Tsiyon News

The Divine Name
and the Silver Scroll

By: Eliyahu ben David

YHWH in Hebrew      Pictured to the left are two versions of the Divine Name as written in Hebrew letters.
     Top Left: The Name is written in the ancient Hebrew script, which is called paleo-Hebrew. This is the style of lettering used in the oldest manuscripts of the Scriptures.
    Bottom Left: These are the same letters as written using modern Syriac squared Hebrew letters. Hebrew is written from right to left. When we transliterate these letters into English, therefore transferring the letters from left to right, they read Y-H-W-H.

The Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls

In 1979 Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay made an amazing discovery, while excavating a tomb at a site called Ketef Hinnom (shoulder of Hinnom) in the Hinnom valley alongside Jerusalem. He and his team unearthed two tiny silver scrolls in a burial cave there. These scrolls were rolled up, and created a puzzle for researchers, since unrolling them to reveal what was inside could result in their destruction. In course of time this challenge was met and the inside of the scrolls was revealed. Paleo Hebrew script dating from the 7th century BC was found to be written upon the scrolls! Realize, this writing is from the first Temple Era, before the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in "Old Testament" times, having been written at least four hundred years before the famed Dead Sea Scrolls. From the time the silver scrolls were first reported to have been discovered I was eagerly following any news I could get about them, anxious to know what may have been written within. Finally, when the message from one of the scrolls was finally revealed, I was so elated that I wrote a personal letter to ask some questions of Dr. Barkey, and to congratulate him on his spectacular find.

What was this amazing message that I was so excited about? Nothing short of the earliest known fragment of a Biblical Text ever found. Further, this message contains the Tetragrammaton, the oldest known form of the Divine Name, written in paleo Hebrew letters, as a normal part of the passage. What passage? The passage known as "the Priestly Blessing", recorded in BeMidbar/Numbers 6:24-26, and on the silver scroll, as follows:

“ ‘YHWH bless you and guard you;
YHWH make His face shine on you,
and show favor to you;
YHWH lift up His face on you,
and give you shalom [peace].’

Gabriel Barkay

Gabriel Barkay at Ketef Hinnom, sitting on top of the cave where he discovered the silver scrolls containing the priestly benediction from the Book of Numbers.

A video documenting this find can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUyBTNDPJrw

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From Eliyahu

When YHWH comes into a person's life, it changes everything. That's one of the most immediate lessons Moses learned from his encounter with YHWH at the burning bush.

Our latest Midrash looks deeply into that burning bush encounter with YHWH. There YHWH reveals His Name and the meaning of His Name, in detail, for the first time. This revelation is a watershed event for, not only Moses, but for the people of YHWH generally, all the way down to our day. His Name has important meaning for you and I personally, as we discuss in this Midrash. Another aspect that is of great interest to many is the question: "What is the correct pronunciation of His Name?" This question arises from the fact that there are several popular forms of the name, such as Yahweh, Jehovah, Yehovah, Yehuwah, and others. We come to grips with this important question in this Midrash.

Nothing that we ever study is more important than His Name. If you reverence and adore that amazing Name, please don't miss our latest Midrash.

Blessings and Shalom!

Eliyahu ben David
www.tsiyon.org