Author: Pierre Barral
The Abbot Pierre Barral was a French literary. He was
born in Grenoble in 1700 and died in Paris on July 21, 1772.
We found that he was a part of the spiritual order in Grenoble.
He was later a doctor in the Sorbonne, the former University
of Paris, and vicar- general of the University of Montpellier.
He was also a front man of Jansenism and he devoted himself
to the education of young people. Jansenism, named after the
Louvain professor and bishop of Ypres, Cornelius Jansenius,
was a religious and political movement in 17th and the 18th
century. It began as a response to certain catholic developments.
The book: This dictionary is a pocket
reference for all matters concerning the history, geography
and morality of the Bible. This book, which is approximately
250 years old, has an interesting reference in connection
to the name Jehovah.
"Jehovah, which is the name of God,
is an unpronounceable and mysterious name, which God never
declared to the old Patriarchs before Moses. (Text written
in Latin) My name Adonai which I have never explained to them.
(Text written in old French) In Hebrew Adonai was used in
place of Jehovah, which means 'he who exists from himself
and gives others their being'. The Jews were in such awe of
the holy name that they were forbidden, under penalty of death,
to utter it. In early days only the high priest could speak
the name once yearly on the day of atonement, with the formal
blessing of the people. It is because of this exceptional
respect for the holy name that the correct pronunciation of
it was lost and they gradually replaced the name with Adonai,
in each case where the divine name occurred they would transcribe
the name with Adonai. The translators of the Septuagint never
used this translation and they wrote Kurios, Lord in place
of the divine name ".*
* We are convinced that God's name is used
in ancient times, see pages "Some Explanation" and
"Archaeology".
