What is YHWH? ( Known as the tetragrammaton ) | GotQuestions.org
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What does YHWH, or the tetragrammaton mean? How do you pronounce YHWH and why was it used in the Bible. In this video we answer your question: What is YHWH?
Source Article: https://www.gotquestions.org/YHWH-tetragrammaton.html
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- What is YHWH? The ancient
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- Hebrew language that the Old Testament was written in did not have vowels in its alphabet. In written form, ancient
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- Hebrew was a consonant -only language. In the original Hebrew, God's name transliterates to YHWH, sometimes written in the older style as YHVH.
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- This is known as the Tetragrammaton, meaning four letters. Because of the lack of vowels,
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- Bible scholars debate how the Tetragrammaton YHWH was pronounced. The Tetragrammaton consists of four
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- Hebrew letters, Yod, He, Wah, and then He repeated. Some versions of the
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- Bible translate the Tetragrammaton as Yahweh or Jehovah. Most translate it as Lord in all caps.
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- Contrary to what some believe, Jehovah is not the divine name revealed to Israel. The name
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- Jehovah is a product of mixing different words and different alphabets of different languages. Due to a fear of accidentally taking
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- God's name in vain, the Jews basically quit saying it out loud altogether. Instead, when reading scripture aloud, the
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- Jews substituted the Tetragrammaton YHWH with the word Adonai or Lord. Even in the
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- Septuagint, Greek translation of the Old Testament, the translators substituted Kyrios for the divine name.
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- Eventually, the vowels from Adonai or Elohim found their way in between the consonants of YHWH, thus forming
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- Yahweh. But this interpolation of vowels does not mean that was how God's name was originally pronounced.
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- In fact, we aren't entirely sure if YHWH should have two syllables or three.
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- Any number of vowel sounds can be inserted within YHWH, and Jewish scholars are as uncertain of the real pronunciation as Christian scholars are.
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- Jehovah is actually a much later variant. The word Jehovah comes from a three -syllable version of YHWH, Y -E -H -O -W -E -H.
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- The Y was replaced with J, although Hebrew does not have a J sound, and the W with the
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- V plus the extra vowel in the middle resulting in Je -ho -vah. These vowels are the abbreviated forms of the imperfect tense, the participial form, and the perfect tense of the
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- Hebrew being verb. Thus, the meaning of Jehovah could be understood as he who will be, is, and has been.
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- So what is God's name, and what does it mean? The most likely choice for how the Tetragrammaton was pronounced is
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- Yahweh, Yah -wah, or something similar. The name Yahweh refers to God's self -existence.
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- Yahweh is linked to how God describes himself in Exodus 3 .14. God said to Moses, I am who
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- I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you.
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- God's name is a reflection of his being. God is the only self -existent or self -sufficient being.
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- Only God has life in and of himself. That is the essential meaning of the
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- Tetragrammaton, YHWH. Got questions? The Bible has answers, and we'll help you find them.