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PREFACE.
sidered that יַהְוְ (whence יַהוּ) according to analogous contractions has grown out of יַהְוֶה, and not out of יַהְוֶה, and that the Hebrew language exhibits no proof of any transition from –ֶה to –ָה which would not at the same time be a transition from the masculine to the feminine, it must be conceded that the pronunciation Jahve is to be regarded as the original pronunciation. The mode of pronunciation Jehova has only come up within the last three hundred years; our own “Jahava” [in the first edition] was an innovation. We now acknowledge the patristic Ἰαβέ, and hope to have another opportunity of substantiating in detail what is maintained in this prefatory note.
