God’s Sacred Name YHWH

The Sacred Name of God

When dealing with the subject of God, it helps to clear up confusion to remember that God exists simultaneously in two realms. God exists in the uncreated realm and the created realm at the same time.

The Sacred Name of God deals with the Created Realm.

Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, “What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”‘ 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ NKJV

This is the common translation of these verses as rendered in the New King James Version. Here is a more accurate translation of this same verse without changing God’s name from the orginal Hebrew but using the English alphabet spelling.

“And Moses said to Elohim: behold when I come to the children of Israel and say to them: the Elohim (Almighty One) of your fathers has sent me to you; and they say to me; ‘What is His Name?’ What shall I say to them? And Elohim said to Moses: EHYEH ASHER EHYEH! (I shall be what I shall be!). And he said: say thus to the children of Israel: EHYEH (I shall be) has sent me to you. And Elohim again said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: YHWH, the Elohim of you fathers, “Elohey Abraham”, “Elohey Yishaq” we “Elohey Yaaqob” has sent me to you. This is my Name forever, and this is My Mention to all generations!”

EHYEH is the first person singular, simple future tense of the Hebrew verb HAYAH, to be. You may recognize this word as being commonly translated as ‘was’ in Gen 1:2.

Another way to translate this is ‘I am becoming what I am becoming’

Strong’s Concordance #1261 – hayah. A prime root to exist, be, become or come to pass.

Another tranlation would be: I bring to pass what I bring to pass.

These are all more meaningful that simply I Am What I Am.

Another common misconception involves YHWH. God said this is my name forever.

It is quite interesting how most of the English Bibles have come to tranlate YHWH as LORD.

After the Exile ( 6th century BC), especially from the 3rd. century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two very different reasons. As Judaisme began to become a universal religion through its proselytizing in the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun elohim (q.v.) meaning ‘god’ tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel’s God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Anonai (My Lord), which was translated as Kyrios (Lord) in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.

Have you ever wondered why some Jewish sects consider it blasphemy to use any name for God except YHWH?

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We are specifically commanded by Scripture to use the true Name of the Creator (see Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:21, Psalms 105:1, First Chronicles 23:12 for only a very few examples.)! According to Joel 3:5 (Hebrew Text) deliverance is to be had ONLY by calling upon this name! Some claim that it is a desecration of the Name to have it used so familiarly. No! It is a desecration to substitute a lesser title (as ADONAY, My Supreme Lord, applied to YHWH 134 times in the Hebrew text, but never to be substituted for YHWH) for the Creator’s Name. We would not have been commanded by YHWH Himself to bless and swear by His name if this implied desecration of disrespect. Therefore, walking in the light of this truth, we must realize that there is NO room for the use or mention of any of the names of pagan gods in conjunction with the Name YHWH. Calling upon Jesus – alias YAHSHUA, YESHUA, YAHVAHSHUA, – the master, the “messiah”, the unknown god, the trinity, the “son” of god, god the son, etc. is idolatry and incompatible with calling upon YHWH. It is NOT enough to pronounce, those who have taken to themselves ANOTHER (beside YHWH). I shall NOT offer their blood-drink offerings (the lord’s supper) nor mention their name with my lips!” Psalms 16:4. “And make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard out of your mouth!” Exodus 23:13. “The gods that have NOT made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” Jeremiah 10:11.

Another common misconception is that it has been lost forever how to pronounce YHWH.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica comments: “Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used the form Yahweh, thus this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never really lost. Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh,” 15th Edition, Vol. X, p. 786.

Here is what the noted Encyclopaedia Judaica says about this issue: “The true pronunciation of the name YHWH was never lost. Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced ‘Yahweh.’ This is confirmed, at least for the vowels of the first syllable of the name, by the shorter form Yah, which is sometimes used in poetry (e.g., Ex. 15:2) and the yahu or yah that serves as the final syllable in very many Hebrew names,” Vol. 7, p. 680.

Mark and Rogers’ A Beginners Handbook To Biblical Hebrew on page 7 reads: Originally Hebrew had no written vowels; the following consonants, however, were often used to indicate long vowels: a, h, w, y.

The yothe = y, he = h, and waw = w, which are used in Yahweh’s Name are understood as being consonants which can be merged into vowels. Vowel sounds are spoken with the mouth open.

Fagnani and Davidson’s Hebrew Primer and Grammar states on page 10: The four letters a, h, w, y may lose their consonantal force and be merged into vowels.

According to a first century historian the pronunciation consisted of four vowel sounds. Pronounced ‘E’ as in He, ‘A’ as in Father, ‘U’ like the ‘u’ in true and and the final ‘A’ vowel sound, because it comes at the end of the word is a long ‘A’, as in faith. This becomes easy to remember in our English language, with these few words: ‘He, Father, True, Faith’.

There are three Hebrew Alphabeth that have a permanently long sound in their pronunciation. Is it coincident that these three letters happen to be the Yôdh the Hë and the Wãw ? Also we know that the emphasis in Hebrew is most of the time on the last syllable, this would make the Name phonetically sound like:

E Yah ew Wáy. e a u a Long e, short a, long u, and long a.

(E like in in the letter ‘e’ but shorter and immediately joint to the next yah sounds like: yarn , ew like in: new, but less pronounced, more the phonetic ‘w’ sound immediately joined to , way just like: in hey)

Notes:

EL.
1) god, god-like one, mighty one
1a) mighty men, men of rank, mighty heroes
1b) angels
1c) god, false god, (demons, imaginations)
1d) God, the one true God, Jehovah

ELOWAH
1) God
2) false god

ELOHIM (plural of Elowah.)
1a) rulers, judges
1b) divine ones
1c) angels
1d) gods
2) (plural intensive – singular meaning)
2a) god, goddess (See I Kings 11:5).
2b) godlike one
2c) works or special possessions of God
2d) the (true) God

YHWH is very specific about His Name. He commands that His people call on Him by the only Name that ensures salvation. The New Testament Book of Acts tells us, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” Acts 4:12.

This is the same thing as the various descriptive titles for YHWH that some erroneously think are names, like eloah (“mighty one”), el shaddai (“the all-powerful”) and adon/adonai (“sovereign”). Others are confused by attributions that are sometimes used in connection with His Name, like Yahweh-Yireh (“Yahweh provides”), Yahweh-Zidkenu (“Yahweh our righteousness”) and Yahweh-Rapha (“Yahweh our healer”).

Regardless of certain titles and attributions, He still has only one Name Yahweh. He inspired the prophet Isaiah in 42:8 to write, “I am YAHWEH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” Psalm 83:18 confirms that He has but one Name: “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is YAHWEH, art the most high over all the earth.” Nowhere in the pages of the Bible can we find a statement saying He has many names. But we can find many passages attesting to His one true Name.

Yahyl (Joel) 2:31-32

‘The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of Yahweh comes. And whoever will CALL WITH THE NAME OF YAHWEH will be delivered; for in Mount Zion in Yerusalem there will be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, among the remnant who has escaped of those whom Yahweh calls.

I Timothy 6:16

‘Who alone has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man has seen, nor can see; to Whom belongs honor and power everlasting. HalleluYahweh! Praise Yahweh!’

In today’s modern translations, ALL the place names and the personal names, which originally bore the glory of Yahweh’s Name, have been changed; every trace of Yahweh’s Name is hidden. The result of this is: a student can read the majority of the later English translations of the Scriptures, and the NAME of the ONLY ONE Who inspired those Scriptures to be written, is not even hinted at!

According to the inspired prophecies, the Messiah’s Name was to MEAN: Yahweh is Salvation; which is exactly what the Name Yahushua means!

Joshua means “YHWH is Salvation” (Strong’s). The Savior was named Yahushua because that is what the angel said it was supposed to mean. Yahushua literally means YHWH is salvation: “He (YHWH) shall save His (YHWH’s) people from their sins.” Psalm 100 and Strong’s concordance or your dictionary will confirm this fact.

Christ was YHWH in the flesh.

What about Jehovah? According to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, 1991 under the heading “Yahweh”, here is how this name came into being:

“The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew word Adonai or Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being.”

Other verses in Scripture with LORD (YHWH) and name: Ge 4:26, Ge 12:8, Ge 13:4, Ge 21:33, Ge 22:14, Ge 26:25, Ex 3:15, Ex 15:3, Ex 17:15, Ex 20:7, Ex 33:19, Ex 34:5, Ex 34:14, Le 18:21, Le 19:12, Le 22:2, Le 22:32, Le 24:11, Le 24:16, De 5:11, De 6:13, De 10:8, De 10:20, De 12:11, De 14:23, De 14:24, De 16:2, De 16:6, De 16:11, De18:5, De 18:7, De 18:22, De 21:5, De 26:2, De 28:58, De 32:3, Jos 9:9, 1Sa 12:22, 1Sa 17:45, 1Sa 20:42, 2Sa 6:2, 2Sa 6:18, 2Sa 7:26, 2Sa 22:50, 1Ki 3:2, 1Ki 5:3, 1Ki 5:5, 1Ki 8:17, 1Ki 8:18, 1Ki 8:20, 1Ki 8:44, 1Ki 9:3, 1Ki 10:1, 1Ki 14:21, 1Ki 18:24, 1Ki 18:32,1Ki 22:16, 2Ki 2:24, 2Ki 5:11, 2Ki 14:27, 2Ki 21:4, 2Ki 21:7, 2Ki 23:27, 1Ch 13:6, 1Ch 16:2, 1Ch 16:8, 1Ch 13:6, 1Ch 16:2, 1Ch 16:8, 1Ch 16:10, 1Ch 16:29, 1Ch 17:24, 1Ch 21:19, 1Ch 22:7, 1Ch 22:8, 1Ch 22:19, 1Ch 23:13, 1Ch 29:16, 2Ch 2:1, 2Ch 2:4, 2Ch 6:7, 2Ch 6:8, 2Ch 6:10, 2Ch 12:13, 2Ch 14:11, 2Ch 18:15, 2Ch 33:4, 2Ch 33:18, Ne 9:5, Job 1:21, Ps 7:17, Ps 8:1, Ps 8:9, Ps 9:10, Ps 18:49, Ps 20:1, Ps 20:5, Ps 20:7, Ps 25:11, Ps 29:2, Ps 34:3, Ps 54:6, Ps 74:18, Ps 83:16, Ps 86:11, Ps 92:1, Ps 96:2, Ps 96:8, Ps 99:6, Ps 102:15, Ps 102:21, Ps 103:1, Ps 105:1, Ps 105:3, Ps 106:47, Ps 113:1, Ps 113:2, Ps 113:3, Ps 115:1, Ps 116:4, Ps 116:13, Ps 116:17, Ps 118:10, Ps 118:11, Ps 118:12, Ps 118:26, Ps 119:55, Ps 122:4, Ps 124:8, Ps 129:8, Ps 135:1, Ps 135:3, Ps 135:13, Ps 143:11, Ps 145:21, Ps 148:5, Ps 148:13, Pr 18:10, Pr 30:9, Isa 12:4, Isa 14:22, Isa 18:7, Isa 24:15, Isa 25:1, Isa 26:8, Isa 26:13, Isa 30:27, Isa 42:8, Isa 47:4, Isa 48:1, Isa 48:2, Isa 50:10, Isa 51:15, Isa 52:5, Isa 54:5, Isa 56:6, Isa 59:19, Isa 60:9, Isa 63:16, Jer 3:17, Jer 7:11, Jer 7:30, Jer 10:6, Jer 10:16, Jer 11:21, Jer 12:16, Jer 13:11, Jer 14:7, Jer 14:9, Jer 14:14, Jer 14:15, Jer 15:16, Jer 16:21, Jer 23:6,Jer 25:29, Jer 26:9, Jer 26:16, Jer 26:20, Jer 27:15, Jer 29:9, Jer 29:21, Jer 29:23, Jer 29:25, Jer 31:35, Jer 32:18, Jer 33:2, Jer 44:16, Jer 44:26, Jer 46:18, Jer 48:15, Jer 50:34, Jer 51:19, Jer 51:57, La 3:55, Eze 20:44, Eze 36:20, Eze 36:23, Eze 39:7, Eze 48:35, Joe 2:26, Joe 2:32, Am 4:13, Am 5:8, Am 5:27, Am 6:10, Am 9:6, Am 9:12, Mic 4:5, Mic 5:4, Mic 6:9, Zep 3:9, Zep 3:12, Zec 5:4, Zec 10:12, Zec 13:3, Zec 13:9, Zec 14:9, Mal 1:6, Mal 1:11, Mal 1:14, Mal 2:2, Mal 3:16