What is YHWH?

Response

The ancient Hebrew language, in which the Old Testament was written, did not include vowels in its alphabet. Ancient Hebrew was a language composed solely of consonants in its written form. In the original Hebrew text, the name of God is transliterated as YHWH (sometimes seen in the older form as YHVH). This set of four letters is known as the tetragrammaton, meaning “four letters.” Due to the absence of vowels, scholars of the Bible discuss the possible pronunciation of the tetragrammaton YHWH.

The tetragrammaton comprises four Hebrew letters: yodh, he, waw, and he repeated. Some versions of the Bible render the tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”; however, most translations render it as “LORD” (in all capital letters).

Contrary to some beliefs, “Jehovah” is not the Divine Name disclosed to Israel. The term “Jehovah” is a result of blending various words and alphabets from different languages. Due to the apprehension of inadvertently misusing God’s name «And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death. », (Leviticus 24:16), the Jewish people essentially ceased vocalizing it. Instead, when publicly reading Scripture, they substituted the tetragrammaton YHWH with the term Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the translators replaced the Divine Name with Kurios (“Lord”). Over time, the vowels from Adonai (“Lord”) or Elohim (“God”) were inserted between the consonants of YHWH, resulting in YaHWeH. This insertion of

Vowels do not determine how God’s name was originally pronounced. In reality, we are not completely certain if YHWH should consist of two syllables or three.

Various vowel sounds can be included within YHWH, and Jewish scholars are just as unsure about the actual pronunciation as Christian scholars are. Jehovah is actually a much later variant, probably from the 16th century. The term Jehovah originates from a three-syllable form of YHWH, YeHoWeH. The Y was substituted with a J (even though Hebrew lacks a J sound) and the W with a V, along with an additional vowel in the middle, resulting in JeHoVaH. These vowels represent the abbreviated forms of the imperfect tense, the participial form, and the perfect tense of the Hebrew being verb—thus, Jehovah could be interpreted as “He who will be, is, and has been.”

So, what is God’s Name, and what does it signify? The most probable pronunciation for the tetragrammaton is “YAH-way,” “YAH-weh,” or something similar. The name Yahweh signifies God’s self-existence. Yahweh is connected to how God identified Himself in Exodus 3:14, “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I AM has sent me to you.”’” God’s name reflects His essence. God is the sole self-existent and self-sufficient Being. Only God possesses life in and of Himself. This is the fundamental significance of the tetragrammaton, YHWH.