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Newton’s Secret Pseudonym: Jehovah Sanctus Unus
by Allison Loudermilk | March 12, 2009
Lots of us have nicknames. My fellow science blogger apparently goes by Rob, although at work, he’s strictly Robert. Some of you may even have a pet name for your partner that you’d rather not cop to. But do you have a private name for yourself? According to a PBS interview with historian Bill Newman, Isaac Newton did, and it was awesome — Jehovah Sanctus Unus, or Jehovah, the Great One.
It turns out the man better known for his universal law of gravitation, three laws of motion and mind-blowing intellect was a bit of an oddity. Aren’t we all, Newton? In his spare time, and he didn’t have much because the guy worked way too hard, he pursued alchemy and Arianism. (I’m going to have to save the Arianism stuff for another post).
Alchemy is the idea that you can transform something ordinary into something special, like lead into gold, say. It wasn’t such a crazy notion for the 17th century, as the people at The Newton Project write, and it does tie into the modern field of chemistry. The crazy part was all the dramatic and mystical stuff that went along with alchemy, like the elaborate codes alchemists use. For example, back then an alchemist might have casually mentioned “the menstrual blood of the sordid whore,” according to Newman. What he was actually talking about was the metalline form of the element antimony. Of course.
Newton took it a step further and fashioned several alchemical code names for himself, one of which was Jehovah Sanctus Unus. Maybe as his devoted fan and economist John Maynard Keynes said, “Newton was not the first of the age of reason. He was the last of the magicians.”
Read about the great man and more at HowStuffWorks.com:
How Newton’s Laws of Motion Work
How Isaac Newton Worked
How Geniuses Work
How Gold Works
Note: Since I published this, some readers have pointed out that a better translation of Jehovah Sanctus Unus is Jehovah, the Holy One, rather than Jehovah, the Great One. Thanks for the correction.
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Stan Spencer says:
The latinised version of newton’s name is
jsaacus neuutonus
which is an anagram of
jaoue santus unus
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Allison Loudermilk says:
Very intriguing. -A Kindlier Lulls Moo
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Dennis says:
Allison: Have you posted your “stuff” on Newton and Arianism yet? For motivation, you should know this is the most interesting part of Newton’s anagram………
Reference your first post March 12th, 2009: “(I’m going to have to save the Arianism stuff for another post).”
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you have spurred me on to latinise my own name to
stanus spenceriusgiving latin anagram
“unis sanctus spere”
which translates ironically to
“one holy hope”
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[...] Dubai? That Odorprint Smells Like Deceit Pseudopregnancy: I’m Pregnant — Just Kidding Newton’s Secret Pseudonym: Jehovah Sanctus Unus Can geographers help U.S. find bin [...]
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kapish says:
hi,
I was under the impression that jehova sanctus unus meat one true god not jehova, the great…-
Mauritz Vervaart says:
You would be absolutely right kapish, but remember that ancient texts and languages and the translation there of is subject to interpretation. Consider that if you believe that God is great and the only one true god. That would make both interpretations of Jeova Sanctus Unus in effect true.
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This is a very good point. Interpretations are for politicians. Translations are for truth seekers. To leave out God’s name when it is clearly being referenced is an interpretation and not a translation. Notice that interpretations leave the door open for more interpretations and mistranslations.
In order to translate the thoughts of others, we must know both the language and the author of the thoughts. To understand Newton’s anagram requires knowledge of Latin and knowledge of the Arian Controversy. In addition, anyone who translates Newton’s anagram and does not understand the Greek word “homoousios” knows very little of Newton or his thoughts. I have just exposed the silliness of Dan Brown?!?
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Jeova sactus unus is not a secret. It is an angram used by Newton for Isaacus Neuutonus. I believe Jehova is the Latin genitive case. Thus, the redering in English is “Holy One of Jehovah”.
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Wouldn’t Jehovah/Jeova be a first declension noun, in which case the genitive ending is -ae? Nevertheless, “holy” rather than “great” is probably a better translation of sanctus. Oh, dusty Latin books and teachers, where are you when we need you? You’d never know that I once minored in Latin in college.
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If Jeova is a first declension noun, then -ae is the genitive -a is nominative. Good! So, perhaps “Jehovah the Holy One” is a better translation?
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I believe it is. Thanks, Dennis.
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In his spare time, and he didn’t have much because the guy worked way too hard, he pursued alchemy and Arianism. (I’m going to have to save the Arianism stuff for another post).
Did you ever post anything on Newton’s thoughts on Arianism. I know a lot about this subject, and I would love to have Newton’s perspective.
Thank you;
Professor Dennis Ott
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Paul says:
Read Dan Brown’s new book, “The Lost Symbol”.
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Thanks for the heads up Paul. But, what will I learn? I have three libraries of work before me. The fiction of Dan Brown, in general, does not interest me.
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Daniel Collins says:
jehovah is a latin translation to god and sanctus is to true and unus is one so you put the phrase together and you recieve
“One True God”
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Jehovah is not Latin for God. Jehovah is the English name for God. It is derived from the Hebrew name for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph. His name is recorded 7000 times in the Hebrew scriptures as YHWH (Yod, He, Waw and He). Many use the name Yahweh.
Anyway, sanctus is translated “holy” or “sacred”. The Latin word for true is going to be some variation of “vero”, “veritas” or “verus”.
“One True God” is not a bad rendering. But, it seems more of a translated translation. “Jehovah the Holy One” is the best translation I have so far.
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Ward says:
I’m not sure where all these translations come from and why they are so differnt. The latin phrase for this is ‘One true God.’ If you want to read a good yarn try Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. He adds spice to a mystrey.
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All these translations should come from Latin since the language is written in Latin…..FYI: English to Latin one / unus, true / verus, god / deus. One true god – deus verus unus. Does this look anything like Jehovah Sanctus Unus?
By the way, Jehovah is the name of the one true god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jehovah is not the Latin word for god. All god’s have a name. Jehovah is the name of Israel’s god.
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Sam says:
Some people thinks that Isaac Newton is selfish because he called himself a ‘True God’. But Newton only understood that we all Gods.
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I think you all understand that i read the “Lost Symbol”.
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Indravadan Patel says:
I think One true God is perfect that’s our India symbol ” OHM ” represents. We says in India ” Ohm Tat Sat “. Only God is absoult truth. We have books that supports that.
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