What about the equinox?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

I came across an article off a website explaining that we are to use the lunar conjunction and equinox to begin the month and year, respectively…what are your thoughts?

The site begins by making the case that the visible crescent is absent from Scripture. They need to look deeper and discover that Exodus and Deuteronomy clearly reveal the
crescent: “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Ex. 12:2, KJV).

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto Yahweh thy Elohim: for in the month of Abib Yahweh thy Elohim brought thee forth out of Egypt by night” (Deut. 16:1, KJV).

The word “month” in both of the above passages is derived from the Hebrew chodesh meaning, “the new moon; by implication, a month” (Strong’s Concordance). Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words offers this definition, “The word refers to the day on which the crescent reappears.”

The word chodesh is from the primitive root chadash, meaning, “to be new; causatively, to rebuild” (Strong’s). Clearly, the “black moon” or conjunction is neither new nor in the process of rebuilding. The only phase of the moon that fits this description is the first visible crescent.

Another key is in Deuteronomy 16:1. The word “observe” is from the Hebrew shamar. A key meaning of shamar is “to mark, look narrowly for” the new moon of Abib (Strong’s). How does one mark or look narrowly for a moon that is black and invisible? It would be impossible.

An argument some cite for a calculated new moon is that David knew in advance when the new moon would fall, 1Sam. 20:5. Anyone capable of counting to 30 could know the same thing. The lunar cycle is approximately 29.5 days. As a result, the new moon falls at either 29 days or 30 days from its last verification. If it were not seen at day 29 we can be assured it will be visible at day 30.

Historical evidence also confirms that Israel began the month with the first visible crescent: “The Hebrew or Jewish calendar had three stages of development: the preexilic, or Biblical; the postexilic, or Talmudic; and the post-Talmudic. The first rested on observation merely, the second on observation coupled with calculation, and the third on calculation only. In the first period the priests determined the beginning of each month by the appearance of the new moon” (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, “Calendar”).

Another source confirms, “The Israelites divided their year according to natural phenomena exclusively, combining the solar and lunar years. The months began with the new moon, but the first month was fixed (after the Exodus and by the necessities of the Passover) by the ripening of the earliest grain, namely, barley. The lunar month averaging 29 1/2 days, a year of twelve months of 30 and 29 days alternately resulted” (The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Calendar).

This reference also verifies that the Israelites marked the year by the ripening of the barley. “The month was a unit of time closely tied to the moon. The Hebrew word for “month” also meant “moon” (Deut 33:14, NIV, NASB). The reason for the connection between the month and the moon is that the beginning of a month was marked by a new moon. The moon was carefully observed by the people of Bible times. When it appeared as a thin crescent, it marked the beginning of a new month” (Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Calendar).

As for the vernal equinox starting the Biblical year, there is no Scriptural evidence to justify such a claim. Besides the fact that the equinox is absent from scripture, perhaps the best evidence is found in the name for the first month, i.e., Abib. Actually, “Abib” is less of a name and more of a description of the stage of ripening grain.

Strong’s Concordance offers this definition for Abib: “to be tender; green, i.e. a young ear of grain; hence, the name of the month Abib or Nisan.” By its very definition we find the first month firmly tied to agriculture, specifically grain or barley. Notice that the equinox is nowhere referenced. In addition to Strong’s, we find the following from the Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, “(1) fresh, young barley ears, barley (2) month of ear-forming, of greening of crop, of growing green Abib, the month of the Exodus and the Passover (March or April).”

Following is more confirmation from scholarly references: “The month Nisan [a later name]. Meaning ears of grain, namely, barley (Ex 13:4). …the Jews began harvest by gathering a sheaf of barley firstfruits” (Fausset’s Bible Dictionary, “Abib”).

“The month the Hebrews were divinely directed to make the first of the year as a memorial of their deliverance from Egypt (Ex 12:1-2; 13:4). The Passover and the feast of unleavened bread occurred in it, and it marked the beginning of the barley harvest” (The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, “Abib”).

“(‘Abhibh, young ear of barley or other grain, Ex 9:31; Lev 2:14): The first month of the Israelitish year, called Nisan in Neh 2:1;Est 3:7, is Abib in Ex 13:4; 23:15; 34:18; compare Deut 16:1. Abib is not properly a name of a month, but part of a descriptive phrase, “the month of young ears of grain.” This may indicate the Israelitish way of determining the new year (Ex 12:2), the year beginning with the new moon nearest or next preceding this stage of the growth of the barley” (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, “Abib”).

An interesting find in Israel called the “Gezer” calendar shows that the Israelites were an agrarian society that based it’s months from the vantage point of agriculture.

In the March April 2002 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review on page 45 we read “A Different Clock governed everyday life in ancient Israel. The society was agrarian- virtually everyone was a farmer- so people naturally regulated their daily lives by the rising and setting sun. Likewise the yearly calendar was defined by seasonal activities related to farming and herding. This small limestone tablet, found in 1908 at Gezer and called the Gezer Calendar, associates the months of the year with activities like sowing, pruning and harvesting, and gives us a glimpse into a way of life very different from ours- a life strongly tied to the earth and it’s natural rhythms.

Written in Paleo-Hebrew, the Gezer Calendar dates from the 10th century BC, the time of the construction of Solomon’s Temple. It contains the following text:

“Two months of harvest)
Two months of planting
Two months are late planting
One month of pulling flax
One month of barley harvest
One month of harvest and feasting
Two months of pruning vines
One month of summer fruit”

This calendar lays-out the fundamental importance of the agricultural cycle in King Solomon’s day, this can be seen in the temple festivals of Shavuot (“Feast of weeks”) or First Fruits in early Summer (the “month of summer” fruit in line 8), and the Feast of Ingathering (the harvest) in the Fall which culminates to the Feast of Tabernacles. The mention of feasting reflects the pilgrimages festivals which involved feasting.

For more in-depth research see: ABCs of the Biblical Calendar

Can women preach?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

In 1Corinthians 14:34-35, wasn’t this translated from the old language and means for the women not to be “chattering” in church rather than a prohibition on women ministers? This is what many churches teach today.

First Corinthians 14:35 holds the key: If women are to learn, they are to ask their husbands at home, not be formally taught the Word by a woman preacher. Paul specifically said in 1Timothy 2:12 that a woman is not to teach a man. The fact that all priests were men, and all the apostles and writers of the New Testament as well, lends support to what Paul instructed the young Timothy. In the qualifications for the office of minister in1Timothy 3:2, Paul said that an individual had to be the husband of one wife. This automatically disqualifies women.

Is Paul apostate?

Posted on October 18, 2016November 14, 2017 by YRM

I have heard a lot of teachings concerning Saul of Tarsus lately. They say he was an apostate because of his message. I am seeking Yahweh’s Truths and understand that the scribes have deliberately changed things as the Old Testament states. Can you please help me on this. The scriptures tell us to see things out but there are so many lies it makes it hard to decipher the truth.

Paul is apostate only to those who misunderstand or deliberately twist his teachings. By his own admission he was clearly pro-law (Rom. 3:31, 6:13, 7:12). He stated that he believed all things written in the Old Testament (Acts 24:14). In fact, Peter confirms Paul’s apostleship in 2Peter 3:15-16, “And account that the longsuffering of our Master is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” With the exception of 134 instances where Yahweh’s Name was replaced by Adonai, the Old Testament text has remained practically untouched since its inception. This can be proved by comparing the accuracy of the many texts available to scholarship today. The Scribes and Pharisees were less guilty of modifying the text and more guilty of adding their own rabbinical, man-made traditions (Matt. 15:3).

Did Yahshua the Messiah first appear as an infant in a manger, or was He a created Being in the Old Testament?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

Did Yahshua the Messiah first appear as an infant in a manger, or was He a created Being in the Old Testament?

We believe Yahshua was a created being according to Revelation 3:14, where He is called the “first of the creation of Yahweh.”Proverbs 8 is an entire chapter that speaks of Yahshua. In verse 22 we read, “Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of His way.” Possessed means made (from the Heb.Qanah, which Strong’s says means “create,” as in other passages where it is used, likeDeuteronomy 32:6. The Tanakh translates “possessed” in Proverbs 8:22 as “created.”)

Then in Proverbs 8:23 we read, “I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” “Set up” means brought into existence. The Tanakh reads, “In the distant past I was fashioned, at the beginning, at the origin of the earth.” From vv. 31 and 35 we can see that this chapter is speaking of Yahshua, which can only apply to the one who was made flesh and who offers salvation.

Micah 5:2 tells us that Yahshua’s beginnings are rooted in the ancient past. The Tanakh says, “whose origin [starting point or creation] is from of old, from ancient times.”

Yahshua was the Spokesman, agent, and representative for Yahweh in the Old Testament. In the Hebrew the word is Dabar and means much the same as the Greek Logos of John 1, meaning the “Word” as the active agent (Yahshua). Yahshua was the Word who came down from heaven (John 3:13), being sent here by His Father, John 3:16.

As the Dabar, He acted for the Father in the Old Testament, as Paul reminds us in 1Corinthians 10:4. His word had the same force and effect as if it were the Father’s. When an emissary of a king comes and says, “The king commands you,” we know that the emissary is not the king, but that he speaks with the very authority and power of the king. An ambassador of the U.S. at a foreign embassy speaks for the president in the same way. That is the essence of Dabar.

Yahshua was the acting agent for the Father. Yahweh seems too holy for direct contact with sinful man, which is why we need a go-between in the person of Yahshua, even as did ancient Israel. It is only after the earth is cleansed of all sin that the Father will bring His throne to earth, Rev. 21:2-3. Yahweh says He hates sin.

Yahshua had the same glory that the Father had (John 17:5, Heb. 1:1-3*) while in heaven. As for Isaiah 42:8, Yahweh was speaking about not giving glory to a strange g-d (Companion Bible note, as well as Isa. 44:6). He did not withhold glory from His very own Son. If He did, then Yahshua lied in John 17:5.

Moses was only permitted to look on His backside of the heavenly Being, because to look on the intensity of His full glory would have no doubt killed the patriarch (Ex. 33:20). Again, this had to be Yahshua because no man has seen the Father’s shape,John 5:37 (also John 1:18, 6:46, 1John 4:12 and 1Tim. 1:17) and Moses was permitted to His back (obviously not in full glory, which is the reason Moses was covered by the hand of Yahshua as He passed by, Ex. 33:22).

The term Elohim, when used in places like Exodus 24:9 does not necessarily signify the Father. Elohim is used in the Hebrew for either Yahweh, Yahshua (as in plural for both) and even for angels. This brings to mind Abraham’s contact with the three men (angels) in Genesis 18:1. It says, “And Yahweh appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre…and when he saw them [three angels] he [Abraham] ran out to meet them from the tent door … and said, My Yahweh, if I have found favor in thy sight…”

This is a perfect example of messengers as representatives of Yahweh being considered equal in significance to Yahweh, even being called “Yahweh!” Obviously they were not Yahweh, but were His agents and as such were known as Yahweh. This has great implications for the many passages where Yahshua in the Old Testament is called Yahweh, although is not actually Yahweh the Father.

Yahshua vs Yeshua?

Posted on October 18, 2016July 14, 2022 by YRM

Q. Why do you pronounce the savior’s name Yahshua instead of Yeshua?

A. According to the Messiah in John 5:37, He came in His Father’s name. Since biblical scholarship recognizes “Yah” as the short form of Yahweh’s name, the Messiah likely contained this name within His own. This would also explain why so many biblical scholars confirm that the Messiah’s name means, “Yahweh is salvation.” Consider the following:

“Jesus Messiah – Greek form of Joshua and of title meaning “Yahweh is Salvation” (Holman Bible Dictionary).
“JESUS: …meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia).

Also,both the Greek Diaglott and Exegesis Bible confirm the pronunciation “Yahshua:”

“Jesus, [a savior,] the Son of God, the Messiah, the savior of the world. This name is composed of Yah, or Jah, I shall be and Shua, powerful;-‘I shall be the powerful.” (Diaglott, appendix under Jesus, emphasis added, 1942).
“Yah Shua transliterated name {3091 yahshua} {3442, 3443, yashua} [2424 ieesous] Yah Saveth; the name of Mosheh’s successor, the name of the Messiah, and the name of other persons” (ExeGeses Bible, lexicon under Yahshua).

Yeshua is a Hebrew feminine term that simply means salvation and does not have a contraction of the tetragrammaton, the “heh” is absent after the yod: Reference: H3444 יְשׁוּעָה There is a similar masculine name Yayshua יֵשׁוּעַ H3442 which contains the tsere vowel under the yod. This name also does not contain a “heh” after the yod or the contraction of the tetragrammaton. The Hebrew name Joshua יְהוֹשׁוּעַ H3091 is a masculine proper name that we see for the son of Nun in the Old Testament which is also the name of the Messiah. This name is a contraction of YHWH and Yasha יָשַׁע (to deliver) and has the meaning of Yahweh is Salvation.

In Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8, the King James translators erred by inserting “Jesus” into passages clearly referring to “Joshua,” the Old Testament son of Nun. This is indisputable evidence that the name Joshua (Yahshua) had been changed by translators of the New Testament to Jesus. / Yahshua’s Name can be broken down to “Yah” and “Hoshua.” “Yah” is found in the Father’s Name Yah-weh, while Hoshua means salvation. Thus, “Yah is Salvation.” The Emphatic Diaglott says the name “is composed of Yah, or Jah, I shall be and Shua.

Another indicator for the short form “Yah” within the Messiah’s Name comes from Akkadian cuneiform tablets. Within these tablets are many Jewish names with the prefix “Yah” and “Yahu” dating to 572-477 BCE. Akkadian is a language cognate to Hebrew. Examples of such names include: Yahadil, Yahitu, Yahmuzu, Yahuazar, Yahuazza, and Yahuhin. YRM contacted several professors through email inquiring about these names and received the following responses. Professor Ran Zadok from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who specializes in Mesopotamian, Iranian and Judaic Studies, confirmed, “It seems to me that the cuneiform spellings render approximately *Ya(h)w.”

Professor Martin Worthington from Cambridge who specializes in Babylonian and Assyrian grammar, Mesopotamian literature, Mesopotamian medicine, Quantitative methods and the study of ancient languages, states, “…scholarly consensus has it that Yahwistic names are well attested in first-millennium Babylonia. There is a strong tendency (though not an absolute rule) for the form to be yahu at the beginning of the name, and yama at the end of the name (though yama is actually yawa, since in this period intervocalic m is usually pronounced w). The cuneiform script does include vowels. The sign IA is a bit of a special case, since it can represent ia, ii, iu or ie. But in this case we also have spellings such as ia-a-hu, showing that the vowel is indeed ‘a’.”

The evidence for “Yah” in the prefixes of Jewish names within the Akkadian may suggest a possible shift between “Yah” to “Ye” between the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid (572-477 BCE) and the Masoretic (6-10 century CE) periods.

So how did the name “Yeshua” develop? Some theorize that it developed through a linguistic process called dissimilation. The online Oxford Dictionary defines Dissimilation as, “Change (a sound or sounds in a word) to another when the word originally had identical sounds near each other (e.g. in taper, which derives from papyrus, the p is dissimilated to t).”

Another theory that may explain the development of “Yeshua” is a deliberate manipulation of the Hebrew text. It is well documented that the Masoretes (Jewish scribes) suppressed the true Name Yahweh out of a fear of pronouncing the ineffable Name. One particular instance can be proved from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Manuscript 4Q120-4QpapLXXLevb shows the Greek containing the short form of the name Iota, Alpha, Omega, transliteration: YAW or Yahw in Leviticus 3:12. In the Masoretic text (late-mediaeval)the vowels for Adonai were inserted into the Tetragrammaton in Leviticus 3:12, which changed the pronunciation from Yahw to Yehwah.

As noted in the book – The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, pg. 472: “…It is worth noting that in Lev. iv, 27 (4Q120, fr. 20, 4) the Tetragram (the divine name YHWH) is rendered semi-phonetically as Iao, and is not replaced, as was customary later, by the Greek Kurios (Lord).”

In Hebrew, Jewish scribes inserted a vowel point, shewa (:) instead of the proper qamets (T), thus changing the sound “ah” in “Yah” to “eh.” The Encyclopedia Judaica further explains, “In the early Middle Ages, when the consonantal text of the Bible was supplied with vowel points to facilitate its correct traditional reading, the vowel points for Adonai with one variation – a sheva (short ‘e’) with the first yod [Y] of YHWH instead of the hataf-patah (short ‘a’) under the aleph of Adonai – was used for YHWH, thus producing the form YeHoWaH. When Christian scholars of Europe first began to study Hebrew they did not understand what this really meant, and they introduced the hybrid name ‘Jehovah’” (vol. 7, p. 680).

To avoid offending the Jews and their proscription against even the short form YAH, this same pattern may have also been used in other names that contained the first half of the theophoric element, including the Name of the Messiah, Yahshua.

Yahushua or Yahshua?

Posted on October 18, 2016September 21, 2017 by YRM

Why does your ministry use the form “Yahshua” for the Messiah? I have read from other websites that the correct pronunciation is “Yahushua.”

The name of the Messiah consists of the following five letters: yod-hay-waw-shin-ayin. The difference of pronunciation between these names is whether the “waw” is vocalized.According to many linguists, the Hebrew letter “waw” is a weak or silent letter. For instance, according to one authority, “The sound of waw a long time ago wasn’t ‘vav’ at all but ‘w’ and ‘w’ is weak..” (How the Hebrew Language Grew, Edward Horowitz, pg. 29). This author goes on to show how many English words with the equivalent letter ‘w’ is silent and follows the same pattern as the Hebrew “waw.” Examples include, “answer, sword, law, two, write, etc.”In addition, according to one online reference, “The Hebrew alphabet…vowels are normally not indicated. Where they are, it is because a weak consonant such as aleph , hey , vav , or yod has combined with a previous vowel and become silent, or by imitation of such cases in the spelling of other forms”.

Based on the evidence that the “waw” is often a silent or weak letter, we maintain that the correct pronunciation for the Messiah is Yahshua.

What is Nomina Sacra?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

What is Nomina Sacra?

Nomina Sacra in Latin means “sacred names.” It refers to the abbreviated writing of divine names or titles in Greek manuscripts of the Bible since the first century. Nomina sacra were formed by taking the first one or two letters of the name or word, omitting the intervening letters, and drawing a line over the whole.

sacra Bruce Metzger’s book Manuscripts of the Greek Bible, lists 15 such expressions from Greek papyri: the Greek counterparts of God, Lord, Jesus, Christ, Son, Spirit, David, cross, Mother, Father, Israel, Savior, Man, Jerusalem, and Heaven. Initially this masking was done specifically for “names” and references to the Father and Son.

This practice is of special interest to the Believer. The case is strong that it is but a continuation of the effort begun by Jewish scribes to hide the Sacred name through manipulation or substitution of its letters.

From the Nomina Sacra we see that a manipulation on the “sacred names” was also done in the Greek. No wonder that most translations today lack the revealed, personal names of Father and Son in both testaments. And from the Nomina Sacra we can also show that neither are the words “God,” “Lord,” “Jesus,” and “Christ” found in the Greek New Testament.

The believer should find these facts quite eye-opening.

Only one name?

Posted on October 18, 2016November 10, 2016 by YRM

I understand that G-d has many names and you can call Him by any one of them. Why do you say He has only one name?

We say He has one Name because He tells us so. Psalm 83:18, “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Yahweh, art the most high over all the earth.” Later in the Psalms we find, “Let them praise the name of Yahweh: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven,” Psalm 148:13.

The notion that he has many names really has polytheistic overtones. Heathen religions are noted for their many deities, all with names customized to suit each flavor of religion. Paul said there are “gods many and lords many,” Contrarily, Israel knew Him as the one, true Mighty One, and they called on Him by His one true Name. Isaiah 42:8 says, “I am Yahweh: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” His true Name is the defining factor for True Worship. If we can’t even get His Name right, how can we get His worship right? How can we say we even worship Him if we don’t call on His real Name?

He tells us that “Yahweh” is His Name forever and His memorial unto all generations, Exodus 3:15. A memorial is how we remember or think about someone. Every Scriptural title attributed to Yahweh is connected to His true Name: Yahweh Elyon, Yahweh Nissi, Yahweh Yireh, etc. By believing that He has many names we believe that any name is acceptable to him, including generic titles like “God,” which is not a Hebrew term but a Germanic title. It is absent in the older Biblical manuscripts. That He has many names equal to His Name is simply untrue and unscriptural.

Knowing and calling on His Name means that we become His people, and that means forming a personal bond with Him. That bond is expressed by His own mouth, “My people shall know My Name,” Isaiah 52:6. “Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that does speak: behold, it is I.” Beyond that, Yahweh said that His people will be called by His Name, Daniel 9:19.

When you understand that His relationship with His people is considered a marriage covenant, then it makes perfect sense that His spiritual bride would take on his name just as a bride does her husband’s.

Ezekiel 39:7 reads, “So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am Yahweh the Holy One in Israel.”

How do you know what vowels are in YHWH?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

Why do you add the vowels “a” and “e” to the sacred Name YHWH, we are commonly asked? The fact is that we are not adding anything. Including an “a” and “e” with the four consonants, i.e. “Yahweh,” makes His Name pronounceable for the English alphabet that we use. Try pronouncing any word that is all consonants and you’ll see how important vowels are. For example: mgzn (magazine) or dct (educate).

In the Hebrew, the Yod, Hay, Waw, and Hay of the four-lettered Tetragrammaton are pronounced ee-ah-oo-eh. These letters represent vowel-consonants, the only Hebrew letters besides the aleph that can perform as either vowel or consonant. (See “How the Hebrew Language Grew,” by Edward Horowitz.)

Because these letters of Yahweh’s Name serve as both vowels and consonants, we can know which English vowels come closest in sound to the Hebrew letters. Furthermore, the Hebrew Masorete scribes put vowel points in and around the Hebrew letters to preserve their proper pronounciation.

These facts obliterate the argument that we cannot pronounce ancient Hebrew. After all, if we cannot pronounce the Hebrew “because it has no vowels,” then the entire Hebrew Old Testament is unpronounceable. What’s more, the Hebrews themselves would have been unable to pronounce their language!

The ancient Hebrews simply grew accustomed to pronouncing their words with the vowels implicitly supplied. It was not unlike modern teaching techniques in which pupils learn how to read by sight recognition of letter groups rather than phonetically sounding those letters out.

Yahweh or Yahvah / Yahveh?

Posted on October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 by YRM

I heard that the name should be Yahveh or Yahvah like the V in Jehovah (Yehovah).

The v is a consonant that some have used for the sound of the Hebrew waw in Yahweh’s Name (Yahveh). The problem is, the waw in His Name was considered a vowel anciently. In fact, all the letters of the Tetragrammaton are called vowels by Josephus (Wars of the Jews, 5.5.556) as well as by Hebrew grammars.Bagster’s Helps to Bible Study also says these are vowel-letters in the sacred Name, “as having been originally used to represent vowels, and they still frequently serve as vowels in combination with the points.”Bagsters says the waw represents the letters o or u.

Another authority says, “The sound of waw a long time ago wasn’t ‘vav’ at all but ‘w’ and ‘w’ is weak. The Yemenite Jews of Arabia who retain an ancient, correct, and pure pronunciation of Hebrew still pronounce the waw as ‘w,’ as does Arabic, the close sister language of Hebrew,” How the Hebrew Language Grew, Edward Horowitz, pp. 29-30.

A response to a query about the proper pronunciation of waw/ vav, EKS Publishing responded, “In modern Hebrew it is pronounced VAV. Since our materials are geared for a predominantly Jewish audience, we give this pronunciation in our wall charts and most other publications. However, in Biblical times the letter was pronounced WAW. Because our book, A Simple Approach to O.T. Hebrew, is written for a Christian audience, we have given this Biblical Hebrew pronunciation for WAW and for a few other letters.”

Since the turn of the century the Jews returning to Palestine have hailed mostly from Eastern Europe. It is evident that the heavy influence of Ashkenazic or Germanic (German influenced) pronunciation of the vav instead of the Sephardic or biblical waw has become dominant in present-day Judaism and is referred to as “Modern-Sephardic.” However, the Temple or Biblical Hebrew uses WAW as the ancient and more correct pronunciation.

The English name “Jehovah” or “Yehovah” was invented by Roman Catholics sometime in the Middle Ages, based on a misunderstanding of Masoretic Hebrew texts. It is a hybrid word consisting of the Tetragrammaton YHWH (“J” used to be pronounced as “Y”) and the vowels for the word “Adonai.” Though “Jehovah” is used a few times in the 1611 King James Version (e.g.,Gen 22:14; Exod 6:3; Isa 12:2; Ps 83:18) and is found in many older Christian hymns, it is not the authentic biblical pronunciation of the sacred Name (For a discussion of the “Jehovah or Yahweh” question see “God, Names of” inEncyclopædia Judaica, vol. 7, col. 680, or George F. Moore, Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era: The Age of the Tannaim (3 vols., Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1927-30), vol. 1, p. 219 and note 1, p. 427. Most modern Bible translations have notes on this issue in their introductions, agreeing that the true Name of the Heavenly Father is Yahweh.

For an explanation on the ending of the name “eh or “ah” >>