Sacred Name

The proponents of this name believe the key to the proper pronunciation of YHWH can be found in the name Judah i.e. Yehudah YHWDH. Since His people are called by His name (2 Chronicles 7:14), then it must be hidden in the name Judah right? Not so fast... Numbers 6:27 says: "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." Lets analyze this verse in the Masoretic text. In Hebrew it says: "בְּנֵ֣י bene יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל Yisrael " This means the "sons of Israel." The sons of Israel encompass all the children of Jacob (tribes of Israel) not just Judah. This isn't some special directive and secret code explaining the name Judah's vowels hold the key to the true pronunciation. But for arguments sake let's remove the dalet from Yehudah יְהוּדָה and see what happens. If you know Hebrew Grammar you will instantly notice a problem here: יְה וָּ ה The vowel shureq is now coupled with a qamet s, this is a violation. A Hebrew consonant always has to have a vowel with it, not two vowels in a row. Lets say you decided to put the qamets vowel under the final heh, now you just changed the pronunciation to Yehuha because at the ending of a Hebrew word, the consonant is always read before the vowel. If the problematic Hebrew grammar wasn't enough, we also see another glaring issue. There is a shewa under the yod which gives the Yeh sound, not the "Yah" sound. So not only must we remove the dalet, we then need to interject a different vowel in the first syllable that doesn't exist? There is no indication at all in the Hebrew word origin that there is a contraction of the tetragrammaton like we see in the name Joshua for instance. Yehudah simply means "praised." For those who have a basic understanding of Hebrew it is evident that the hoops we need to jump through to fabricate this name makes it nonsensical. We received a comment from a proponent of this form that if the sound of the first heh is "ah," (which we just proved isn't in the Hebrew) then the second heh must also have the same sound. So since we are making things up, let's say there was an "a" vowel before the heh, does this prove anything? No, there are many vowel combinations in Hebrew, the idea that if the first syllable has an ah sound, then the second syllable must also have an ah sound shows a striking ignorance of the language. The yod can take any number of vowel combinations and it does all through the Hebrew. The Hebrew Grammar book " The Berlitz Hebrew Self-Teacher" on page 73 reveals: "There are, however, four letters which can be used as vowels. h and a may have the vowel sound of ah or eh, w that of oo or oh, and y of ee or eh." To just assume the second heh is pronounced the same as the first heh is frankly ridiculous. In Hebrew the "ah" ending is feminine in its conjunctive form like Ishah אִשָּׁ֔ה (women) opposed to Ish אִישׁ (man). The Hebrew word Yapheh which sounds similar to the name Yahweh is used to describe David (1 Samuel 17:42) יָפֶה (beautiful) in the masculine form. The feminine form of this Hebrew word is Yaphah יָפָ֖ה like we see in reference to Tamar in 2 Samuel 13:1. It is very unlikely the name of the creator of the universe would have a feminine form of the name like you see in Yahuah or Yehovah. Typically, those who employ the hard "who" sound tend to over-emphasize the sound of the "U" as well-Yah-WHO-ah (or -eh). The letter in question, the waw and third letter of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, is represented by the W. In Biblical Hebrew the yod, heh, and waw are all weak letters and the waw had a soft pronunciation anciently. Much of this confusion is interjecting modern Hebrew pronunciation into the Hebrew which was spoken in first Temple times. We can see this soft form in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Three parts of the Tetragrammaton YAHW is written in Greek in plate 378, fragment 15 for Leviticus 3:12. Later in biblical translations this was changed to Kyrios or lord but in the Masoretic text this remains YHWH with the Kativ vowels for Adonai. The Greek letters Iota, Alpha and Omega translate to Yahw (Yao). The Greek Omega (o equivelent) has the sound of "w" like in the word raw. The translator here could have used the upsilon, which anciently had the "u" sound like the word ruse or the German brüder but instead used the softer "o" sound like in the word "tone." The American Heritage Dictionary says that the W came to be pronounced as a V in later Latin (proof that "Yahveh" is historically impossible). Then this source says under the letter U, "The letter U originated in the early Middle Ages as a cursive version of V." The w (waw) in Biblical Hebrew is a weak letter, almost a guttural, and is nearly swallowed, the opposite of over-emphasis given by some to the u (oo) sound. Who pronounces "answer" as "ans-OO-er"? In the book How the Hebrew Language Grew , Edward Horowitz, pg. 29 explains 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." "…the sound of w 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 w as "w" -as does Arabic, the close sister language of Hebrew," pp. 29-30. Hebrew words like yawm > yom [יוֹם] "day" or even the Hebrew word for peace shalom שׁלום shows this soft inflection. We asked Stephen Fassberg PhD of the Hebrew University and one of the world's leading Dead Sea Scrolls scholars what the "waw" sounded like anciently, he responded: "There is no doubt whatsoever that vav was pronounced "w" in the Hebrew of the First Temple period and in Semitic languages." An interesting note is the syllabification of the name in either two or three syllables. The three syllable forms Ya-hu-ah or Ye-ho-vah cannot be breathed. It is possible the name Yah-weh can be breathed in its two syllable form, as you inhale "Yah" and exhale "Weh." You cannot do this with the three syllable Yah(who)ah. In Psalm 150:6 scripture says: "Let every thing that hath breath praise Yahweh. HalleluYah." Psalm 150:6 still retains the short form Yah in the Masoretic text vowel pointed with the mapiq to Yah (indicating the heh is aspirated) showing the importance of the name in relation to breath. The Jewish prayer book the Siddur says, "Nishmat kol chai tivarekh et-shimcha, YHWH elohenu" - The Breath of all life praises your Name, YHWH our Elohim," The Greek shows that the last syllable is pronounced with a short "e" sound: ee-ah-oo-eh like Theodoret's Iabe . There is Iaoue from Clement of Alexandria. An interesting extra-biblical find is the Nag Hammadi Apocryphon of John (written in Greek by Gnostic Christians). Since it was known to the church father Irenaeus, it is estimated to have been written 120-180 CE. In the text we find the name " Yawe " occurring alongside Eloim and also Yaw . The Encyclopedia Judaica notes that the true pronunciation of Yahweh's Name was never lost, being pronounced "Yahweh. There is a reason the name was "never lost" and the Jewish Encyclopedia clarifies this regarding the Samaritans, who were chastised by the Jews for using the true pronunciation Yahweh in the Jerusalem Talmud. "These details indicate that the long-sanctioned dread of uttering the Shem ha-Meforash (the explicit name) was by no means without exceptions, and that the correct pronunciation was not unknown. Abba Saul (2d cent.) condemned the profanation of the Tetragrammaton by classing those "that speak the Name according to its letters" ( יהוה ) with those who have no part in the future world (Sanh. x. 1); and according to 'Ab. Zarah 17b, one of the martyrs of Hadrian's time, Hananiah b. Teradion, was burned at the stake because he so uttered the Name. A Palestinian amora of the third century (Mana the Elder) exemplified the apothegm of Abba Saul (Yer. Sanh. 28b, above) by the statement, "as, for instance, the Samaritans who swear"; he meant thereby that in their oaths the Samaritans pronounce the Tetragrammaton exactly as it is written. According to Theodoret, the Greek Church father, who flourished in the fifth century, they gave it the sound of Ἰαβέ (see Löw, "Gesammelte Schriften," i. 193). See reference

In actuality, "Yahweh" with a "w" is Hebrew, while the "u" in the name Yahueh is Greek. The Tetragrammaton YHWH, found 6,823 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, is rendered Iaoue in the Greek Septuagint. This is an attempt to transliterate the four Hebrew letters, including the waw, which is the transliterated "w" in the Tetragrammaton. Not having a "w" in its alphabet, the Greek uses the closest letter to it: the upsilon, or "u." In a letter to Biblical Archaeology Review (Sept.-Oct 1994), Dr. Anson R. Rainy, professor of Ancient and Near Eastern Cultures and Semitic Linguistics at Tel Aviv University, wrote this about the pronunciation of Yahweh in the Greek alphabet, "I mentioned the evidence from Greek transcriptions in religious papyri found in Egypt. The best of these is Iaouee." He goes on to explain the correct Hebrew rendition of the name: "Yahweh is from the verbal root *hwy*, 'to be.' This root usually shows up in Hebrew as *hyy*. It is a verbal root developed from the third person pronoun, *huwa/*hiya." From the book, How the Hebrew Language Grew by Edward Horowitz, we find, "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." Pronunciation varies little between the "u" and the "w" name forms. It is the written form, however, that causes confusion, and nearly all credible scholars and references use "Yahweh."

Although Yahwah is a close variation, the mistake is establishing a pronunciation by using Strong's 1933 as well as 1961, although 1933 is related in meaning (existence) it is however a different word. The Hebrew of 1961, hay-yod-hay, is not the same as the 1933 cognate, hay-wa-hay. The first is pronounced hayah, the second hawah. The error is in fusing these two different words to make Yahwah without any linguistic basis or evidence to do so.Another argument for the "ah" ending is that if the sound of the first hay is "ah," the second hay must be the same sound. The same letter often takes on a different sound when appearing twice in the same word. For example, the "a" in always is not the same sound at the beginning of the word as it is at the end. Just because words are related in their roots is no justification for manufacturing a word or name by combining variations and should be disregarded as poor scholarship. The Berlitz Hebrew Self-Teacher on page 73 reveals: "There are, however, four letters which can be used as vowels. h and a may have the vowel sound of ah or eh, w that of oo or oh, and y of ee or eh." The Greek shows that the last syllable is pronounced with a short "e" sound: ee-ah-oo-eh. The name Yahweh is shown on various Greek transcriptions, such as ιαβε, dating from the first centuries CE.

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" in Encyclopædia 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" >>

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.

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."

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. 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.

What is God's Name? Many believe that God's Name is God or the Lord. However, these are only titles. The revealed personal Name of our Heavenly Father is "Yahweh." This Name derives from the four Hebrew letters: yod-hey-waw-hey . These four letters are known as the Tetragrammaton. Based on Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, the best known pronunciation is "Yahweh." Consider the below: "The Lord. The Hebrew for his name is Yahweh (often incorrectly spelled 'Jehovah'; see note on Dt. 28:58). It means 'He is" or 'He will be' and is the third-person from of the verb translated 'I will be' in v. 12 and 'I am' in v. 14" (NIV Study Bible, note at Exodus 3:15 , 1998). "The prophets commonly used Yahweh for God, English sometimes as Lord, sometimes as Jehovah, the latter being a hybrid form which should be written Yahweh (YHWH)" (Harper's Bible Dictionary, 1973). "Properly, the name should be pronounced 'Yahweh' as it is spelled in many modern versions. In this paraphrase 'Yahweh' is translated either 'Jehovah' or 'Lord' (The Living Bible, note at Exodus 3:15 , 1971). "Jehovah, n. 1530 Iehoua, borrowing of the New Latin, an erroneous transliteration of the Hebrew name YHWH, often represented as Yahweh" (The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, 1995). Notice that the name "Jehovah" is a false hybrid of our Creator's Name. This name arose from combining the Tetragrammaton with the vowel points of Adonai. The name Jehovah is also an impossibility based on the fact that neither Hebrew nor Greek contains a 'J' sound. Additionally, this was also the last letter to be added to the English alphabet. Rather than "Jesus," the original 1611 JKV read, "Iesus." The "v" is also improper, coming from the influence of the Ashkenazi Hebrew, originating in northern Europe. The original was the Hebrew "waw" or "w." There are many passages showing the importance of Yahweh's Name. For example, we are not to take Yahweh's Name in vain (Ex. 20:7); we are to bless His Name (Ps. 145:21); we are to call upon His Name (Ps. 80:18, 99:6); and we are to declare His Name (Ex. 9:16 ; Heb. 2:12 ). These are but a few of the examples showing the significance of our Father's Name. We encourage all believers to consider calling on the personal Name of their Creator, Yahweh! Learn more about Yahweh's Name through our booklet: Your Father's Name .

I was listening to this guy mentioning that the Name YAHWEH was not in the Encyclopaedia Britannica . Of course I was curious so I looked myself and found Yahweh's Name there, and was relieved. But I couldn't find Yahshua's name there. How come? Did you look up "Jesus Christ"? The 1974 edition of the Britannica says that his Hebrew name is Yesu. The Britannica Eleventh edition says, "An educated Greek...would have known that 'Jesus' was the Greek form of Joshua." The Encyclopedia Americana does a little better job. Under "Jesus Christ," it reads that Matthew 1:21 "interprets the name (originally Joshua, that is Yahweh is salvation)." Realizing that His name is the same as the Old Testament Joshua, with the "J" corrected to the "Y" because there was no J in the Hebrew, we can begin to see His true Name come through. As the Americana points out, it is connected to Yahweh. Being that His Name means "Yahweh is salvation," He would at least have Yah in His Name. Because the Greek lacks the "sh" form, it uses "s" instead. It takes a bit of sleuthing to ferret out the historical truth of the Name because of 2,000 years of erroneous church tradition, subterfuge, and the popularity of error. Add to that a blind fear of profaning the holiest Name in the universe and we are left with a Latinized-Greek replacement.

Why do you often spell out "God" and "Lord" in your sermon messages instead of vocalizing the words? We often spell out "God" and "Lord" to show a distinction between the common and proper titles / names for Yahweh. In the case of God, according to some sources, including the Britannia, God may refer to a molten image. Also, according to some scholars, the proper name of the supreme deity of the ancient Teutonic people was "God." We further explain in the Restoration Study Bible , "...Today, Elohim has been falsely replaced with the generic title 'God,' which is neither correct, based on the Hebrew, nor honoring to Yahweh, based on its etymological roots. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'It has been also suggested that the word might mean a "molten image" from the sense of to "pour"' (Vol. 12, 1911). See [Oxford English Dictionary]. Additionally, according to others, the term 'God' was the proper name for the Teutonic Supreme Being. 'In all Teutonic tongues the Supreme Being has always with one consent been called by the general name God.' (Teutonic Mythology, Vol. 1, Jacob Grimm, p. 13, 1882)." note on Genesis 1:1. Regarding Lord, this comes from the Old English hlāford and refers to a bread-keeper. Also, many biblical sources state the Baal means "Lord." While the Old English etymology certainly is demeaning, the latter, i.e., meaning of Baal, is of more concern. "Baal means lord, in the sense of owner, possessor..." ( Fausset's Bible Dictionary , Baal). "ba'al; Heb. ba'al, 'lord, possessor...'" ( The New Unger's Bible Dictionary , Baal). "BAY uhl (lord, master)-the name of one of more false gods, a place, and two people in the Old Testament" ( Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary , Baal). "(ba'-al:) (ba'al; or Baal): The Babylonian Belu or Bel, 'Lord,' was the title of the supreme god among the Canaanites" ( International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia , Baal). Interestingly, Jeremiah 23 describes a time when believers would forget Yahweh's Name for Baal (Lord). "The anger of Yahweh shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly... Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal [Lord]," verses 20, 27. For more Q&A's please visit our main Q&A page here!

Why is it that some cannot accept the Truth? Also, please help me understand what laws are required/not required. Also, do you have any articles defending the Sabbath and the use of Yahweh's Name? Why people don't accept the truth is a great question, but one not easy to answer. There are many reasons for this. Probably the biggest reason is tradition. It's really hard to accept that what you and your family believe is not true. Another related reason is pride. It takes a person of humility to admit the possibility of being wrong and the ability to unbiasedly reconsider their belief system. Another reason is peer-pressure, as you have already experienced. The closer you get to the truth, the further you get from the world. The feeling of isolation and being alone is more than many can take. Another reason for this, it's not meant for all to hear and understand the truth now. This was the reason Yahshua said He spoke in parables: "He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted and I should heal them," Matthew 13:11-15. Regarding what is required today, while we cannot provide an all-encompassing list of commandments, we believe that the Ten Commandments, all moral laws, and all laws of worship, including the Sabbaths and Feast days, are required today. Regarding laws that would not be required for believers, this would include certain civil laws, judicial laws, and sacrificial laws. For example, the Bible commands that we place a railing around our roof. Since Israel used their roofs as an extension of their living space, this made sense. However, this would not be practical for most modern homes. If you have not already, I might suggest reviewing the below booklets. These would equip you with many answers to some of today's arguments with the Sabbath and Name. https://yrm.org/sabbath-observers-not-neglect-third-commandment https://yrm.org/challenges-sacred-name-answered https://yrm.org/sabbath-keeping-answering-arguments

Some are claiming that not a single Jew in Israel has even heard the name Yahweh. Can you ask Pastor Randy, seeing that he has traveled to Israel several times, if this is true? Hello this is Pastor Randy. The claim that not a single Jew would use or support the name Yahweh is completely false. In my travels to the Holy Land I have spoken to messianic pastors and Jews, including archaeologists and graduates from Hebrew University who support the name Yahweh. In one case, a pastor who has lived in Israel for many years confirmed that he personally has been at the Wailing Wall on the Day of Atonement and had distinctly heard the Jews pronouncing "Yahweh" throughout the day. Also, in our last trip, I personally spoke with our archaeologist, who was also our guide, about the pronunciation of our Heavenly Father. While he himself would not pronounce it, he did confirm that "Yahweh" was the right pronunciation. He also stated that this is how his Yemenite wife would pronounce the Name and explained how Yemenite Hebrew is closer to biblical Hebrew with the use of the "waw" in place of the newer "vav." This is because the Yemenite Jews never migrated into northern Europe and consequently were not impacted by Germanic influence. For more info on Yahweh's Name please check out or free booklet Your Fathers Name .

Kindly help me understand what it means to be called by the Name of Yahweh as seen in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that says "if my people who are called by my name…" Yahweh is more than a name. In addition to identifying the name of the Creator, it also identifies His people. This is similar to other religions. If you hear a person call upon Allah, you know he or she is a Muslim. If you hear someone call upon Vishnu, you know they are Hindu. If you hear them call upon Yahweh, you know they are a believer in the Mighty One of the Bible. The obvious difference between these examples is that Yahweh identifies as the one true Elohim, while Allah, Vishnu, and all other gods are imaginary. While some say this does not include the actual calling or using of Yahweh's name, the Bible disagrees. Scripture contains many examples showing that we are to call on His name. We are told to bless His name (Ps. 145:21), to call on His name (Ps. 80:18), to confess His name (2Chron. 6:24-25), to declare His name (Exodus 9:16 ), to exalt His name (Ps. 34:3), to glorify His name (Ps. 86:9, 12), to honor His name (Ps. 66:2), to magnify His name (2Sam. 7:26 ), to remember His name (Ex. 3:15 ), to sing to His name (Ps. 68:4), and to trust in His name (Isa. 50:10). With so many references to His name, there should be no question as to its importance to proper worship and identification of His people. For more info on Yahweh's Name please check out our free booklet: Your Father's Name

What is the status of believers who have died not knowing our Father and Savior's proper names? Are they not saved? Yahweh does not condemn those who are ignorant of His truth. This includes Yahweh and Yahshua's name. There are two passages that verify this conclusion: "Yahshua said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth," John 9:41 . "And the times of this ignorance Elohim winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Yahshua in John 9:41 confirms that when we are blind to the truth, sin or perhaps more correctly, the condemnation of sin, does not exist. Yahweh does not condemn a person when they are blind or ignorant to His Word. However, as Acts 17:30 verifies, once we know the truth, we must repent. For those who never had the opportunity to accept the names of Yahweh and Yahshua, assuming they lived a righteous life based on what they understood, they will be given an opportunity in the Second Resurrection, which will occur after the millennial Kingdom. At this time, all those, except for the elect who were resurrected to eternal life at Yahshua's Second Coming, will be judged based on their works, Revelation 20:12 . For those who never had the chance to hear the truth, but who lived a moral and pleasing life, they will be given a chance to accept and receive eternal life at at this time.

Why do you use the name Yahweh? Don't you know that this name was invented by a Catholic monk in 1725 AD? Plus, there are 20 different ways our Heavenly Father's name can be pronounced. The belief that "Yahweh" originated from a Catholic monk could not be further from the truth. This statement can be proven false with a simple Google search. The official website of the Catholic Church states: "About the 13th century the term 'Jehovah' appeared when Christian scholars took the consonants of 'Yahweh' and pronounced it with the vowels of 'Adonai.' This resulted in the sound 'Yahowah,' which has a Latinized spelling of 'Jehovah.' The first recorded use of this spelling was made by a Spanish Dominican monk, Raymundus Martini, in 1270" ( www.catholic.com/qa/is-gods-name-yahweh-or-jehovah ). From this citation, it was not "Yahweh" that was originated by a Catholic monk, but the hybrid "Jehovah," arising from Yehowah or Yehovah. Additionally, scholarship overwhelmingly confirms "Yahweh" as the likely pronunciation. Evidence for this is found in ancient inscriptions dating back to the second century of the Common Era, including early church fathers and gnostic sources. Following are other sources attesting to the correctness of "Yahweh." "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'" ( Encyclopaedia Judaica , vol. 7, p. 680). "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" ( Encyclopaedia Britannica , 15th ed., vol. x, p. 786). "The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by transliteration of the name into Greek in early Christian literature, in the form iaoue (Clement of Alexandria) or iabe (Theodoret; by this time Gk. b had the pronunciation of v)…Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only 'name' of God. In Genesis wherever the word sem ('name') is associated with the divine being that name is Yahweh" ( Eerdman's Bible Dictionar y, 1979 p. 478). "Such a conclusion, giving 'Yahweh' as the pronunciation of the name, is confirmed by the testimony of the Fathers and gentile writers, where the forms IAO, Yaho, Yaou, Yahouai, and Yahoue appear. Especially important is the statement of Theodoret in relation to Ex. lvi, when he says: 'the Samaritans call it [the tetragrammaton] 'Yabe,' the Jews call it 'Aia'…" ( The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia , "Yahweh," p. 471) In addition to early Christian sources, evidence for Yahweh is also found in the Nag Hammadi codices, dating from the 2nd to 4th century CE. This library of Gnostic writings was discovered in Upper Egypt, near Nag Hammadi, in 1945. In all, there are over 50 texts within this library. Since they are in Greek, as with the church fathers, they preserve the pronunciation. One such book is The Secret Book of John . This codex mentions the name Yahweh and notes, "Eloim and Yawe, two names of God in the Hebrew scriptures…. Yahweh is the name of God (based on the Tetragrammaton, the ineffable four-letter name)" (Dr. Marvin Meyer, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures , p. 127). The Secret Book of John , as it was known to the church father Irenaeus, dates to the second century. This was the same time-frame as Clement of Alexandria, who also confirmed the name. Even though gnosticism was rightly deemed heretical by the early church, it is another witness to the pronunciation of Yahweh. The fact that these groups were at odds, but agreed on "Yahweh," is significant and adds credence to this pronunciation. It verifies that "Yahweh" was widely recognized as early as the second century, nearly 700 years before any Hebrew manuscripts containing Yehovah. Based on these ancient inscriptions, modern scholarship also favors Yahweh as the proper and correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton: "Correct pronunciation of the Divine Name. 'Jehovah' is the best known English pronunciation of the divine name, although 'Yahweh' is favored by most Hebrew scholars. The oldest Hebrew manuscripts present the name in the form of four consonants, commonly called the Tetragrammaton (from Greek te∙tra-, meaning 'four,' and gram'ma, 'letter'). These four letters (written from right to left) are yhwh and may be transliterated into English as YHWH (or, JHVH)" ("Jehovah," Insight on the Scriptures , Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1988. vol. 2, p. 5). Insight on the Scriptures is a Jehovah's Witness publication. Even though this organization continues to use the hybrid "Jehovah," they have no choice but to acknowledge that "Yahweh" is favored by Hebrew scholars. Considering that the name of our Heavenly Father comes to us through the Hebrew language, this point is significant. "Jehovah in that form was unknown to the ancient Israelites. In fact, Hebrew scholars say that Jehovah would have been impossible according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization. The God of Israel was known by a name approximately rendered into English as Yahweh" ( A Book About the Bible , George Stimpson, p. 247). "Yahweh was doubtless the approximate pronunciation of the tetragrammaton, the four-letter word YHWH, since transliterations into Gr. in early Christian literature have been found in the form of iaoue (Clement of Alexander) and iahe (Theodoret) pronounced 'iave.' The name is a variant connected with the verb haya, 'to be,' from an earlier form, hawa" ("God, Names and Titles of," Wycliff Bible Dictionary , Charles Pfeiffer, Ed., p. 694). "The Bible often refers to God by his proper name, which was probably pronounced Yahweh …In the Hebrew Bible, the consonants hwhy [yhwh] are usually to be read as Adonai…'my Lord,' for the sake of reverence, and English versions represent the word by 'Lord' or (less often) 'God' in capital letters" ("Names of God in the Hebrew Bible," Oxford Companion to the Bible , Bruce Metzger, Ed., p. 548). "Although the meaning of the name remains subject to debate, Yahweh is most likely a verbal form of Heb. haya (perhaps originally hwy)…Because of the utmost sanctity ascribed to the name, Jews from postexilic times on have declined to pronounce it in public reading, and only the consonants were written (YHWH; the Dead Sea Scrolls use the archaic, 'paleo-Hebrew' script). Although the original pronunciation was thus eventually lost, inscriptional evidence favors yahwae or yahwe. The name is represented in the MT by the consonants with the vowel pointing for 'adonay 'Lord.' From this derived ca, the sixteenth century the form 'Jehovah' (yehowah). In modern usage pious Jews often substitute the expression has-sem 'the Name'" ("Yahweh," The Oxford Companion to the Bible , Bruce Metzger, Ed., p. 1075). "The scribes reasoned that if they did not point the name Yahweh then it could never be treated lightly since his name would not really be known. Initially the real pointing was probably passed along by tradition, but in time it was lost. In Exodus 20:7 the name Lord is written in capital letters according to the convention of signifying the name Yahweh, but the name as it appears in the Hebrew text is hwhy (yehowa), in which appear the consonants from the name Yahweh (hwhy [yhwh]) and the vowels from the word Lord (ynda ['idonay]). Proof for the fabricated nature of this word are the two vowels which appear on the waw, an impossibility in Hebrew. However, until the revival of the Hebrew language in western Europe scholars read the consonants YHWH (Germans would read them as JHVH) with the vowels of 'adonay, thereby originating the incorrect form Jehovah. This word was then introduced into English by William Tyndale and was continued by the King James Version" ( The Journey from Texts to Translations , Paul D. Wegner, pp, 172-173). There are many other scholarly sources supporting that the name of our Heavenly Father is Yahweh. A belief that "Yahweh" arose through a Catholic monk is completely counter to ancient and modern scholarship and should be dismissed by the student of the Bible. For More info on Yahweh's Name please check out our post: Literary Support For Yahweh's Name https://youtu.be/cJvkntfKk3c Please take a moment to complete our short survey . We appreciate your time and value your feedback.

Q. Nehemia Gordon, a Karaite Jew, has now discovered over 1,000 manuscripts with the proper pronunciation Yehovah. Considering this newfound evidence, why do you continue to use Yahweh? A. There are several facts to acknowledge regarding Nehemia Gordon's "new" finding. To begin with it's not new. Secondly, all these Hebrew documents with the vowel points forming Yehovah are from the 9th century or later and part of the Masoretic manuscripts, i.e. Leningrad Codex, Aleppo Codex. According to the overwhelming majority of scholarship, the Masoretes purposefully added the vowel points from Adonai to the Tetragrammaton, forming the hybrid Yehovah (also rendered as Yehowah or Jehovah). First we need to clarify where these vowels come from. The Masoretes were not trying to preserve the name but replace the name with Adonai and Elohim through an orthographic device called Kativ Qere. This device is used in every synagogue every Sabbath as the torah is read. ( See full vowels of Adonai vs. Elohim ) To date we have never seen a scholarly reference or historic document from before the medieval timeframe confirming Yehovah. Consider the following: "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'" (Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 7, p. 680). "Jehovah, modern form of the Hebrew sacred name of God, probably originally 'Yahweh.' From c.300 B.C. the Jews, from motives of piety, uttered the name of God very rarely and eventually not at all, but substituted the title 'Adonai,' meaning 'Lord,' the vowels of which were written under the consonants of 'Yahweh.' In the Middle Ages and later, the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as Jehovah" (The Collegiate Encyclopedia, vol. 9, p. 580). "Jehovah….What has been said explains the so-called qeri perpetuum, according to which the consonants of Jehovah are always accompanied in the Hebrew text by the vowels of Adonai except in the cases in which Adonai stands in apposition to Jehovah: in these cases the vowels of Elohim are substituted. The use of a simple shewa in the first syllable of Jehovah, instead of the compound shewa in the corresponding syllable of Adonai and Elohim, is required by the rules of Hebrew grammar governing the use of Shewa" (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. VIII, p. 329). "Jehovah, an erroneous pronunciation of the name of the God of Israel in the Bible, due to pronouncing the vowels of the term 'Adonay,' the marginal Masoretic reading with the consonants of the text-reading 'Yahweh,' which was not uttered to avoid the profanation of the divine name of magical or other blasphemous purposes. Hence the substitution of 'Adonay,' the 'Lord,' or 'Adonay Elohim,' 'Lord God.' The oldest Greek versions use the term 'Kurios,' 'Lord,' the exact translation of the current Jewish substitute for the original Tetragrammaton Yahweh. The reading 'Jehovah' can be traced to the early Middle Ages and until lately was said to have been invented by Peter Gallatin (1518), confessor of Pope Leo X. Recent writers, however, trace it to an earlier date; it is found in Raymond Martin's Pugeo Fidei (1270)" (Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 16, p. 8.). "The pronunciation you mentioned [i.e., Yehovah] is a mistake. The Hebrew consonantal text is YHWH and no one really knows how that was pronounced in Old Testament times. At a later date (the latter half of the 2nd millennium CE) Masoretes added vowel signs to the consonantal text. Whenever the Tetragrammaton was written, they added the vowel signs of the word "Adonay," which means "My Lord" - there was a taboo on pronouncing the Divine name and one was supposed to read the word "Adonay - my Lord." Much later some started reading the vowel signs together with YHWH and came up with the nonsensical word Jehovah" (email correspondence between Professor Fassberg and Pastor Randy Folliard). Note: Professor Fassberg, Ph.D., is one of the leading professors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem within its Hebrew language department. In addition to the fact that scholarship nearly universally confirms that the Masoretes added the vowel points from Adonai to the Tetragrammaton, another issue with Yehovah is that there are other variants based on the vowel pointing within the Masoretic manuscripts. For example, the Leningrad Codex contains at least six different spellings for the divine name. Similar evidence can also be found within the Aleppo and other codices. The fact that we find different pronunciations within the Masoretic manuscripts confirms that they cannot be trusted. Another issue with Yehovah and this claim of a 1,000 manuscripts is that the pronunciation Yahweh is confirmed within Greek documents from church fathers and Gnostic writings 700 years before the Masoretic documents. One such example from the Gnostic library is The Secret Book of John. Within this codex, it mentions the name Yahweh and notes, "Eloim and Yawe, two names of God in the Hebrew scriptures…. Yahweh is the name of God (based on the Tetragrammaton, the ineffable four-letter name)" (Dr. Marvin Meyer, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, p. 127). The Secret Book of John dates to the second century, as it was known to the church father Irenaeus. This was the same timeframe as Clement of Alexandria, who also confirmed the name. Even though Gnosticism was rightly deemed heretical by the early church, it is another witness to the pronunciation of Yahweh. The fact that these groups were at odds, but agreed on "Yahweh," is significant and adds credence to this pronunciation. It verifies that "Yahweh" was widely recognized as early as the second century. Evidence for the short form "Yah" is also found in early Greek documents of the Septuagint, part of the Dead Sea collection, dating to 1 BCE. Based on these facts, the number of manuscripts found with the vowel points of Yehovah is irrelevant. Scholarship confirms that Yehovah is a hybrid that arose through the vowel points of Adonai. Additionally, antiquity confirms the pronunciation Yahweh through Greek inscriptions dating back to the 2nd century CE, 700 years before any manuscript containing Yehovah. For additional information, read our online article: The Yehovah Deception. Also, watch our videos:

Q. We know that Abraham knew Yahweh's name. Genesis 22:14 states, "And Abraham called the name of that place YAHWEH Yireh." However, Exodus 6:3 says, "And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as El Shaddai, and by My name YAHWEH have I not been known to them" How do we reconcile these passages? A. Exodus 6:3 is not stating that the patriarchs did not know Yahweh's name, as we have many examples of them calling on Yahweh's Name. In addition to the example you provided in Genesis 22:14, we also have the below passages confirming that they were well aware of Yahweh's Name: "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of Yahweh" (Genesis 4:26). "And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto Yahweh, and called upon the name of Yahweh" (Genesis 12:8). "Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of Yahweh" (Genesis 13:4). "And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the everlasting El" (Genesis 21:33). Based on the above passage, there's no doubt that Abraham and the other patriarchs knew and used Yahweh's Name. With this being the case, how do we explain Exodus 6:3? There are two schools of thought as to the meaning of this passage. The first explanation is that the patriarchs did not experience the power behind Yahweh's Name as Israel would in Egypt. It's important to remember that Yahweh's Name not only identifies His identity, but also His character and power. The other explanation is that this passage should be viewed as a question and not a statement. In other words, it might be better read, "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai, and by my name Yahweh was I not known to them?" In closing here is a note that will be included within the 4th ed. of the Restoration Study Bible: "This is not stating that the Name 'Yahweh' was unknown to the patriarchs. Scripture states that the patriarchs called upon Yahweh's Name (Gen. 12:8). There are two possible explanations. One, this was written as a rhetorical question, which would then require a question mark at the end of the verse. Biblical Hebrew contains no punctuation; it was added later by translators. Two, the patriarchs did not understand the Name, as representing His character and power, as did Moses and the Israelites after witnessing their deliverance from Egypt. The NIV note says, 'This does not necessarily mean that the patriarchs were totally ignorant of the name Yahweh, but it indicates that they did not understand its full implications as the name of the One who would redeem His people. That fact could be comprehended only by the Israelites who were to experience the Exodus, and by their descendants.' A similar interpretation is found from author Kenneth L. Barker in his book, Making of a Contemporary Translation: 'A problem has been imagined in Exodus 6:3 because of the words "by my name the Lord (Yahweh) I did not make myself known to them (i.e., the patriarchs)." Yet there are several references to Yahweh in the patriarchal narratives and earlier (e.g., Gen. 2:4; 4:26; 13:4; 15:7) and in the names like Jochebed (Exod. 6:20), apparently meaning "The Lord (Yahweh) is glory." Kidner points the way to one solution: "In ex 3:14 the divine exposition, 'I am ...' introduces and illuminates the name given in 3:15, and this remains the context for 6:3 as well... The name, in short was first known, in any full sense of the word, at its first expounding.' See Jer. 16:21, Ezek. 20:5. Men in general began to call upon the Name Yahweh after Enos, the son of Seth (Gen. 4:26)."

Q. Nehemia Gordon, a Karaite Jew, recently made the claim that Yahweh and Jupiter share the same etymology. He bases this on Gesenius' statement: "I suppose this word to be one of the most remote antiquity, perhaps of the same origin as Jovis, Jupiter, and transferred from the Egyptians to the Hebrews." Is there any truth to this statement? A. While Gesenius made this statement, indication is he later retracted it. Consider the below excerpts: "To give my own opinion [This opinion Gesenius afterwards THOROUGHLY retracted; see Thes. and Amer. trans. in voc.: he calls such comparisons and derivations, 'waste of time and labour;' would that he had learned how irreverend a mode this was of treating such subject!], I suppose this word to be one of the most remote antiquity, perhaps of the same origin as Jovis, Jupiter, and transferred from the Egyptians to the Hebrews [What an idea! God himself revealed this as his own name; the Israelites could never have received it from the Egyptians]. (Compare what has been said above, as to the use of this name on the Egyptian gems [but these gems are not of the most remote antiquity; they are the work of heretics of the second and third centuries]), and then so inflected by the Hebrews, that it might appear, both in form and origin, to be Phenicio-Shemiti" ( Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures , p. 23). "In There is one other remark before quitting this chapter. We have seen that the principal part of the Jehovistic ideas in this second portion of Dr. Colenso's work are taken from the articles on that subject in the lexicon of Gesenius. We shall now see that Gesenius is responsible for some part of Dr. Colenso's new belief. The Bishop writes as follows: --'My own conviction, however, from the accumulated evidence (!) of various kinds before us is, that Samuel was the first to form and introduce the name, perhaps in imitation of some Egyptian name of the Deity which may have reached his ears.' Gesenius wrote before him: 'I suppose this word to be one of the most remote antiquity, perhaps of the same origin as Jovis, Jupiter, and transferred from the Egyptians to the Hebrews' (see Lex. p. 337). "This opinion, as we have shown, Gesenius afterward thoroughly retracted, probably through having become convinced that the Egyptian Gems on which it was founded were the work of heretics of the second and third centuries. Bishop Colenso, however, adopts the discarded opinion of Gesenius, and parades it as his own. We think he might at least have had the candour to acknowledge from whence it was obtained" ( The Bible in the Workshop , Part II, p. 95). "The name Yahweh is explained by some as being connected etymologically with the Indo-Aryan 'Jovis.' It is, then, derived from [delta, iota, upsilon] "to shine," hence Yahweh would signify the 'bright ether.' This name is also declared to be ideally, though not etymologically, related to 'daeva,' 'deus.' Thus the name would signify the 'High One,' the 'Heavenly.' But there is so little common to both languages of which we can speak with any degree of certainty that we cannot think of deriving [Yahweh] from the Indo-Aryan stem [delta, iota, upsilon] . The untenableness of this derivation was already recognized by F. Tuch, who says: 'The similarity of [Yahweh] with Jovis, Jupiter, which is insufficient enough in itself, disappears entirely when the name is pronounced rightly [Yahweh] = Jahve.'" (Hans H. Spoer, The Origin and Interpretation of the Tetragrammaton , pp. 7, 8) According to the above scholarly references, Gesenius withdrew his statement regarding the possible connection between Yahweh and Jupiter. In addition, Spoer further explains that these words share so little in common that this connection disappears entirely. It should also be noted that Gesenius used the words "suppose" and "perhaps" in his initial statement. These words convey that while he believed there may have been a possible connection, such a conclusion could not be authenticated based on the evidence. Therefore, to state that Gesenius asserts an undeniable and certain connection between Yahweh and Jupiter is quite disingenuous, especially with the fact that there is indication that Gesenius thoroughly retracted this statement along with other scholars confirming that there is so little in common between the origins of these words. For additional information on Yahweh's Name , please see the below articles: Literary Support for Yahweh's Name Your Father's Name The Yehovah Deception Also, watch the below videos:

Q. Why do you spell out the word "God"? You say the word Elohim and isn't "God" basically the English rendering of Elohim? A. Some spell out "God" because of its pagan connection. According to the Britannica, the root of god means, "to pour as a molten image." Also, according to some scholars, the supreme deity of the Teutonic religion was named and pronounced "God." To avoid this connection and pronunciation of this word, some will simply spell it out. Below are a few references confirming these associations: "…and that even where the earlier neuter form is still kept, as in Gothic and Old Norwegian, the construction is masculine…. "God" is a word common to all Teutonic languages. In Gothic it is Guth; Dutch has the same form as English; Danish and Swedish have Gud, German Gott. According to the New English Dictionary, the original may be found in two Aryan roots, both of the form gheu, one of which means 'to invoke,' the other 'to pour'…the last is used of sacrificial offerings. The word would thus mean the object either of religious invocation or of religious worship by sacrifice. It has been also suggested that the word might mean a 'molten image' from the sense of 'pour." (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 12, 1911). "It is much more difficult to trace the Teutonic word, 'God,' back to its origin. There is no doubt that the Supreme Being has always been called by this name in all German tongues…. We can only say, therefore, that 'God' was probably an old Teutonic word, used long before the introduction of Christianity, to signify either one Supreme Being, or gods in general. Indeed, we find that in the Old Norse, god in the neuter means a grave image, an idol" (Edinburgh Review, vol. XCIV, p. 170). "In all Teutonic tongues the Supreme Being was always with one consent been called by the general name God…. Some remarkable uses of the word God in our older speech and that of the common people may have a connexion with heathen notions" (Jacob Grimm, Teutonic Mythology, pp. 13, 15, 1882).

Q. What are the main differences between YRM and Jehovah's Witnesses? A. There are several differences between YRM and the Jehovah's Witnesses. The most notable are the names of Yahweh and Yahshua for the Father and Son along with the Sabbath and Feast days. The Jehovah Witnesses call upon the name Jehovah. While scholarship may have favored this pronunciation many years ago, today nearly all scholars agree that the name is Yahweh. Even the Jehovah Witnesses acknowledge that Yahweh is favored by Hebrew scholars. They state the following in their Insight on the Scriptures, "'Jehovah' is the best known English pronunciation of the divine name, although 'Yahweh' is favored by most Hebrew scholars," vol. 2, pg. 5. Below are a few additional references on Jehovah: A Book About the Bible, George Stimpson, pg. 247. "Jehovah in that form was unknown to the ancient Israelites. In fact, Hebrew scholars say that Jehovah would have been impossible according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization. The God of Israel was known by a name approximately rendered into English as Yahweh." The Journey from Texts to Translations, Paul D. Wegner, pg, 172, 173. "The scribes reasoned that if they did not point the name Yahweh then it could never be treated lightly since his name would not really be known. Initially the real pointing was probably passed along by tradition, but in time it was lost. In Exodus 20:7 the name Lord is written in capital letters according to the convention of signifying the name Yahweh, but the name as it appears in the Hebrew text is hwhy (yehowa), in which appear the consonants from the name Yahweh (hwhy [yhwh]) and the vowels from the word Lord (ynda ['idonay]). Proof for the fabricated nature of this word are the two vowels which appear on the waw, an impossibility in Hebrew. However, until the revival of the Hebrew language in western Europe scholars read the consonants YHWH (Germans would read them as JHVH) with the vowels of 'adonay, thereby originating the incorrect form Jehovah. This word was then introduced into English by William Tyndale and was continued by the King James Version." Understanding the Old Testament, Bernhard Anderson, "Definition: 'Jehovah,' 'The Lord,'" pg. 61. "The personal divine name YHWH…has had an interesting history. In the Old Testament period the Hebrew language was written only with consonants; vowels were not added until the Common Era, when Hebrew was no longer a living language. On the basis of Greek texts, which of course use both vowels and consonants, it is believed that the original pronunciation of the name was Yahweh. Notice the shortened form of the divine name in the exclamation, 'Halleluyah' - 'Praise Yah.'" Along with the name Jehovah, another difference is they normally worship on Sunday (although they believe any day is acceptable for worship), while we observe the seventh-day Sabbath, as verified through Scripture. While there are no clear examples of Sunday being observed in the New Testament, the Sabbath is mentioned 60 times. In fact, Yahshua the Messiah and the apostles all observed the Sabbath. In two key passages, we see that it was Paul's practice to worship and teach on the Sabbath. "And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures," Acts 17:2. "And he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks," Acts 18:4. In addition to the New Testament, prophecy shows that the Sabbath will be observed in the coming millennial Kingdom. Consider the following examples: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Yahweh," Isaiah 66:23. "Thus saith my Sovereign Yahweh; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened," Ezekiel 46:1. We find similar evidence for the biblical Feast days. While many believe these days are no longer obligatory, including the Jehovah Witnesses, the New Testament along with prophecy confirms that the apostles observed these days and that they will be observed in the coming Kingdom. Consider the below examples from the New Testament: Passover "Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover" (Luke 2:41). "…Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?" (Luke 22:11). "Now before the feast of the passover, when Yahshua knew that his hour was come..." (John 13:1). "…For even Messiah our passover is sacrificed for us" (1Corinthians 5:7). Feast of Unleavened Bread "And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread…" (Acts 20:6). "Therefore let us keep the feast..." (1Corinthians 5:8). Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…" (Acts 2:1). "…for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost" (Acts 20:16). "But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost" (1Corinthians 16:8). Day of Atonement "…because the fast [Day of Atonement] was now already past…" (Acts 27:9). Feast of Tabernacles "Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand… In the last day, that great day of the feast, Yahshua stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:2, 37). While there are other differences beyond the ones noted, these are the most significant. As believers, proper worship is critical to our walk. It's paramount that we follow the Bible and not man's tradition. Even though the Jehovah Witnesses have elements of truth, they are missing key aspects of Scripture.

Q. I agree that His name is YHWH, but my question is, why does Strong's transliterate it "yehôvâh"? A. Great question. Strong's renders the name based on the Masoretic vowel points. Since the vowel points are taken from Adonai, it transliterates to Yehovah. Not realizing this, early translators of the Bible rendered this name "Jehovah," based on these added vowel points. Historically, many Jews stopped pronouncing the name after the 3 rd century, BCE. The Encyclopedia Britannica and Jewish Talmud testify to this fact: "After the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE), and especially from the 3rd century bce on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal rather than merely local religion, the more common noun Elohim, 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 Adonai ('My Lord'), which was translated as Kyrios ('Lord') in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures," Encyclopedia Britannica. "Tosaf Sotah 38a suggests that the Ineffable Name could be pronounced only when there was some indication that the Shechinah rested on the Sanctuary. When Simeon the Righteous died, with many indications that such glory was no more enjoyed, his brethren no more dared utter the Ineffable Name," Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39b, footnote, p. 186. As explained above, the Jews avoided using the name Yahweh by employing the vowel points from Adonai. Interestingly, where Adonai and the Tetragrammaton appeared in close proximity, they would also often use the vowel points from Elohim. Strong's makes note of this in OT:3069, where it renders YHWH as "Yehovih" and states, "a variation of OT:3068 [used after OT:136, and pronounced by Jews as OT:430, in order to prevent the repetition of the same sound, since they elsewhere pronounce OT:3068 as OT:136." This provides conclusive proof that the Jews tampered with the vowel points of the Tetragrammaton. This was due to their insistence that the actual pronunciation was too holy to pronounce. Therefore, to prevent this, they concealed the name by artificially adding the vowel points from Adonai and Elohim to YHWH. By doing this, the reader would know to read Adonai or Elohim instead of Yahweh. Only later did some begin incorrectly pronouncing the name with the added vowel points. According to Professor Steven Fassberg, who received his PhD from Harvard and teaches Hebrew at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "The pronunciation you mentioned [i.e., Yehovah] is a mistake. The Hebrew consonantal text is YHWH and no one really knows how that was pronounced in Old Testament times. At a later date (the latter half of the 2nd millennium CE) Masoretes added vowel signs to the consonantal text. Whenever the Tetragrammaton was written, they added the vowel signs of the word 'Adonay,' which means 'My Lord' - there was a taboo on pronouncing the Divine name and one was supposed to read the word 'Adonay - my Lord.' Much later some started reading the vowel signs together with YHWH and came up with the nonsensical word Jehovah" (email correspondence between YRM and Professor Fassberg). In addition to Strong's and Professor Fassberg, nearly all other biblical scholars confirm that Yehovah, often spelled Jehovah, was derived from the vowel points from Adonai. Consider the following references: "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'" (Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 7, p. 680). "Jehovah, modern form of the Hebrew sacred name of God, probably originally 'Yahweh.' From c.300 B.C. the Jews, from motives of piety, uttered the name of God very rarely and eventually not at all, but substituted the title 'Adonai,' meaning 'Lord,' the vowels of which were written under the consonants of 'Yahweh.' In the Middle Ages and later, the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as Jehovah" (The Collegiate Encyclopedia, vol. 9, p. 580). "Jehovah….What has been said explains the so-called qeri perpetuum, according to which the consonants of Jehovah are always accompanied in the Hebrew text by the vowels of Adonai except in the cases in which Adonai stands in apposition to Jehovah: in these cases the vowels of Elohim are substituted. The use of a simple shewa in the first syllable of Jehovah, instead of the compound shewa in the corresponding syllable of Adonai and Elohim, is required by the rules of Hebrew grammar governing the use of Shewa" (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. VIII, p. 329). "Jehovah, an erroneous pronunciation of the name of the God of Israel in the Bible, due to pronouncing the vowels of the term 'Adonay,' the marginal Masoretic reading with the consonants of the text-reading 'Yahweh,' which was not uttered to avoid the profanation of the divine name of magical or other blasphemous purposes. Hence the substitution of 'Adonay,' the 'Lord,' or 'Adonay Elohim,' 'Lord God.' The oldest Greek versions use the term 'Kurios,' 'Lord,' the exact translation of the current Jewish substitute for the original Tetragrammaton Yahweh. The reading 'Jehovah' can be traced to the early Middle Ages and until lately was said to have been invented by Peter Gallatin (1518), confessor of Pope Leo X. Recent writers, however, trace it to an earlier date; it is found in Raymond Martin's Pugeo Fidei (1270)" (Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 16, p. 8.). "The personal name of the [El] of the Israelites …The Masoretes, Jewish biblical scholars of the Middle Ages, replaced the vowel signs that had appeared above or beneath the consonants of YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai or of Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Yahweh, Micropedia, vol. 10). "In the Hebrew Bible the Jews wrote the consonants of the Tetragrammaton as YHWH, but out of reverence for the sacred name of God (or out of fear of violating Exod. 20:7; Lev. 24:16), they vocalized and pronounced it as Adonai or occasionally as Elohim. It is unfortunate, then, that the name was transliterated into German and ultimately into English as Jehovah (which is the way the name is represented in the American Standard Version of 1901), for this conflate form represents the vowels of Adonai superimposed on the consonants of Yahweh, and it was never intended by the Jews to be read as Yehowah (or Jehovah)" (The Making of a Contemporary Translation, p. 107). "Jehovah in that form was unknown to the ancient Israelites. In fact, Hebrew scholars say that Jehovah would have been impossible according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization. The God of Israel was known by a name approximately rendered into English as Yahweh," (A Book About the Bible, George Stimpson, p. 247). "Although the meaning of the name remains subject to debate, Yahweh is most likely a verbal form of Heb. haya (perhaps originally hwy)…Because of the utmost sanctity ascribed to the name, Jews from postexilic times on have declined to pronounce it in public reading, and only the consonants were written (YHWH; the Dead Sea Scrolls use the archaic, 'paleo-Hebrew' script). Although the original pronunciation was thus eventually lost, inscriptional evidence favors yahwae or yahwe. The name is represented in the MT by the consonants with the vowel pointing for 'adonay 'Lord.' From this derived ca, the sixteenth century the form 'Jehovah' (yehowah). In modern usage pious Jews often substitute the expression has-sem 'the Name," (The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Allen C. Myers, Ed., "Yahweh," p. 1075). "The scribes reasoned that if they did not point the name Yahweh then it could never be treated lightly since his name would not really be known. Initially the real pointing was probably passed along by tradition, but in time it was lost. In Exodus 20:7 the name Lord is written in capital letters according to the convention of signifying the name Yahweh, but the name as it appears in the Hebrew text is hwhy (yehowa), in which appear the consonants from the name Yahweh (hwhy [yhwh]) and the vowels from the word Lord (ynda ['idonay]). Proof for the fabricated nature of this word are the two vowels which appear on the waw, an impossibility in Hebrew. However, until the revival of the Hebrew language in western Europe scholars read the consonants YHWH (Germans would read them as JHVH) with the vowels of 'adonay, thereby originating the incorrect form Jehovah. This word was then introduced into English by William Tyndale and was continued by the King James Version," (The Journey from Texts to Translations, Paul D. Wegner, pp. 172-173). Based on the above, scholarship verifies that Yehovah (Jehovah) was the result of combining the vowel points from Adonai with the four letters of yod-hey-waw-hey of the Tetragrammaton. Therefore, any attempt to justify Yehovah is to ignore the preponderance of evidence. For additional information, read our online booklet: The Yehovah Deception . Also, watch Pastor Randy Folliard's message, "Exposing the Erroneous Name Yehovah."

Q. I don't understand why you would refer to Greek documents to prove Yahweh when the Hebrew manuscripts support Yehovah. The Greek language is pagan and unreliable in such matters. Can you explain your refusal to accept the Hebrew? A. We are not opposed to any language if truth can be learned, especially the Hebrew language. Being that Hebrew is the original language of the Old Testament and possibly for the New Testament, there is something special about the Hebrew language. The challenge with supporting the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton from the Hebrew is that the Jews stopped pronouncing the name around the 3 rd century BCE. This is supported by the Britannica and Babylonian Talmud. "After the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE), and especially from the 3rd century bce on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal rather than merely local religion, the more common noun Elohim, 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 Adonai ('My Lord'), which was translated as Kyrios ('Lord') in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures," Encyclopedia Britannica. "Tosaf Sotah 38a suggests that the Ineffable Name could be pronounced only when there was some indication that the Shechinah rested on the Sanctuary. When Simeon the Righteous died, with many indications that such glory was no more enjoyed, his brethren no more dared utter the Ineffable Name," Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39b, footnote, p. 186. Because of this reluctance to pronounce the name, it is now impossible to confirm it through the Old Testament Hebrew. Prior to the Masoretes, Hebrew had no spoken vowels, as confirmed in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Later, it was the practice of the Masoretes to conceal the pronunciation of the name through the vowel points of Adonai and Elohim. For this reason, the Hebrew is unreliable regarding the proper pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton. In fact, there are multiple pronunciations for YHWH within the Masoretic codices. Below are six different spellings as found within the Leningrad Codex. יְהוָה - Yehwah (Genesis 2:4) יְהֹוָה - Yehowah (Genesis 3:14) יֱהֹוִה - Yehowih (Judges 16:28) יֱהוִה - Yehuwih (Genesis 15:2) יְהֹוִה - Yehowih (1Kings 2:26) יְהוִה - Yehwih (Ezekiel 24:24) However, unlike the Hebrew manuscripts, we find many Greek documents confirming the pronunciation. The two main sources are from early Church Fathers and Gnostic writings from as early as the 2 nd century. Consider the following: "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'" (Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 7, p. 680). "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" (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., vol. x, p. 786). "The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by transliteration of the name into Greek in early Christian literature, in the form iaoue (Clement of Alexandria) or iabe (Theodoret; by this time Gk. b had the pronunciation of v)…Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only 'name' of God. In Genesis wherever the word sem ('name') is associated with the divine being that name is Yahweh" (Eerdman's Bible Dictionary, 1979 p. 478). "Such a conclusion, giving 'Yahweh' as the pronunciation of the name, is confirmed by the testimony of the Fathers and gentile writers, where the forms IAO, Yaho, Yaou, Yahouai, and Yahoue appear. Especially important is the statement of Theodoret in relation to Ex. lvi., when he says: 'the Samaritans call it [the tetragrammaton] 'Yabe,' the Jews call it 'Aia'…" (The New Schaff-Herzog Religious Encyclopedia, "Yahweh," p. 471). In addition to early church writers, evidence for Yahweh is also found in The Nag Hammadi codices, dating from the 2nd to 4th century CE. This library of Gnostic writings was discovered in Upper Egypt, near Nag Hammadi, in 1945. In all, there are over 50 texts within this library. Since they are in Greek, as the church fathers, they preserve the pronunciation. One such book is The Secret Book of John. Within this codex, it mentions the name Yahweh and notes, "Eloim and Yawe, two names of God in the Hebrew scriptures…. Yahweh is the name of God (based on the Tetragrammaton, the ineffable four-letter name)" (Dr. Marvin Meyer, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, p. 127). The Secret Book of John dates to the second century, as it was known to the church father Irenaeus. This was the same timeframe as Clement of Alexandria, who also confirmed the name. Even though Gnosticism was rightly deemed heretical by the early church, it is another witness to the pronunciation of Yahweh. The fact that these groups were at odds, but agreed on "Yahweh," is significant and adds credence to this pronunciation. It verifies that "Yahweh" was widely recognized as early as the second century, nearly 700 years before any Hebrew manuscripts containing Yehovah. It's important to realize that unlike the Jews who had a taboo on pronouncing the name, neither the church fathers nor Gnostics shared this belief. For this reason, they had no axe to grind and are reliable sources for the pronunciation of the name, which they confirm as "Yahweh." For additional information on Yehovah, see our article: The Yehovah Deception . Also, watch 7 Reasons the Name YEHOVAH Is a Counterfeit!

Q. What is the Qere and Ketiv and how does it relate to the Masoretes? A. Qere and Ketiv are orthographic devices that were used by the Masoretes, i.e., Jewish scribes from the 6-10 th centuries. Qere means, "what is read," and ketiv means, "what is written." It is found in existing Masoretic manuscripts dating to the 9 th and 10 th centuries, CE. There are several forms of Qere / Ketiv, including: ordinary, vowel, omitted, added, euphemistic, split, and qere perpetuum. The ketiv that is most relevant is the vowel qere. In this case, the consonants are unchanged, but different vowel signs are added and only the qere, i.e., what is read, is vocalized. The most notable example of this is with the Tetragrammaton or the four letters of the divine name. To ensure that the name was not pronounced, Masoretic Jewish scribes left the Hebrew consonants, but added the vowel points from Adonai, and on occasions Elohim. Following the Qere / Ketiv, the reader was to read Adonai or Elohim, depending on the vowel points used. It was never the intent of the scribes that the reader pronounce the vowel points with the consonants. Not realizing this, early translators of the Hebrew Bible transliterated the Tetragrammaton as "Jehovah." Once scholarship realized that this was never the intent of the Hebrew text, scholarship noted the mistake. Today, there are some who either don't understand the Qere / Ketiv system or who are actively trying to mislead people by insisting that the pronunciation is Yehovah. However, as nearly all Hebrew scholars acknowledge, this name arose through a deliberate modification in the Hebrew text following a tradition of not pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, beginning in the 3rd century BCE, as noted by the below reference. "After the Babylonian Exile (6th century BCE), and especially from the 3rd century bce on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal rather than merely local religion, the more common noun Elohim, 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 Adonai ('My Lord'), which was translated as Kyrios ('Lord') in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures," Encyclopedia Britannica . Below are additional sources confirming the use of the vowel points from Adonai: "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'" ( Encyclopedia Judaica , vol. 7, p. 680). "Jehovah, modern form of the Hebrew sacred name of God, probably originally 'Yahweh.' From c.300 B.C. the Jews, from motives of piety, uttered the name of God very rarely and eventually not at all, but substituted the title 'Adonai,' meaning 'Lord,' the vowels of which were written under the consonants of 'Yahweh.' In the Middle Ages and later, the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as Jehovah" ( The Collegiate Encyclopedia , vol. 9, p. 580). "Jehovah….What has been said explains the so-called qeri perpetuum, according to which the consonants of Jehovah are always accompanied in the Hebrew text by the vowels of Adonai except in the cases in which Adonai stands in apposition to Jehovah: in these cases the vowels of Elohim are substituted. The use of a simple shewa in the first syllable of Jehovah, instead of the compound shewa in the corresponding syllable of Adonai and Elohim, is required by the rules of Hebrew grammar governing the use of Shewa" ( The Catholic Encyclopedia , vol. VIII, p. 329). "Jehovah, an erroneous pronunciation of the name of the God of Israel in the Bible, due to pronouncing the vowels of the term 'Adonay,' the marginal Masoretic reading with the consonants of the text-reading 'Yahweh,' which was not uttered to avoid the profanation of the divine name of magical or other blasphemous purposes. Hence the substitution of 'Adonay,' the 'Lord,' or 'Adonay Elohim,' 'Lord God.' The oldest Greek versions use the term 'Kurios,' 'Lord,' the exact translation of the current Jewish substitute for the original Tetragrammaton Yahweh. The reading 'Jehovah' can be traced to the early Middle Ages and until lately was said to have been invented by Peter Gallatin (1518), confessor of Pope Leo X. Recent writers, however, trace it to an earlier date; it is found in Raymond Martin's Pugeo Fidei (1270)" ( Encyclopedia Americana , vol. 16, p. 8.). "The personal name of the [El] of the Israelites …The Masoretes, Jewish biblical scholars of the Middle Ages, replaced the vowel signs that had appeared above or beneath the consonants of YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai or of Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being" ( Encyclopaedia Britannica , Yahweh, Micropedia, vol. 10). "In the Hebrew Bible the Jews wrote the consonants of the Tetragrammaton as YHWH, but out of reverence for the sacred name of God (or out of fear of violating Exod. 20:7; Lev. 24:16), they vocalized and pronounced it as Adonai or occasionally as Elohim. It is unfortunate, then, that the name was transliterated into German and ultimately into English as Jehovah (which is the way the name is represented in the American Standard Version of 1901), for this conflate form represents the vowels of Adonai superimposed on the consonants of Yahweh, and it was never intended by the Jews to be read as Yehowah (or Jehovah)" ( The Making of a Contemporary Translation , p. 107). "Jehovah in that form was unknown to the ancient Israelites. In fact, Hebrew scholars say that Jehovah would have been impossible according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization. The God of Israel was known by a name approximately rendered into English as Yahweh," ( A Book About the Bible , George Stimpson, p. 247). "Although the meaning of the name remains subject to debate, Yahweh is most likely a verbal form of Heb. haya (perhaps originally hwy)…Because of the utmost sanctity ascribed to the name, Jews from postexilic times on have declined to pronounce it in public reading, and only the consonants were written (YHWH; the Dead Sea Scrolls use the archaic, 'paleo-Hebrew' script). Although the original pronunciation was thus eventually lost, inscriptional evidence favors yahwae or yahwe. The name is represented in the MT by the consonants with the vowel pointing for 'adonay 'Lord.' From this derived ca, the sixteenth century the form 'Jehovah' (yehowah). In modern usage pious Jews often substitute the expression has-sem 'the Name," ( The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary , Allen C. Myers, Ed., "Yahweh," p. 1075). For additional information on Yehovah, read The Yehovah Deception . Also, watch our video, 7 Reasons the Name YEHOVAH Is a Counterfeit !

Q. What is the Tetragrammaton? A. The Tetragrammaton represents the four Hebrew letters of the Creator's Name. The word itself is from the Greek tετραγράμματον, meaning "[consisting of] four letters," which are yod-hey-waw-hey. These letters are unique in the Hebrew language, as they not only represent consonants, but also vowels. For this reason, they are called vowel-consonants. According to most Hebrew scholars the Tetragrammaton is pronounced "Yahweh." Consider the following scholarly sources: A Book About the Bible , George Stimpson, pg. 247. "Jehovah in that form was unknown to the ancient Israelites. In fact, Hebrew scholars say that Jehovah would have been impossible according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization. The God of Israel was known by a name approximately rendered into English as Yahweh." Wycliff Bible Dictionary , Charles Pfeiffer, Ed., "God, Names and Titles of," pg. 694. "Yahweh was doubtless the approximate pronunciation of the tetragrammaton, the four-letter word YHWH, since transliterations into Gr. in early Christian literature have been found in the form of iaoue (Clement of Alexander) and iahe (Theodoret) pronounced 'iave.' The name is a variant connected with the verb haya, 'to be,' from an earlier form, hawa." The Oxford Companion to the Bible , Bruce Metzger, Ed., "Names of God in the Hebrew Bible," pg. 548. "The Bible often refers to God by his proper name, which was probably pronounced Yahweh …In the Hebrew Bible, the consonants yhwh are usually to be read as Adonai…'my Lord,' for the sake of reverence, and English versions represent the word by 'Lord' or (less often) 'God' in capital letters." The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary , Allen C. Myers, Ed., "Yahweh," pg. 1075. "Although the meaning of the name remains subject to debate, Yahweh is most likely a verbal form of Heb. haya (perhaps originally hwy)…Because of the utmost sanctity ascribed to the name, Jews from postexilic times on have declined to pronounce it in public reading, and only the consonants were written (YHWH; the Dead Sea Scrolls use the archaic, 'paleo-Hebrew' script). Although the original pronunciation was thus eventually lost, inscriptional evidence favors yahwae or yahwe. The name is represented in the MT by the consonants with the vowel pointing for 'adonay 'Lord.' From this derived ca, the sixteenth century the form 'Jehovah' (yehowah). In modern usage pious Jews often substitute the expression has-sem 'the Name.'" The Journey from Texts to Translations , Paul D. Wegner, pg, 172, 173. "The scribes reasoned that if they did not point the name Yahweh then it could never be treated lightly since his name would not really be known. Initially the real pointing was probably passed along by tradition, but in time it was lost. In Exodus 20:7 the name Lord is written in capital letters according to the convention of signifying the name Yahweh, but the name as it appears in the Hebrew text is hwhy (yehowa), in which appear the consonants from the name Yahweh (hwhy [yhwh]) and the vowels from the word Lord (ynda ['idonay]). Proof for the fabricated nature of this word are the two vowels which appear on the waw, an impossibility in Hebrew. However, until the revival of the Hebrew language in western Europe scholars read the consonants YHWH (Germans would read them as JHVH) with the vowels of 'adonay, thereby originating the incorrect form Jehovah. This word was then introduced into English by William Tyndale and was continued by the King James Version." Understanding the Old Testament , Bernhard Anderson, "Definition: 'Jehovah,' 'The Lord,'" pg. 61. "The personal divine name YHWH…has had an interesting history. In the Old Testament period the Hebrew language was written only with consonants; vowels were not added until the Common Era, when Hebrew was no longer a living language. On the basis of Greek texts, which of course use both vowels and consonants, it is believed that the original pronunciation of the name was Yahweh. Notice the shortened form of the divine name in the exclamation, 'Halleluyah' - 'Praise Yah.' "However, because of its holy character, the name Yahweh was withdrawn from ordinary speech during the period of the Second Temple (c. 500 B.C.E. and later) and the substitute word - actually a title not a personal name - Adonai, or (The) Lord, was used, as is still the practice in synagogues. Scholars who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek (the Septuagint) in the third century B.C.E. adopted this synagogue convention and rendered YHWH as (ho) kurios, '(The) Lord.' From this Greek translation the practice was carried over into the New Testament. "The word Jehovah is an artificial form that arose from the erroneous combination of the consonants YHWH with the vowels of Adonai - written under or over the Hebrew consonants to indicate that the substitute is to be pronounced. This hybrid form is often held to be the invention of Pater Galatin…but in actuality it can be traced back to a work by a certain Raymond Martin in 1270." For additional information on the Tetragrammaton, read our booklet, Your Father's Name . Also, watch our video, Does His Name Matter?

Why does the Hebrew University teach that anciently, the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet waw has a "w" sound in their curriculum rather than the modern Hebrew "v" vav sound? To answer this, we reached out to Professor Adina Moshavi, Ph.D. in Semitic languages and Literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, this was her response: "…there are many ways to demonstrate that the waw was not originally pronounced as a labiodental "v" as it is in Tiberian Hebrew. The fact that the waw is frequently used as a mater lectionis for a long u sound would be impossible to explain if it was pronounced v, like the bet rafeh, rather as the semivowel w. Furthermore, there are many Hebrew words where a historical diphthong aw , as evidenced from Semitic cognates, has been reduced to a long vowel, e.g., in hiphil perfect of w-initial verbs hawrid > horid "he brought down", or in the word yawm > yom [יוֹם] "day", and alternations between a diphthong and a long vowel, e.g., absolute mawwet vs. construct mot " death." Such correspondences are only understandable if the phonetic value of the waw was a semivowel." Professor Adina Moshavi, Ph.D. Semitic languages and Literature Biblical Hebrew syntax, Biblical Hebrew pragmatics Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hebrew Language Department

Where you got the vowel of Y(a)hw(e)h? If you break the YHWH into two syllable it would be YH - WH then the vowel "a" and "e" is inserted to pronounce Y(a)H - W(e)H. Where you got the sound WEH? Can you give an example of Hebrew names that the Waw and Hey ( וה ) is pronounce as WEH The name Yahweh is unique and one of a kind so trying to compare it to other names is futile. The name Yahweh is from the verb of existence and comes from breath no other name in the Bible is "breathed." "Let every thing that hath breath praise Yah. HalleluYah." Psalm 150:6 retains the short form Yah in the Masoretic text. It is vowel pointed to "Yah" (yod, qamets, heh) twice in the text. The final heh in Yah contains a mappiq dot indicating the heh is to be pronounced as a full aspirated consonant "YaH," rather than just the qamets vowel "Ya," adding the breathy "h" sound to Yahh. Many rabbis know the importance of the Tetragrammaton YHWH in relation to breath. The Jewish prayer book, the Siddur, teaches, "Nishmat kol chai tivarekh et-shimcha, YHWH elohenu" - "The breathing of all life, praises your Name, YHWH our Elohim." The vowels in Hebrew were only recorded by the Masoretes around the Medieval times. So every Hebrew word (vowel combination) in the Old Testament was recorded at that time. The Masoretes used an orthographic device known as Kativ Kere, in the text to hide the true vowels of the name Yahweh. Ketiv means read and Kere means written. They inserted the vowels for Adonai, Elohim and variants in the Tetragrammaton so every time they would see those associative vowels they would either read Elohim or Adonai . Amazingly, you can prove the vowel combinations of Yahweh by simple deduction. If Yahweh is the true name you would not expect to see the "Yah" and "Weh" vowels in any form by the Masoretes and this is exactly what you see notice: יְהוָה - Yehwah (Genesis 2:4) יְהֹוָה - Yehowah (Genesis 3:14) יֱהֹוִה - Yehowih (Judges 16:28) יֱהוִה - Yehwih (Genesis 15:2) יְהֹוִה - Yehowih (1Kings 2:26) יְהוִה - Yehwih (Ezekiel 24:24) The Armarna letters have preserved the name Yahweh in Cuneiform form 1750 BCE. See: Friedrich Delitzsch, Babel and Bible Page 71. The Nag Hammadi also preserved the name Yahweh from about 70 AD in Greek. We see Yahweh written alongside Elohim. The Three part short form (Yahw) is also found in Greek in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Samaritans, as another witness, also preserved the name Yahweh to this very day. Many who visit the Samaritan High Priest with Don Esposito's group in Jerusalem every year at the Feast of Tabernacles listen to him explain this. Three parts of the Tetragrammaton YAHW is written in Greek in plate 378, fragment 15 for Leviticus 3:12. Later in biblical translations this was changed to Kyrios or lord but in the Masoretic text this remains YHWH with the Kativ vowels for Adonai. The Greek letters Iota, Alpha and Omega translate to Yahw (Yao). The Greek Omega (o equivelent) has the sound of "w" like in the word raw. The translator here could have used the upsilon, which anciently had the "u" sound like the word ruse or the German brüder but instead used the softer "o" sound like in the word "tone." For a similar word in Hebrew, you can look up the masculine Hebrew word "beautiful" Yapheh (seghol heh) describing David in 1 Samuel 17:42. The feminine form of this is Yaphah (qamets heh). Notice the "ah" ending? This is common when using this word in its feminine form. for instance see this from used when describing Tamar in 2 Samuel 13:1. See: https://yrm.org/ breathing-the-name-yahweh/ for other reasons why the semivowel combination YHWH ( matres lectionis) also show the form Yahweh as more probable.

Don't you know that the full vowels for Yehovah have been found thousands of times in ancient Hebrew manuscripts? Because of these amazing finds the name of Yahweh is not accurate. Many who tell us this do not understand Hebrew or the concept of Kativ Qere. Qere and Ketiv are orthographic devices that were used by the Masoretes, i.e., Jewish scribes from the 6-10th centuries. Qere means, "what is read," and ketiv means, "what is written." It is found in existing Masoretic manuscripts dating to the 9th and 10th centuries, CE. There are several forms of Qere / Ketiv, including: ordinary, vowel, omitted, added, euphemistic, split, and qere perpetuum. Basically, the scribes would insert the vowels for Adonai or Elohim into the text so the reader would see the vowels for Adonai or Elohim as they came upon the tetragrammaton YHWH and would read either Adonai or Elohim based on the vowels written. See professor William Barrick explain this concept: https://youtu.be/jar1KQhG5dU?t=202 Many who push this idea will point to a claim that a certain Karaite Jew found the "full" vowels indicating the name Yehovah. What many do not understand is that in every instance and example of the name Yehovah we also see another name Yehovih. This is because the vowels for Adonai in the tetragrammaton read Yehovah and the vowels for Elohim in the tetragrammaton read Yehovih. Let's go through some examples. If you do not have a basic concept of biblical Hebrew this may seem a bit complex. יְהֹוִה In 1Kings 2:26 we see the full vowels for Elohim in the text with the shewa, holem, and hireq (see above). In this instance the hateph seghol reverts to a simple shewa under the yod exactly as it does with the combination for Yehovah. This hateph vowel reverted to a simple shewa because the compound shewa was not needed under the yod as it is under the guttural aleph. This is the rule, however, there are exceptions. "Gutturals cannot take Vocal Shewa, but do take reduced (Hateph) vowels." Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Chapter 2L - Hebrew Vowels. This is a rare occurrence, just as the rare occurrence of the full vowels of Adonai with the vocal shewa under the yod that we see in Genesis 3:14. (Pronunciation above: Yehovih with the full vowels for Elohim with the initial vocal shewa under the yod) biblehub.com/interlinear/1_kings/2-26.htm יֱהֹוִה In Judges 16:28 we see the full vowels for Elohim but in this case the hateph seghol does not revert to a simple shewa under the yod. This may be due to the fact that the title Adonai precedes the tetragrammaton and could lead to the reader saying Adonai twice, but this isn't always the rule. (Pronunciation above: Yehovih with the full vowels for Elohim retaining the hateph seghol under the yod) biblehub.com/interlinear/judges/16-28.htm יְהוִה In Ezekiel 24:24 the tetragrammaton loses the holem and reverts to the shewa just as we see many times with the pointing for Adonai. See Genesis 2:4 for an example of this (יְהוָה) in your interlinear biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/2-4.htm (Pronunciation above: Yehvih with the vowels for Elohim minus the holem above the first heh) biblehub.com/interlinear/ezekiel/24-24.htm יֱהוִה In Genesis 15:2 the holem has been removed and the yod retains the hateph seghol. (Pronunciation above: Yehvih with the yod retaining the hatepeh seghol and the holem removed above the first heh) biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/15-2.htm These examples above show vowel point combinations for Elohim in every aspect the same as we see with the vowel point combinations for Adonai (Yehovah). There is nothing special about the full vowels written as Yehovah any more than you could say the full vowels written as Yehovi (Yehovi) are indications of the proper name. One could use the same arguments and contend that the name Yehovih is proper. In most cases we see the holem dropped in both with only partial vowels. The scribe's intent was never to put the proper pronunciation of the name of Yahweh in the text, but simply to use these vowels as code to either speak Elohim or Adonai rather than Yahweh. One thing is for sure, we don't see the vowel combination for Yahweh ever used in the text. The reason is simple - the scribes were hiding the name and this is what many today do not understand because of a false narrative to push the erroneous name Jehovah or Yehovah, which has been proven incorrect for decades. If we did see this vowel combination for Yahweh, then we would know instantly that this could not be the proper pronunciation. By simple deduction we can prove the name Yahweh by what "isn't" in the text. יְהֹוָה Conclusion: The name Yehovah (above) was popularized by a narrative that a certain Karaite Jew found the full vowels of Yehovah as he was in the bowels of the Hebrew University, reading the Aleppo codex on 911, at the exact moment the planes were hitting the World trade Center. This narrative was of course to dazzle you into believing that this was a miracle in the making. The proper name has "now" been found by a supernatural event he excitingly proclaimed. Now that narrative is changed from one obscure, amazing find to literally thousands of occurrences. The narrative had to change, because the "full" vowels pointed for Adonai is not completely uncommon. Unfortunately, many do not see the elephant in the room. Was this man ignorant of all these occurrences? Most who follow him do not know Hebrew, although claiming to be in the "Hebrew Roots," so how can he possibly be fact checked? You can't have it both ways, it can't be a scribal error and be everywhere at the same time. Maybe he wasn't purposely trying to mislead? Maybe he was just ignorant that these vowels were not so obscure after all? Maybe with so many people finding examples of these "full vowels," he had egg on his face and was forced to change the narrative? Why do his followers not ask these most basic of questions? In only the third chapter in the Bible, Genesis 3:14 in the Masoretic text (Leningrad Codex), we see the full vowels for Adonai (Yehovah) - shewa, holem, and qamets. They have been there for hundreds of years but only on 911 does he find them in the Aleppo codex! Don't be sold a false bill of goods - a square peg in a round holem. Note: Every instance above in which the 6th letter "waw" was used, we translated a "v" for consistency to the name Yehovah. In Biblical Hebrew, however, the 6th letter has a "w" sound as taught by every accredited biblical Hebrew class in the world, the foremost being the Hebrew university, Jerusalem. See: https://yrm.org/the-sixth-letter-waw-or-vav/ Biblehub Interlinear referenced above is based on the Leningrad Codex, 1008 CE. biblehub.com/interlinear

A recent claim is that the full vowels for Yehovah have been found in ancient Hebrew manuscripts, thereby challenging the Name Yahweh. The following is an extract from our website (yrm.org) in response to this claim. (Original Q&A by Ryan Mansager) We hear it often: "the full vowels for the creator's name have now been found." Sadly, many people have been sold a bill of goods based on a false premise. And that false premise is perpetuated from a lack of understanding of Ketiv/ Qere in Hebrew. Ketiv and Qere are orthographic devices that were used by the Masoretes (Jewish scribes) in the 6th to the 10th centuries. Ketiv means, "what is written." Qere means, "what is read." In other words, the sacred Name was written one way, but it was to be read another way. Basically, the scribes would insert the vowels from two other words - "Adonai and Elohim" - into the Tetragrammaton, hwhy, so when the reader saw these vowels he would read the title Adonai or Elohim, completely avoiding the sacred Name, which Judaism believes is too holy to pronounce. This practice is done every Sabbath as the torah scroll is read our loud. (Professor William Barrick explains the practice in the link at the end of this article.) Some who promote Yehovah over Yahweh point to a Karaite Jew's claim that he discovered the "full" vowels in the Tetragrammaton from a medieval manuscript, indicating the name Yehovah. However, another name would be just a legitimate as Yehovah, based on the same principles and logic used to support it and that name is Yehovih. The vowels for Adonai in the Tetragrammaton read Yehovah while the vowels for Elohim in the tetragrammaton read Yehovih. One is no more legitimate than the other. Both have the same "full vowels," as well as missing holems, vowel deductions, etc. I would like to go through some of these examples in the Leningrad Codex. The practice of such vowel substitution existed in Masoretic manuscripts dating to the 9th and 10th centuries, CE. There are several forms of Ketiv / Qere, including: ordinary, vowel, omitted, added, euphemistic, split, and qere perpetuum. If you do not have a basic concept of biblical Hebrew this may seem a bit complex. 1Kings 2:26 we see the full vowels for Elohim in the text using the shewa, holem, and hireq. In this instance the hateph seghol reverts to a simple shewa under the yod exactly as it does with the combination for Yehovah. This hateph vowel reverted to a simple shewa because the compound shewa was not needed under the yod as it is under the guttural aleph. This is a rule of Hebrew grammar. "Gutturals cannot take vocal shewa, but do take reduced (hateph) vowels" (Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Chapter 2L - "Hebrew Vowels"). This is a rare occurrence, just as is the rare occurrence of the full vowels of Adonai with the vocal shewa under the yod that we see in Genesis 3:14. (Pronunciation: Yehovih with the full vowels for Elohim with the initial vocal shewa under the yod) ( biblehub.com/interlinear/1_kings/2-26.htm ) In Judges 16:28 we see the full vowels for Elohim but in this case the hateph seghol does not revert to a simple shewa under the yod. This may be because the title Adonai precedes the Tetragrammaton and could lead to the reader saying Adonai twice (if the vowels for Elohim were not added), however we do see exceptions. (Pronunciation: Yehovih, with the full vowels for Elohim retaining the hateph seghol under the yod) ( biblehub.com/interlinear/judges/16-28.htm ) In Ezekiel 24:24 the Tetragrammaton loses the holem and reverts to the shewa just as we see many times with the pointing for Adonai. (Pronunciation: Yehvih with the vowels for Elohim minus the holem above the first heh. ( biblehub.com/interlinear/ezekiel/24-24.htm ) In Genesis 15:2 the holem has been removed and the yod retains the hateph seghol. (Pronunciation: Yehvih ( biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/15-2.htm ) These examples show vowel point combinations for Elohim in every aspect the same as we see with the vowel point combinations for Adonai (Yehovah). There is nothing special about the full vowels or partial vowels written as Yehovah any more than you could say the full vowels or partial vowels written as Yehovih are also indications of the name. One could use the same arguments and contend that the name Yehovih is just as valid. Here's the thing, the scribe's intent was never to put the proper pronunciation of the name in the text, but simply to use these vowel points as code to signal the reader to use either Elohim or Adonai rather than Yahweh. About 500 years ago this ignorance of Ketiv Qere gave us the name Jehovah. Petrus Galatinus (1460-1540), Pope Lex X's confessor, thought these added vowels were a legitimate part of the Tetragrammaton so he rendered the Name Jehovah."A mispronunciation (introduced by Christian theologians, but almost entirely disregarded by the Jews) of the Hebrew 'Yhwh,' the (ineffable) name of God (the Tetragrammaton or 'Shem haMeforash')... This pronunciation is grammatically impossible; it arose through pronouncing the vowels of the 'ḳere' (marginal reading of the Masorites: = 'Adonay') with the consonants of the 'ketib' (text reading: = 'Yhwh')- 'Adonay'" Jehovah, Jewish Encyclopedia 'Jehovah' is generally held to have been the invention of Pope Leo X.'s confessor, Peter Galatin," ibid .One thing is for sure, we don't see the vowel combination for Yahweh ever used in the text. This is perfectly understandable as the scribes were purposely hiding the Name. By simple deduction we can prove the name Yahweh by what is not in the text, as no vowel combination exists for the "ah" and "eh" sounds" in the Masoretic vowel points in any part of the Tetragrammaton, just like we should expect from someone hiding the name. Conclusion: Jehovah has all but died out as a legitimate form in the scholarly world. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses realize it's not authentic. It wasn't until recently that history repeated itself. The name Yehovah (Jehovah with a Y) was popularized in the Messianic Movement by a recent narrative that a certain Karaite Jew found the full vowels of Yehovah as he was in the bowels of the Hebrew University, reading the Aleppo Codex on 9-11, at the exact moment the planes were hitting the World Trade Center. It should be noted this Karaite has a history of hyperbole. Apparently this sensationalistic story is supposed to dazzle the believer into thinking there was a miracle in the making. The proper name has "now" been found by a supernatural event, he excitingly proclaimed. Now that yarn has been expanded from one obscure, "amazing" find to literally thousands of occurrences. But wait, how can that be? How can the narrative change so drastically and no one question it? Sadly, many do not see the elephant in this room. Why the change? As shown, we can find these "full vowels" not just in the Aleppo Codex but also the Leningrad codex in Genesis 3:14 the very codex that the majority of our Bibles translate from (see Below). They have been there for hundreds of years, read by thousands of people, yet somehow only on 9-11 were the full vowels supposedly found in the Aleppo Codex, a 10th century CE manuscript only 78 years older than the Leningrad codex. Think about it! One full vowel combination became two, then three, then thousands over night. You can't have it both ways, it can't be an obscure scribal error found on 911 and yet be everywhere at the same time. It can't be an accident and yet on purpose thousands of times. Beware when you see a square peg in a round holem . Note: The above article uses the "v" for the 6th letter only to show those who use Yehovah the similarities with other name combinations using the vowels for Elohim. The 6th letter has a "w" anciently as taught by every accredited biblical Hebrew class and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Yehovah is impossible on many levels. See: yrm.org/the-sixth-letter-waw-or-vav Biblical Hebrew Scholar Dr. Bill Barrick of the Masters Seminary refutes the erroneous name Yehovah (Jehovah) through Hebrew grammar. He explains how heretical Alexandrian Jews (the very ones that translated the Septuagint) removed the name Yahweh for Kyrios (the lord) around 250 BCE out of a misguided understanding of the 3 rd commandment. This has influenced not just Judaism, but also Christianity; as a result the title "lord" made it in your Bible, replacing Yahweh. yrm.org/barrick-yehovah