Why Botsrah instead of Bozrah?

Shalom, mishpachah.

Okay, so I was reviewing my last post and it occurred to me that someone may have forgotten about the Hebrew transliteration scheme I use.

In Hebrew, the letter "tsadday" is  the eighteenth letter of the alefbet and represents the "ts" sound as in our word "nuts" or the "dz" sound as in our word "adds," depending on the vocalization of adjacent consonants. The "dz" sound gave the initial rise of using the "z" character to transliterate the consonant in words like "Zion" and "Bozrah" when, for instance, the KJV was written.

Today, the "ts" is considered a closer match (in most cases) as a good transliteration for the "tsadday." Thus, you might find "Zion" transliterated as "Tsiown." (Remember: The Hebrew "o" sound is always the "o" with a circumflex, representing a nearly long "o" sound.) And, you might also find "Bozrah" for "Botsrah."

The other letter that gives Westerners a LOT of trouble is the `ayin (represented with a back apostrophe, represented as " ` ." This sound is technically different than the 'alef (represented with a regular apostrophe, as " ' ." The alef at the beginning of a word (and I choose to ignore it at the beginning of words for this reason) is the light explosive sound that we make when we say the words "egg" or "umbrella." We also say it in words that put two vowel sounds together without blending them, such as in our word "preamble."

The `ayin is similar with the exception that it is made in the back of the throat, like a "swallowed G." In fact, it is so similar to the alef, that Hebrew teachers and primers basically give up trying to make a difference and say that they are both "silent" letters. Even common Hebrew speakers in Isra'el will make little difference in pronunciation between the two.

I remember in Kindergarten a funny little song, called "Guh, Guh, Went the Little Green Frog." (Remember, this is back in 1963, and, yes, I am that old!) We were all encouraged to make this sound in the song as a way of mimicking the frog. I can also remember, when seeing the song spelled out, that it wasn't quite right. "Guh" is not the noise we were making, which was more of a loud, audible swallowing sound.

That's the `ayin. And, as transliteration schemes into English go, the transliteration scheme that the English of the 1611 KJV used made the same approximation. Thus, "`Aza" became "Gaza" and "`Amorah" became "Gomorrah." Most of the time when one sees a name that begins with a "G" when transliterated from Hebrew, it will be a name that begins with a gimmel. But, a few names that begin with an `ayin will also be transliterated to begin with a "G," but these few names actually begin with that funny little frog sound that we made in the song.

In the Messiah's love,
Retrobyter