the name of God shall not be read exactly as it is written.”
[8]
This justification of “hiding” the name dedi, based on a defective spelling of
owlam, is not correct.
nlr (owlam) in the Hebrew means
“ 1. long, duration, antiquity. 2.continuous existence, eternity, uninterrupted
future. 3. World. 4.PBH (Post-Biblical Hebrew) mankind, humanity. 5. PBH pleasures
of life. 6. MH (Mishnaic Hebrew) community. [Related to Biblical Aramaic and
Aramaic nlr , Syriac amli
(=eternity; world; whence probably Ethiopic alam, ‘eternity; world’), Arabic
alam (=world). According to some scholars these words litterally mean ‘the hidden, unknown time’, and
derive from base nlr (=to hide). According to several other scholars the above words are
related to Akkadian ulu, ullanu (=remote time), so that – ain in mloi, etc.,
would be a suffix.”
[9]
nlr
(
Another
substitution for dedi, is that of HaShem, which in the
Hebrew means, “The Name”. “ The adoption of Ha-Shem (‘the Name’; and, for
reasons of assonance, Adoshem) for Adonai. The adoption of Ha-Shem is probably
due to a misunderstanding of a passage in the liturgy of the Day of Atonement,
the Avodah. It includes the formula of the confession of the high priest on
that day. Since on that occasion he uttered the Ineffable Name, the text has
‘Oh, Ha-Shem, I have sinned,’ etc. The meaning is probably ‘O [here he mentioned
the Ineffable Name] I have sinned,’ and from this developed the custom of
using Ha-Shem for Adonai, which is in itself a substitute for the Tetragrammaton.”
[11]
“In manuscripts the Tetragrammaton was represented
by first iiii
, then by iii,
and finally
by
ii or by `d
(either for
nyd
, hashem, ‘the name,’
or as an abbreviation of dedi
); these abbreviations
are in frequent use in prayer-books and Hebrew Literature other than the Bible.”
[12]
“ In
the English translation of the Tanak, you will find HaShem, where the Hebrew
text has dedi (YHWH) written.
[13]
The Shomronim
Ibriym [Samaritan Hebrews], are descendants from the ten northern tribes of
Yisrael. They wrote in what is called ancient Samaritan script. This is
similar to paleo-Hebrew. Their Pentateuch is written in the Samaritan
script, instead of the squared Aramaic script, that is used in the Tanak.
[14]
The pronunciation of Hebrew, used in their liturgy, varies
slightly from the Jewish Ashkenaz pronunciation.
In speaking and other writing, they use Shema, to replace dedi,
in the same manner as the Yahudiym use of HaShem.
[15]
Of the Shomroniym it is written, “But the great name of
revelation, YHWH, appears constantly throughout the literature, without any
trace of that fear at even the writing of it which characterizes Judaism.
The pronunciation of the name has come to be avoided by uttering in its stead
`ny (pronounced
Shemma), ‘the Name,’ corresponding to the Jewish use of nyd , e.g. Lev. 24, 11. Yet the pronunciation
itself has survived in Samaritanism, whereas long lost in the Jewish Church.”
[16]
The Aramaic custom was also to use Shema, “The Name”, as
a substitute for YHWH.
[17]
When the
scribes first introduced vowel pointings to the written text of Scripture
(the earliest were in 400 CE, by the Qarites
[18]
, to 800 CE by the Masorites), they
inserted vowel pointings to show what to pronounce (for example, Adonay),
instead of dedi. Due to the ban on the name dedi,
that began after the exile to
Originally
in the Greek Septuagint, dedi was written in the paleo-Hebrew,
just as it was done in the Hebrew and Aramaic texts and the Greek texts of
the Minor Prophets found at Qumran in cave 4 and the cave at Nahal Hever.
[24]
Later, some of the Greek writers used their
own letters for the Tetragrammaton (the four lettered name dedi).
dedi ended up, inaccurately becoming PIPI (Pi, Iota, Pi, Iota), since Pi in
Greek looks similar to He in Hebrew (PIPI- Greek,
hwhy – Hebrew).
[25]
“Similarly Jerome, Origen, and the translators of the Bible
before Origen found the tetragrammaton in their manuscripts, even in the Greek
translations, where the name was represented by the capital letters iota and
pi, closely resembling the Hebrew yodh and he. Origen seems to have transferred
the Hebrew quadriliteral in his column of transliterated Hebrew and a later
hand rendered it into the Greek iota and pi, and this transference seems to
have been the custom of
Eventually, the Greeks substituted Kurios, Dios and Theos for dedi.
“Christian Scriptures frequently quote passages from the Old Testament in
which the divine name is translated into the Greek word kyrios (Lord), or
occasionally theos (God). Both of these words are generic words for God, not
limited to the Hebrew God whose name is Yahweh and who
is represented in the Hebrew Bible by the Tetragrammaton. Most of these Old
Testament quotations in the New come from the Septuagint, a Greek translation
of the Old Testament made by Jews in pre-Christian times. The Septuagint (or
at least the extant, later Christian copies of it) usually renders the Tetragrammaton
by kyrios; the New Testament simply follows the practice.“
[27]
“Philo gives the first sure case of a translation
of the name by the Greek Kurios, ‘Lord.’ “
[28]
When the church started deviating from the Hebrew
assembly, rather than be absorbed into it, many changes occurred. When the
Greek texts were written, the early church fathers, did not hold the same
importance to the name dedi. They did not write the name dedi
in the paleo-Hebrew script, or any Hebrew script, as the Hebrews did, but
substituted it for various Greek terms, further deviating from the command
of dedi
to call Him by His name.
In the
Latin translation by Jerome (347-420 CE), the Vulgate, Jerome wrote out the name dedi as "Dominus", meaning lord
or master. Jerome also used a nomina sacra for dominus. Nomina sacra means
sacred names. “Instead of writing the name in full, the scribe would save
time and space by writing only a few letters, usually the first and last,
and by drawing a line above them thus: “ (KC for Kurios, XC or XPC for Christ,
IC, IHC or IH for Jesus).
[29]
‘Where the Old-Latin vacillated between dns
and dms as an abbreviation of dominus Jerome seems to definitely to have decided
in favor of dns;”
[30]
The Vulgate translation was begun in 382 CE.
Jerome started by using the LXX (Septuagint-the Greek translation,
allegedly by 70 scribes, hence Roman numerals LXX), but quickly decided to
use the Hebrew Text. In 386, Jerome moved to Beyth Lechem [
|
Phoenician 1000 BCE Yod
|
Early Hebrew 900 BCE Yod |
Hebrew
500 BCE
|
i |
Modern Hebrew i |
| Classical Greek 6th Cent.
BCE Iota I |
Early Latin I |
Latin
114 CE I |
Medieval Consonant J |
Medieval Vowel I |
changes. The intersecting portion on top, similar to our Y, was
curved on top, like an open semi-circle. This became the Greek letter Upsilon
about 600 BCE. Sometimes it is written as a Y and sometimes as a U. The lowercase letter is written as a u. This
was also adopted by the Romans, from the Greeks. The Romans gave the letter
its capital V shape about 114 CE. Medieval scribes wrote two VV’s together
about 1000 CE. VV was also written UU and the letter came to be known as the
“double U”, written as W. Medieval scribes used the V for a consonant and
used the U for a vowel. The development of W and U was very similar to the
development of I and J.
[35]
|
Phoenician 1000BCE Waw
|
Early Hebrew Waw
|
Hebrew 7th Cent. BCE |
e |
Modern Hebrew e |
| Classical Greek 6th century BCE |
Greek lowercase u |
Latin
114 CE V |
Latin Vowel 500 CE U |
Medieval Scribes W |
With the
development of the letter J and the European use of the letter V for Waw, the corrupted spelling of Iehowah, became Jehovah.
There are
several accounts to when the first use of Jehovah began. “But in the Middle
Ages certain Christian theologians (the first known is Raymond Martin in 1270),
copying the voweled tetragrammaton in transliteration, spelled it out to read
JeHoVaH.”
[36]
“The pronunciation indicated by ‘Jehovah’ (J
being pronounced as Y) has been traced as far back as Wessel (d. 1489), who
used Johavah and Jehovah, and Petrus Galatinus, confessor of Leo X. (1513-21).”
[37]
In 1516, Pietro Columna Galatinus (1460-1540),
Pope Leo 10th’s confessor, wrote a book titled, “De Arcanis Catholicae
Veritatis (Concerning Secrets of Universal Truth). Galatinus was heavily into
Qaballah.
[38]
In his book, written in Latin, he introduces the spelling
of Jehovah. “It was contested by other scholars as being against grammatical
and historical propriety”. But like most things of deception, that is what
was eventually embraced.
Now, let
us take a look at Greek, Latin, Germanic and Old English substitutes for dedi,
and the roots from which they are derived.
Dios is
Greek for god. According to A. B. Cook, dios
was used with Zeus, meaning “belonging to”.
[39]
It then came to refer to the brightness, glory, or splendor
of Zeus. Later, dios came to be used as a double name Zeus Dios. Cook also
mentions, an altar found in 1893, by G. Radet, in north-eastern
“The Hebrew Godhead in the later books of the Old Testament,
in the Apokrypha, and in the New Testament is often styled Hypsistos, sometimes
Theos Hypsistos or Kurios Hypsistos.”
[45]
“Hypsistos, however, was obviously susceptible
of a less material interprtation. Accordingly, in Hellenistic times, the name
of Zeus Hypsistos became attached to the supreme deity of more than one non-Hellenic
area. In
·
During the time of Antiochus
the IV, known also as Antiochus Epiphanes, he had coins struck which had written
on them, “Antiochus Theos Epiphanes” – The God Made Manifest.
[47]
·
In a Greek Papyrus, inventory
number P. Oxy. 1021, there is a proclamation of Nero’s succession as Roman
Emperor. Once the word god and once the word gods is used. Both times, the
use is that of theos.
[48]
·
There is a temple, built
by the Emperor Hadrian to Zeus Hypistos.
[49]
·
Greek inscription from
·
The same type of inscription,
was also used of Zeus, in an inscription in
·
“DURA EUROPOS, ruined city
on the right bank of the
" Religious architecture underwent a
comparable evolution, traceable through numerous
excavated buildings: the temples of Artemis Nanaïa II and Zeus Megistos
II (Figure 30/20, 23), the necropolis temple, and the temples of Artemis Azzanathkona, Zeus Kyrios, Atargatis,
Bel, Aphlad, Zeus Theos, Gad, and Adonis (Figure 30/9, 2, 21, 8, 1, 15, 18).
This architecture diverged more and more from the hypothetical Greek model,
if in fact such a model had ever been introduced at Dura Europos.”
[52]
Kurios,
is defined as “of men, having power
or authority over, lord or master of, an owner, possessor, principle or chief.”
[53]
·
Under Kuria, the feminine
of Kurios, it says, “the mistress, lady.” As shown in the Greek section, Kurios
was used in the same titles as Zeus.
·
“…and the word Kyrios (Lord),
used by Paul of Christ, was the term given in Syrian-Greek cults to the dying
and redeeming Dionysus.”
[54]
Latin used
Domino (Dominus) for Lord. In Latin, it means lord or master. Which is where
the word dominate comes from, to rule over.
·
“Dominus –
root is domus 1. master of a household, estate or other property; a
son of the head of the household. 2. the manager, superintendent, controller;
the master of a feast, entertainer, host.
3. A supreme ruler, sovereign, lord, applied to gods; the master of a ship; one who is in control
of a situation. 4. Lord, master, sir;
applied to a lovers term of of affection. “
“Domus – dema, root is Sanskrit
damah, Greek domos, doma. The building
in which one dwells, house, home. “
[55]
·
“Dominus – (domus) the master
of the house, head of the household, lord, master.”
[56]
·
“Domus – (Greek root dem,
demo, domos) a house, home, a dwelling, abode.”
[57]
·
"Dominus – [Sanskrit,
damanas, root dam, Greek domo] one who has subdued or conquered; hence, ,
a master, possessor, ruler, lord, proprietor, owner.”
[58]
Notice the Sanskrit root. “
·
“Domus -a house, dwelling, abode, home [Sanskrit dama,
Greek demos].”
[59]
·
“Domos – (demo) a house;
also the household. A part of the house, chamber room. Anything that is built
up.”
[60]
Now to the Sanskrit root.
“Dam – house” “dama – house,
abode, home.”
[61]
This Latin
word, dominus, from Greek domos, from Sanskrit dama, clearly has nothing to do with the self-existent
dedi. It is a title that is used of heads of house, captains of ships, hosts,
husbands and rulers. It is used for husbands and lovers, of men in charge
of a house. This is used of common
men. We should not be using this term to substitute the name dedi.
In the
German Scriptures, Herr is used in the place of dedi. Going thru Martin Luther's writings,
in the 1500’s, you see his use of Herr, Herren, or Der Herr, wherever dedi occurred in Scripture. Here are
two of the variations of Herr, from other Germanic/Teutonic languages, where
they have substituted the name dedi, in the Scriptures: the Dutch use
Heer, the Swedes use Herren, (See the Old English section for Hearra). Let
us take a look at the roots and uses of Herr.
Looking
at the word Herr, in dictionaries, this is what we find:
·
“Another name for the gods
is found in Gothic and Scandinavian, and may be etymologically connected with
Old Persian anhu = Latin esus, herus (=lord); viz. Gothic ansis, Old Norse
aesir (=the gods);”
[62]
·
“her – (heris) [akin to
German herr] owner, heir.” “heres –
literally an owner, young owner.”
[63]
·
“hera – mistress of the
house.”
[64]
·
“herus – see
erus.”
[65]
·
“erus – [sanskrit root har;
seize] the master of a house or family, master, lord, owner, proprietor.”
[66]
·
“God” is not His name either.
“God” is a pagan term, used of pagan
gods, of which dedi is not one of. Websters lists god
as Old High German “Got” and Old Norse “Goth, Guth”. German used Gott, Dutch
used Goede and God. The Swedes used Gud. These are the names of deities like
Zeus, the chief male deity in a pantheon of gods.
·
“Gott – 1. A god
“
[67]
·
“Gotterdammerung – twilight
of the gods.” (This is the final end of all the pantheon of the gods, in Germanic/Teutonic
mythology.)
[68]
See, the
Old English “Gode” and the Teutonic deity Godan/Wodan, further on.
In the
English texts of Scripture, we see a further deviation. In the oldest passages,
dryten was used before lord was adopted. The 1380 copy of John Wycliffe’s
New Testament, uses Lord. 1530, William Tyndale’s translation uses Lorde,
except in a few places like the 6th chapter of Shemoth [Exodus],
verse 3, which used Iehouah.
[69]
Miles Coverdale’s translation, in 1535, uses Lorde. The
Most Sacred Bible, by Richard Taverner, in 1539, used Iehoua. The Holie Bible,
by Gregory Martin, in 1609, used Lord. The Holy Bible (KJV) of 1611, used
Lord. From there on out, it was always Lord.
A Comprehensive
Old- English Dictionary, by Arthur R. Borden, Jr., lists dryhtin, dryhten and drihten for Lord.
This is what was substituted for the name dedi, in early Scriptures, hymns and sermons,
prior to the use of Lord.
·
“Dryhten, drihten – noun,
m. lord, prince, ruler, king, the Lord, God, Christ.”
[70]
·
“Dryhten – (dryhtnas) m.
powerful lord.”
[71]
·
“Dryht – band of retainers,
force, multitude, warrior-band.”
[72]
·
“dryten – a lord,
lordly, royal.”
[73]
Ben Levick
writes, “War was endemic to the kingdoms of sixth, seventh and eighth century
From the
In the
Peterborough Chronicle, ‘Dryhten’ and ‘Drihten’ are both used to reference
God. In this passage, there was so much cruelty, people thought Christ was
asleep (Burrow and Turville-Petre, 77). But the child ‘William re-enacts the
Crucifixion’ and through him, ‘. . . he maket ure Drihten wunderlice and manifældlice
miracles’ (80). [‘Our Lord performed many miracles’]. ‘Lord’, ‘lord’, and
‘God’ are not the only definitions of this word. It also means ‘ruler’ and
‘chief’. It therefore implies, in my opinion, people who are in charge of
a group of other people, and therefore are responsible for their welfare.
For this reason, I believe the same word is used for the Lord, meaning Christ
and God, and for God himself. In the Peterborough Chronicle, God is responsible
for the well being of His people on earth, and performs the miracles through
William described above to save His people from their suffering under Stephen.
Out of
curiosity, I looked up the word ‘lord’ in the American Heritage Dictionary.
I wanted to see what the origin of this word is. Namely, I wanted to see if
the etymological origin of the word is ‘drihten’. According to the American
Heritage Dictionary, the etymological origin of ‘lord’ is ‘hlafweard’: ‘hlaf’
(bread) and ‘weard’ ‘ward’. In my mind, this word started out referring to
someone responsible with guarding bread, and expanding through time to its
current usage. We therefore have another example of a word whose meaning adapts
to societal changes.”
[75]
According
to Eric Wodening, we see a connection between dryhten and Odin, The Old English
Rune Poem First Aett , Translation
and Commentary, “The first is that
the word dryhten does not necessarily refer to the Christian God or Jesus
Christ. Its Old Norse cognate dröttin was used in several titles of the god
Ódinn, whom the Anglo-Saxons knew as Wóden. As the word literally means ‘troop
leader’, it is perhaps a fitting title for the god of the battle slain.” This
form “drottin” is also mentioned by Johan Olfsson-Lauri Hakulinen, “Nevertheless,
ancient Germanic loans in Finnish and Estonian such as (here Finnish forms
given) *kuningas* 'king', *ruhtinas* 'prince (cf. Old English *dryhten* 'lord',
Swedish *drottning* 'queen'),”
[76]
Ben Levick
also writes, “It is noteworthy that the early sources use the language of
personal lordship to express the obligations owed a king. When Wiglaf followed
Beowulf into combat against the dragon, he did not speak of his duty to ‘king
and country,’ but of the responsibility of a retainer to serve and protect
his lord. In fact, amongst the early Anglo-Saxons a king was simply the lord
of the nobles. Even the term cyning [king] literally only means ‘of the kin’
and denoted a member of the royal line, while the office of king was expressed
by the titles hlaford [loaf- or land-lord] and dryhten [war-lord]. “
[77]
Here is
an example of Old English writing, that uses hlaford and dryhten, in connection
with Woden.
Worship:
Bedes or Prayers to the Gods by Swain
Wodening Canote
Wassailing:
Wæs þu
Wóden hál----Wæs þu hál wundra hláford
(Wassail
Wóden---Wassail wonders' lord)
Wæs þu
écelic hál---Ond speacuted simble hafaþ
(Be ever
hale---and success ever have)
Wóden sigefæder---Esa
mihtig wealdend
(Wóden victory father---Æsir's
mighty ruler)
Sídhæt
ond Wegtamere---Gréat wittig dryhten
(Broadhat
and way tamer---Great wise drihten)
Another Old English word
for lord is Hearra.
·
“Hearra – n. m. high one, lord, master. “
[78]
·
“Hearra, haerra, herra, hierra, heorra – lord,
master. See heorra. See heahra, hearra, heah. “
[79]
·
“Heahra – see heah”.
“Heah – 1. adj. High, tall, elevated, lofty, great,
exalted, illustrious, profound, proud, arrogant, high-class, sublime, important,
haughty, deep, right (hand). 2. Adv.
High, aloft.”:
[80]
·
“Heahfrea – High Lord, and Heahgod – Most
High God.”
[81]
Her, Herr, Hearra, and
all the other derivatives, simply mean high and are connected to the gods.
Lord comes
from the Middle English “loverd”.
[82]
Old English was “hlaford”. “Halford is a contraction of
hlaf and weard. Half means loaf, bread and weard means ward, keeper. Lord
actually means keeper of the bread.
·
“Hlaford – noun, m. lord,
master, ruler, husband, the Lord, God. Hlaf – noun, m. loaf, bread, cake,
food, sacramental bread.”
[83]
·
“Hlaford – m. lord, master.
Hlaf – m. bread, loaf.”
[84]
Another
theory for the name “lord”, comes from the name of the Germanic/Teutonic god
Lodur (see the Teutonic deities listed further on).
The Old
English “Gode” derived from the Germanic.
·
“God – pagan god, God, good.”
[85]
·
“Gud – battle, warfare.”
[86]
·
“Gode – god. “
[87]
·
“In Gothic the priest is
called gudja (derived from gud=God), Danish runic inscriptions have preserved
the form gudi (later godi).”
[88]
Let’s take a look at some specific deities and see
how the deities remain the same, but the names have been changed, ever so
slightly, not to protect the innocent, but to protect the lie. It does not matter what the substitute was, or all the
changes and variations used, these names and titles are still what the pagan
nations used for their deities.
“The worship
of gods is always distinct from nature-worship; the very conception of deity
presupposes a certain moral element. Tacitus, who was much better informed,
enumerates a series of German gods whose Roman names only thinly disguise
their Teutonic originals. “
[89]
“There is much that is older. The veneration
of the gods conceived as persons is to be found in the mythology of Indo-Germanic
parent race. Apparently Ziu is etymologically the same as Old Indian Dyaus,
the Greek Dieus = Zeus, the Roman Jupiter (Gen. Jovis from Diovis). The term
used by the Scandinavians to denote gods collectively, nom. pl. tivar, corresponds exactly to the Latin
divus, Old Indian devas, Lithuanian devas, Old Irish dia. Our Old German word
“God” is probably cognate to the Old Indian adjective ghoras = terrible, awe-inspiring,
venerable, which occurs as an attribute of the gods of Veda. These words seem
to throw light upon the relation of the Indo-Germanic worshipper to his divinity.
He regarded it as being whose power he feared, whose aid he reverently solicited.”
[90]
“In Scandinavian a feminine has been formed, asynjur (=goddesses),
whilst in the other Teutonic languages there are no special names to denote
goddesses, except O. H. G. (Old High German) gutin, Ags. Zyden (=goddess).
It is significant that the word god was originally of neuter gender, to include
masculine and feminine.”
[91]
Sanskrit
sources for:
·
“Diva [form dyaus] heaven;
radiance, brillance, day.”
[92]
·
“Deva – heavenly, divine,
celestial, deity, divinity, god, king, prince, goddess, queen,
princess.”
[93]
·
“Dyu – sky, brightness,
glow, day (div).”
[94]
·
“Deva – god, deity.”
[95]
·
“Devi – goddess, female
deity, wife of a god, corresponding to deva.”
[96]
·
“Dyaus (pita)- (-pitar,
-pitr; “sky father”) of the god of the sky, generally regarded as
the father.”
[97]
In Teutonic/Germanic
mythology, there is a triune of male gods. These three are the core of the
myths and are frequently together. “In
We can
see that these three male deities have several different names. Lets begin
with Odin. “Some of Odin’s names were, Herjan (God of battles), Har (The High
One), Thridi (Third), Gaut (The Creater).”
[103]
From the preceding passages,
we see some of his other names: Woden, Wodan, Godan, Gautr. From this
we see the deity whose name lent itself to Gott, Gud and God. He is the first
of the 3. Next, we see the second of the Three, whose
names are: Vili, Hoenir, Honir, Thumer, Thunor, Thor, Donar. Finally, we come
to the third of the trio.
This third
is Ve of the Odin, Vili and Ve. He is also called Lodur, Lodurr, Saxnot, Tyr,
Tiw, Tiu, Ziu. This is the deity, where we see the use of Lord come into play.
“The third of the three great gods of the people, called by Latin authors
Mars, was worshipped in
What is
even more interesting about these three, is that they all tie in with Zeus,
at some point or another. The root of all three, seems to be Tiwaz (similar
to the Mesopotamian Tammuz, who also used a T, for Tau, as his sign?). “We are told of a god worshipped by the Germans
whom the Roman equated with Mars. His Germanic name is thought to have been
Tiwaz, and he was remembered in the Scandinavian pantheon as Tyr. Tiwaz received
battle sacrifices, but he differed from Wodan, whose main gift was inspriation.
Little is known of Tyr, except that men turned to him for help in war and
put his initial, the runic sign for T, on weapons in the early Anglo-Saxon
period.”
[106]
“By the Viking Age, however, Tiwaz had been
almost wholly forgotten, and his place seems to have been taken by Odin and
Thor.”
[107]
Where Tiwaz was associated with both Odin and
Thor, he was also associated with the third, Tyr (Tiu, Tiw, Ziu).
“The etymology
of the name ‘Zio’ (Tiu) that identifies the god with Dyaus (Zeus, Jupiter)
as the old Indo-European god of the sky seemed at one time absolutely certain,
but is today questioned by several linguistic scholars. Whether or not we
accept this identification, there can be no doubt that Tiu was originally
a sky god. That he frequently appears as a god of war among the Teutonic peoples
is not surprising,
inasmuch as gods of war are frequently
sky gods originally, as e.g. Ares and Mars, which names are not infrequently
used as translations for Tiu.”
[108]
All of these deities are sky gods, as is Zeus.
Since Zeus descends from Dyaus, let’s check this name out.
Dyaus is the Hindu creator,
the sky god, the father of Surya, the sun god. He is symbolized by the bull.
[109]
“And the particular Hindu god chosen by the
Christian authority, Sir M. Monier-Williams, as ‘the one god’ is interesting
for another reason. It is Dyaus (‘the sky’) or Dyaus-Pitar (‘Sky- Father,’
like Zeus and Jupiter). It is clear that this was, as in
Zeus, Jupiter
and Dyaus are all sky gods, and all father gods. “One of the central characteristics
of both Zeus and Jupiter is that they are considered to be the ‘fathers’ of
many of the other gods, and to be the symbolic ‘fathers’ of the universe as
a whole. Jupiter's name actually shows this: the Romans also called him ‘Diespiter’
and understood this name to mean ‘Dies pater’ = ‘Father of the Day’ or ‘Sky
Father’. ‘Pater’ (=’Father’) is also a common epithet of the Greek Zeus, who
is frequently addressed as ‘Zeus pater’ (=’Father Zeus’). Now, the similarity
of the names ‘Jupiter’ and ‘Zeus pater’ is noticeable, and anyone conversant
with the Indo-European hypothesis might well wonder whether the names were
related. If one then learns that there is a sky god in the ancient Indian
pantheon named ‘Dyaus-pitar’ and that this god shows many of the same characteristics
ascribed to Zeus and Jupiter, it becomes difficult not to see the same pattern
at work in mythology that we have observed in the case of languages.”
[112]
The Association between all these sky gods,
becomes stronger and more interwoven, as information is revealed.
Not only
do they share the sky and father status, but some of the symbols associated
with them are also similar. “Sometimes,
as a god of fertility, he (Zeus) is conceived as incarnate in the sacred bull;
it is as a bull that he mates in Cretan myth with Minos’ wife Pasiphae, and
begets by her the monstrous Minos-bull, or Minotaur.”
[113]
“The bull was sacred because of its strength
and potency; it was often an associate, disguise, or symbol of Zeus and Dionysus,
and perhaps preceded them as a god.”
[114]
This was also the animal symbol for Dyaus. Thunderbolts
seem to be another connection. “…or
even as a sign of Zeus the Thunderer cleaving the sky with his bolts.”
[115]
This is also associated with Jupiter and Donar
(Thor), previously mentioned, as well as Dyaus, the Sanskrit god. “Dyaus (Dyaush) –Indra, He has four hands: the
first holds vajra (thunderbolt); one holds a ankusha (hook) to seize the enemies.
He is depicted as a four-armed man on a white elephant carrying a thunderbolt.
It is he who slashes the clouds with his thunderbolt to release the rain.”
[116]
There seems to be a consistent theme, with these
sky deities, even if they don’t retain the exact name.
As you
can easily see, all of these deities are one and the same. A little may change
here and there, but the source of them all, is the same root stock. “For the
history of the Teutonic religion, it is therefore of little importance to
know that the common Teutonic stem god is originally neuter, and is probably
cognate with the Sanscrit root hu (to invoke), and has no connection whatever
with the word ‘good’. The name Aesir has been compared with Sanscrit Asuras.
This word, too, is found among all Teutons; Jordannes uses it in speaking
of the demi-gods from which the Gothic nobility is descended. Proper names
with As, Ans, and Os as the first element are encountered on every side. Among
the Anglo-Saxons and Frisians we find the form ese. Among the Norsemen we
are familiar with the Aesir (feminine Asynjur), and in such compositions as
Landas (god of the land), asmegin (divine power), the word is practically
synonymous with ‘god’.”
[117]
“Cleanthes identifies him (God) with Zeus in a monotheistic
hymn worthy of Ikhnaton or Isaiah: Thou, O Zeus, art praised above all gods:
many are thy names and thine is all power for ever.”
[118]
As the
research has made very apparent, “Lord” and “God”, in any language, should
not be used of dedi, since they refer to specific pagan
deities and then eventually, came to represent deities in general. dedi
is His name. You cannot use substitutes without directly violating His command,
to call on His name. The name dedi is not the name of a pagan deity;
it does not have any connection with the sky or the heavens or the sun and
its brightness; it is a contracted form of
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh – I Am that I Am or I Will Be what I Will Be (Shemoth
[Exodus] 3:14). dedi is the Self-Existent, Eternal One,
without beginning or ending of days. This is what dedi
commanded us to call Him. Shemoth 3:15, “And dedi said further to Mosheh, ‘Now you
are to say to the Beniy Yisrael [Sons of Israel], “dedi the elohey of your fathers, elohey of Abraham, elohey of Yitschaq, and elohey
of Yaaqob, sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My remembrance
for generation to generation.’ “
Footnotes
