I was looking for any Greek transliterations of the tetragrammaton that would align with Jehovah. Within TLG, I searched for the lemma "Ἰεχωβᾶς, ‑ᾶ, ὁ". The hits I received were all from the 17th century or later, except one that was identified as being from the 12th century, from Nicholas Hydruntinus. In his "Disputations against the Jews," he provides what appears to be a transliteration: «Γεχαβά», which looks like it would be, in modern phonetics, Yehava (gamma is pronounced soft before an epsilon).
The first instance of Γεχωβά (i.e. with an omega instead of an alpha as the central Greek vowel) comes in the 17th century from Benedictus Tzancarolus, where it is explicitly linked to the tetragrammaton ("καὶ διὰ τοῦ Τετραγραμμάτου Γεχωβά,").
The first instance of Γιεχοβᾶ (i.e. with an omicron instead of an omega or alpha as the central Greek vowel - also note the iota addition before the epsilon, perhaps to harden the gamma?) comes in the 17th or 18th century from Patriarch Dositheus II from (I believe) his "History of the Patriarchite of Jerusalem," published in 1715 after his death in 1707. Dositheus II is famous (or perhaps better to say, "infamous") for convening the contra-Reformation Synod of Jerusalem in 1672.
AI translation and Greek original of Nicolaus Hydruntinus are provided below.
"I keep the Sabbath in your honor; for working in six days, on the seventh, which my Christ has sanctified, which is also the first, on which the light was made, I dedicate this [day] to God. Not that I am sanctifying it, but rather being sanctified in it, I shall utterly refrain from wicked deeds as if in idleness; for Sabbath is interpreted as rest. Hence, instead of the seventh, which was a type of the first, I have received this Lord’s day; for this is "the day which the Lord has made", that is, glorified by rising from the dead, on which also David calls us with cheerful spirit with the lyre, saying "let us rejoice and be glad in it." But to you it was said, "Sanctify the seventh day to me", which you marvelously and devoutly sanctify; for you abstain from all work, as much as not taking a reed to write even "Yahweh", that is, God the Lord, like what was written on Aaron’s rod, or "codes la Adonai", that is, holy to the Lord; for is this a great sin, O Jew, or not?
(ChatGPT 4.0 translation)
Based on the following input from TLG:
Nicolaus HYDRUNTINUS, Disputatio contra Judaeos. {3103.003}
ὑπὲρ σὲ σαββατίζω· ἐν ἓξ γὰρ ἐργαζόμενος ἡμέραις, τὴν ἑβδόμην, ἣν ὁ
Χριστός μου ἡγίασεν, ἥτις καὶ πρώτη ἐστίν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ φῶς καὶ ἐγένετο, ταύτην
θεῷ ἀποδίδωμι. Οὐχ ἁγιάζων ταύτην ἐγώ, ἀλλ’ ἐν ταύτῃ μᾶλλον ἁγιαζόμενος,
ὡσεὶ ἀργίᾳ τῶν πονηρῶν πάντως χρήσομαι πράξεων· σάββατον γὰρ ἀνάπαυσις
ἑρμηνεύεται. Ὅθεν ἀντὶ τῆς ἑβδόμης, ἣ τύπος τῆς πρώτης ἦν, τὴν κυριακὴν (20)
τήνδε παρέλαβον· αὕτη γὰρ ἐστὶν «ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ὁ κύριος ἐποίησεν», ἤγουν
ὑπερεδόξασεν ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν, εἰς ἣν καὶ Δαυῒδ τῇ τοῦ πνεύματος λύρᾳ
ἡμᾶς μετ’ εὐθυμίας ἀποκαλῶν «ἀγαλλιασώμεθα» φησὶ «καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐ- @1
(65) τῇ». Ὑμῖν δὲ «ἁγιάσατέ μοι τὴν ἑβδόμην» ἐρρέθη, ἣν θαυμασίως πως καὶ
σεπτῶς ἁγιάζετε· παντὸς γὰρ ἔργου ἀπέχεις σαυτόν, ὡς ὅτι κάλαμον οὐ λήψῃ
πρὸς τὸ γράψαι κἂν «Γεχαβά», ἤγουν θεὸς κύριος, οἷα ἐν τῷ πετάλῳ τοῦ Ἀα-
ρὼν ἐγέγραπτο, ἢ «κῶδες λὰ ἀδωνά», τοὐτέστιν ἅγιον τοῦ κυρίου· ἔστι γὰρ μέ-
γα ἁμάρτημα, ὦ Ἰουδαῖε, τοῦτο ἢ οὔ; (5)
Ο ΙΟΥΔΑΙΟΣ: Ἐπειδὴ «οὐ ποιήσετε», φησί, «πᾶν ἔργον», ὅπερ τις ταῖς
ἰδίαις χερσὶ ποιῆσαι βουλόμενος παρανομήσει πάντως καὶ ἁμαρτήσει.
Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΙΑΝΟΣ: Ἀλλὰ τὴν τῆς λύρας νευρὰν ἀναλαβεῖν, ἵν’ οὕτω γελοίως
εἴπω, πρὸς τὸ τὴν τῆς συνορχουμένης σοι συνεύνου ἀηδῆ ἡδονὴν τελεσφορῆσαι
οὐ λογίζῃ ἁμάρτημα; ἐν γὰρ τοῖς σάββασιν ὑμῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα συμπράττετε ὄρ- (10)
για, ἡνίκα καὶ μέθαις σχολάζετε.
Ο ΙΟΥΔΑΙΟΣ: Διὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ βεβηλοῦται τὸ σάββατον· «σὰρξ γὰρ
μία» ἐστίν· καὶ γὰρ Ἡσαΐας «καὶ καλέσεις τὰ σάββατα» φησὶ «τρυφερά», ὅπερ
