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Yahweh

Who is Yahweh?

Is Yahweh God? Is Yahweh in the Bible? Why can’t I find a single mention of Yahweh in the Bible? Is Yahweh Jesus? These are just some of the questions that you may ask if you don’t believe that Yahweh is the name of God. We will quote various sources and the Bible itself for the answers.

Ancient History Encyclopedia wrote, “Yahweh is the name of the state god of the ancient Kingdom of Israel and, later, the Kingdom of Judah. His name is composed of four Hebrew consonants (YHWH, known as the Tetragrammaton) which the prophet Moses is said to have revealed to his people.”

The dictionary defines Yahweh as “a form of the Hebrew name of God used in the Bible. The name came to be regarded by Jews ( c. 300 BC) as too sacred to be spoken, and the vowel sounds are uncertain.”

LORD is Yahweh

Since the name of God, Yahweh, was deemed too sacred to be spoken, the ancient Jews replaced Yahweh with the word “LORD” instead. That is why when you read the Bible, there are many instances where you come across the word “LORD” in all bold letters. The all bold letters “LORD” were used instead of the regular spelling “Lord” to indicate the instances where Yahweh were replaced by the word LORD.

Below is a verse where you can clearly notice the word “LORD” in all bold letters.

Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty.”

You can simply exchange the word “LORD” for “Yahweh” when reading the Bible.

By the way, there are many Bible translations out there that use the name “Yahweh” instead of LORD as a reference to God. Below is a verse from the New Living Translation:

Exodus 6:3 “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.”

Is Yahweh Jesus?

Psalm 110:1 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

The verse above clearly suggests that the LORD Yahweh and the Lord Jesus Christ are two separate persons. Yahweh is God the father and Jesus Christ is the Son Of God.

Yahweh in Hebrew

how to pronounce yahweh
yahweh religion

The four Hebrew letters in the image above is know as the Tetragrammaton. It is Yahweh in Hebrew letters. The Ancient Jews replaced these Hebrew letters with the word LORD. In Latin alphabet, it is translated as YHWH. There is an on going debate on how to pronounce YHWH.

Praise Ye Yah! Praise The LORD

Here is a popular Christian phrase, HalleluYah! The origin of this phrase came from praising Yahweh but the short form of his name, Yah, is used when it’s being recited.

The phrases “Praise Ye Yah” , “Praise The LORD”, and “HalleluYah” have the same meaning. That is, praise Yahweh or praise God.

In English, Yah is pronounced as Jah. That’s why sometimes you see “Hallelujah” in Christian writings.

Furthermore, we found this explanation on askdifference.com:

“The word “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah” (from Hebrew הללו יה), which literally means “Praise ye Yah”, a short form of “Praise Yahweh” and often rendered as “praise the Lord”.The form “Alleluia” is also used to refer to a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of Scripture, usually from the Psalms. This chant is commonly used before the proclamation of the Gospel.”

“Hallelujah ( HAL-i-LOO-yə) is an English interjection. It is a transliteration of the Hebrew word הַלְלוּיָהּ (Modern Hebrew haleluya, Tiberian haləlûyāh), which is composed of two elements: הַלְלוּ (second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hillel: an exhortation to “praise” addressed to several people) and יָהּ (the name of God Jah or Yah).The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christian Book of Revelation.The word is used in Judaism as part of the Hallel prayers, and in Christian prayer, where since the earliest times it is used in various ways in liturgies, especially those of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, both of which use the form “alleluia” which is based on the alternative Greek transliteration.”

Video: Word Study

Yahweh Is Jehovah

A very popular English pronunciation of YHWH is Jehovah.

Encylopedia Britanica wrote, The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim. Latin-speaking Christian scholars substituted the Y (which does not exist in Latin) with an I or a J (the latter of which exists in Latin as a variant form of I). Thus, the tetragrammaton became the artificial Latinized name Jehovah (JeHoWaH). As the use of the name spread throughout medieval Europe, the initial letter J was pronounced according to the local vernacular language rather than Latin.”

Encyclopedia Britanica wrote, “Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars again began to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as St. Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Many Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.”

How the name of God, Yahweh, is pronounced has alot to do with a person’s accent also. People with different accents can sound like they’re saying Yava, Yahowa, Yahuve, Yahve , Yahuva, Yahuwe when pronouncing the name of God. But no matter how a believer pronounce his name, we know as believers, we are referring to God, our father in heaven.

Definition Of Yahweh

The meaning of the personal name of the Israelite God has been variously interpreted. Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning may be “He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists” (Yahweh-Asher-Yahweh). In I Samuel, God is known by the name Yahweh Teva-ʿot, or “He Brings the Hosts into Existence,” the hosts possibly referring to the heavenly court or to Israel.

(Source Encylopedia Britanica)

Other Names Of God

Although we believe that Yahweh is the utterable name of God, we believe that God has spiritual names also. These names are what he is known for. They are his reputation. For example, God is known as God Almighty, Light, The Lord, Love, King of eternity, Alpha and Omega, Father In Heaven, Ancient Of Days and many other names that are written in the Bible.

So, when we come across a verse in the Bible that talks about the “name” of God, it is not necessarily speaking about Yahweh his utterable name. But instead it could be referring to his reputable names or his reputation, his good name. But when we come across the word LORD in all bold letters in the Bible, it is referring to the Tetragrammaton or the utterable name of God, Yahweh.

Conclusion

Whether it is the utterable name or reputable names of God that we are speaking about, we are still referring to God, the maker of heavens and Earth, our creator.

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