Papyrus 121 (Greek magical papyrus)

This manuscript contains the Tetragrammaton ιεωα (IEŌA) written in col. XV, line 10 (PGM VII:531) in the Victory Charm.^[2] R. F. Hock transcribes and translates the text as follows:

Victory charm:
"Helios, Helios, hear me, NN, Helios, lord, Great God, you who maintain all things and who give life / and who rule the world, toward whom all things go, from whom they also came, untiring,
ĒIE ELĒIE IEŌA ROUBA ANAMAŌ MERMAŌ CHADAMATHA ARDAMATHA PEPHRE ANAMALAZŌ PHĒCHEIDEU ENEDEREU SIMATOI MERMEREŌ AMALAXIPHIA MERSIPHIA EREME THASTEU PAIE PHEREDŌNAX ANAIE / GELEŌ AMARA MATŌR MŌRMARĒSIO NEOUTHŌN ALAŌ AGELAŌ AMAR AMATŌR MŌRMASI SOUTHŌN ANAMAŌ GALAMARARMA.
Hear me, lord Helios, and let the NN matter take place on time".
Say this while you make an offering over oak charcoal, sacred incense, with which has been mixed the brain of a wholly black ram and the wheat meal of a certain plant.^[6]

Bernard Alfrink offers an explanation of the text^[7]:

However, there are a few cases that seem to suggest the pronunciation Jehovah. First, there is a passage from Pap. gr. CXXI of the British Museum (1. 528-540), where Preisendanz also thinks of Jehovah, albeit with a question mark (Pr. II 24). It is a Kabbalistic formula that must be recited while burning holy incense mixed with the brains of a black goat and the flour of an unknown plant called Katananke on an oak wood fire. In this way, one will surely obtain what one asks for. Here is the formula: "Helios, Helios, hear me; Helios, lord, supreme god, who holds the universe and creates all life and reigns over the world, to whom all things are directed and from whom all things proceed, tireless." This is followed by a long series of magical words that are quite incomprehensible and, moreover, have nothing to do with the matter, but which begin with the words: ηιε: εληιε Ιεωα. The first two words contain the double ηλιε ηλιε, which also appears in 1. 528. The third word clearly recalls Jehovah. It cannot be part of the seven-vowel name of God, because it does not appear anywhere in this six-line Kabbalistic formula. The formula is composed of all kinds of other magical words, which are incomprehensible in themselves, but which are clearly unrelated to the many other formulas composed of fragments of the seven-vowel name. A combination with the following enigmatic word of the formula (ρουβα) also offers no possibilities. It appears to be an independent quantity, which must be considered, alongside the repeated Helios, as another name for the deity. And this name is easily understood if one is allowed to think of the hybrid form of Jehovah.

The name Ιεωα is rare and found in a few papyri, for example in the Greek Gospel of the Egyptians.^[8]

This manuscript is currently kept in the British Library (London) as Papyrus 121.^{[3][dead link]}

• Alfrink, Bernard (1948). De Boer, Pieter Arie Hendrik (ed.). "La Prononciation 'Jehova' du Tétragramme". Oudtestamentische Studiën. 5. Leiden: E. J. Brill: 43–62. ISSN 0169-7226.
• Betz, Hans Dieter, ed. (1986). The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Spells. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-04444-0.
• Gertoux, Gérard (2002). "From Justin to Jerome". The Name of God Y.eH.oW.aH which is Pronounced as it is Written I_Eh_oU_Ah: Its Story. G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-2204-2.
• Vasileiadis, Pavlos D.; Gordon, Nehemiah (2019). "Transmission of the Tetragrammaton in Judeo-Greek and Christian Sources" [Η Μεταβίβαση του Τετραγράμματου στις Ιουδαιο-Ελληνικές και Χριστιανικές Πηγές]. Revue de la Société Marsile Ficin. 18. Accademia: 85–126. ISSN 1296-7645.