Peter Whitfield

Peter Whitfield (18th century theologian) "Jehovist"

Works-

• A Dissertation on the Hebrew Vowel-Points. Shewing that they are an Original and Essential Part of the Language (Liverpoole: Peter Whitfield, 1748)1

Peter Whitfield's, A Dissertation on the Hebrew Vowel-Points. Shewing that they are an Original and Essential Part of the Language, (Liverpoole: Peter Whitfield, 1748), 288 pp. Whitfield's lengthy volume of 288 pages includes an introduction, ten arguments and a conclusion. Throughout he dialogues with the positions of Levita and Capellus, giving many biblical examples to refute their notion of the novelty of vowel points. In Whitfield's introduction he stresses how the Roman Catholic Church favors Levita's position because it allows the priests to have the final say in interpretation. The lack of authoritative vowel points in the Hebrew Old Testament (OT) leaves the meaning of many words to the interpreter. The following sections in Whitfield's volume are his arguments for the divine origin of the Hebrew vowel points of the OT.