1אלו שמות שאין נמחקין הכותב אלהים אדני יוד הא ואו הא שדי צבאות אהיה אשר אהיה ר׳ יוסי אומר צבאות היו נוהגין בו חול:
The following divine names may not be erased, viz.1lit. ‘he who writes’. Alef-lamed-he-yod-mem,2Meaning ‘God’. Alef-daleth-nun-yod,3Translated ‘Lord’. Yod-he-waw-he,4Composing the Tetragrammaton. Shaddai,5i.e. ‘Almighty’. Ẓeba’oth,6Meaning ‘[Lord of] hosts’. ‘Eheyeh-’asher-’eheyeh.7I am that I am (Ex. 3, 14). R. Jose says: Ẓeba’oth is generally treated as a secular noun.8Which may therefore be erased.
2הכותב אל ימחוק אל מאלהים יה מארבע אותיות אינן נמחקין מפני שיש שמות כיוצא בהם:
If one writes ’El9It can mean ‘to’ or ‘God’ so far as the consonants are concerned. it may be erased;10It is presumed to be the preposition ‘to’. This Rule is omitted in Sof. IV, 2. if ’El of Alef-lamed-he-yod-mem or Yod-he of the four letters [of the Tetragrammaton],11Which are Yod-he-waw-he. they may not be erased, because there are divine names corresponding to them.
3כל אותיות המשמשות את השם בין מלמעלה בין מלמטה הרי אלו נמחקין:
All prefixes or suffixes connected with a divine name may be erased.
4כל השמות ההדיוטות שאותיותיהם כאותיות השם מכנין בהם הרי אלו נמחקין:
All ordinary words the letters of which are the same as those of a divine name may be erased.12Because they possess no sanctity.
5כי ה׳ אלהיכם הוא אלהי האלהים (דברים י׳:י״ז) הראשון קודש והשני חול ואדני האדנים (שם) הראשון קודש והשני חול אלהי אברהם (בראשית ל״א:נ״ג) קדש ואלהי נחור חול אלהי אביהם חול. אלהים לא תקלל (שמות כ״ב:כ״ז) משמש קודש וחול ר' ישמעאל אומר קודש:
In For the Lord your God, He is God of gods,13Deut. 10, 17. the first [two]14i.e. your God He is God. are sacred and the last15Of gods, signifying ‘judges’ or ‘princes’. is secular. In Lord of lords,16ibid. the first is sacred and the second secular. In the God of Abraham17Gen. 31, 53. it is sacred; in the god of Nahor18ibid. Nahor did not worship the true God. it is secular, and in the god of their father19ibid. Terah (their father) was an idolater. it is secular. In Thou shalt not revile God,20Ex. 22, 27. [the noun may bear] a sacred or a secular meaning.21It may refer to God or judges. R. Ishmael22In Sof. IV, 5, ‘R. Simeon’. maintains that the noun is sacred.
6כל שמות האמורים בתורה באברהם קודש חוץ מן הראשון ר׳ חנינא בן אחי ר׳ יהושע אומר קודש:
All nouns in the Torah [signifying God] that are mentioned in connection with Abraham are sacred except the first.23The verse, And he said: My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight (Gen. 18, 3), because my lord was addressed to the leader of the three angels R. Ḥanina the son of R. Joshua’s brother holds that it is sacred.24In his opinion my Lord was addressed to God.
7כל שמות האמורים בתורה בלוט חול חוץ מן האחרון במיכה חול אפילו יה בנבות קודש אפילו אל:
All names in the Torah mentioned in connection with Lot are secular25There is only one secular name in the Lot passages, and the Tetragrammaton occurs twice. The word ‘all’ is not intended to be taken literally (cf. N.Y. on Sof. IV, 7). except the last.26Viz. And Lot said unto them: ‘Oh, not so my Lord’ (Gen. 19, 18). Lot’s address to the angels is understood as ending at not so, and his petition to God then begins, My Lord, behold, etc. [So the Targum and Shebu. 35b, Sonc. ed., pp. 205f.] [All names] in the story of Micah27Judg. 17f. are secular, even [when they begin with] Yod-he.28The Tetragrammaton. In [the account of] Naboth291 Kings 21. they are sacred even [when they begin with] Alef-lamed.30Meaning elsewhere ‘God’.
8אלהים נצב בעדת אל בקרב אלהים ישפוט (תהלים פב) משמש קודש וחול יסגירני אל אל עויל (איוב ט״ז:י״א) הראשון קודש והשני חול כי אל אל האמור (שם לד) הראשון חול והשני קודש ואל יהי מקום לזעקתי (שם טז) חול ואלהים אמר לבהלני (ד״ה ב לה) קודש חדל לך מאלהים אשר עמי (שם) קדש כדברי ר׳ יוסי בר יהודה אלהים זדים קמו עלי (תהלים פו) קדש אלא שהקורא צריך להיות קורא ומפסיק:
In God standeth in the congregation of God, in the midst of the judges31The Heb. has the consonants of the divine name. He judges,32Ps. 82, 1. [the divine name] is used as sacred33In God standeth. and as secular.34The name bearing the meaning of judges. In God delivereth me to35Heb. ’el (to) which is the same consonants as the word for ‘God’. the ungodly,36Job 16, 11. the first is sacred and the second37’el in the sense of ‘to’. secular. In For hath any said unto God,38ibid. XXXIV, 31. the first [’el] is secular and the second sacred. [In the verse] And let my cry have no39Heb. על, the same consonants as those of the name of God. resting-place,40ibid. XVI, 18. In Sof. IV, 9 the analysis is extended to the continuation of the verse. etc., [the words whose consonants are the same as those of a divine name] are secular. In God hath given command to speed me412 Chron. 35, 21. [the name] is sacred. In Forbear thee from meddling with God, Who is with me,42ibid. the name is sacred, according to the view of R. Jose b. Judah. In O God, the proud are risen up against me,43Ps. 86, 14. the name is sacred but the reader must pause in his reading [after God].44In the absence of the pause, the adjective proud might erroneously be taken as qualifying God.
