EXPOSING
THE LAME “NAME EXCUSE”
Special
Edition
By Rabbi/Rabbi/Brother Moshe Yoseph Koniuchowsky
With Editorial Assistance From
Footnoted Sources.
‘MY SPIRITUAL
LEADER SAID’:
“NO REALLY KNOWS
HOW TO PRONOUNCE YHWH!
SO THAT’S WHY WE
DON’T USE IT!”
Have you ever wondered why people who are believers in the
Moshiach Yahshua do not pronounce Abba’s real given Name? Have you ever been
mystified as to why there are certain Messianic and Christian sects that will
only use the Son’s true Name Yahshua/Yahushua but do not or will not see the
restoration of the Father’s Name as equally or even more important? Have you or
someone you know ever gone to a recognized leader, rabbi or pastor,
earnestly inquiring as to why they do
not use Yahweh’s true Name? And have you ever gotten a response similar to
this? “Well… we would, if we could but SINCE NO ONE REALLY IS SURE AS TO HOW TO
PRONOUNCE IT, WELL….WE JUST DON’T!”
S.a.tan (the one whose rear end will fry in full tan) has
the entire believing and unbelieving world jointly held together in dark unity
by what I call the LAME “NAME EXCUSE”; “We Don’t Know The Pronunciation For
Sure” doctrine of s.a.tan’s Theological Seminary 101. This doctrine,
manmade to the core, in most cases is designed to excuse the often willful
ignorance of a given spiritual leader, that reveals them to have a complete
lack of accurate biblical, historical or ecclesiastical history relating to the
one true eternal Name of the Father.
In this day, during the restoration of all things spoken of by the prophets of Israel (Acts
3:21), it is incumbent upon you and I TO NEVER ACCEPT THIS WEAK,
TIMID, UNSCHOLASTIC EXPLANATION. YOU AND I MUST START TO DEMAND THAT THE LEADER IN QUESTION PROVIDE US WITH HIS OR
HER PROOF, SHOWING THAT ABBA HAS LEFT
US WITHOUT THE ABILITY TO KNOW FOR SURE
AS TO HOW HIS NAME IS TO BE PRONOUNCED.
Religious leaders equipped with this lame “Name
Excuse” used as a crutch, continue to
proliferate false SUBSTITUTE titles and names for Elohim in all languages
including Hebrew, that have no biblical, historical or ecclesisiatical reality.
These leaders have chosen in many cases to hide under the shadow of familiar
names and titles, (under the influence of “familiar religious spirits that
tormented our forefathers”) that are clearly not his Name, all the while
claiming their justification in so doing with the now familiar lame “name
excuse”, of “well…we just don’t know for sure”. But what they do know for sure, ( various false names that Yahweh
forbids and cautions them not to use) they freely and often without reservation
use and proliferate.
WHY THE RESISTANCE?
Before we address this all encompassing error with some
of the most liberating facts that we can present to all truth seekers in this
final hour, we must in turn ask the true question that begs to be addressed
which is: Why?
Why do these same folks insist, (even when lovingly corrected) in using
false names, and titles for Yahweh like Jehovah or God or HaShem, when they can
know for sure that these names and titles are clearly false substitutes. It
seems like when it comes to these familiar spirited titles, these same leaders
are secure and snug in their “knowing for sure” that these substitutes are
being pronounced correctly. Hmmmmm….. Is it not better to accidentally
mispronounce or highlight a wrong letter in childlike inaccuracy, and
innocence, rather than to bring Yahweh’s entire Name to naught (Shemot/Exodus
20:7) bringing defilement to themselves
and their hearers?
These “leaders”
you have been seeking are in violation
of the first and third commandments, not just the third. The
first AND GREATEST IS….I AM YAHWEH YOUR ELOHIM [THE ONE] WHO BROUGHT YOU
OUT OF THE LAND OF MITZRAYIM….(Shemot/Exodus 20:1-2)…NOT THE ‘GOD YOUR GOD’ OR
THE ‘LORD GOD YOUR GOD’ OR THE PICK YOUR OWN FAMILIAR NAME THY GOD! We are told
to love Yahweh SPECIFICALLY BY NAME (Devarim/Det. 6:4) by Messiah Himself (Matityahu/Matthew 22:36-38) , and
its virtually impossible to recognize, let alone love someone whose name you do
not know or whose name you shun, under the shadow of the lame “Name Excuse
Doctrine.”
The next time you ask your “spiritual leader” why he does not teach, and instruct in the true
Name of Yahweh, and you receive the
same “NOBODY knows for sure how it is pronounced” answer, just take it upon yourself to educate them
to the truth. And what is the truth?
The truth is what Yahweh says in Isaiah/Yeshayahu 52:6! The Father states
unequivocally “ THERFORE MY PEOPLE SHALL KNOW MY NAME. IN THAT DAY
[Hebrew idiom for the last of the last days] FOR I AM THE ONE WHO IS
SPEAKING.” So when a spiritual leader rehearses the worn out pabulum of “I
don’t pronounce it, since no one can know for sure just how to pronounce it”,
also known as the lame “Name Excuse”, they are in direct violation of the above
text. They have tragically in essence called Abba Yahweh a liar, for Yahweh has said that HIS PEOPLE SHALL IN FACT
KNOW HIS NAME!… THEREFORE IT MAY BE ASSUMED THAT THIS LEADER UNDER YOUR
QUESTIONING, BY THEIR OWN CHOICE, MAY NOT BE PART OF HIS PEOPLE OF RENEWED
COVENANT RETURNING ISRAEL, SINCE YAHWEH PROMISED THAT HIS LAST DAYS REMNANT, WOULD CERTAINLY KNOW
HIS NAME! HE HIMSELF WOULD SEE TO IT!
Also in Shemot/Exodus 3:15 Yahweh promises to preserve
His Name as a memorial of His redemptive nature to all generations. Now
if He did not instruct us as to how to verbally memorialize it through proper
pronunciation, then His very honesty can be called into question, since
according to this wicked and adulterous generation walking fully in the lame
“Name Excuse”, they believe that Yahweh did not memorialize it through
revelation to prior generations, [after the rabbinic ban in circa 400 BCE] so
as to assure its preservation! In essence this is calling our Father in the
third heaven a liar. These are they who wrongly insinuate by their false
adoption of the lame “Name Excuse” doctrine, that Abba Yahweh has voluntarily
submitted to unregenerate man, and placed Himself under “the ban” of rabbinic
Judaism by neglecting His own revealed Word! Sheer blasphemy!
This talmudic principle is unknowingly followed by the
manmade kirch toady. In traditional Judaism it is well known as the principle
of the “Kol HaAm” or the “Voice Of The People”. The essence of
this principle states that even if the voice from Yahweh coming directly from
heaven gives clear divine instruction, and if the collective voice of the
people of Israel led by the [talmudic] rabbis, gives a different or
contradictory instruction, that the voice of the nation ALWAYS PREVAILS AND
TAKES PRECEDENCE over the voice of Abba Yahweh. Papists are also well
acquainted with this behavior as seen in much of their catechism in all forms
of popery.
Unknown to millions of pastors and messianic rabbis, this
is the unscriptural Kol HaAm principle that they are walking in, even
though they would claim that they would never willingly follow man’s word above
Yahweh’s Word. When they invoke the lame “Name Excuse Doctrine”, they ipso
facto have fallen into the trap of the unscriptural “Kol HaAm
Principle!”
MESSIAH’S MINISTRY
Now add this to the fact that one of Messiah’s main
ministries according to Moshiach Himself was to DECLARE THE FATHER’S NAME
ACCORDING TO JOHN/YOCHANAN 17:26, WHERE YAHSHUA STATES THAT HE “HAS MADE YOUR
NAME KNOWN AND SHALL MAKE IT KNOWN [in future generations by revelation of the
Ruach]”. According to Yahshua, His Father is seeing to it, that His own
personal Name is being revealed, and declared to His remnant talmidm in every
generation that has, and will yet come to belief in Yah’s Son! Those who justify
their lack of knowledge or obedience by telling others that no one knows for
sure just how to pronounce Yahweh’s Name are directly attacking the words,
calling, and role of Messiah Yahshua in the days of His flesh by insinuating
that Messiah found a way to declare Yahweh’s Name, without first teaching His
talmidim just how to pronounce it and use it. The truth of the matter is that
He had been commissioned by Abba Yahweh Himself to REINTRODUCE IT to the
nations through His talmidim, (Acts/Maaseh HaShlichim 18:15,
Matt./Matityahu 28:19) due to Jewish
Israel’s violation of the first and third commandments through the
introduction of the false doctrine of ineffability. Today most likely your
leader does not walk in the ministry of declaring Abba's Name that Yahshua
Himself came to reestablish. Such a leader has sadly, knowingly or even in
ignorance, chosen rather to walk under an unjust and damnable ruling from the
apostate seat of Moses (those illegally seated there seated themselves, and who
are not sons of Aaron according to Torah. See Part 13 Moses Seat &
Messianic Nazarene Yisrael) at www.yourarmstoisrael.org)
So while your leader may not realize it by reciting the
lame “Name Excuse” that “ no one knows for sure how to pronounce it” that is being so widely propagated in these
days, not only is he or she declaring his or her separation from Israel’s
Commonwealth, and Yahshua’s restoration teaching ministry but has sworn allegiance to the unregenerate
rabbis, (not Aaronites) who introduced this hideous doctrine to Israel, over and above the Master Yahshua's calling
on the lives of seeking Israelites. Consider the following established, and
well documented facts, showing that we can know FOR SURE how to use and
pronounce Yahweh’s Name:
JOSEPHUS[1]
Dr.
Pearce [2]
brings out proof can be found in the
report by Dr. Miller Burroughs (one of the 3 leading experts in Semitic
languages) in 'The Biblical Archaeologists" of Sept. 1948 on the
Dead Sea Scrolls - under
the title, the book of Isaiah. In Josephus Flavius's "Wars of the
Jews", book 5, Chapter 5, Section 7, Josephus states that 'HaShem” ('THE
NAME' in Hebrew) was made up of 4
vowels.
Dr.
Koster in his two studies on the NAME of the Most High, also proves that the
Tetragram is composed of 4 vowels, referring to Josephus, and also to the early
Greek “Church Fathers”, who transliterated HASHEM as all vowels, which
transliterated into English, would be [I-A-U-E]. Bishop Pearce used[3]
[I-A-U-A] with the last {Hey} ending
in a ah sound. This is a feminine ending in the Hebrew language, showing
that the Heavenly Father has both Masculine and Feminine attributes. However,
even though The Heavenly Father does have both masculine and feminine
attributes , Dr. Koster and most Scriptural scholars use the masculine ending for
the HEAVENLY FATHER'S NAME. The last letter He -is vocalized as the
vowel 'e' (sounded as 'eh' as in 'met'}, simply for the
reason that every time a pronoun is used referring to the Heavenly Father it is
always masculine. Therefore it seems logical that HIS NAME would have a
masculine ending as well.
Why The Tradition Of
Surrogates For Yahweh?
Why was this tradition of
substituting another deity's name in place of the HEAVENLY FATHER'S SEPARATED
NAME started by the Jewish priests? While they were in captivity, [in Babylon]
they saw HIS SEPARATED NAME blasphemed every day, (Isa. 52:5). When the Jews returned from their Babylonian
captivity, there was a strong effort by the priests to remove from
common use the Personal NAME of the HEAVENLY FATHER. To keep [protect] HIS NAME
from being profaned or blasphemed by the common uneducated people they
legislated against anyone other than a priest pronouncing The NAME Of
The Heavenly Father; making it a death penalty to do so!
They based their decision
to do so on their interpretation of Wayiqra. /Lev., 24:10-16.23 where an
Israelite man had a fight with another Israelite, and blasphemed the Name of
The Most High. The Hebrew word for the English word 'blaspheme' is 'naqab',
and means to libel, blaspheme, curse (Strongs Conc. #5344). It can also have
the meaning to pronounce distinctly. So they interpreted Wayiqra/Lev. 24:10-16 to mean if you even pronounce the HEAVENLY FATHER'S NAME you
are blaspheming and are under the death penalty.
In the over 7,000 places
[Ed Note. Actually just under 7,000] where the SEPARATED NAME was written in
the Scriptures, in order to keep the people from pronouncing The HEAVENLY
FATHER'S NAME, the Talmud [Jewish Oral Law] ordered the people to pronounce
Adonai instead. "This is My Name to be hidden" was their oral
command, supposedly given by the Almighty, which became a written law of the
Talmud. Another text of the Mishna reads: "In the sanctuary the priest
were accustomed to pronounce the NAME as it is written; in the town, by disguising
it." This shows that they were still pronouncing it, but only in the
temple at Jerusalem, and the NAME was disguised in other places or in the
synagogues. [When Yahshua violated this manmade ban in Luke 4:18&19 by
twice pronouncing the Name of Yahweh while declaring Himself Messiah, He was
immediately headed towards a cliff! Luke 4 :29]
The idea that only the
priest could utter The SEPARATED NAME of The HEAVENLY FATHER, and that he was
to disguise or hide it from the common people, came from the idea that the NAME
was ineffable or unutterable. However this was a pagan doctrine that they
adopted from the Egyptians, Babylonians, and the Greeks, each that held
dominion over them at one time.[4]
Still later, further
restrictions were placed on pronouncing THE NAME. Its use was finally confined
to the high priest, and he [alone] could only pronounce it on the Day of
Atonement. After Simon the Just died in 290 B.C.E., the priests ceased
pronouncing THE ALMIGHTY'S NAME. From that time until even now according to the
traditions and customs of the religious leaders, no one, not even
priests in the temple were permitted to pronounce the personal name of the Heavenly Father. To speak the
SEPARATED NAME of IAUE meant the death sentence![5]
Craig Emsweller further
substantiates the Rabbinic injunction against pronouncing the NAME. Mr.
Emsweller quotes from the book: The Old Rabbinic Doctrine of God
by Rabbi A. Marmorstein. "There was a time when this prohibition of
not
using THE DIVINE NAME was entirely unknown among the Jews...neither in Egypt,
nor in Babylonia, did Israel know or keep a law prohibiting the use of G-d's
name, the ,... Tetragrammaton, in ordinary conservation or greetings. Yet from
the third century B.C.E. until the third century C.E. such a prohibition
existed and was partly observed. " [6]
Mr. Emsweller then goes on
to say: "Not only was the use of the NAME allowed in earlier times, but
also as Dr. Cohen says from his book, Everyman's Talmud!!, there
was a time when the free and open use of the NAME, even by laymen, was
advocated." However this does not mean that the people of Israel did not
hold THE NAME in reverence as Rabbi Cohen also states: "Special reverence
was attached to the distinctive name, (SHEM HEMEPHORASH) of the deity which HE
had revealed to the people of Israel, viz. the Tetragrammaton, YHWH. The NAME
was revered because it represented, and characterized the very person of
YAHWEH. After all it was YAHWEH Himself who announced HIS NAME and told
worshipers to use it."
Mr. Emsweller then
goes on to show through Dr. Marmostein's writings that it was the combined
pressure of the Hellenistic opposition to the Jewish religion and apostasy of
the priests, and nobles who introduced, and established the rule not to
pronounce the Tetragrammaton. This caused the Divine NAME to fall into disuse
among the Jews.[7]
MEN ALWAYS KNEW HOW
TO PRONOUNCE IT![8]
The Encyclopedia Judaica vol.7, pp.679 states;
"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'.
The Encyclopedia Britannica (Micropedia, vol. 10) says:
"Yahweh-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
letters of YHWH with the vowel signs of [for] Adonai or of Elohim. Thus the
artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. 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, thus this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never really
lost. Greek transcriptions also indicate that YHWH should be pronounced
Yahweh."
Interestingly, even the Jehovah's
Witnesses [Watchtower] acknowledge that the name Jehovah is improper. Their
book, "Let Your Name Be Sanctified" freely admits on pages 16
and 18[9]
that Yahweh is the superior translation of the Tetragrammaton. This book has
lately been withdrawn. However, in the preface of their "The Kingdom
Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures," we find on page 23
the following admission:
"While inclining to view the
pronunciation 'Yahweh' as the more correct way, we have retained the form
'Jehovah' because of people's familiarity with it since the 14th century.
Moreover, it preserves equally with other forms, the four letters of the
Tetragrammaton JHVH."
James Moffatt's Bible uses the title "Eternal," a title
used by some groups who deny Yahweh's Name. Moffatt says in his preface:
"Strictly speaking, this
ought to be rendered 'Yahweh,' which is familiar to modern readers in the
erroneous form of 'Jehovah.' Were this a version intended for students of the
original, there would be no hesitation whatever in printing 'Yahweh.'"
Moffatt admits that students of the original text (correct text) should
use "Yahweh." Those who are not ardent students or lack interest
in the original text given us by Yahweh Himself call Him by titles like
"Eternal."
Revised English
Bible - Introduction to the Old Testament
The divine Name (YHWH
in Hebrew characters) was probably pronounced 'Yahweh',
Revised Standard
Version –
Preface While it is almost if not quite certain that the Name was
originally pronounced "Yahweh",
New King James
Version -
Word study on Exodus 3:15 (New Open Bible) Yahweh -
It is very likely
that the Name was pronounced very much like "Yahweh."
Comparisons with
transliterations of the name into other alphabets from very ancient times confirm
this. The best argument for the spelling is that it is probably the [most]
historically accurate.
"I further betray my faith by the use of the English word ‘God,’
rooted as it is in old Germanic paganism. I struggle with ways to
replace this term in English but come up empty-handed. By ‘God,’ I mean Y-H-W-H, the One of all being. This name of God is
the starting point of all Jewish theology." (Seek My Face, Speak My
Name by Rabbi Arthur Green, p. 18) [10]
YOUNG'S ANALYTICAL
CONCORDANCE. Young gives a rule that is safe to follow in our search for
the true pronunciation of the Heavenly Father's Name. Young
says, 'Doubtful, or unfamiliar words should be pronounced in harmony with the
general tendencies of the language, or in a way similar to other words which
strikingly resemble them." Thus the Name, IAUE (Yod Hey Waw Hey) would be
pronounced in harmony with such names as Halleluyah, YahshHa, JerHsalem [
actually Yahrushalayim], etc. and would retain the' DOUBLE-oo sound. [11]
Murashu Texts from the 5th century B.C.E. revealed Yahwistic
Names starting with YAHU
(IAU) instead of the Massoretic vowel pointing of JEHO which the Massoretes
used to begin Yahwistic Names. This has great significance, as the Murashu
texts being much much older than the Massoretic text (Massoretic text was
written around the 7th century C.E., so the Murashu texts are more than 1,200
years older) are therefore more valid, both historically and linguistically.
Since the Murashu texts were written before the Talmud was written, the scribes
who wrote them were not under the compulsion to hide or disguise the
Heavenly Father's Name like the Massoretes, who were instructed by penalty
of death to do so by the Talmud. This shows that the Massoretic vowel pointing
'E 0 A . under HaShem was done for the purpose of disguising The
Name and not just for the purpose of substituting the name Adonai. [12]
YOD HEY WAW is represented in the Assyrian transcripts as IAAU
sometimes as IAAU, sometimes by IU, which brings out that the importance or the
emphasis that was placed on the Waw or Double O sound.[13]
The transliteration of HaShem into Greek by the early Church
Fathers as lAOUE, lAOUAl, lABE, and
IAUE. All of these different transliterations sounding as IA-OO'-EH or Y
AH-OO'-EH. [Said at normal tongue speed Yah- oo -Eh becomes Yahweh.][14]
THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, under Jehovah reads: It is
now held that the original name was IAHUEH." Then it tries to show that
from that transliteration, you come up with Yahweh.[15]
THE OXFORD DICTIONARY states -IAHUEH! [is [Yahweh] [16]
NIV-HEBREW-GREEK STUDY BIBLE-P.71 AMG PUBLISHERS ZODHIATES-
“ The expression I AM is the translation of the Hebrew word YHWH VOCALISED
Yahweh.”[17]
The
evidence of the EITHOPIAN APOCRYPHA, as brought by the Frenchman Basset, that the Name was known as
YAHOUE.[18]
The rules brought by Young in his concordance used in Hebrew in
seeking to correctly pronounce names, along with the rules put forth by The
Jewish Encyclopedia, and the book published by Eks Pub. Co. Simple
'Approach to Old Testament Hebrew, all support keeping the double'U' or
double '00' sound, with emphasis on the second syllable (not the first) or the
'00' sound in the Heavenly Father's Name . [Yah oo eh][19]
“Hasn’t The
Pronunciation Of The Name Been Lost?” [20]
It is not unusual for some who reject the Name Yahweh to
argue that because of the aversion of the Jews to using the Name or even to
uttering it, that the correct pronunciation became lost. This is the same ineffectual argument put
forth by those who reject the Sabbath, saying that the Sabbath has been lost so
no one knows which day it is.
Would Yahweh command that all men call on His revealed,
personal Name – an eternal Name that is His very memorial to all generations
(Ex. 3:15), a Name that is the only Name giving salvation [YATI NOTE-We
believe it is a vital discipleship issue not a salvation issue for Yahweh’s
love overlooks our ignorance until a time where we understand this identifying
mark as Israelites .RM]– and then allow it to vanish in the midst of time?
Just as the Jews were given the sacred trust of preserving
Yahweh’s Word and statues (Rom. 3:1-2), keeping and sustaining the Sabbath in
its proper weekly sequence down through history, they also have preserved
the proper pronunciation of the Name through the Hebrew language. Jewish history says that the priest spoke
the sacred Name 10 times annually on the Day of Atonement down through the
centuries. A Name so revered would
never be lost on the priesthood. Ask
most any Jew in Israel today whether “Yahweh” is the true pronunciation and he
or she will acknowledge that it is. Scholarship
also reveals the proper pronunciation. One does not even need to go beyond a standard encyclopedia for the
facts.
The Encyclopedia Biblica tells us, “The
controversy as to the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, whether as
Yahweh, or Yahawe, Yahwa, or Yahawa…has been gradually brought to an end by the
general adoption of the view, first propounded by Ewald, that the true form is
Yahwe” (Divine Names, p. 3311).[21] The eminent Encyclopedia Judaica confirms this, “The
true pronunciation of the name YHWH [Yahweh] was never lost. Several early Greek writers of the
Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced ‘Yahweh,’” Vol. 7,
p.680.
This is validated in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th
Edition: “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.” Vol.
X, p. 786.
Other references substantiate proper pronunciation as
“Yahweh.” The 15th edition
of the Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 12, p. 995, makes the following
comment under the heading “Jehovah”:
“The pronunciation ‘Jehovah’ is an error resulting among
Christians from combining the consonants [ YATI Ed. Note-not pure consonants
but letters that were used as both consonants and vowels] Yhwh (Jhvh) with the
vowels of ‘adhonay, ‘Lord,’[under the 4 letters] which the Jews in reading
the Scriptures substituted for the sacred name, commonly called the
tetragrammaton as containing four consonants[see YATI editors not above]…The
Rabbinic tradition that after the death of Simeon the Just (fl.290 B.C.) It
was no longer pronounced even on these occasions, is contradicted by the
well-attested statement that in the last generation before the fall of
Jerusalem (A.D. 70) it was uttered so low that the sounds were lost in the
chant of the priest. After that
event the liturgical use of the name ceased, but the tradition was perpetuated
in the Rabbinic schools; it continued also to be employed by healers, exorcists
and magicians, and is found on many magical papyri. It is asserted by Philo that only priests might pronounce it and
by Josephus that those who knew it were forbidden to divulge it. Finally the Samaritans shared the scruples
of the Jews, except that they used it in judicial oaths….The early Christian
scholars therefore easily learnt the true pronunciation.”
Clement of Alexandria (d. 212) gives Iaove or Iaovai (or
in one manuscript Iaov), Origen (d. 253-54) ‘Ian, and Epiphanius (d. 404) IaBe
(or Iave in one manuscript); Theodoret (d. 457) says that the Samaritans
pronounced it IaBe…” (Vol. 12). Samaritan
poetry employs the Tetragrammaton and then rhymes it with words having the same
sound as Yah-oo-ay (Journal of Biblical Literature, 25, p.50 and Jewish
Encyclopedia, vol.9, p.161).
The following authorities also leave no doubt as to the
proper and correct pronunciation of Yahweh’s Name:
“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 shem (‘name’) is associated with the divine being
that Name is Yahweh,” Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary, 1979 page 478.
The Latin v spoken of here had
the same sound as the English w, sharing a close affinity with the u (Harper’s
Latin Dictionary). That is why the w
(“double u”) is made up of two v’s. The
v was used as a vowel, only later becoming a consonant. It came from the u, which it follows in the
alphabet.
“It is now held that the
original name was IaHUe(H), i.e. Jahve(h, or with the English values of
the letters, Yahweh(h, and one or other of these forms is now generally
used by writers upon the religion of the Hebrews” (Oxford English Dictionary
under “Jehovah”).
“The saying of God, ‘I am
who I am,’ is surely connected with His name that is written in the Hebrew
consonantal text as Yhwh, the original pronunciation of which is well
attested as Yahweh” (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 5, page 743).
“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,” page 471.
¨ Writings in Biblical
Archaeology Review, Professor Anson F. Rainey, professor of Semitic
Linguistics at Tel Aviv University, confirms that “Yahweh” is the correct
pronunciation: “I mentioned the evidence from Greek papyri found in
Egypt. The best of these is Iaouee
(London Papyri, xlvi, 446-483).
Clement of Alexandria said, “The mystic name which is
called the tetragrammaton…is pronounced Iaoue [Yah-oo-eh], which means,
“Who is, and who shall be.”’
“The internal evidence from the
Hebrew language is equally strong and confirms the accuracy of the Greek
transcriptions. Yahweh is from a
verbal root developed from the third person pronoun, *huwal *hiya [sic]. In Jewish tradition, it is forbidden to
pronounce the Sacred Name and its true pronunciation is supposed to remain
secret. The fact is that Jewish
tridents (who put the [under] vowel points in the Hebrew text) borrowed the
vowels from another word, either adonai ‘my lord(s),’ or elohim
‘God.’ They avoided the very short a
vowel in this borrowing because it might have led the synagogue reader to make
a mistake and pronounce the correct first syllable of the Sacred Name, namely –ya. The vocalized form one finds in the Hebrew
Bible is usually Yehowah, from which we get in English the form Jehovah. Yehowa/Jehovah is nothing but an
artificial ghost word; it was never used in antiquity. The synagogue reader saw Yehowah in
his text and read it adonai” (Biblical Archeological Review, Sept.-Oct.
1994).
¨ Seventh-day Adventist and
Hebrew scholar. Raymond F. Cottrell, writes, “The English spelling of
Yahweh is now almost universally believed to reflect accurately the ancient, original
pronunciation of YHWH. In keeping with
the common practice today of pronouncing proper names translated from a foreign
language with as nearly the original vocalization as possible, it would be
altogether correct and proper for us to use the name Yahweh wherever the word
YHWH (“Lord”) occurs in the Old Testament, and also whenever we are speaking of
the true God in Old Testament times. This
practice is becoming more and more common among Bible scholars and informed
Christians,” Review and Herald, Feb. 9, 1967.[22]
So
there remains literally bushels of evidence for those who want to be found in
obedience to 2 Tim. 2:15. It is up to your spiritual leader or the one whom you
ask for truth to study truth and be able to relate truth without repeating the lame
“Name Excuse”.
Some Insist That
Asking Or Using Yahweh’s Name Merely
Means ‘By His Authority.’ How can you
say it means pronouncing a Hebrew Name?”
Attempting
to sever Yahweh from His very being, nature, personality, and essence through
calling on another name is nothing more than a feeble attempt to quiet one’s
conscience about the importance of His revealed, personal Name. It is true to do something “in a name” can
mean by the authority of that individual. But in the Bible it means so very much more.
What such reasoning cannot get around is the fact that Yahweh’s Name is
definitive – it expresses the character and very personality of the Creator and
Sustainer who bears it. His Name is
nothing less than an extension of His being. It expresses His quintessence. Yahweh’s Name is composed of the very verb of existence – haYa.
[YATI note-eyeh asher eyeh; I will be that which I will be] His Name is alive and active. It means He will be whatever His people need
of Him. To call on a dead, generic term
expecting the same results as calling on His dynamic Name is an insult, once we
know that He has a personal, vigorous, life-giving, healing, and Covenant Name
that embodies salvation itself to those who call on Him.[23]
Conclusion
In
Shemot/Exodus 23:13 Yahweh puts to rest the claim that His Name does not really
mean His personal redemptive eternal Name but rather His authority, and
character. Some folks claim His Name ‘merely represents a whole
package of who he is, and the character, integrity, and personality of the one
the Name represents, not merely saying one Name as if it’s a magic formula.’
Well…… Yahweh Himself paints us a different picture for He says in His word:
