Yahweh is an English rendition of the Biblical Name of God, יהוה, as preserved in the Masoretic Text. The Masoretic Text ( MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh) These four Hebrew letters ( יהוה ) are the Tetragrammaton (Greek τετραγράμματον / (to) tetragrammaton: tetra [four] + gramma (gen. The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly grammatos) [letter], "(the word) of four letters") ^[1] and transliterated JHWH in German, and YHWH, YHVH, JHWH and JHVH in English.

Traditionally, observant Jews do not say this name aloud. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ It is believed to be too sacred to be uttered. They often use circumlocutions when referring to the name of the Deity, e. Circumlocution (also called periphrasis, circumduction, circumvolution, periphrase, or ambage) is an ambiguous or roundabout g. , HaShem ("The Name") or Shem HaMeforash (“the ineffable Name. ”) When reading the Tanakh aloud, the tetragrammaton has been marked with vowels indicating that it should be pronounced Adonai (literally, my Lord) since at least the later part of the first millennium of the common era. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is

Various proposals exist for the vocalization of יהוה. Current opinion is יַהְוֶה (that is, Yahweh). The Yah part seems fairly certain, as attested by Hebrew theophoric names ending in -ia(h) or -yahu. See technical note on viewing special characters A theophoric name (Greek "bearing a deity" embeds the name of a god both invoking Early Christian literature written in Greek used spellings like Ιαβε that can be transcribed by 'Yahweh'. Although contention still exists today many scholars accept this proposal. ^[2]

While the editors of the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon state that "יהוה i. e. יַהְוֶה n. pr. dei Yahweh," is "the proper name of the God of Israel. "^[3] "יַהְוֶה" is actually only one particular proposed vocalization of "יהוה" and is not found in any extant Hebrew Text.

Contents 1 Historical overview 2 Pronunciation of the Name 3 Evidence from theophoric names 3.1 Using consonants as semi-vowels (v/w) 3.2 Y or J? 3.3 Kethib and Qere and Qere perpetuum 3.4 Jehovah 3.5 Frequency of use in scripture 3.6 The vocalizations of יְהֹוָה and אֲדֹנָי are not identical 3.7 Evidence from very old scrolls 3.8 Original pronunciation 3.9 Early Greek and Latin forms 3.9.1 Josephus 3.9.2 Clement of Alexandria 3.9.3 Magic papyri 3.10 Gesenius proposes that YHWH should be punctuated as יַהְוֶה = Yahweh 3.11 Inferences 4 Catholic Encyclopedia teaching about the name Yahweh 5 Usage of YHWH 5.1 In ancient Judaism 5.2 In later Judaism 5.3 In Modern Judaism 5.4 Among the Samaritans 5.5 Modern 6 Short forms 7 Derivation 7.1 Putative etymology 7.1.1 "I am" 7.2 From a verb meaning "destroy" or similar? 7.3 Cultus 7.4 Yahu 7.5 Mesopotamian influence 7.6 Social theory 8 Other Uses 9 See also 10 References 11 External links

Historical overview

During the Babylonian captivity the Hebrew language spoken by the Jews was replaced by the Aramaic language of their Babylonian captors. The Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile, is the name typically given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Aramaic is a Semitic language with Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Aramaic was closely related to Hebrew and, while sharing many vocabulary words in common, contained some words that sounded the same or similar but had other meanings. In Aramaic, the Hebrew word for “blaspheme” used in Leviticus 24:16, “Anyone who blasphemes the name of YHWH must be put to death” carried the meaning of “pronounce” rather than “blaspheme”. Leviticus (from Greek Λευιτικός, "relating to the Levites " When the Jews began speaking Aramaic, this verse was understood to mean, “Anyone who pronounces the name of YHWH must be put to death. ” Since then, observant Jews have maintained the custom of not pronouncing the name, but use Adonai (“my Lord [plural of majesty]”) instead. During the first few centuries AD this may have resulted in loss of traditional memory of how to pronounce the Name (except among Samaritans). The Septuagint (Greek translation) and Vulgata (Latin translation) use the word "Lord" (κύριος (kurios) and dominus, respectively). The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the The Vulgate is an early Fifth Century version of the Bible in Latin, and largely the result of the labours of Jerome, who was commissioned by

The Masoretes added vowel points (niqqud) and cantillation marks to the manuscripts to indicate vowel usage and for use in the ritual chanting of readings from the Bible in synagogue services. See also Masoretic text The Masoretes ( ba'alei hamasorah, Hebrew בעלי המסורה were groups of Scribes and Bible Scholars In Hebrew Orthography, niqqud or nikkud ( is the system of Diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between alternative pronunciations Cantillation is the ritual chanting of readings from the Bible in Synagogue services. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of Jewish services ( Hebrew: תפלה, tefillah; plural תפלות, tefillos or tefillot; Yinglish: davening To יהוה they added the vowels for "Adonai" ("My Lord"), the word to use when the text was read. In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title

Many Jews will not even use "Adonai" except when praying, and substitute other terms, e. g. HaShem ("The Name") or the nonsense word Ado-Shem, out of fear of the potential misuse of the divine name. In written English, "G-d" is a common substitute. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title

Parts of the Talmud, particularly those dealing with Yom Kippur, seem to imply that the Tetragrammaton should be pronounced in several ways, with only one (not explained in the text, and apparently kept by oral tradition by the Kohen Gadol) being the personal name of God. The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Yom Kippur (יוֹם כִּפּוּר ˈjɔm kiˈpur also known in English as the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn and important of the Jewish holidays Its Oral tradition, oral culture and oral lore is a way for a society to transmit history, literature, law and other Knowledges Kohen Gadol or Kohen ha-Gadol ( Heb כהן גדול "Great Priest" is the title of High Priest of early Israelite

In late Kabbalistic works the term HWYH - הוי'ה (pronounced Havayeh) is used.

Translators often render YHWH as a word meaning "Lord", e. g. Greek Κυριος, Latin Dominus, and following that, English "the Lord", Polish Pan, Welsh Arglwydd, etc.

Because the name was no longer pronounced and its own vowels were not written, its own pronunciation was forgotten. When Christians, unaware of the Jewish tradition, started to read the Hebrew Bible, they read יְהֹוָה as written with YHWH's consonants with Adonai's vowels, and thus said or transcribed Iehovah. Today this transcription is generally recognized as mistaken; however many religious groups continue to use the form Jehovah, because it is familiar and because the correct pronunciation of יהוה is unknown. (See Jehovah. Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in )

Pronunciation of the Name

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Various proposals exist for what the vowels of יהוה were. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized Conservative Judaism (also known as Masorti Judaism in Israel and Europe) is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently subjected to vandalism and the insertion of personal opinions Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew Modern Orthodox Judaism (or Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize traditional observance Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of the late Mordecai Kaplan (1881 – 1983 Jewish Renewal is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, Musical and Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism ( Hebrew: " Yehadut Rabanit " - יהדות רבנית is the mainstream religious system of post- diaspora Humanistic Judaism is a movement within Judaism that emphasizes Jewish culture and history—rather than belief in God—as the sources of Jewish identity Karaite Judaism or Karaism (ˈkærəˌaɪt ˈkærəˌɪzəm) is a Jewish movement NOTE The word sect should not be used without defining it first and Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheistic principles Judaism has no formal statement of principles of faith such as a Creed or Catechism A minyan (מנין lit to count number; pl minyanim) in Judaism refers to the Quorum required for certain religious Kabbalah (קַבָּלָה lit "receiving" is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mystical aspect of Judaism. The Seven Laws of Noah ( Hebrew: שבע מצוות בני נח Sheva mitzvot B'nei Noach) often referred to as the Noahide Laws, are a set of seven moral In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title Jewish eschatology is concerned with the Jewish Messiah, Afterlife, and the revival of the dead. Messiah ( משיח; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, ("anointed " is a term used in the Hebrew Bible In Judaism chosenness is the belief that the Jews are the Chosen people: chosen to be in a Covenant with God. Holocaust theology refers to a body of theological and philosophical debate soul-searching and analysis with the subsequent related Literature, that Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. Tzniut or Tznius (also Tzeniut) ( Hebrew: צניעות " Modesty " is a term used within Judaism and has its greatest influence Tzedakah ( צדקה) is a Hebrew word commonly translated as charity, though it is based on a root meaning Justice Jewish ethics stands at the intersection of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of Ethics. Mussar movement refers to a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement (a "Jewish Moralist Movement" that developed in 19th century Orthodox term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic The Tosefta ( Aramaic: תוספתא is a secondary compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah. Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense can mean the entire spectrum of Rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history The Kuzari is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. The Mishneh Torah ( Hebrew: משנה תורה subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka (יד החזקה is a code of Jewish Religious law Arba'ah Turim (ארבעה טורים often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakhic code, composed by Yaakov ben Asher The Shulchan Aruch (שולחן ערוך literally " Set Table " (also Shulhan Aruch or Shulchan Arukh) is a Codification Mishnah Berurah ( Hebrew: "Clarified Teaching" is a work of Halakha (Jewish law by Rabbi Yisrael Chumash (xuˈmɑʃ ( Hebrew: חומש also Humash) is one of the Hebrew names for the Five Books of Moses also known as the Pentateuch or A siddur ( Hebrew: סידור plural siddurim) is a Jewish Prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. See also Religious Jewish music A piyyut (plural piyyutim, Hebrew פיוט pijút and) is a Jewish liturgical poem usually designated For the village in southern Israel see Tzohar The Zohar (זהר lit Splendor or Radiance) is widely considered the most important The Four Holy Cities is the collective term in Jewish tradition applied to the cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed: "Since Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Safed (צְפַת pronounced Tsfat; صفد pronounced Safad) is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Hebron ( al-Ḫalīl or al-Khalīl, Standard Hebrew: Ḥevron Tiberian Hebrew: Ḥeḇrôn is the largest city in the West Bank, located in the south Tiberias ( British English: /taɪˈbɪəriæs -əs/ American English: /taɪˈbɪriəs/ טְבֶרְיָה Tverya; طبرية Ṭabariyyah Jewish leadership has evolved over time Since the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE there has been no single body that has a leadership Abraham ( Ashkenazi   Avrohom or Avruhom; ابراهيم, {{Unicode|Ibrāhīm}}; Ge'ez: Sarah (; Arabic: سارة, Sārah; "a woman of high rank" is the wife of Abraham as described in the Hebrew Bible According to the Hebrew Bible, Isaac ( Hebrew: Yitzchak יִצְחָק, Standard Yiẓḥaq This article is about the biblical matriarch For other uses of the word Rebecca see Rebecca (disambiguation Rebecca (also Rebekah also Jacob ( Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard   Yaʿaqov Tiberian   Yaʿăqōḇ; Rachel (; meaning "ewe" is the second and favorite Wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, first mentioned in the Leah ( "Weary tired" is the first of the four concurrent wives of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, and mother of six of the Twelve Tribes of Israel along See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel. Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ See also Biblical judges Book of Judges List of women warriors in folklore literature and popular culture This article is about the ancient Hebrew religious text For the 20th-century English-language novel see The Book of Ruth (novel The Book of Ruth King Solomon ( Ge'ez: ስለሞን Arabic: ar سليمان, Sulayman, all from the Triliteral root S-L-M, "peace" David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible Hillel (הלל (born Babylon traditionally c110BCE-10CE in Jerusalem) was a famous Jewish religious leader one of the most important figures in Jewish Shammai (50 BCE&ndash30 CE Hebrew: שמאי was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century and an important figure in Judaism 's core work of Rabbinic literature Akiva redirects here For other people and things with this name see Akiva (disambiguation. Abba Arika (175–247 ( Talmudic Aramaic: tmr אבא אריכא) (born Abba bar Aybo was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (1013 - 1103 - also Isaac Hakohen, Alfasi or the Rif (רי"ף - was a Talmudist and Posek (decisor For the astrological concept see Rāshi (Jyotiṣa. Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, (רבי שלמה יצחקי better known by the acronym Rashi Tosafists were Medieval Rabbis who created critical and explanatory Glosses on the Talmud. Moses Maimonides ( March 30 1135 – December 13 1204) also known as the Rambam, was a Rabbi, Physician, and Nahmanides (1194 &ndash c 1270 was a Catalan Rabbi, philosopher, Physician, Kabbalist and biblical commentator. Yosef ben Ephraim Caro (sometimes Joseph Caro) (1488 ( Portugal) - March 24, 1575 ( Safed, Ottoman Empire) was one of the Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently subjected to vandalism and the insertion of personal opinions In Judaism, Bar Mitzvah ( Hebrew: בר מצוה "one (m to whom the commandments apply" Bat Mitzvah (בת מצוה "one (f The Shidduch ( Hebrew: שידוך pl shidduchim שידוכים is a system of Matchmaking in which Jewish singles are introduced Betrothal ( shiddukhin) In Jewish law (halakha Betrothal (shiddukhin or Engagement is defined as the mutual promise between Niddah (or nidah, nidda, nida; Hebrew:נִדָּה is a Hebrew term which literally means separation, generally considered to refer Zeved habat (Sephardic or Simchat bat (Ashkenazi are terms for the ritual for naming infant Jewish girls Pidyon HaBen, (פדיון הבן trans Redemption of the Son) is a ritual in Judaism whereby a firstborn son is redeemed from a Kohen in order Bereavement in Judaism ( is a combination of Minhag (traditional custom and Mitzvot (good deeds or religious obligation derived from Judaism 's classical Rabbi (pronunciation, although in English usually) in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’ or more literally ‘my great one’ when addressing any master Rebbe (רבי (pronounced in English which means master teacher or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word Rabbi "Hazan" and "Chazan" redirect here For people named Hazan or Chazan see Hazan (disambiguation Growing importance of the office A kohen (or cohen, Hebrew כּהן "priest" pl כּהנִים kohanim or cohanim) has a separate status in Judaism. This article is about someone who supervises the production of Kosher food A Gabbai ( גבאי) (or sometimes Shamash שמש} is a person who assists in the running of a Synagogue and ensures that the needs are met for example Maggid ( מַגִּיד) sometimes spelled as magid) is traditional Eastern European Jewish religious itinerant A mohel ( Hebrew:מוהל plural mohelim) is a Jewish man who performs the Jewish ritual of Brit milah. A beth din, beit din or beis din ( Hebrew: בית דין "house of judgment" plural battei din) is a Rabbinical Rosh yeshiva, ( pl. Heb. Roshei yeshiva; Yeshivish Rosh yeshivas) (ראש ישיבה is the title given to the dean of A kehilla or kehillah (קהילה Hebrew: "community" is a Jewish Community. A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of Mikvah (or mikveh) ( plural mikva'ot or mikves) is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism. Gemach ( Hebrew: גמח plural גמחים gemachim, an abbreviation for גמילות חסדים gemilat chasadim, "acts of kindness" is a A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of Mikvah (or mikveh) ( plural mikva'ot or mikves) is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism. Etymology The Hebrew name given in Scripture for the building is Beit HaMikdash or "The Holy House" and only the Temple in Jerusalem is referred to by this name The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew as the Mishkan ( משכן "Residence" or "Dwelling Place" The tallit (טַלִּית also called tallis ( Yiddish, plural taleysm) is a prayer Shawl worn during the morning Jewish services Tefillin, ( תפילין) also called phylacteries, are a pair of black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with biblical verses "Kipa" redirects here For the supermarket please see Kipa (supermarket. A Sefer Torah ( Hebrew: ספר תורה; plural ספרי תורה Sifrei Torah; “Book(s of Torah ” or “Torah Scroll (s” Tzitzit or tzitzis ( Hebrew: Biblical   ציצת Modern   ציצית) are "fringes" A mezuzah (מזוזה "doorpost" (plural mezuzot (מזוזות is a piece of Parchment (usually contained in a decorative case Pekiin tabletjpg|thumb|right|151px| Second Temple period stone tablet from a Synagogue in Peki'in, Israel. Hanukkah Menorah ( Hebrew: מנורה menorah) (also חַנֻכִּיָּה Hanukiah, or Chanukkiyah, pl A shofar (שופר is a horn used for Jewish religious purposes The Four Species ( Hebrew: ארבעת המינים, Arba'at Ha-Minim, also called Arba Minim) are three types of branches and one type of fruit A kittel, also spelled kitl, (קיטל robe coat cf German Kittel ‘(house/work coat’ is a white robe which served as a burial The Gartel is a belt used by married Jewish males predominantly but not exclusively Hasidim during prayer A yad ( יד) literally "hand" is a Jewish ritual pointer used to point to the text during the Torah reading from the Parchment See also Jewish services Listed below are some Hebrew prayers and blessings that are part of Judaism that are recited by many Jews Jewish services ( Hebrew: תפלה, tefillah; plural תפלות, tefillos or tefillot; Yinglish: davening Shema Yisrael (or Sh'ma Yisroel or just Shema) ( Hebrew: שמע ישראל "Hear Israel" are the first two words of a section of The Amidah (Hebrew תפילת העמידה, Tefilat HaAmidah "The Standing Prayer " also called the Shmona Esre ( שמנה עשרה Aleinu ( Hebrew:, "our duty" is a Jewish Prayer found in the Siddur, the classical Jewish prayerbook Kol Nidre ( Aramaic: כל נדרי) is a Jewish prayer recited in the Synagogue at the beginning of the evening service on Yom Kippur Kaddish (קדיש Aramaic: "holy" refers to an important and central prayer in the Jewish prayer service. Hallel (הלל "Praise" is a Jewish prayer &mdasha verbatim recitation from Psalms 113-118 which is used for praise and thanksgiving that is recited Ma Tovu ( Hebrew for "O How Good" or "How Goodly" is a Prayer in Judaism, expressing reverence and awe for Synagogues and Havdalah is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and holidays and ushers in the new week This article discusses the traditional views of the two religions and may not be applicable all adherents of each The historical interaction of Judaism and Islam started in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. Judeo-Christian (or Judaeo-Christian, sometimes written as Judæo-Christian) is a term used to describe the body of concepts and values which are thought to be held Alternative Judaism or Agnostic Judaism refers to a variety of groups whose members while identifying as Jews in some fashion nevertheless do not practice Rabbinical Jewitchery (from the terms Jew and witch, "shaman"/"sage" in its pure meaning or Jewish Neopaganism is a religious movement that Religious pluralism is a set of religious world views that hold that one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth and thus recognizes that some level of truth and value exists in Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility Criticism of Judaism has existed since Judaism 's formative stages as with many other Religions, on Theological grounds Philo-Semitism, Philosemitism, or Judeophilia is an interest in respect for and appreciation of the Jewish people their historical significance and the Judaism has been influenced by the experience of slavery of the Hebrews in the land of Egypt, as narrated in the biblical story of The Exodus Yeshiva or yeshivah (jəʃi'və ( Hebrew: ישיבה "sitting (n History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Current convention is יַהְוֶה, that is, "Yahweh" (IPA: /jah'we/). Evidence is:

• Some Biblical theophoric names end in -ia(h) or -yahu as shortened forms of YHWH: that points to the first vowel being "a". See technical note on viewing special characters A theophoric name (Greek "bearing a deity" embeds the name of a god both invoking
• Various Early Christian Greek transcriptions of the Hebrew Divine Name seem to point to "Yahwe^h" or similar. For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links
• Samaritan priests have preserved a liturgical pronunciation "Yahwe" or "Yahwa" to the present day. ^[4]

Today many scholars accept this proposal,^[5] based on the pronunciation conserved both by the Church Fathers (as noted above) and by the Samaritans. ^[6] (Here 'accept' does not necessarily mean that they actually believe that it describes the truth, but rather that among the many vocalizations that have been proposed, none is clearly superior. That is, 'Yahweh' is the scholarly convention, rather than the scholarly consensus. ) In some editions of the sidur, Jewish prayer book, there are no vowels under God's name, to signify that we do not know God's name and that there is absolutely no pronunciation.

Evidence from theophoric names

"Yahū" or "Y^ehū" is a common short form for "Yahweh" in Hebrew theophoric names; as a prefix it sometimes appears as "Y^ehō-". See technical note on viewing special characters A theophoric name (Greek "bearing a deity" embeds the name of a god both invoking This has caused two opinions:

1. In former times (at least from c. 1650 AD), that it was abbreviated from the supposed pronunciation "Yehowah", rather than "Yahweh" which contains no 'o'- or 'u'-type vowel sound in the middle.
2. [5] Recently, that, as "Yahweh" is likely an imperfective verb form, "Yahu" is its corresponding preterite or jussive short form: compare yiŝt^ahawe^h (imperfective), yiŝtáhû (preterit or jussive short form) = "do obeisance". The imperfective aspect is a Grammatical aspect. It refers to an action that is viewed from a particular viewpoint as ongoing habitual repeated or generally containing internal This article is about the grammatical term To see the article relating to Eschatology and the Book of Revelation, see Preterism. Grammatical mood is one of a set of distinctive Verb forms that are used to signal modality.

George Wesley Buchanan in Biblical Archaeology Review argues for (1), as the prefix "Yehu-" or "Yeho-" always keeps its second vowel. George Wesley Buchanan is Professor Emeritus of New Testament Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington DC, USA Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR is a publication that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the ^[7]

Smith’s 1863 A Dictionary of the Bible Section # 2. 1 supports (1) for the same reason.

The Analytical Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon (1848)^[8] in its article הוה supports (1) because of the "Yeho-" name prefixes and the vowel pointing difference described in #Details of vowel pointing.

Smith’s 1863 A Dictionary of the Bible says that "Yahweh" is possible because shortening to "Yahw" would end up as "Yahu" or similar.

The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1901-1906 in the Article:Names Of God has a very similar discussion, and also gives the form Jo or Yo (יוֹ) contracted from Jeho or Yeho (יְהוֹ).

The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition (New York: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. , 1910-11, vol. 15, pp. 312, in its article "JEHOVAH", also says that "Jeho-" or "Jo" can be explained from "Yahweh", and that the suffix "-jah" can be explained from "Yahweh" better than from "Yehowah".

Chapter 1 of The Tetragrammaton and the Christian Greek Scriptures, under the heading: THE PRONUNCIATION OF GOD'S NAME quotes from Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2, page 7:

Hebrew Scholars generally favor "Yahweh" as the most likely pronunciation. Insight on the Scriptures is a hard cover two-volume Biblical reference work published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania in 1988. They point out that the abbreviated form of the name is Yah (Jah in the Latinized form), as at Psalm 89:8 and in the expression Hallelu-Yah (meaning "Praise Yah, you people!") (Ps 104:35; 150:1,6). Jah (ˈdʒɑː is the shortened name for God YHWH, most commonly used in the Rastafari movement. Also, the forms Yehoh', Yoh, Yah, and Ya'hu, found in the Hebrew spelling of the names of Jehoshaphat, Joshaphat, Shephatiah, and others, can all be derived from Yahweh. . . . Still, there is by no means unanimity among scholars on the subject, some favoring yet other pronunciations, such as "Yahuwa", "Yahuah", or "Yehuah".

Everett Fox in his introduction to his translation of The Five Books of Moses stated: "Both old and new attempts to recover the ‘correct’ pronunciation of the Hebrew name [of God] have not succeeded; neither the sometimes-heard ‘Jehovah’ nor the standard scholarly ‘Yahweh’ can be conclusively proven. Everett Fox is a scholar and Translator of the Hebrew Bible, a graudate of Brandeis University. "

Using consonants as semi-vowels (v/w)

In ancient Hebrew, the letter ו, known to modern Hebrew speakers as vav, was a semivowel /w/ (as in English, not as in German) rather than a letter v. Biblical Hebrew, also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language in which the Hebrew Bible and various Israelite inscriptions The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. The Hebrew alphabet (אָלֶף-בֵּית עִבְרִי alephbet ’ivri) consists of 22 letters used for writing the Hebrew language. ^[9] The letter is referred to as waw in the academic world. Waw ( also spelled vav or vau) (In Hebrew Vav) is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic Because the ancient pronunciation differs from the modern pronunciation, it is common today to represent יהוה as YHWH rather than YHVH.

In Biblical Hebrew, most vowels are not written and the rest are written only ambiguously, as the vowel letters double as consonants (similar to the Latin use of V to indicate both U and V). Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. See Matres lectionis for details. In the spelling of Hebrew and some other Semitic languages, Matres lectionis ( Latin "mothers of reading" singular form mater lectionis For similar reasons, an appearance of the Tetragrammaton in ancient Egyptian records of the 13th century BC sheds no light on the original pronunciation. Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages ^[10] Therefore it is, in general, difficult to deduce how a word is pronounced from its spelling only, and the Tetragrammaton is a particular example: two of its letters can serve as vowels, and two are vocalic place-holders, which are not pronounced.

This difficulty occurs somewhat also in Greek when transcribing Hebrew words, because of Greek's lack of a letter for consonant 'y' and (since loss of the digamma) of a letter for "w", forcing the Hebrew consonants yod and waw to be transcribed into Greek as vowels. Digamma (uppercase Ϝ, lowercase ϝ) is an archaic letter of the Greek alphabet, used primarily as a Greek numeral. Also, non-initial 'h' caused difficulty for Greeks and was liable to be omitted; х (chi) was pronounced as 'k' + 'h' (as in modern Hindi "lakh") and could not be used to spell 'h' as in e. Chi ( Uppercase Χ, Lowercase χ; Χι He is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, pronounced as in English Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is A lakh (also written lac, and lackh in an Indian english language news source India PR Wire 8 Oct '08 is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to g. Modern Greek Χάρρι = "Harry". Modern Greek (el Νέα Ελληνικά or el Νεοελληνική lit

Y or J?

The English practice of transcribing Biblical Hebrew Yodh as "j" and pronouncing it "dzh" (/dʒ/) started when, in late Latin, the pronunciation of consonantal "i" changed from "y" to "dzh" but continued to be spelled "i", bringing along with it Latin transcriptions and spoken renderings of biblical and other foreign words and names. Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew

A direct rendering of the Hebrew yod would be "y" in English. However, most transliterations of the biblical Hebrew texts represent the Hebrew 'yod' by using the English letter 'J'. This letter, and the accompanying 'J' sound/pronunciation is clearly evident in anglicized versions of Hebrew proper nouns, i. e. names such as Jesus, Jeremiah, Joshua, Judah, Job, Jerusalem, Jehoshaphat, and Jehovah. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Jeremiah ( jirmɛ'jahu; Septuagint Greek: Ἰερεμίας was one of the 'greater prophets ' of the Hebrew Bible. Joshua, Jehoshuah, or Yehoshua ( 'יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Tiberian: jə Jobe (/'dʒoʊb/; Arabic: أَيُّوبٌ,) is a character in the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible, as well as a prophet Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the See Josaphat for other meanings of the name Jehoshaphat or Jehosaphat or Josaphat or Yehoshafat ( was the successor of Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in Although it can be argued that the 'Y' form is more correct i. e. more like the Jewish/Hebrew pronunciations, in the English-speaking world, this 'J' form for such Bible names is now the norm and has been so for centuries.

Kethib and Qere and Qere perpetuum

The original consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible was provided with vowel marks by the Masoretes to assist reading. See also Masoretic text The Masoretes ( ba'alei hamasorah, Hebrew בעלי המסורה were groups of Scribes and Bible Scholars In places where the consonants of the text to be read (the Qere) differed from the consonants of the written text (the Kethib), they wrote the Qere in the margin as a note showing what was to be read. Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, (" is read" and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, (" is read" and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, In such a case the vowels of the Qere were written on the Kethib. For a few very frequent words the marginal note was omitted: this is called Q're perpetuum. Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, (" is read" and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh,

One of these frequent cases was God's name, that should not be pronounced, but read as "Adonai" ("My Lord [plural of majesty]"), or, if the previous or next word already was "Adonai", or "Adoni" ("My Lord"), as "Elohim" ("God"). This combination produces יְהֹוָה and יֱהֹוִה respectively, non-words that would spell "yehovah" and "yehovih" respectively. A ghost word is a word that has been Published in a Dictionary, or has been adopted as genuine as the result of misinterpretation or a Typographical error

The oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, such as the Aleppo Codex and the Codex Leningradensis mostly write יְהוָה (yehvah), with no pointing on the first H; this points to its Qere being 'Sh^ema', which is Aramaic for "the Name". The Aleppo Codex ( Hebrew: כֶּתֶר אֲרָם צוֹבָא kɛθɛɾ ʔăɾɔm sˁovɔʔ Keter Aram Tsova) is a manuscript of the Hebrew Bible The Leningrad Codex (or Codex Leningradensis) is one of the oldest manuscripts of the complete Hebrew Bible produced according to the Tiberian mesorah; Aramaic is a Semitic language with

Gerard Gertoux wrote that in the Leningrad Codex of 1008-1010, the Masoretes used 7 different vowel pointings [i. See also Masoretic text The Masoretes ( ba'alei hamasorah, Hebrew בעלי המסורה were groups of Scribes and Bible Scholars e. 7 different Q're's] for YHWH. Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, (" is read" and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, ^[11]

Jehovah

Later, Christian Europeans who did not know about the Q're perpetuum custom took these spellings at face value, producing the form "Jehovah" and spelling variants of it. Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, (" is read" and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in The Catholic Encyclopedia [1913, Vol. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia VIII, p. 329] states: “Jehovah, the proper name of God in the Old Testament. " For more information, see the page Jehovah. Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in

Frequency of use in scripture

According to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon, יְהֹוָה (Qr אֲדֹנָי) occurs 6518 times, and יֱהֹוִה (Qr אֱלֹהִים) occurs 305 times in the Masoretic Text.

It appears 6,823 times in the Jewish Bible, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, and 6,828 times each in the Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia texts of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Jewish Encyclopedia was an Encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. Biblia Hebraica is a Latin phrase meaning Hebrew Bible. It is traditionally used as a title for printed editions of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) The Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, or BHS, is an edition of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible as preserved in the Leningrad Codex, and

The vocalizations of יְהֹוָה and אֲדֹנָי are not identical

The "simple shewa" (schwa vowel, usually written as 'e') in Yehovah and the "hatef patah" (short a) in Adonay are not identical. In Linguistics, specifically Phonetics and Phonology, schwa can mean the following An unstressed and toneless neutral Two reasons have been suggested for this:

• A spelling "Y^ahova^h" causes a risk that a reader might start reading "Yah", which is a form of the Name, and the first half of the full Name.
• The two are not really different: both short vowels, shva and hatef-patah, were allophones of the same phoneme used in different situations. In Phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar speech sounds ( Phones that belong to the same Phoneme. The phoneME project is Sun Microsystems reference implementation of Java virtual machine and associated libraries of Java ME with source licensed under the GNU Adonai uses the "hatef patah" because of the glottal nature of its first consonant aleph (the glottal stop), but the first consonant of YHWH is yodh, which is not glottal, and so uses the vowel shva. In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title is the reconstructed name of the first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, continued in descended Semitic alphabets as Phoenician This article is about the sound in spoken language For the letter see Glottal stop (letter. Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew

Evidence from very old scrolls

The discovery of the Qumran scrolls has added support to some parts of this position. For the country that features in Yes Minister, see here. Qumran (خربة قمران חירבת קומראן Khirbet Qumran These scrolls are unvocalized, showing that the position of those who claim that the vowel marks were already written by the original authors of the text is untenable. Many of these scrolls write (only) the tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew script, showing that the Name was treated specially. The Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, also know as Ktav Ivri, is an offshoot of the ancient Semitic alphabet (see the akin Phoenician alphabet) See also this link.

As said above, the Aleppo and Leningrad codices do not use the holem (o) in their vocalization, or only in very few instances, so that the (systematic) spelling "Yehovah" is more recent than about 1000 A. D. or from a different tradition.

Original pronunciation

The main approaches in modern attempts to determine a pronunciation of יהוה have been study of the Hebrew Bible text, study of theophoric names and study of early Christian Greek texts that contain reports about the pronunciation. Evidence from Semitic philology and archeology has been tried, resulting in a "scholarly convention to pronounce יהוה as Yahweh". In Linguistics and Ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical " Shem " Hebrew שם translated as "name" Arabic: ساميّ See Comparative linguistics for the narrower field of "comparative philology" Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos

The text in the Codex Leningrad B 19^A, 1008 A. D, shows יהוה with various different vowel points, indicating that the name was to be read as Yehwah', Yehwih, and a number of times as Yehowah, as in Genesis 3:15

Delitzsch prefers "יַהֲוָה" (yah^avah) since he considered the shwa quiescens below ה ungrammatical.

In his 1863 "A Dictionary of the Bible", William Smith prefers the form "יַהֲוֶה" (yah^aveh). Many other variations have been proposed.

However, Gesenius' proposal gradually became accepted as the best scholarly reconstructed vocalized Hebrew spelling of the Tetragrammaton.

Early Greek and Latin forms

The writings of the Church Fathers contain several references to God's name in Greek or Latin. The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907)] and B. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia D. Eerdmans: ^[12]

• Diodorus Siculus^[13] writes Ἰαῶ (Iao);
• Irenaeus reports^[14] that the Gnostics formed a compound Ἰαωθ (Iaoth) with the last syllable of Sabaoth. Saint Irenaeus (Greek Ειρηναίος (2nd century AD - c 202 was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, Roman Empire (now Lyons France In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title He also reports^[15] that the Valentinian heretics use Ἰαῶ (Iao);
• Clement of Alexandria^[16] writes Ἰαοὺ (Iaou) - see also below;
• Origen,^[17] Iao;
• Porphyry,^[18] Ἰευώ (Ieuo);
• Epiphanius (d. Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems Saint Clement of Alexandria (born Titus Flavius Clemens) (c150 - 211/216 was the first notable member of the Church of Alexandria, and one of its most Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca Porphyry of Tyre ( Greek:, c AD 233&ndashc 309 was a Phoenician Neoplatonic philosopher Epiphanius (ca 310&ndash320 &ndash 403 was bishop of Salamis and metropolitan of Cyprus at the end of the 4th century AD 404), who was born in Palestine and spent a considerable part of his life there, gives^[19] Ia and Iabe (one codex Iaue);
• Pseudo-Jerome,^[20] tetragrammaton legi potest Iaho;
• Theodoret (d. Theodoret (c 393 &ndash c 457 was an influential author theologian and Christian Bishop of Cyrrhus Syria (423-457 c. 457) writes Ἰάω (Iao); he also reports^[21] that the Samaritans say Ἰαβέ (Iabe), Ἰαβαι (Iabai), while the Jews say Ἀϊά (Aia). ^[22] (The latter is probably not יהוה but אהיה Ehyeh = "I am" (Exod. iii. 14), which the Jews counted among the names of God. )
• James of Edessa (cf. Jacob of Edessa (c 640 - 5 June 708) was one of the most distinguished of Syriac Writers Jacob of Edessa was of Syriac ^[23]), Jehjeh;
• Jerome^[24] speaks of certain ignorant Greek writers who transcribed the Hebrew Divine name יהוה as ΠΙΠΙ. Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος

In Smith’s 1863 "A Dictionary of the Bible", the author displays some of the above forms and concludes:

But even if these writers were entitled to speak with authority, their evidence only tends to show in how many different ways the four letters of the word יהוה could be represented in Greek characters, and throws no light either upon its real pronunciation or its punctuation.

Josephus

Josephus in Jewish Wars, chapter V, verse 235, wrote "τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα· ταῦτα δ' ἐστὶ φωνήεντα τέσσαρα" (". Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus The Wars of the Jews (or The History of the . . [engraved with] the holy letters; and they are four vowels"), presumably because Hebrew yod and waw, even if consonantal, would have to be transcribed into the Greek of the time as vowels. In Phonetics, a vowel is a Sound in spoken Language, such as English ah! or oh!, pronounced with an open Vocal tract Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Waw ( also spelled vav or vau) (In Hebrew Vav) is the sixth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic

Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria writes in Stromata V,6:34-35

"Πάλιν τὸ παραπέτασμα τῆς εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων παρόδου, κίονες τέτταρες αὐτόθι, ἁγίας μήνυμα τετράδος διαθηκῶν παλαιῶν, ἀτὰρ καὶ τὸ τετράγραμμον ὄνομα τὸ μυστικόν, ὃ περιέκειντο οἷς μόνοις τὸ ἄδυτον βάσιμον ἦν· λέγεται δὲ Ἰαουε, ὃ μεθερμηνεύεται ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἐσόμενος. Saint Clement of Alexandria (born Titus Flavius Clemens) (c150 - 211/216 was the first notable member of the Church of Alexandria, and one of its most Καὶ μὴν καὶ καθʼ Ἕλληνας θεὸς τὸ ὄνομα τετράδα περιέχει γραμμάτων. "

The translation[6] of Clement's Stromata in Volume II of the classic Ante-Nicene Fathers series renders this as:

". . . Further, the mystic name of four letters which was affixed to those alone to whom the adytum was accessible, is called Jave, which is interpreted, 'Who is and shall be. The adyton (Άδυτον or adytum ( Latin) was a restricted area within the Cella of a Greek or Roman temple. ' The name of God, too [i. e. θεὸς], among the Greeks contains four letters. "^[25]

Of Clement's Stromata there is only one surviving manuscript, the Codex L (Codex Laurentianus V 3), from the 11th century. Other sources are later copies of that ms. and a few dozen quotations from this work by other authors. For Stromata V,6:34, Codex L has ἰαοὺ. The critical edition by Otto Stählin (1905) gives the forms

"ἰαουέ Didymus Taurinensis de pronunc. divini nominis quatuor literarum (Parmae 1799) p. 32ff, ἰαοὺ L, ἰὰ οὐαὶ Nic. , ἰὰ οὐὲ Mon. 9. 82 Reg. 1888 Taurin. III 50 (bei Did. ), ἰαοῦε Coisl. Seg. 308 Reg. 1825. "

and has Ἰαουε in the running text. The Additions and Corrections page gives a reference to an author who rejects the change of ἰαοὺ into Ἰαουε. ^[26]

Other editors give similar data. A catena (Latin: chain) referred to by A. le Boulluec ^[27] ("Coisl. 113 fol. 368v") and by Smith’s 1863 "A Dictionary of the Bible" ("a catena to the Pentateuch in a MS. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to at Turin") is reported to have "ια ουε".

The New Catholic Encyclopedia of 1967 lists the form Ἰαουαι as evidence that YHWH is pronounced "Yahweh".

Magic papyri

Spellings of the Tetragrammaton occur among the many combinations and permutations of names of powerful agents that occur in Egyptian magical writings. ^[28] One of these forms is the heptagram ιαωουηε^[29]

In the magical texts, Iave (Jahveh Sebaoth), and Iαβα, occurs frequently. ^[30] In an Ethiopic list of magical names of Jesus, purporting to have been taught by him to his disciples, Yawe^{[31] [32]} is found.

Gesenius proposes that YHWH should be punctuated as יַהְוֶה = Yahweh

In the early 19th century Hebrew scholars were still critiquing "Jehovah" [a. k. a. Iehovah and Iehouah] because they believed that the vowel points of יְהֹוָה were not the actual vowel points of God's name. The Hebrew scholar Wilhelm Gesenius [1786-1842] had suggested that the Hebrew punctuation יַהְוֶה, which is transliterated into English as "Yahweh", might more accurately represent the actual pronunciation of God's name than the Biblical Hebrew punctuation "יְהֹוָה", from which the English name Jehovah has been derived. Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius ( February 3, 1786 &ndash October 23, 1842) was a German Orientalist and Biblical

Wilhelm Gesenius is noted for being one of the greatest Hebrew and biblical scholars [7]. Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius ( February 3, 1786 &ndash October 23, 1842) was a German Orientalist and Biblical His proposal to read YHWH as "יַהְוֶה" (see image to the right) was based in large part on various Greek transcriptions, such as ιαβε, dating from the first centuries AD, but also on the forms of theophoric names. For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links

In his Hebrew Dictionary Gesenius (see image of German text) supports the pronunciation "Yahweh" because of the Samaritan pronunciation Ιαβε reported by Theodoret, and that the theophoric name prefixes YHW [Yeho] and YH [Yo] can be explained from the form "Yahweh". Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius ( February 3, 1786 &ndash October 23, 1842) was a German Orientalist and Biblical Theodoret (c 393 &ndash c 457 was an influential author theologian and Christian Bishop of Cyrrhus Syria (423-457 See technical note on viewing special characters A theophoric name (Greek "bearing a deity" embeds the name of a god both invoking

Today many scholars accept Gesenius's proposal to read YHWH as יַהְוֶה.

(Here 'accept' does not necessarily mean that they actually believe that it describes the truth, but rather that among the many vocalizations that have been proposed, none is clearly superior. That is, 'Yahweh' is the scholarly convention, rather than the scholarly consensus. )

Inferences

Various people draw various conclusions from this Greek material.

William Smith writes in his 1863 "A Dictionary of the Bible" about the different Hebrew forms supported by these Greek forms:

. . . The votes of others are divided between יַהְוֶה (yahveh) or יַהֲוֶה (yah^aveh), supposed to be represented by the Ιαβέ of Epiphanius mentioned above, and יַהְוָה (yahvah) or יַהֲוָה (yah^avah), which Fürst holds to be the Ιευώ of Porphyry, or the Ιαού of Clemens Alexandrinus.

The editors of New Bible Dictionary (1962 write:

The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by transliterations of the name into Greek in early Christian literature, in the form Ιαουε (Clement of Alexandria) or Ιαβε (Theodoret; by this time β had the pronunciation of v). Transliteration is the practice of Transcribing a Word or text written in one Writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice Saint Clement of Alexandria (born Titus Flavius Clemens) (c150 - 211/216 was the first notable member of the Church of Alexandria, and one of its most

As already mentioned, Gesenius arrived at his form using the evidence of proper names, and following the Samaritan pronunciation Ιαβε reported by Theodoret.

Catholic Encyclopedia teaching about the name Yahweh

In the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1910,in the article Jehovah (Yahweh), under the sub-title:"To take up the ancient writers", the editors wrote:

• Diodorus Siculus writes Jao (I, 94);
• Irenaeus ("Adv. Haer. ", II, xxxv, 3, in P. G. , VII, col. 840), Jaoth;
• the Valentinian heretics (Irenaeus, "Adv. Haer. ", I, iv, 1, in P. G. , VII, col. 481), Jao;
• Clement of Alexandria ("Strom. ", V, 6, in P. G. , IX, col. 60), Jaou;
• Origen ("in Joh. ", II, 1, in P. G. , XIV, col. 105), Jao;
• Porphyry (Eusebius, "Praep. evang", I, ix, in P. G. , XXI, col. 72), Jeuo;
• Epiphanius ("Adv. Haer. ", I, iii, 40, in P. G. , XLI, col. 685), Ja or Jabe;
• Pseudo-Jerome ("Breviarium in Pss. ", in P. L. , XXVI, 828 ), Jaho;
• the Samaritans (Theodoret, in "Ex. quaest. ", xv, in P. G. , LXXX, col. 44),Jabe;
• James of Edessa (cf. Lamy, "La science catholique", 1891, p. 196), Jehjeh;
• Jerome ("Ep. xxv ad Marcell. ", in P. L. , XXII, col. 429) speaks of certain ignorant Greek writers who transcribed the Hebrew Divine name II I II I.

The editors of the Catholic Encyclopedia continue:

The judicious reader will perceive that the Samaritan pronunciation Jabe probably approaches the real sound of the Divine name closest; the other early writers transmit only abbreviations or corruptions of the sacred name. Inserting the vowels of Jabe into the original Hebrew consonant text, we obtain the form Jahveh (Yahweh), which has been generally accepted by modern scholars as the true pronunciation of the Divine name. It is not merely closely connected with the pronunciation of the ancient synagogue by means of the Samaritan tradition, but it also allows the legitimate derivation of all the abbreviations of the sacred name in the Old Testament.

Usage of YHWH

In ancient Judaism

Several centuries before the Christian era the name YHWH had ceased to be commonly used by the Jews. The Hamsa (خمسة Khamsa, literally "five" חמסה Khamsa) is a symbol used in Amulets Charms and Jewelry to protect Some of the later writers in the Old Testament employ the appellative Elohim, God, prevailingly or exclusively. Elohim ( אֱלוֹהִים, אלהים) is a Hebrew word which expresses concepts of Divinity.

The oldest complete Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) versions, from around the second century A. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly D. , consistently use Κυριος (= "Lord"), where the Hebrew has YHWH, corresponding to substituting Adonay for YHWH in reading the original; in books written in Greek in this period (e. g. Wisdom, 2 and 3 Maccabees), as in the New Testament, Κυριος takes the place of the name of God. However, older fragments contain the name YHWH. ^[33] In the P. Ryl. 458 (perhaps the oldest extant Septuagint manuscript) there are blank spaces, leading some scholars to believe that the Tetragrammaton must have been written where these breaks or blank spaces are. The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the ^[34]

Josephus, who as a priest knew the pronunciation of the name, declares that religion forbids him to divulge it. Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus

Philo calls it ineffable, and says that it is lawful for those only whose ears and tongues are purified by wisdom to hear and utter it in a holy place (that is, for priests in the Temple). Philo (20 BC - 50 AD) known also as Philo of Alexandria (gr Φίλων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria To say that something is " ineffable " means that it cannot or should not be expressed in spoken words (as with the concept of true love or some Taboo) In another passage, commenting on Lev. xxiv. 15 seq. : "If any one, I do not say should blaspheme against the Lord of men and gods, but should even dare to utter his name unseasonably, let him expect the penalty of death. Blasphemy is the disrespectful use of the name of one or more gods. " ^[35]

Various motives may have concurred to bring about the suppression of the name:

1. An instinctive feeling that a proper name for God implicitly recognizes the existence of other gods may have had some influence; reverence and the fear lest the holy name should be profaned among the heathen.
2. Desire to prevent abuse of the name in magic. Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and If so, the secrecy had the opposite effect; the name of the God of the Jews was one of the great names, in magic, heathen as well as Jewish, and miraculous efficacy was attributed to the mere utterance of it.
3. Avoiding risk of the Name being used as an angry expletive, as reported in Leviticus 24:11 in the Bible. The word expletive is currently used in three senses syntactic expletives, expletive attributives, and "bad language". Leviticus (from Greek Λευιτικός, "relating to the Levites " Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin

In the liturgy of the Temple the name was pronounced in the priestly benediction (Num. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions A temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous rites A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities A benediction ( Latin: bene, well + dicere, to speak is a short Invocation for divine help Blessing and guidance usually at the vi. 27) after the regular daily sacrifice (in the synagogues a substitute— probably Adonai— was employed);^[36] on the Day of Atonement the High Priest uttered the name ten times in his prayers and benediction. A synagogue (from Greek: grc συναγωγή transliterated synagogē, "assembly" he בית כנסת beit knesset, "house of Yom Kippur (יוֹם כִּפּוּר ˈjɔm kiˈpur also known in English as the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn and important of the Jewish holidays Its Prayer is the act of attempting to communicate with a Deity or spirit

In the last generations before the fall of Jerusalem, however, it was pronounced in a low tone so that the sounds were lost in the chant of the priests. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the ^[37]

In later Judaism

After the destruction of the Temple (A. D. 70) the liturgical use of the name ceased, but the tradition was perpetuated in the schools of the rabbis. Year 70 was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. Rabbi (pronunciation, although in English usually) in Judaism, means a religious ‘teacher’ or more literally ‘my great one’ when addressing any master ^[38] It was certainly known in Babylonia in the latter part of the 4th century,^[39] and not improbably much later. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Nor was the knowledge confined to these pious circles; the name continued to be employed by healers, exorcists and magicians, and has been preserved in many places in magical papyri. In some religions an exorcist (also called a witchman) is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the Devil or other Demon.

The vehemence with which the utterance of the name is denounced in the Mishna—He who pronounces the Name with its own letters has no part in the world to come!^[40] —suggests that this misuse of the name was not uncommon among Jews. The Mishnah or Mishna (he משנה "repetition" from the verb shanah he שנה or "to study and review" is a major work of Rabbinic Judaism

In Modern Judaism

The new Jewish Publication Society Tanakh 1985 follows the traditional convention of translating the Divine Name as "the LORD" (in all caps). The Jewish Publication Society ( JPS) was founded in Philadelphia in 1888 to provide the children of Jewish immigrants to America with books about their heritage in See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is The Artscroll Tanakh translates the Divine Name as "HaShem" (literally, "The Name"). ArtScroll is an Imprint of translations books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications Ltd See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is

When the Divine Name is read during prayer, "Adonai" ("My Lord") is substituted. However, when practicing a prayer or referring to one, Orthodox Jews will say "AdoShem" instead of "Adonai". When speaking to another person "HaShem" is used.

Among the Samaritans

The Samaritans, who otherwise shared the scruples of the Jews about the utterance of the name, seem to have used it in judicial oaths to the scandal of the rabbis. ^[41] (Their priests have preserved a liturgical pronunciation "Yahwe" or "Yahwa" to the present day. ) ^[42]

Modern

The New Jerusalem Bible (1966) uses "Yahweh" exclusively. The Jerusalem Bible (JB or TJB is a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible which first was introduced to the English -speaking public in 1966 and

The Bible In Basic English (1949/1964) uses "Yahweh" eight times, including Exodus 6. The Bible In Basic English (also known as BBE) is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. 2.

The Amplified Bible (1954/1987) uses "Yahweh" in Exodus 6. The Amplified Bible (AMP is an English Translation of the Bible produced jointly by The Zondervan Corporation and The Lockman Foundation 3

The Holman Christian Standard Bible (1999/2002) uses "Yahweh" over 50 times,including Exodus 6. The Holman Christian Standard Bible is an English Translation of the Bible, published by Holman Bible Publishers. 2.

The World English Bible (WEB) [a Public Domain work with no copyright] uses "Yahweh" some 6837 times. The World English Bible (also known as WEB is a Public domain translation of the Bible that is currently in draft form

In Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Universe, the narrator suggests that YHWH might instead be pronounced "Yahoo Wahoo. Larry Gonick (born 1946 is a Cartoonist best known for The Cartoon History of the Universe, a history The Cartoon History of the Universe is an ongoing Book series about the History of the world " The narrator is then shown being struck by lightning.

Some modern writers, particularly in mythology and anthropology, use 'Yahweh' specifically, rather than 'God', to describe the Biblical God as a way of trying to display Christian and Jewish concepts as being on an even plane with concepts and deities from other religions. This does not necessarily represent a majority view, but the practice has grown in recent years.

Short forms

"Yahū" or "Y^ehū" is a common short form for "Yahweh" in Hebrew theophoric names; as a prefix it sometimes appears as "Y^ehō-". See technical note on viewing special characters A theophoric name (Greek "bearing a deity" embeds the name of a god both invoking In former times that was thought to be abbreviated from the supposed pronunciation "Yehowah". There is nowadays an opinion [8] that, as "Yahweh" is likely an imperfective verb form, "Yahu" is its corresponding preterite or jussive short form: compare yiŝt^ahawe^h (imperfective), yiŝtáhû (preterit or jussive short form) = "do obeisance". The imperfective aspect is a Grammatical aspect. It refers to an action that is viewed from a particular viewpoint as ongoing habitual repeated or generally containing internal This article is about the grammatical term To see the article relating to Eschatology and the Book of Revelation, see Preterism. Grammatical mood is one of a set of distinctive Verb forms that are used to signal modality.

In some places, such Exodus 15:2, the name YHWH is shortened to יָהּ (Yah). This same syllable is found in Hallelu-yah. Here the ה has mappiq, i. The mappiq ( Hebrew: מפיק also mapiq, mapik, mappik, lit "causing to go out" is a Diacritic used in the Hebrew e. , is consonantal, not a mater lectionis. In the spelling of Hebrew and some other Semitic languages, Matres lectionis ( Latin "mothers of reading" singular form mater lectionis

It is often assumed that this is also the second element -ya of the Aramaic "Marya": the Peshitta Old Testament translates Adonai with "Mar" (Lord), and YHWH with "Marya". The name 'Peshitta' The name 'Peshitta' is derived from the Syriac mappaqtâ pšîṭtâ (ܡܦܩܬܐ ܦܫܝܛܬܐ literally meaning 'simple version'

Derivation

Putative etymology

Jahveh or Yahweh is apparently an example of a common type of Hebrew proper names which have the form of the 3rd pers. sing. of the verb. e. g. Jabneh (name of a city), Jabin, Jamlek, Jiptah (Jephthah), &c. Most of these really are verbs, the suppressed or implicit subject being 'el, "numen, god", or the name of a god; cf. Jabneh and Jabne-el, Jiptah and Jiptah-el.

The ancient explanations of the name proceed from Exod. iii. 14, 15, where "Yahweh^[43] hath sent me" in v 15 corresponds to "Ehyeh hath sent me" in v. I am that I am ( Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה pronounced Ehyeh asher ehyeh) is a common English translation ( King James Bible and others of the 14, thus seeming to connect the name Yahweh with the Hebrew verb hayah, "to become, to be". The Jewish interpreters found in this the promise that God would be with his people (cf. v. 12) in future oppressions as he was in the present distress, or the assertion of his eternity, or eternal constancy; the Alexandrian translation 'Eγω ειμι ο ων. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια . . ' O ων απεσταλκεν με προς υμας understands it in the more metaphysical sense of God's absolute being. Both interpretations, "He (who) is (always the same);" and , "He (who) is (absolutely the truly existent);" import into the name all that they profess to find in it; the one, the religious faith in God's unchanging fidelity to his people, the other, a philosophical conception of absolute being which is foreign both to the meaning of the Hebrew verb and to the force of the tense employed.

Modern scholars have sometimes found in the name the expression of the aseity^[44] of God; sometimes of his reality in contrast to the imaginary gods of the heathen. Aseity is a theological term referring to the characteristic of being un-derived (from Latin a "from" and se "self" plus -ity

Another explanation, which appears first in Jewish authors of the Middle Ages and has found wide acceptance in recent times, derives the name from the causative of the verb: "He (who) causes things to be, gives them being; or calls events into existence, brings them to pass", with many individual modifications of interpretation "creator", "life giver", "fulfiller of promises". A serious objection to this theory in every form is that the verb hayah, "to be" has no causative stem in Hebrew; to express the ideas which these scholars find in the name Yahweh the language employs altogether different verbs.

Another tradition regards the name as coming from three verb forms sharing the same root YWH, the words HYH haya היה: "He was"; HWH howê הוה: "He is"; and YHYH yihiyê יהיה: "He will be". The root is the primary lexical unit of a Word, which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents This is supposed to show that God is timeless, as some have translated the name as "The Eternal One". While in the popular mind eternity often simply means existing for a limitless amount of Time, many have used it to refer to a timeless existence altogether outside of Other interpretations include the name as meaning "I am the One Who Is. " This can be seen in the traditional Jewish account of the "burning bush" commanding Moses to tell the sons of Israel that "I AM (אהיה) has sent you. Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ " (Exodus 3:13-14) Some suggest: "I AM the One I AM" אהיה אשר אהיה, or "I AM whatever I need to become". Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. This may also fit the interpretation as "He Causes to Become. " Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning may be "He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists" or "He who causes to exist". Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, which is based on the King James Version, says that the term "Jehovah" means "The Existing One. "

Spinoza, in his Theologico-Political Treatise (Chap. Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza (ברוך שפינוזה Bento de Espinosa Benedictus de Spinoza ( November 24, 1632 – February 21, 2) asserts the derivation of "Jahweh" from "Being". He writes that "Moses conceived the Deity as a Being Who has always existed, does exist, and always will exist, and for this cause he calls Him by the name Jehovah, which in Hebrew signifies these three phases of existence. " Following Spinoza, Constantin Brunner translates the Shema (Deut. Constantin Brunner ( 27 August 1862 –1937 was the Pen-name Shema Yisrael (or Sh'ma Yisroel or just Shema) ( Hebrew: שמע ישראל "Hear Israel" are the first two words of a section of 2-4) as, "Hear, O Israel, Being is our God, Being is One. "

This assumption that Yahweh is derived from the verb "to be", as seems to be implied in Exod. iii. 14 seq. , is not, however, free from difficulty. "To be" in the Hebrew of the Old Testament is not hawah, as the derivation would require, but hayah; and we are thus driven to the further assumption that hawah belongs to an earlier stage of the language, or to some older speech of the forefathers of the Israelites.

This hypothesis is not intrinsically improbable (and in Aramaic, a language closely related to Hebrew, "to be" is hawa); in adopting it we admit that, using the name Hebrew in the historical sense, Yahweh is not a Hebrew name. And, inasmuch as nowhere in the Old Testament, outside of Exod. iii. , is there the slightest indication that the Israelites connected the name of their God with the idea of "being" in any sense, it may fairly be questioned whether, if the author of Exod. 14 seq. , intended to give an etymological interpretation of the name Yahweh,^[45] his etymology is any better than many other paronomastic explanations of proper names in the Old Testament, or than, say, the connection of the name Aπολλων (Apollo) with απολουων, απολυων in Plato's Cratylus, or popular derivations from απολλυμι = "I lose (transitive)" or "I destroy". Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece Cratylus ( ancient Greek:, Kratylos) was an ancient Athenian Philosopher from late 5th century BC mostly known through his portrayal

"I am"

Mishearings and misunderstandings of this explanation has led to a popular idea that "Yahweh" means "I am", resulting in God, and by colloquial extension sometimes anything which is very dominant in its area [9], being called "the great I AM". Another possibility according to the Complete Jewish Bible by author David H. Stern, proposes that the Tetragrammaton be pronounced letter for letter in Hebrew and that the name of God should be rendered by spelling out the four letters, "Yud He Vav He", the meaning assumed to be "I am that I am" or "I am Who I am", as revealed to Moses in the Torah (Exodus 3:14).

From a verb meaning "destroy" or similar?

A root hawah is represented in Hebrew by the nouns howah (Ezek. , Isa. xlvii. II) and hawwah (Ps. , Prov. , Job) "disaster, calamity, ruin. "^[46] The primary meaning is probably "sink down, fall", in which sense (common in Arabic) the verb appears in Job xxxvii. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Jobe (/'dʒoʊb/; Arabic: أَيُّوبٌ,) is a character in the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible, as well as a prophet 6 (of snow falling to earth).

A Catholic commentator of the 16th century, Hieronymus ab Oleastro, seems to have been the first to connect the name "Jehova" with "howah" interpreting it as "contritio sive pernicies" (destruction of the Egyptians and Canaanites). Hieronymus comes from the Ancient Greek and means "sacred name Daumer, adopting the same etymology, took it in a more general sense: Yahweh, as well as Shaddai, meant "Destroyer", and fitly expressed the nature of the terrible god who he identified with Moloch. Shaddai was a late Bronze age Amorite city on the banks of the Euphrates river in northern Syria, as well as the name or a signifying Epithet Moloch, Molech, Molekh, or Molek, representing Hebrew מלך mlk, (translated directly into king is either the name of a

The derivation of Yahweh from hawah is formally unimpeachable, and is adopted by many recent^[47] scholars, who proceed, however, from the primary sense of the root rather than from the specific meaning of the nouns. The name is accordingly interpreted, He (who) falls (baetyl, βαιτυλος, meteorite); or causes (rain or lightning) to fall (storm god); or casts down (his foes, by his thunderbolts). Baetylus or Bethel is a Semitic word denoting a sacred stone which was supposedly endowed with life It is obvious that if the derivation be correct, the significance of the name, which in itself denotes only "He falls" or "He fells", must be learned, if at all, from early Israelitish conceptions of the nature of Yahweh rather than from etymology.

Cultus

A more fundamental question is whether the name Yahweh originated among the Israelites or was adopted by them from some other people and speech. ^[48]

The biblical author of the history of the sacred institutions (P) expressly declares that the name Yahweh was unknown to the patriarchs (Exod. vi. 3), and the much older Israelite historian (E) records the first revelation of the name to Moses (Exod. Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ iii. 13-15), apparently following a tradition according to which the Israelites had not been worshippers of Yahweh before the time of Moses, or, as he conceived it, had not worshipped the god of their fathers under that name.

The revelation of the name to Moses was made at a mountain sacred to Yahweh, (the mountain of God) far to the south of Canaan, in a region where the forefathers of the Israelites had never roamed, and in the territory of other tribes. Long after the settlement in Canaan this region continued to be regarded as the abode of Yahweh (Judg. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. v. 4; Deut. xxxiii. 2 sqq. ; I Kings xix. 8 sqq. &c).

Moses is closely connected with the tribes in the vicinity of the holy mountain. According to one account, he married a daughter of the priest of Midian (Exod. ii. 16 sqq. ; iii. 1). It is to this mountain he led the Israelites after their deliverance from Egypt. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. There his father-in-law met him, and extolling Yahweh as greater than all the gods, offered sacrifices, at which the chief men of the Israelites were his guests. In the holy mountain the religion of Yahweh was revealed through Moses, and the Israelites pledged themselves to serve God according to its prescriptions.

It appears, therefore, that in the tradition followed by the Israelite historians, the tribes within whose pasture lands the mountain of God stood were worshipers of Yahweh before the time of Moses. See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel. See also History An historian is an individual who studies and writes about History, and is regarded as an Authority on it The surmise that the name Yahweh belongs to their speech, rather than to that of Israel, is a significant possibility.

One of these tribes was Midian, in whose land the mountain of God lay. The Kenites also, with whom another tradition connects Moses, seem to have been worshipers of Yahweh.

It is probable that Yahweh was at one time worshiped by various tribes south of Palestine, and that several places in that wide territory (Horeb, Sinai, Kadesh, &c. The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء This article is about Kadesh in Syria see also Kadesh (South of Israel or Kedesh Kadesh (also Qadesh) was an ancient city of ) were sacred to him. The oldest and most famous of these, the mountain of God, seems to have lain in Arabia, east of the Red Sea. The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية šibh al-jazīra al-ʻarabīya or جزيرة العرب jazīrat al-ʻarab) The Red Sea is a Salt water Inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. From some of these peoples and at one of these holy places, a group of Israelite tribes adopted the religion of Yahweh, the God who, by the hand of Moses, had delivered them from Egypt. ^[49]

The tribes of this region probably belonged to some branch of the Arabian desert Semitic stock, and accordingly, the name Yahweh has been connected with the Arabic hawa, the void (between heaven and earth), "the atmosphere, or with the verb hawa, cognate with Heb; Hawah, "sink, glide down (through space)"; and hawwa "blow (wind)". "He rides through the air, He blows" (Wellhausen), would be a fit name for a god of wind and storm. There is, however, no certain evidence that the Israelites in historical times had any consciousness of the primitive significance of the name.

However, the 'h' in the root h-w-h, h-y-h = "be, become" and in "Yahweh" is the ordinary 'h' (He (letter)), and the 'h' in the roots ħ-y-w = "live" and ħ-w-glottalstop = "air, blow (of wind)" is the Semitic laryngeal 'h' (Heth (letter)) which is usually transcribed as 'h' with a dot under. He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac ܗ and Arabic This article is about the sound in spoken language For the letter see Glottal stop (letter. or H̱et (also spelled Khet, Kheth, Chet, Cheth, Het, or Heth) is the reconstructed name of the eighth letter

Yahu

According to one theory, Yahweh, or Yahu, Yaho,^[50] is the name of a god worshipped throughout the whole, or a great part, of the area occupied by the Western Semites. ' Yehu redirects here for the instrument see Yehu (instrument.

In its earlier form this opinion rested chiefly on certain misinterpreted testimonies in Greek authors about a god 'Iαω and was conclusively refuted by Baudissin; recent adherents of the theory build more largely on the occurrence in various parts of this territory of proper names of persons and places which they explain as compounds of Yahu or Yah. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly ^[51]

The explanation is in most cases simply an assumption of the point at issue; some of the names have been misread; others are undoubtedly the names of Jews.

There remain, however, some cases in which it is highly probable that names of non-Israelites are really compounded with Yahweh. The most conspicuous of these is the king of Hamath who in the inscriptions of Sargon (722-705 B. C. ) is called Yaubi'di and Ilubi'di (compare Jehoiakim-Eliakim). Azriyau of Jaudi, also, in inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III (745-728 B. Tiglath-Pileser III (from the Hebraic form of Akkadian: Tukultī-apil-Ešarra, "my trust is in the son of Esharra" was a prominent king C. ), who was formerly supposed to be Uzziah of Judah, is probably a king of the country in northern Syria known to us from the Zenjirli inscriptions as Ja'di. Uzziah of Judah (עֻזִּיָּהוּ also known as Azariah, was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and one of Amaziah 's sons whom the people Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية

Mesopotamian influence

Friedrich Delitzsch brought into notice three tablets, of the age of the first dynasty of Babylon, in which he read the names of Ya- a'-ve-ilu, Ya-ve-ilu, and Ya-u-um-ilu ("Yahweh is God"), and which he regarded as conclusive proof that Yahweh was known in Babylonia before 2000 B. C. ; he was a god of the Semitic invaders in the second wave of migration, who were, according to Winckler and Delitzsch, of North Semitic stock (Canaanites, in the linguistic sense). In Linguistics and Ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical " Shem " Hebrew שם translated as "name" Arabic: ساميّ The Canaanite languages or Hebraic languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region ^[52]

We should thus have in the tablets evidence of the worship of Yahweh among the Western Semites at a time long before the rise of Israel. The reading of the names is, however, extremely uncertain, not to say improbable, and the far-reaching inferences drawn from them carry no conviction. ^[53]

In a tablet attributed to the 14th century B. C. which Sellin found in the course of his excavations at Tell Ta'annuk (the city Taanach of the O. T. ) a name occurs which may be read Ahi-Yawi (equivalent to Hebrew Ahijah);^[54] if the reading be correct, this would show that Yahweh was worshipped in Central Palestine before the Israelite conquest. Genesis 14:17 describes a meeting between Melchizedek the king/priest of Salem and Abaraham. Both these pre-conquest figures are described as worshipping the same Most High God later identified as Yahweh.

The reading is, however, only one of several possibilities. The fact that the full form Yahweh appears, whereas in Hebrew proper names only the shorter Yahu and Yah occur, weighs somewhat against the interpretation, as it does against Delitzsch's reading of his tablets.

It would not be at all surprising if, in the great movements of populations and shifting of ascendancy which lie beyond our historical horizon, the worship of Yahweh should have been established in regions remote from those which it occupied in historical times; but nothing which we now know warrants the opinion that his worship was ever general among the Western Semites.

Many attempts have been made to trace the West Semitic Yahu back to Babylonia. The West Semitic languages are a proposed major sub-grouping of Semitic languages. Thus Delitzsch formerly derived the name from an Akkadian god, I or Ia; or from the Semitic nominative ending, Yau;^[55] but this deity has since disappeared from the pantheon of Assyriologists. Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology Yamm, from the Canaanite word Yam, meaning "Sea" is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea Assyriology (from Greek grc Ἀσσυρίᾱ Assyriā; and grc -λογία -logia) is the archaeological historical and linguistic study Bottero speculates that the West Semitic Yah/Ia, in fact is a version of the Babylonian God Ea (Enki), a view given support by the earliest finding of this name at Ebla during the reign of Ebrum, at which time the city was under Mesopotamian hegemony of Sargon of Akkad. Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology Ebla ( Arabic: عبيل، إيبلا modern Tell Mardikh, Syria) was an ancient city about 55 km southwest of Aleppo. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding You may be looking for the Assyrian kings Sargon I

Social theory

Vadim Cherny notes several ancient transcriptions of Tetragrammaton as Iao, among other arguments, to suggest that Tetragrammaton could not possibly be a meaningful Hebrew word. Cherny treats Tetragrammaton as initialism from Hebrew agglutinative suffixes for "I, you, he" and suggests that YHWH means "Hebrew community. " ^[56]

Scholars in the 19th century discussed over what sphere of nature Yahweh originally presided. Some recognized in him a storm god, a theory with which the derivation of the name from Hebrew hawah or Arabic hawa well accords (see also the Book of Job chapters 37-38). Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Book of Job ( איוב) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. The association of Yahweh with storm and fire is frequent in the Old Testament. The thunder is the voice of Yahweh, the lightning his arrows, and the rainbow his bow. The revelation at Sinai is amid the awe-inspiring phenomena of tempest. The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء A storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface and strongly implying Severe weather. Yahweh leads Israel through the desert in a pillar of cloud and fire. He kindles Elijah's altar by lightning, and translates the prophet in a chariot of fire. Elijah or Elias ( was a Prophet in Israel in the 9th century BC In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary See also Judg. v. 4 seq. . In this way, he seems to have usurped the attributes of the Canaanite god Baal Hadad. Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" Haddad בעל הדד (in Ugaritic Haddu) was a very important northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name and origin with the In Ugarit, the struggle between Baal and Yam, suggests that Baal's brother Ya'a was a water divinity - the god of Rivers (Nahar) and of the Sea (Yam). Ugarit ( Ugaritic: ʼugrt; Hebrew:; Arabic:) (modern Ras Shamra رأس شمرة ("top/head/cape of the wild Fennel Yamm, from the Canaanite word Yam, meaning "Sea" is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea

In Old Testament portrayals of Yahweh during the time of ancient Israel, he often acts as the ‘Divine Warrior’. He has supreme power over the world and has named the Israelites as his people, so protects them from their enemies. In the Song of Deborah, an old poem found in Judges 5, there is a story of Yahweh’s power triumphing over the formidable armies of the kings of Canaan. A similar theme is seen in 1 Sam. 2:4-8, where professional forces are destroyed by Yahweh. Because of this, Israel’s political identity centers on Yahweh; they are free from the rule of their enemies because of him. In return, their duty is to love him and serve him and him alone. Furthermore, they were also supposed to rely only on him. Yahweh’s power was their sole defense against the outside world. If they attempted to take up arms and fight for themselves, or express power in traditional ways by building walls or starting wars, they were in effect being unfaithful to Yahweh. As the Divine Warrior, Yahweh would ward them during times of hardship and they would be safe so long as they remained under his protection and stayed faithful. ^[57]

Many religions today do not use the name Jehovah as much as they did in the past. The original Hebrew name יהוה appeared almost 7,000 times in the Old Testament, but is often replaced in popular Bibles (such as the King James Bible or New American Standard Bible) with all caps or small caps "LORD God" (for YHWH Elohim, Jehovah God), "Lord GOD" (for Adonai YHWH, Lord Jehovah), "LORD of hosts" (for YHWH Sabaoth, Jehovah of hosts), or just "LORD" (for single instances of YHWH, Jehovah). The New American Standard Bible (NASB is an English Translation of the Bible. In Typography, all caps (short for all capitals or all capitalized; often written as ALL CAPS) refers to text or a font in which In Typography, small capitals (usually abbreviated small caps) are Uppercase ( capital) characters set at the same height as surrounding The Christian denomination that most commonly uses the name "Jehovah" is that of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationist, millenialist Christian denomination They believe that God's personal name should not be over-shadowed by the above titles and often refer to Psalms 83:18 as a common place in most translations to find the name Jehovah still used in place of "LORD" and find justification for its use in Joel 2:32.

Other Uses

"Yahweh" is a song on U2's eleventh studio album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. " Yahweh " is the eleventh and final track (excluding " Fast Cars " not found on all versions of the album from U2 's eleventh studio album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb is the eleventh studio album by Irish rock band U2, released in November 2004 It became a live staple on the Vertigo Tour, and was usually played acoustically during one of the encores. 'Yahweh' is about Bono's devotion to Christianity (as the son of a Catholic father and an Anglican mother) and refers to the differences in power between God and mankind. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity.

See also

• Adon
• Ea
• El (god)
• Ellil
• Elohim
• Jehovah
• I am that I am
• -ihah
• INRI
• Jah
• JHWH
• List of Septuagint versions that have the Tetragrammaton
• List of Hebrew versions of the New Testament that have the Tetragrammaton
• Names of God in Judaism
• Tetragrammaton in the New Testament
• Theophoric names
• Yam (god) (Ya'a, Yaw)
• YHWH
• "Tetragrammaton" in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. Enki ( Sumerian: dENKI(G 𒂗𒆠 was a Deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology Eli (Hebrew אל is the Northwest Semitic word and name either translated into English as "god" or "God" or left untranslated as Eli, depending Enlil ( EN = Lord + LIL = Loft "Lord of the Open" or "Lord of the Wind" was the name of a chief deity listed and written about in ancient Sumerian Elohim ( אֱלוֹהִים, אלהים) is a Hebrew word which expresses concepts of Divinity. Yahweh|God in Abrahamic religions Jehovah is an English reading of, the most frequent form of the Tetragrammaton, the name of God in the Hebrew Bible, in I am that I am ( Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה pronounced Ehyeh asher ehyeh) is a common English translation ( King James Bible and others of the INRI is an Acronym of the Latin phrase IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM (Jesus Nazarenus rex Judæorum which translates to English Jah (ˈdʒɑː is the shortened name for God YHWH, most commonly used in the Rastafari movement. For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links List of LXX versions that have Tetragrammaton 4Q LXX Levb Ambrosiano O 39 sup List of Hebrew versions of the New Testament that have the Tetragrammaton. In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title Archaeologists have discovered papyrus fragments of works which were later included in the canon of the New Testament dating as far back as the middle of the second century See technical note on viewing special characters A theophoric name (Greek "bearing a deity" embeds the name of a god both invoking Yamm, from the Canaanite word Yam, meaning "Sea" is one name of the Ugaritic god of Rivers and Sea See also Yahweh Tetragrammaton (from the Greek, meaning ' of four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica
• "Jehovah_(Yahweh)" in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica

References

This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain. The Jewish Encyclopedia was an Encyclopedia originally published between 1901 and 1906 by Funk and Wagnalls. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

External links

• Bibliography on the Tetragrammaton in the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Encyclopedia Mythica. 2004. Arbel, Ilil. "Yahweh. "
• Metatron as the Tetragrammaton
• Easton's Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.) 1887. "Jehovah. "
• HaVaYaH the Tetragrammaton in the Jewish Knowledge Base on Chabad.org
• Jewish Encyclopedia count of number of times the Tetragrammaton is used
• PaleoTimes - Sacred Names
• YHWH/YHVH -- Tetragrammaton
• The Sacred Name Yahweh, a publication by Qadesh La Yahweh Press
• The Sacred Name: Yahveh or Yahweh? a Yahweh's Restoration Ministry publication
• Why We Must Know God's Name a Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Jehovah's Witnesses publication

Chabadorg is the flagship Website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, a Not-for-profit organization headquartered in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationist, millenialist Christian denomination

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