Regarding the knowledge and use of Hebrew letters by medieval
Christians: bear in mind that the psalms, central to monastic practice,
contain alphabetized psalms using the Hebrew (cf Psalm 118/119, and also
Psalm 33/34). The letters may have been Romanized (ie "Aleph"), but
some mss may have used the Hebrew characters. I say "may" because I
cannot think of one off the top of my head that does have them, but
someone else may be able to cite a specific ms with the Hebrew
characters.
In any case, the Hebrew alphabet was known and used, even if
Romanized. To assume that it would be rejected or marginalized because
of antisemitic feelings toward medieval Jewry (and the commentaries on
the Psalms contain quite a bit of that) is to forget that medieval
Christian thought revered the Old Testament (as they called it) and read
it typologically as a revelation of Christ.
I just checked my notes from some mss and found that the Vespasian
Psalter (London, BL Cotton Vespasian A.i., 8th century Canterbury) in
Psalm 118 has Roman numerals, Greek letters, and explanations of the
meaning behind each Hebrew letter (ex: Aleph est D[eu]s; Beth est
filius). In the front matter of this manuscript, f. 6v, is a treatise
explaining this system (Incipit interpretatio Psalmi CXVIII: Per Singuas
Litteras). I noted this in passing, but it is not part of my main line
of research (ie, I don't know much more about it!).
However, it seems clear that the Hebrew letters do have a typological
significance in late antique and medieval Christian thought that would
contribute to their use in other contexts (eg, "magic"). To jump to a
later period: Richard Kieckhefer's book Magic in the Middle Ages, which
someone else mentioned, does discuss Pico's fascination with Kabbalah
and his belief that ONLY the Hebrew words would have power because that
was the language taught to Adam and Eve by God (p. 148); other
Renaissance dabblers in Kaballah followed this line of argument, and
this of course contributed to the fascination with the name of God (the
Tetragrammaton).
An interesting question in this context is whether only the spoken word
was revered as powerful or if the written form needed the Hebrew
characters (as opposed to Romanized) in order to be powerful. I can
imagine that for Jewish practioners, the Hebrew characters themselves
were essential, given the way that the name of God used in any written
context was protected (eg, correspondence not thrown away but kept in
geniza). Did Christian practioners--say those mucking about with the
Tetragrammaton or those making amulets--insist that only the Hebrew
characters would work or did they feel that the Romanized letters
spelling the sound were just fine?
Probably a good place to check for Hebrew letters and their use is Lynn
Thorndike's History of Magic and Experimental Science, which
unfortunately is not on my shelf where I am right now.
Karen Jolly
--
Dr. Karen Jolly
Associate Professor, History
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
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http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kjolly
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