Tetragrammaton: Western Christians and the Hebrew Name of God, from the Beginnings to the Seventeenth Century

598 Pages·2015·8.877 MB·English

by  Wilkinson, Robert J.

Studies in the History of
Christian Traditions
General Editor
Robert J. Bast
Knoxville, Tennessee
In cooperation with
Paul C.H. Lim (Nashville, Tennessee)
Brad C. Pardue (Point Lookout, Missouri)
Eric Saak (Indianapolis)
Christine Shepardson (Knoxville, Tennessee)
Brian Tierney (Ithaca, New York)
Arjo Vanderjagt (Groningen)
John Van Engen (Notre Dame, Indiana)
Founding Editor
Heiko A. Oberman†
VOLUME 179
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/shct
Tetragrammaton:
Western Christians and the
Hebrew Name of God
From the Beginnings to the Seventeenth Century
By
Robert J. Wilkinson
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (Hamburg, 1595).
The illustration here shows the inner circle of the “Cosmic Rose.”
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilkinson, Robert J. (Robert John), 1955-
 Tetragrammaton : western Christians and the Hebrew name of God : from the beginnings to the
seventeenth century / by Robert J. Wilkinson.
  pages cm. -- (Studies in the history of Christian traditions, ISSN 1573-5664 ; VOLUME 179)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-28462-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. God (Christianity)--Name--History of doctrines.
2. Tetragrammaton. 3. God (Judaism)--Name. I. Title.
 BT180.N2W55 2015
 231--dc23
2014048621
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ISSN 1573–5664
ISBN 978-90-04-28462-3 (hardback)
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for Alasdair
“… the son restores
The father.”
Wallace Stevens, Recitation after Dinner
∵

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
Part 1
The Eclipse of the Name
1 The Tetragrammaton in Jewish Pre-Christian Biblical Texts
in Greek and Hebrew 45
2 The First Christians and the Tetragrammaton 89
3 The Tetragrammaton among the Orthodox in Late Antiquity 123
4 The Tetragrammaton among Gnostics and Magicians in Late
Antiquity 155
5 The Tetragrammaton in Jewish Hebrew Mishnaic, Talmudic, Hekalot,
and Biblical Texts in Later Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages 178
Part 2
Times of Ignorance
6 The Tetragrammaton in the Middle Ages 215
7 The Tetragrammaton in Private Devotion and Magic in the
Middle Ages  266
Part 3
The Rediscovery of the Name
8 The Origins of Printing, Hebrew Printing, and the Growth
of Christian Hebraism 283
viii Contents
9 The Early Christian Kabbalists and the Tetragrammaton 313
10 The Tetragrammaton in Vernacular Bibles, Popular Print,
and Illustration 351
11 The Tetragrammaton and Scholars at the Time of the Protestant
and Catholic Reformations 382
12 The Tetragrammaton in Renaissance Magic and among the Later
Christian Kabbalists 416
13 The Demystification of Language and the Triumph of Philology 460
Conclusion 482
Bibliography 487
Index 578
List of Illustrations
1 Transcription of P Fouad 266 showing text from chapters 21 and 22 of
Deuteronomy, with Hebrew Tetragrammata marked ΠΙΠΙ. 56
2 The Tetragrammaton in archaic Hebrew script in the Greek Naḫal Ḥever, Scroll
of the Minor Prophets (8ḤvXIIgr). The Tetragrammaton is found in the third
and fifth lines of the right-hand column. 57
3 4Q120 frag.20. The divine name is written in Greek as ΙΑΩ in the middle of the
Greek fragment. 59
4 P. Oxy 3522 showing a Hebrew Tetragrammaton in the middle of the fourth line
from the bottom of the Greek text. 62
5 Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew on a 5th/6th-century a.d. Cairo Genizah
Parchment Palimpsest. The Tetragrammaton may be seen in the middle of the
picture. 71
6 Reproduction of part of a page from the Codex Syro-Hexaplaris Ambrosianus
in Isaiah, showing yhyh glosses in Syriac in the margin. 75
7 The Tetragrammaton in the priestly benediction from a 6th-century
b.c. amulet from Ketef Hinnom found in a burial cave below St Andrew's
Presbyterian Church in Jerusalem in 1979. The Tetragrammaton is attested
in citing the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24–26 and in reference to
Deuteronomy 7:9. This is also the earliest attestation of the biblical text. 171
8 Reproduction of the Aleppo Codex The Tetragrammaton vocalized
with the vowels of the Aramaic shǝmaʾ is apparent at the end of
the fourth line. 209
9 Reproduction of the Leningrad Codex at Numbers 10:35–36.
The Tetragrammaton vocalized with the vowels of the Aramaic shǝmaʾ
is apparent at the beginning of the second and last line. 211
10 Diagram from Petrus Alphonsi’s Dialogus contra Judaeos (Migne P.L. 157).
One of many presentations of the Tetragrammaton within three circles for
persons of the Trinity. 242
11 Petrus Alphonsi. Early 12th-century Trinitarian Diagram of the
Tetragrammaton in form of Scutum Fidei. 244
12 Reproduction of Joachim of Fiore’s Trinitarian circles. 248
13 Petrus Pictaviensis (Peter of Poitiers), Scutum Fidei. Early 13th century
(Cotton Faustina BVII f f42v). 249
14 Johannes Böschenstein. Broadsheet on the Tetragrammaton addressed to
Frederick III, Elector of Saxony (Augsburg, 1518?). The lack of Hebrew type
has required the Hebrew letters to be written in by hand. 301
x List of Illustrations
15 Page of Reuchlin’s De Verbo Mirifico (1494) from the Lyon 1522 edition.
The Hebrew letter shin is inserted into the Tetragrammaton to make
the name of Jesus. 320
16 Printer’s mark of Reuchlin’s printer, Thomas Anshelm Badensis, showing the shin
inserted into the Tetragrammaton to make the five-letter name of Jesus. 322
17 Frontispiece showing Sephirotic tree from Paulus Ricius’s Porta Lucis
(Augsburg, 1516), a partial translation of Joseph Gikatilla. 328
18 Hans Widitz. 1529 Anabaptist woodcut Nachfolge Christi. 369
19 Cornelis Anthonisz. Woodcut Moses and Aaron (1535–1540?) showing
the Tetragrammaton on Aaron’s turban. 370
20 Hans Widitz. Woodcut printer’s mark for Matthias Apiarius, 1543. The bees
(who play upon his name) feed directly from Scripture. The Tetragrammaton
appears in the open Bible. 376
21 Schwedischer Bundt mit zweyen Churfürsten Sachsen und Brandenburg,
Trifolium Unionis Aureum in Sanctae huius Concordiae Vinculum. Flugblatt of
Peter Troschel (Zeichner & Stecher) from 1632 which praises the military
union between Gustavus Adolphus, John George of Saxony, and George
William of Brandenburg. The engraving itself shows the three men bound
together. Above, a radiate Hebrew Tetragrammaton sends down rays helpfully
labelled with references to biblical verses invoked in their treaty. 378
22 Enlarged Netherlandish medal celebrating the defeat of the (Catholic)
Spanish Armada by Sir Francis Drake in 1588. The inscription reads:
“Flavit yhwh et dissipati sunt”. 379
23 Design for 800 jetons of silver and 1200 of copper intended for production by
the royalists gathered at Semur in September 1592 during the French Civil War.
The legend reads + PRO. PATRIA. IURATA. MANUS. PRO. REGE. DEO. Q. Three
hands are joined on an altar in an oath to serve God, King, and Patria. The King
appears on the right, wearing a cloak fleurdelisé and holding a cross and Patria
on the left which is crowned with a city and holding a palm. Above, a radiant
Hebrew Tetragrammaton bears witness. 380
24 The 72 angel names from the original (1533 Cologne) edition of
Agrippa’s De Occulta Philosophia (III.25). 419
25 German print of 1613 showing the marriage of the Elector Palatinate and
the Princess Elizabeth. The union is blessed by a radiate Tetragrammaton. 428
26 Theophilus Schweighardt, Speculum Rodo-Stauroticum (1618). Engraving of
the Invisible College of the Rosy Cross Fraternity with Tetragrammaton
above and on the defenders’ shields. 430
27 Title page by Michael van Lochem to Josephus Quercetanus (Joseph du
Chesne), Recueil des plus curieux et rares secrets (Paris, 1648). The four sages
venerate the Tetragrammaton. 431
List of Illustrations xi
28 Title page to Oswald Croll, Basilica Chymica (1st edition 1608: here the
German edition, Frankfurt, 1629). The same design occurs in the 1611 Latin
edition. A Tetragrammaton appears within a Trinitarian triangle surrounded
by the nine orders of angels. The six alchemical masters are portrayed. 433
29 Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (Hamburg, 1595).
The first edition has several remarkable hand-coloured engraved plates
heightened with silver and gold. The illustration here shows the inner
circle of the “Cosmic Rose.” The central cruciform figure is surrounded by
in hoc signo vinces and then the Pentagrammaton and other Hebrew names
of God. The next ring links these to the Sephiroth. On the other rim are the
Ten Commandments. 434
30 Robert Fludd, De Praeternaturali Utriusque Mundi Historia, p. 157.
A representation of the Sephirot as an upside-down tree. The leaves
emerging from Malkuth at the bottom are themselves are identified with the
Sephiroth and one of the orders of angels. Hochma and Geburah are identified
with the Son and Binah with the Holy Spirit. Each of the Sephirot is associated
with a Hebrew name of God, and the Tetragrammaton lies along the trunk,
vocalized as Ie-ho-va. 436
31 Robert Fludd’s copper engraving Causarum Universalium Speculum from
Utr. Cos. 1621. The plate is discussed in the text. 438
32 Robert Fludd’s diagram showing the heavenly emanation of the
Tetragrammaton, displaying three stages in the growth of the name. 438
33 Robert Fludd’s diagram representing divine harmony (1619) with
Tetragrammaton. 439
34 The frontispiece of Kircher’s Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae (Scheus, Rome, 1646)
with Tetragrammaton. 441
35 The Tetragrammaton supposedly concealed in an Egyptian Hieroglyph.
Kircher, Oedipus Aegyptiacus (1652–1655) (Volume II, Part I, p. 282). 442
36 Detail of the Mirror of the Mystical Kabbalah from Kircher’s Oedipus
Aegyptiacus (1652–1655) (Volume II, Part I, p. 287). 443
37 Van Helmont’s philosophy of language is illustrated by the natural concurrence
of the Hebrew letters with the position of the vocal organs necessary to their
production. Here the position of the throat in articulating hireq and holem is
illustrated. 446