Post by iris89 on Aug 25, 2007 17:27:11 GMT -5
What is the Tet·ra·gram·ma·ton , Pronunciation Key - (Tet`ra*gram"ma*ton), and What is its Significance?
[Middle English Tetragramaton, from Greek tetragrammaton, four-letter word, from neuter of tetragrammatos, four-lettered : tetra-, tetra- + gramma, grammat-, letter; see gerbh- in Indo-European Roots.] [The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition ]
It is a noun, that, "four Hebrew letters (usually transliterated as YHWH (Yahweh) or JHVH (Jehovah)) signifying the Hebrew name for God (which the Jews regarded as too holy to pronounce)
[WordNet (r) 1.6, (c) 1997 Princeton University]
Let's examine what various writers had to say about the Tetragrammation, the proper name for Almighty God, usually shown as YHWH or JHVH in English:
"Jehovah (Yahweh): The proper name of God in the Old Testament; hence the Jews called it the name by excellence, the great name, the only name,.... Finally, the word is found even in the "Pugio fidei" of Raymund Martin, a work written about 1270 (ed. Paris, 1651, pt. III, dist. ii, cap. iii, p. 448, and Note, p. 745). PROBABLY THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NAME JEHOVAH ANTEDATES EVEN R. MARTIN. No wonder then that this form has been regarded as the true pronunciation of the Divine name by such scholars as Michaelis [("Supplementa ad lexica hebraica", I, 1792, p. 524), Drach (loc. cit., I, 469-98), Stier (Lehrgebäude der hebr. Sprache, 327), and others."]
What of Michaelis? Johann David Michaelis in his German translation of the Old Testament of the eighteenth century...said in part: "On the other hand, the name Jehovah [ Jehova in German] is used. . . . so I considered it to be a matter of integrity in translation to identify it, even though it might not always be pleasing to the German ear." ....Several of my friends insisted that I not at all insert this foreign word. . . . Jehovah is a Nomen Proprium, and, just as properly as I retain other nomina propria [such as] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... In the translation of a classical author one would not have the slightest hesitance toward the use of the names Jupiter, Apollo [and] Diana; and why then should the name of the Only True God sound more offensive? I do not therefore see why I should not use the name Jehovah in the German Bible." "How God's Name Was Pronounced? The following from [Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar./Apr. 1995 Volume 21 Number 2; page 30:]
"1) Among the magical papyri the name appears as IAWOUHE (Ya-oh-oo-ay-eh), but it is difficult to know how much this pronunciation had to do with the Tetragrammaton...so it is not certain how many of these syllables were thought to belong to the name. At least, however, it has more syllables than two, and the central vowel is not omitted, as is done in Yah-weh.
"2) Clement of Alexandria spelled the Tetragrammaton IAOAI (Ya-oo-ai), IAOE (Ya-oo-eh), and IAO (Ya-oh). In none of these is the central oo or oh vowel omitted.
"3) Rabbis often deduced the meaning of a word by taking the word apart and interpreting each part...By this logic Clement argued that the Tetragrammaton had the same consonants as the verb "to be," so it meant the one who caused things to be, but he did not pronounce the word according to any form of that verb. His conjecture was homiletic ally thought provoking, but not scientifically or historically correct...Reams of paper and gallons of ink have been expended over the years justifying a pronunciation Westerners deduced on the basis of Clement's conjecture. It may all be irrelevant to the subject....The word spelled Ya-hoo or Ya-hoh may have been pronounced Yahowah or Yahoowah, but in no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as "Ya," but never as "Ya-weh." This can be illustrated further by studying the proper names of the Bible that were based on the Tetragrammaton....Yah-ho-na-than..."Yaho-cha-nan"...Eli-yahoo ...Anyone who cares to check the concordances will find that there is no name in the entire Scriptures that includes the Tetragrammaton and also omits the vowel that is left out in the two-syllable pronunciation Rainey upholds.
"There is still one other clue to the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton- Hebrew poetry. For example, from the poem of Exodus 15, read aloud verses 1, 3, 6, 11, 17 and 18, first pronouncing the Tetragrammaton as "Yahweh" and then read it again, pronouncing the same word as "Yahowah." Notice the rhyme and poetic beat of the two. In this way the reader can judge which one is the more likely pronunciation used in antiquity.
"The name "Yahowah" is not a ghost word, as Rainey declared. Clement of Alexandria's conjecture that the Tetragrammaton was based on the verb "to be" overlooks the pronunciation of the proper names in the Scripture that include some portion of the Tetragrammaton. Clement did not have access to the scrolls and may never have seen the Aramaic Papyri. Nevertheless, he spelled the Tetragrammaton in Greek employing the central vowel that Rainey omitted in his determination that the proper name was Yahweh....
The way Rudolf Kittle translates YHWH is more accurate than "Yahweh", he translates it "Yehowah. Why? Became YHWH is a 3 syllable word, not a two syllable word like "Yahweh" is. George Buchanan of Wesley Theological Seminary favors the use of "Yahowah" or "Yahoowah." He explains how he came up with those: "In ancient times, parents often named their children after their deities. That means that they would have pronounced their children's names the way the deity's name was pronounced. The Tetragrammaton was used in people's names, and they always used the middle vowel." A few examples of proper names found in the Bible that include the shortened form of God's name are Jonathan, which appears as Yohnathan or Yehohnathan in Hebrew. It means "Yaho or Yahowah has given." Elijah's name is Eliyah or Eliyahu in Hebrew, which means: "My God is Yahoo or Yahoo-wah." Also, Jehoshaphat is Yehohshaphat meaning "Yaho has judged."
The two syllable pronunciation of YHWH as "Yahweh" would not allow for the "o" vowel sound to exist as part of God's name. But in dozens of Biblical names that incorporate the divine name, this middle vowel sound appears in both the original and the shortened forms, as in Jehonathan and Jonathan. Professor Buchanan says about God's name: "In no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as 'Ya,' but never as 'Ya-weh.'... When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it was 'Yah' or 'Yo.' When it was pronounced in three syllables it would have been 'Yahowah' or 'Yahoowa.' If it was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been 'Yaho.' " [(Biblical Archaeology Review)]
Gesenius in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament Scriptures agrees saying: "Those who consider that YHWH [Yehowah] was the actual pronunciation are not altogether without ground on which to defend their opinion. In this way can the abbreviated syllables YHW [Yeho] and YH [Yo], with which many proper names begin, be more satisfactorily explained." -[George Wesley Buchanan Professor Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary Washington, DC]
However, if the word were spelled with four letters in Moses' day, we would expect it to have had more than two syllables, for at that period there were no vowel letters. All the letters were sounded. At the end of the OT period the
Elephantine papyri write the word YHW to be read either yahu (as in names like Shemayahu) or yaho (as in names like Jehozadek). The pronunciation yaho would be favored by the later Greek from iao found in Qumran Greek fragments (2d or 1st centuries B.C.) and in Gnostic materials of the first Christian centuries. [Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament]
"In the history of the English language however, the letter J has a written counterpart in the German J, although the latter J in German is pronounced like an English Y. The bulk of theological studies having come from the German sources, there has been an intermixed usage in English of the J and the Y. Our English translations of the bible reflect this, so we have chosen to use J, thus Jehovah, rather than Yahweh, because this is established English usage for Biblical names beginning with this Hebrew letters. No one suggests that we ought to change Jacob, Joseph, Jehoshaphat, Joshua etc. to begin with a Y, and neither should we at this late date change Jehovah to Yahweh." -[Bible Translator Jay P. Green, Sr. ]
Girdlestones says: "It is generally agreed that Jehovah [unlike Elohim] is not a generic or class name, but a personal or proper name. Maimonides says this is called the Plain name. [Another] says: It is every where a proper name, denoting the person of God, and Him only; whence Elohim partakes more of the character of a common noun.
"The Hebrew may say the Elohim, the true God, in opposition to all false Gods; but he never says the Jehovah, for Jehovah is the name of the true God only! He says my God, but never my Jehovah; the God of Israel, but never the Jehovah of Israel, for there is no other Jehovah, the living God but never of the living Jehovah. "God's personal existence, the continuity of His dealings with man, the unchange-ableness of his promises, and the whole revelation of his redeeming mercy gather round the name Jehovah. "In the 3rd chapt. of Genesis it may be noted that THE SERPENT AVOIDS THE USE OF THE NAME." [Girdlestones Synonyms of the Old Testament; 36-38:]
"THE NAME "Our help is in the name of YHWH, maker of heaven and earth". Psalm 124,8 "And Moses said to Elohim: behold when I come to the children of Israel and say to them: the Elohim (Almighty One) of your fathers has sent me to you; and they say to me; 'What is His Name?' What shall I say to them? And Elohim said to Moses: EHYEH ASHER EHYEH! (I shall be what I shall be!). And he said: say thus to the children of Israel: EHYEH (I shall be) has sent me to you. And Elohim again said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: YHWH, the Elohim of you fathers, "Elohey Abraham", "Elohey Yishaq" we "Elohey Yaaqob" has sent me to you. This is my Name forever, and this is My Mention to all generations!" Exodus 3:13-15. In these passages, the Creator revealed His Name to Moses and through him to Israel and all mankind. It is important to understand that the Creator's Name is neither a noun nor an adjective. It is a verb! Please note that in verse 14 the Creator refers to Himself as "EHYEH", "I shall be". EHYEH is the first person singular, simple future tense of the Hebrew verb HAYOH or HAWOH, to be. Since ONLY the Creator Himself can say "I shall be", Moses, in verse 15, is finally instructed to refer to Him as YHWH, HE will be; This is the third person singular, simple future of the same verb. As such, its correct pronunciation must be YIHWEH. The popular pronunciation YAHWEH is based on a 5th Century Samaritan usage, YABE or YABHE, which is entirely unintelligible, and without any grammatical or linguistic foundation. The form "YAHWEH" is not the simple future used by the Creator Himself in Exodus 3:14 but the so-called CAUSATIVE and would mean "He who causes to be". The Creator certainly "causes to be", but He gives His Name as the simple future in Exodus 3:14 so we can safely assume that the same Name, in the third person, must also be the simple future and not the causative. (In Hebrew the simple future tense is called "ATID" and the causative "HIF'IL"). Some see in the form YAH (as in Halleluyah) proof for the pronunciation "YAHWEH". Anyone who knows Hebrew knows that the vocalization of the syllable, in both verbs and nouns, changes at times with its position in the word. Thus, the root YHW may be pronounced YAHU at the end of the word (as in ELIYAHU - ELIJAH, GEDALYAHU, YISH'AYAHU etc.) and YEHU at the beginning of a word (as in YEHOSHAFAT, YEHOYADA). Thus the syllable YAH at the END of a word, could be pronounced YEH or YIH at the beginning of a word. These observations are based on Hebrew grammar! If the so-called "YAHWISTS" or Sacred Name groups have a source of information above or beyond this one, let them show it! We are specifically commanded by Scripture to use the true Name of the Creator (see Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:21, Psalms 105:1, First Chronicles 23:12 for only a very few examples.)! According to Joel 3:5 (Hebrew Text) deliverance is to be had ONLY by calling upon this name! Some claim that it is a desecration of the Name to have it used so familiarly. No! It is a desecration to substitute a lesser title (as ADONAY, My Supreme Lord, applied to YHWH 134 times in the Hebrew text, but never to be substituted for YHWH) for the Creator's Name. We would not have been commanded by YHWH Himself to bless and swear by His name if this implied desecration of disrespect. Therefore, walking in the light of this truth, we must realize that there is NO room for the use or mention of any of the names of pagan gods in conjunction with the Name YHWH. Calling upon Jesus - alias YAHSHUA, YESHUA, YAHVAHSHUA, - the master, the "messiah", the unknown god, the trinity, the "son" of god, god the son, etc. is idolatry and incompatible with calling upon YHWH. It is NOT enough to pronounce, those who have taken to themselves ANOTHER (beside YHWH). I shall NOT offer their blood-drink offerings (the lord's supper) nor mention their name with my lips!" Psalms 16:4. "And make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard out of your mouth!" Exodus 23:13. "The gods that have NOT made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." Jeremiah 10:11."
"Knowing another's name was a special privilege that offered access to that persons thought and life...God favored His people by revealing [his name] which offered special insight into his love and righteousness." [-Illustrated Bi. Dictionary]
It might be added here that the meaning of Jesus, is, according to Weymouth: "Jehovah is Salvation." So every time anyone uses this name, Jesus, (which is not the original pronunciation of it in the 1st century) he is using and supporting the form of The Divine Name JEHOVAH in the N.T.
Appendix on the Tetragrammaton:
No doubt everyone whom you know has a name. God also has a personal name to set him apart from all other gods. "Is not God his name"? some may ask. No, for "God" is merely a title, just as "President, King, or Judge", are titles. We can learn God's name from the Bible, where it appears about 7,000 times in the orininal Bible texts. For example in the KING JAMES Version; Psalm 83:18; Exodus 6:3; Isaiah 12:2
Some persons are surprised to see God's name in their Bibles. This often is because their Bibles are one that seldom uses God's name. The KJV, for example uses God's name by the title "Lord" and "God", it always puts this title in capital letters, as "LORD", which sets it apart from the common words.
But why? you may ask, "is God's name not used in every place that it occurs in the original Bible text? Why are the titles Lord and God generally used in its place? "The American Revisers", after a careful consideration were brought to the unanimous conviction that a "Jewish Superstition", which regarded the Divine Name, as too "sacred" to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English Bibles or any other versions......This personal name with its wealth of sacred associations has been removed from our Bibles.
Yet, think of this, should we use God's name, even though we may not be saying it exactly the way it was originally pronounced? Well, we use the names of other persons in the Bible, even though we do not say them in the way the names were pronounced in the original Hebrew. For example, "Jesus" name is pronounced "Yesh'ua" in Hebrew. Likewise, it is proper to use God's name, which is revealed in the Bible, whether we pronounce it "Yahweh" in Hebrew or "Jehovah" in english, or in some other way common in our language. What is wrong is to "fail" to use these names. Why? Because those who do not use the names of "Jesus" or "Yahweh" could not be identified with the ones whom God takes out to be "a people for his name", Acts 15:14 We should not only know the name of God and his Son, but praise it before others, as Jesus did when on earth. Matthew 6:9; John 17:6,25 Revelation 14:1
[http://anyboard.net/soc/religion/christian/chapel/posts/277.html ]
Your Friend in Christ Iris89
[Middle English Tetragramaton, from Greek tetragrammaton, four-letter word, from neuter of tetragrammatos, four-lettered : tetra-, tetra- + gramma, grammat-, letter; see gerbh- in Indo-European Roots.] [The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition ]
It is a noun, that, "four Hebrew letters (usually transliterated as YHWH (Yahweh) or JHVH (Jehovah)) signifying the Hebrew name for God (which the Jews regarded as too holy to pronounce)
[WordNet (r) 1.6, (c) 1997 Princeton University]
Let's examine what various writers had to say about the Tetragrammation, the proper name for Almighty God, usually shown as YHWH or JHVH in English:
"Jehovah (Yahweh): The proper name of God in the Old Testament; hence the Jews called it the name by excellence, the great name, the only name,.... Finally, the word is found even in the "Pugio fidei" of Raymund Martin, a work written about 1270 (ed. Paris, 1651, pt. III, dist. ii, cap. iii, p. 448, and Note, p. 745). PROBABLY THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NAME JEHOVAH ANTEDATES EVEN R. MARTIN. No wonder then that this form has been regarded as the true pronunciation of the Divine name by such scholars as Michaelis [("Supplementa ad lexica hebraica", I, 1792, p. 524), Drach (loc. cit., I, 469-98), Stier (Lehrgebäude der hebr. Sprache, 327), and others."]
What of Michaelis? Johann David Michaelis in his German translation of the Old Testament of the eighteenth century...said in part: "On the other hand, the name Jehovah [ Jehova in German] is used. . . . so I considered it to be a matter of integrity in translation to identify it, even though it might not always be pleasing to the German ear." ....Several of my friends insisted that I not at all insert this foreign word. . . . Jehovah is a Nomen Proprium, and, just as properly as I retain other nomina propria [such as] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob... In the translation of a classical author one would not have the slightest hesitance toward the use of the names Jupiter, Apollo [and] Diana; and why then should the name of the Only True God sound more offensive? I do not therefore see why I should not use the name Jehovah in the German Bible." "How God's Name Was Pronounced? The following from [Biblical Archaeology Review, Mar./Apr. 1995 Volume 21 Number 2; page 30:]
"1) Among the magical papyri the name appears as IAWOUHE (Ya-oh-oo-ay-eh), but it is difficult to know how much this pronunciation had to do with the Tetragrammaton...so it is not certain how many of these syllables were thought to belong to the name. At least, however, it has more syllables than two, and the central vowel is not omitted, as is done in Yah-weh.
"2) Clement of Alexandria spelled the Tetragrammaton IAOAI (Ya-oo-ai), IAOE (Ya-oo-eh), and IAO (Ya-oh). In none of these is the central oo or oh vowel omitted.
"3) Rabbis often deduced the meaning of a word by taking the word apart and interpreting each part...By this logic Clement argued that the Tetragrammaton had the same consonants as the verb "to be," so it meant the one who caused things to be, but he did not pronounce the word according to any form of that verb. His conjecture was homiletic ally thought provoking, but not scientifically or historically correct...Reams of paper and gallons of ink have been expended over the years justifying a pronunciation Westerners deduced on the basis of Clement's conjecture. It may all be irrelevant to the subject....The word spelled Ya-hoo or Ya-hoh may have been pronounced Yahowah or Yahoowah, but in no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as "Ya," but never as "Ya-weh." This can be illustrated further by studying the proper names of the Bible that were based on the Tetragrammaton....Yah-ho-na-than..."Yaho-cha-nan"...Eli-yahoo ...Anyone who cares to check the concordances will find that there is no name in the entire Scriptures that includes the Tetragrammaton and also omits the vowel that is left out in the two-syllable pronunciation Rainey upholds.
"There is still one other clue to the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton- Hebrew poetry. For example, from the poem of Exodus 15, read aloud verses 1, 3, 6, 11, 17 and 18, first pronouncing the Tetragrammaton as "Yahweh" and then read it again, pronouncing the same word as "Yahowah." Notice the rhyme and poetic beat of the two. In this way the reader can judge which one is the more likely pronunciation used in antiquity.
"The name "Yahowah" is not a ghost word, as Rainey declared. Clement of Alexandria's conjecture that the Tetragrammaton was based on the verb "to be" overlooks the pronunciation of the proper names in the Scripture that include some portion of the Tetragrammaton. Clement did not have access to the scrolls and may never have seen the Aramaic Papyri. Nevertheless, he spelled the Tetragrammaton in Greek employing the central vowel that Rainey omitted in his determination that the proper name was Yahweh....
The way Rudolf Kittle translates YHWH is more accurate than "Yahweh", he translates it "Yehowah. Why? Became YHWH is a 3 syllable word, not a two syllable word like "Yahweh" is. George Buchanan of Wesley Theological Seminary favors the use of "Yahowah" or "Yahoowah." He explains how he came up with those: "In ancient times, parents often named their children after their deities. That means that they would have pronounced their children's names the way the deity's name was pronounced. The Tetragrammaton was used in people's names, and they always used the middle vowel." A few examples of proper names found in the Bible that include the shortened form of God's name are Jonathan, which appears as Yohnathan or Yehohnathan in Hebrew. It means "Yaho or Yahowah has given." Elijah's name is Eliyah or Eliyahu in Hebrew, which means: "My God is Yahoo or Yahoo-wah." Also, Jehoshaphat is Yehohshaphat meaning "Yaho has judged."
The two syllable pronunciation of YHWH as "Yahweh" would not allow for the "o" vowel sound to exist as part of God's name. But in dozens of Biblical names that incorporate the divine name, this middle vowel sound appears in both the original and the shortened forms, as in Jehonathan and Jonathan. Professor Buchanan says about God's name: "In no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as 'Ya,' but never as 'Ya-weh.'... When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it was 'Yah' or 'Yo.' When it was pronounced in three syllables it would have been 'Yahowah' or 'Yahoowa.' If it was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been 'Yaho.' " [(Biblical Archaeology Review)]
Gesenius in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament Scriptures agrees saying: "Those who consider that YHWH [Yehowah] was the actual pronunciation are not altogether without ground on which to defend their opinion. In this way can the abbreviated syllables YHW [Yeho] and YH [Yo], with which many proper names begin, be more satisfactorily explained." -[George Wesley Buchanan Professor Emeritus, Wesley Theological Seminary Washington, DC]
However, if the word were spelled with four letters in Moses' day, we would expect it to have had more than two syllables, for at that period there were no vowel letters. All the letters were sounded. At the end of the OT period the
Elephantine papyri write the word YHW to be read either yahu (as in names like Shemayahu) or yaho (as in names like Jehozadek). The pronunciation yaho would be favored by the later Greek from iao found in Qumran Greek fragments (2d or 1st centuries B.C.) and in Gnostic materials of the first Christian centuries. [Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament]
"In the history of the English language however, the letter J has a written counterpart in the German J, although the latter J in German is pronounced like an English Y. The bulk of theological studies having come from the German sources, there has been an intermixed usage in English of the J and the Y. Our English translations of the bible reflect this, so we have chosen to use J, thus Jehovah, rather than Yahweh, because this is established English usage for Biblical names beginning with this Hebrew letters. No one suggests that we ought to change Jacob, Joseph, Jehoshaphat, Joshua etc. to begin with a Y, and neither should we at this late date change Jehovah to Yahweh." -[Bible Translator Jay P. Green, Sr. ]
Girdlestones says: "It is generally agreed that Jehovah [unlike Elohim] is not a generic or class name, but a personal or proper name. Maimonides says this is called the Plain name. [Another] says: It is every where a proper name, denoting the person of God, and Him only; whence Elohim partakes more of the character of a common noun.
"The Hebrew may say the Elohim, the true God, in opposition to all false Gods; but he never says the Jehovah, for Jehovah is the name of the true God only! He says my God, but never my Jehovah; the God of Israel, but never the Jehovah of Israel, for there is no other Jehovah, the living God but never of the living Jehovah. "God's personal existence, the continuity of His dealings with man, the unchange-ableness of his promises, and the whole revelation of his redeeming mercy gather round the name Jehovah. "In the 3rd chapt. of Genesis it may be noted that THE SERPENT AVOIDS THE USE OF THE NAME." [Girdlestones Synonyms of the Old Testament; 36-38:]
"THE NAME "Our help is in the name of YHWH, maker of heaven and earth". Psalm 124,8 "And Moses said to Elohim: behold when I come to the children of Israel and say to them: the Elohim (Almighty One) of your fathers has sent me to you; and they say to me; 'What is His Name?' What shall I say to them? And Elohim said to Moses: EHYEH ASHER EHYEH! (I shall be what I shall be!). And he said: say thus to the children of Israel: EHYEH (I shall be) has sent me to you. And Elohim again said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the children of Israel: YHWH, the Elohim of you fathers, "Elohey Abraham", "Elohey Yishaq" we "Elohey Yaaqob" has sent me to you. This is my Name forever, and this is My Mention to all generations!" Exodus 3:13-15. In these passages, the Creator revealed His Name to Moses and through him to Israel and all mankind. It is important to understand that the Creator's Name is neither a noun nor an adjective. It is a verb! Please note that in verse 14 the Creator refers to Himself as "EHYEH", "I shall be". EHYEH is the first person singular, simple future tense of the Hebrew verb HAYOH or HAWOH, to be. Since ONLY the Creator Himself can say "I shall be", Moses, in verse 15, is finally instructed to refer to Him as YHWH, HE will be; This is the third person singular, simple future of the same verb. As such, its correct pronunciation must be YIHWEH. The popular pronunciation YAHWEH is based on a 5th Century Samaritan usage, YABE or YABHE, which is entirely unintelligible, and without any grammatical or linguistic foundation. The form "YAHWEH" is not the simple future used by the Creator Himself in Exodus 3:14 but the so-called CAUSATIVE and would mean "He who causes to be". The Creator certainly "causes to be", but He gives His Name as the simple future in Exodus 3:14 so we can safely assume that the same Name, in the third person, must also be the simple future and not the causative. (In Hebrew the simple future tense is called "ATID" and the causative "HIF'IL"). Some see in the form YAH (as in Halleluyah) proof for the pronunciation "YAHWEH". Anyone who knows Hebrew knows that the vocalization of the syllable, in both verbs and nouns, changes at times with its position in the word. Thus, the root YHW may be pronounced YAHU at the end of the word (as in ELIYAHU - ELIJAH, GEDALYAHU, YISH'AYAHU etc.) and YEHU at the beginning of a word (as in YEHOSHAFAT, YEHOYADA). Thus the syllable YAH at the END of a word, could be pronounced YEH or YIH at the beginning of a word. These observations are based on Hebrew grammar! If the so-called "YAHWISTS" or Sacred Name groups have a source of information above or beyond this one, let them show it! We are specifically commanded by Scripture to use the true Name of the Creator (see Deuteronomy 6:13; 10:21, Psalms 105:1, First Chronicles 23:12 for only a very few examples.)! According to Joel 3:5 (Hebrew Text) deliverance is to be had ONLY by calling upon this name! Some claim that it is a desecration of the Name to have it used so familiarly. No! It is a desecration to substitute a lesser title (as ADONAY, My Supreme Lord, applied to YHWH 134 times in the Hebrew text, but never to be substituted for YHWH) for the Creator's Name. We would not have been commanded by YHWH Himself to bless and swear by His name if this implied desecration of disrespect. Therefore, walking in the light of this truth, we must realize that there is NO room for the use or mention of any of the names of pagan gods in conjunction with the Name YHWH. Calling upon Jesus - alias YAHSHUA, YESHUA, YAHVAHSHUA, - the master, the "messiah", the unknown god, the trinity, the "son" of god, god the son, etc. is idolatry and incompatible with calling upon YHWH. It is NOT enough to pronounce, those who have taken to themselves ANOTHER (beside YHWH). I shall NOT offer their blood-drink offerings (the lord's supper) nor mention their name with my lips!" Psalms 16:4. "And make no mention of the name of other gods, nor let it be heard out of your mouth!" Exodus 23:13. "The gods that have NOT made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." Jeremiah 10:11."
"Knowing another's name was a special privilege that offered access to that persons thought and life...God favored His people by revealing [his name] which offered special insight into his love and righteousness." [-Illustrated Bi. Dictionary]
It might be added here that the meaning of Jesus, is, according to Weymouth: "Jehovah is Salvation." So every time anyone uses this name, Jesus, (which is not the original pronunciation of it in the 1st century) he is using and supporting the form of The Divine Name JEHOVAH in the N.T.
Appendix on the Tetragrammaton:
No doubt everyone whom you know has a name. God also has a personal name to set him apart from all other gods. "Is not God his name"? some may ask. No, for "God" is merely a title, just as "President, King, or Judge", are titles. We can learn God's name from the Bible, where it appears about 7,000 times in the orininal Bible texts. For example in the KING JAMES Version; Psalm 83:18; Exodus 6:3; Isaiah 12:2
Some persons are surprised to see God's name in their Bibles. This often is because their Bibles are one that seldom uses God's name. The KJV, for example uses God's name by the title "Lord" and "God", it always puts this title in capital letters, as "LORD", which sets it apart from the common words.
But why? you may ask, "is God's name not used in every place that it occurs in the original Bible text? Why are the titles Lord and God generally used in its place? "The American Revisers", after a careful consideration were brought to the unanimous conviction that a "Jewish Superstition", which regarded the Divine Name, as too "sacred" to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English Bibles or any other versions......This personal name with its wealth of sacred associations has been removed from our Bibles.
Yet, think of this, should we use God's name, even though we may not be saying it exactly the way it was originally pronounced? Well, we use the names of other persons in the Bible, even though we do not say them in the way the names were pronounced in the original Hebrew. For example, "Jesus" name is pronounced "Yesh'ua" in Hebrew. Likewise, it is proper to use God's name, which is revealed in the Bible, whether we pronounce it "Yahweh" in Hebrew or "Jehovah" in english, or in some other way common in our language. What is wrong is to "fail" to use these names. Why? Because those who do not use the names of "Jesus" or "Yahweh" could not be identified with the ones whom God takes out to be "a people for his name", Acts 15:14 We should not only know the name of God and his Son, but praise it before others, as Jesus did when on earth. Matthew 6:9; John 17:6,25 Revelation 14:1
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Your Friend in Christ Iris89