The following divine names may not be erased, viz.¹ Alef-lamed-he-yod-mem,² Alef-daleth-nun-yod,³ Yod-he-waw-he,⁴ Shaddai,⁵ Ẓeba’oth,⁶ ‘Eheyeh-’asher-’eheyeh.⁷ (Ex. 3, 14). R. Jose says: Ẓeba’oth is generally treated as a secular noun.⁸

footnotes: ¹ lit. ‘he who writes’. ² Meaning ‘God’. ³ Translated ‘Lord’. ⁴ Composing the Tetragrammaton. ⁵ i.e. ‘Almighty’. ⁶ Meaning ‘[Lord of] hosts’. ⁷ I am that I am ⁸ Which may therefore be erased.

If one writes ’El⁹ it may be erased;¹⁰ if ’El of Alef-lamed-he-yod-mem or Yod-he of the four letters [of the Tetragrammaton],¹¹. they may not be erased, because there are divine names corresponding to them.

footnotes: ⁹ It can mean ‘to’ or ‘God’ so far as the consonants are concerned. ¹⁰ It is presumed to be the preposition ‘to’. This Rule is omitted in Sof. IV, 2. ¹¹ Which are Yod-he-waw-he

All prefixes or suffixes connected with a divine name may be erased.

All ordinary words the letters of which are the same as those of a divine name may be erased.¹²

footnotes: ¹² Because they possess no sanctity.

In For the Lord your God, He is God of gods,¹³ the first [two]¹⁴. are sacred and the last¹⁵, signifying ‘judges’ or ‘princes’. is secular. In Lord of lords,¹⁶ the first is sacred and the second secular. In the God of Abraham¹⁷ it is sacred; in the god of Nahor¹⁸ Nahor did not worship the true God. it is secular, and in the god of their father¹⁹ Terah (their father) was an idolater. it is secular. In Thou shalt not revile God,²⁰ [the noun may bear] a sacred or a secular meaning.²¹ R. Ishmael²² maintains that the noun is sacred.

footnotes: ¹³ Deut. 10, 17. ¹⁴ i.e. your God He is God ¹⁵ Of gods ¹⁶ ibid. ¹⁷ Gen. 31, 53. ¹⁸ ibid. ¹⁹ ibid. ²⁰ Ex. 22, 27. ²¹ It may refer to God or judges. ²² In Sof. IV, 5, ‘R. Simeon’.

All nouns in the Torah [signifying God] that are mentioned in connection with Abraham are sacred except the first.²³ (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.²⁴ was addressed to God.

footnotes: ²³ The verse, And he said: My lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight ²⁴ In his opinion my Lord

All names in the Torah mentioned in connection with Lot are secular²⁵ except the last.²⁶ (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 Micah²⁷ are secular, even [when they begin with] Yod-he.²⁸ In [the account of] Naboth²⁹ they are sacred even [when they begin with] Alef-lamed.³⁰

footnotes: ²⁵ There 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). ²⁶ Viz. And Lot said unto them: ‘Oh, not so my Lord’ ²⁷ Judg. 17f. ²⁸ The Tetragrammaton. ²⁹ 1 Kings 21. ³⁰ Meaning elsewhere ‘God’.

In God standeth in the congregation of God, in the midst of the judges³¹ He judges,³² [the divine name] is used as sacred³³. and as secular.³⁴ In God delivereth me to³⁵ (to) which is the same consonants as the word for ‘God’. the ungodly,³⁶ the first is sacred and the second³⁷ in the sense of ‘to’. secular. In For hath any said unto God,³⁸ XXXIV, 31. the first [’el] is secular and the second sacred. [In the verse] And let my cry have no³⁹ resting-place,⁴⁰ 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 me⁴¹ [the name] is sacred. In Forbear thee from meddling with God, Who is with me,⁴² the name is sacred, according to the view of R. Jose b. Judah. In O God, the proud are risen up against me,⁴³ the name is sacred but the reader must pause in his reading [after God].⁴⁴ might erroneously be taken as qualifying God.

footnotes: ³¹ The Heb. has the consonants of the divine name. ³² Ps. 82, 1. ³³ In God standeth ³⁴ The name bearing the meaning of judges. ³⁵ Heb. ’el ³⁶ Job 16, 11. ³⁷ ’el ³⁸ ibid. ³⁹ Heb. על, the same consonants as those of the name of God. ⁴⁰ ibid. ⁴¹ 2 Chron. 35, 21. ⁴² ibid. ⁴³ Ps. 86, 14. ⁴⁴ In the absence of the pause, the adjective proud