The Tetragrammaton

The Creator’s/God’s name appears almost 7,000 times in the original Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). It appears 8 times, just in the 10 Commandments.

One of the most fundamental and essential features of the biblical revelation is the fact that God is not without a name:  he has a personal name, by which he can, and is to be, invoked.”  (The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology.  Vol. 2. p. 649)

According to Biblical Scripture, the Creator’s/God’s name was used by Adam and Eve, and they knew how to pronounce it.



I have produced a man with the aid of 

 Genesis 4:1






By the time Moses was born, the scriptures imply that no one remembered the Creator’s/God’s Name.  In the original Hebrew Scriptures, the Creator’s/God’s name was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, as being  .   

 (Exodus 3:14).   These 4 letters make up what is called the Tetragrammaton. 

Christians later changed the Tetragrammaton to 

(YHWH) 

And God proceeded to speak all these words, saying:“I am 

 

your God, who have brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. You must not have any other gods against my face.  Exodus 20:1-3

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM that I AM".  And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, YHWH has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I Am, the 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 for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. When Moses first spoke with God, God said, 'I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai  (El: One of God’s earliest names; Syrian tablets with this name have been traced back to 2300 BC; “I AM”), but I did not make myself known to them by My Name YHWH.  Exodus 3:13-15, 6:3.

The Torah conveyed the proper name of the Creator/God distinctly as YHWH to the Israelites; however, in ancient Judaism, the Tetragrammaton, was considered to be so sacred that it was not permitted to be pronounced aloud, even in prayer, without first receiving special permission. Whenever they saw YHWH in the Torah, they replaced it with the descriptive title:  "Sovereign Lord” or “The Lord" (Adonai or Adho-nai). In more recent history, this belief system has been challenged, and the prohibition of guarding the use of the Creator’s/God’s name has become much more relaxed.

Most modern day translations render the Tetragrammaton  as either YHWH or JHVH.   

The truth is, no one knows for sure how the Creator’s/God’s name is/was originally pronounced.  Although much confusion remains as to the correct English pronunciation, most modern day Bible translators render the pronunciation of  the Creator’s/God’s name as "Yahweh” or “Jehovah.” 

The Church of Yahweh renders the following paraphrased hypothesis:

Originally, Hebrew did not have vowels. Eventually the Hebrews felt it was wise to insert little dots (called vowel points) around the letters to remind the reader of the exact pronunciation. When they came to YHWH in the text, they added the vowel points for Adonai ("Lord") to remind the reader that the Divine Name was not to be pronounced. In the Middle Ages, around 1500, translators misunderstood that the vowel points were for "Adonai", not "Yahweh".  Thus, they combined the letters of YHWH with the vowels of Adonai. The result was "Jehovah" … the etymological fact is that "Jehovah" is a mistranslation based upon a historical misunderstanding.  In our modern Bibles, then, whenever YHWH is found, we usually "translate" it as LORD or Jehovah. Both are wrong, though Jehovah is certainly preferable to LORD.

Jehovah’s Witnesses support this hypothesis. 

When it came to God’s name, instead of putting the proper vowel signs around it, in most cases they put other vowel sounds to remind the reader that he should say ‘Adho-nai’.  From this came the spelling Iehouah, and, eventually, Jehovah became the accepted pronunciation of the divine name in English.  (The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.  The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever. 1984. p. 8)

Does it really matter whether we pronounce the Creator’s/God’s name as Yahweh or Jehovah?  Not at all; if it, the pronunciation, really mattered, the Creator/God certainly would have seen to it that it was preserved by at least one prophet!  The important thing is to know that the Bible does indeed, tell us that the Creator/God has a personal name and we should not only be aware of it, but also use it and share it with others.

Those knowing your name will trust in you … Psalm 9:10

Let your name be sanctified.  Matthew 6:9

I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them.  John 17:26

So it is, sealed in trust, faith and truth, in the Sacred Divine Light of Jesus.   Amen

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