The Name YHWH
The Creator YHWH knows you by name. Do You Know Him By His Personal NAME? You may know He is the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the god of Moses, the Author of the Ten Commandments, the Creator of all things, but do you know His personal name?
Does He Have a Personal Name?
That is a simple "yes" or "no" question. Let's see if the scriptures give an answer. Ex. 20:7: You shall not take the NAME of יהוה your God in vain.
Ex. 20:11: For in six days יהוה made heaven and earth...
Lev. 22:32-33: Neither shall ye profane My holy NAME; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am יהוה which hallow you; That brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your god: I am יהוה. (1) These four letters of the Hebrew alphabet are what is called the Tetragrammaton. Most English Bibles have substituted "the LORD" in place of this name.
Ps. 83:18: That men may know that thou whose NAME alone is יהוה art the most high over all the earth. Isa. 42:8: I am יהוה that is My NAME; and My glory will I not give to another...
There are many other verses which clearly show the Creator does have a personal name.
What Is His Name?
To better understand the points made in the rest of this study, It helps to known the meaning behind transliteration...
Transliterate (def):to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet.You may ask, what is the difference between a translation and a transliteration?Translation is meaning of something in language other than the one in which it was said/written. Transliteration gives the word from a different language in letters that you can understand so as to be able to pronounce it.
Define Pronunciation at Dictionary.com noun. 1. the act or result of producing the sounds of speech, including articulation, stress, and intonation, often with reference to some standard of correctness or acceptability: (2).Transliterating means to represent the sound in another language. Proper names are transliterated. A translator will transliterate a word as best as possible to represent or transfer the sound of a name from one language to the next by matching the corresponding sound of the letters from the alphabet of both languages so that the name can accurately be recognized by its sound and pronounced.You say what does all this have to do with knowing our Creators name? In the above verses, written in English, we see the Creator's name to be יהוה being spelled with letters from the Hebrew alphabet. No one has gone back in time and audio recorded the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to prove the exact sound of the original pronunciation, but it is certain, however, that His name is not "the LORD." Scholars know "Jehovah" is erroneous, and that "Yahweh" is the more correct spelling
Where We Got the Word “Jehovah” And How Do We Know Its Not Correct And Yahweh is the Pronunciation?
Until recent years, many people thought that His Name was to be pronounced “Jehovah,” but, as the Encyclopedia Britannica explains, “Jehovah” is an erroneous form of the Sacred Name, of which the true form is Yahweh.”
Most modern dictionaries show the same. We should not profane the Creator’s Name by using an erroneous or corrupted form. This wrong form came about when certain Bible translators mistakenly used the vowel sounds of the Hebrew word for master (adonai) and mixed them with the four Hebrew letters (tetragrammaton) that form the Heavenly Father’s Name.
Here is how and why this happened: Originally, the Name Yahweh was known and used worldwide when all men knew Him and there were no false deities. But after most of the world went into idolatry, Yahweh made Himself known again by Name to certain men such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 12:8, 26:25, 28:13) and later to Moses (Ex. 3:15, 34:5-6).
Thus, His Name was revealed to the Hebrew people who were instructed to use it. For centuries it was freely used. But much later, religious leaders began to say it was too sacred to be spoken. They told the people to just say or read adonai (my Lord) when they came across the Sacred Name in the Scriptures.
Because of this, when vowel marks were later added to the Hebrew language, the vowel marks for adonai were inserted with the letters of the Sacred Name. This was to indicate to the people to say adonai and not the true Name Yahweh.
As a result, when translators in later years sought to translate the Scriptures into other languages, they became confused. They mixed the vowel sound for adonai with the letters of the Sacred Name and ultimately came up with “Jehovah.”
On page xx of the introduction to Moffatt's Bible, he says, "Strictly speaking, this ought to be rendered 'Yahweh' which is familiar to modern readers in the erroneous form of 'Jehovah.'"
In the International Bible Encyclopedia of the King James Version, published by Garden City Publishing Co., we note the following under the heading "Jehovah:" "It is believed that the correct pronunciation of this word is 'Yahweh.' "
In The Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance we find this on page 121: "Jehovah, the name revealed to Moses at Horeb...Its real pronunciation is approximately Yahweh. The name itself was not pronounced Jehovah before the 16th century."
In the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 7, p. 88 is this: "The reading Jehovah is a comparatively recent invention. Jehovah is generally held to have been the invention of Pope Leo the 10th's Confessor, Peter Galatin (De Arcanis Catholic Veritates 1518, Folio XLIII), who was followed in the use of this hybrid form by Fagius Drusius. Van de Driesche, who lived between 1550 and 1616, was the first to ascribe to Peter Galatin the use of Jehovah, and this view has been taken since his day."
A New Standard Bible Dictionary states, "Jehovah...properly Yahweh ...the form 'Jehovah' is impossible, according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization."
Among the many other sources which indicate that "Yahweh" is the correct transliteration, is page v of the preface to the Revised Standard Version.
"LORD" in the Bible
When we come to Genesis 2, verse 4, we have the first occurrence in the Bible of the term " the LORD". We read, "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."
This is the way it is written in the King James Version. Notice that the term " the LORD " has all capital letters for the word “LORD”. In other places in the Bible you will find this term “Lord” spelled with only the first letter capitalized and all the rest in small letters. In most of such cases it is a translation of a Hebrew or Greek word meaning “Lord” when referring to the Almighty as being our Sovereign, Master, or Lord.
And in other instances the term lord is found in the Bible with none of the letters capitalized. In such cases it is again a translation of a Hebrew or Greek word mean lord, master, or sir when not referring to the Almighty. However, when the term " the LORD " occurs in this fashion, with all the letters capitalized, it is not the translation of any Hebrew word meaning “Lord”, but is merely a substitute for the Creator’s name.
These two words, "the LORD", have been substituted for our Creator’s name over 6,832 times in the King James translation of the Bible as well as in most other English translations. 3 This practice of substituting “the LORD” for our creator’s name came about as a result of a practice that developed, and yet takes place today, in the Jewish synagogues.
In an attempt to protect the Sacred Name from being profaned, misused, or blasphemed the leaders of the Jewish people, during the time they were in captivity in Babylon, taught the people not to pronounce the sacred name, but to substitute the Hebrew term “adonai”, meaning “Lord”, for it. Therefore, when they would come to the reading of the Sacred Name - the Creator’s one personal name - in the Bible, they would say this Hebrew word meaning Lord instead of the name of the creator.
The translators of our English Bibles went a step further and followed this practice in written form when they translated from Hebrew into English. They took away the name of the Creator, and put the two words "the LORD" in its place. The end result is that in doing this they changed the actual text of the Bible. To indicate that they were using “the LORD” as a substitution for the Creator’s name they used all capital letters for the word “LORD”.
It was also the practice in the reading of the Bible in the Hebrew synagogues to substitute “Elohim” for the Creator’s name whenever that name occurred in the Hebrew text along with the word “adonai”. This was in order to avoid saying “adonai adonai” (“Lord Lord”).
This practice in the synagogue's, of substituting the term Elohim for the Creator’s name, when “adonai” was found already written alongside of the Creator’s name in text of the Bible, led the translators of our English Bibles to substitute “GOD”, also spelled with all capitals, for the Creator’s as name. Therefore, wherever you see " the LORD ", or " GOD ", in the Bible you are not seeing a translation of any words meaning “Lord” or “God”. What you're seeing is words substituted for the Creator's name, the name of “Yahweh”.
In the introduction to the James Moffatt translation (pages 20-21), Moffatt makes it clear that he would have had no hesitation in using the name Yahweh in his translation if he had intended it for students of the original Scriptures.
We find the following in the preface to the Goodspeed translation: "The Hebrews called their deity by the name Yahweh, and in shorter form Yah."
They're basically admitting to using generic substitutes for the proper name Yahweh. Therefore, if you wish to read the scriptures as they should be read, that is, as it is written in the original text, you can do so by putting Yahweh in place of those words that have been substituted for his name.
If you will do this, as you read the scriptures you see that Yahweh wants his name to be known by his people and used by them, especially in their worship of Him. In fact, by reading Yahweh in those nearly 7000 places in which it was removed from the Scriptures, a person should arrive at the conclusion that it was a serious mistake to remove Yahweh’s personal name from the Scriptures in the process of translating them.
We owe a great deal of thanks to those who originally translated the Bible into our language. So it is not my purpose to condemn them, or to cast aspersions upon them. I suppose that what they did in this regard was done innocently with no wrong intent whatsoever. Had they given it more thought they may have sought for the correct pronunciation of this personal name of our Creator.
As it appears, at least to my understanding, they merely followed the precedent set in the Hebrew synagogues without thinking it through. It may be that they did this because they were quite uncertain about its correct pronunciation. In fact, many of the translators of the more modern versions of the Bible give this as their reason for not using “Yahweh” in their translations, and for following the same practice of substituting for His name.
They make the claim that we cannot be absolutely certain as to the correct pronunciation of His name. However, the fact of the matter is, there's much evidence that the name of our Creator as written in the scriptures is indeed to be pronounced as " Yahweh ". 4 This name is written in Hebrew with the four letters of the Hebrew alphabet that are equivalent to the sound of our English letters YHWH.
We have great certainty as to the pronunciation of the first part of this name, the Y H. This is the shorter, political form of our Creator’s name, and is pronounced as “Yah”. We know this for a certainty because it is found in the word ...
הללויה - HalleluYah
Its Origin and Significance
“Hallelujah”, which has come down to us through time immemorial, gives us a big clue as far as proof of pronunciation and suggest that despite mans erroneous oversight, Yahweh always intended for His personal Holy Name to be universally known and utilized in all languages.
I don't believe it is a coincidence that the universal praise word hallelujah is found today in most languages throughout the civilized world. The word hallelujah, pronounced “halleluYah,” is the most ancient of all words of praise.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hallelujah (/ˌhælᵻˈluːjə/ HAL-ə-LOO-yə) is a transliteration of the Hebrew word הָּלוּיְ לַּ ה) Modern halleluya, Tiberian halləlûyāh), which is composed of two elements: לוְּ לַּ ה) second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hallal: an exhortation to "praise" addressed to several people[1]) and הָּי) the names of God Jah or Yah). [2] [3][4]
Hallelujah is an excellent example of a word from an ancient language that has been successfully transliterated into all languages; preserving the original pronunciation. It is used both on earth and in heaven to worship the Almighty (Rev. 19:1-6). What is the origin, meaning, and significance of this wellknown word concerning our Creator's Name?
This English spelling with the “Jah” on the end is taken from the Latin language in which the “J” it sounded as we do the English “Y ”. This word “Hallelujah”, as has been pointed out, has come down with this pronunciation from ancient times so that there's no question about its correct pronunciation. HalleluYah is a pure ancient Hebrew word and yet it is found universally pronounced in almost every language under the sun.
The first part of the word, “hallelu,” means “praise” or “praise ye.” The last part, “Yah,” is the Name of the One being praised. So the YH of the Sacred Name is without question to be pronounced as we pronounce the “Jah” in the word “Hallelujah”. That is, it is with out question to be pronounced as “YAH”.
Yahweh is the personal Name of the Heavenly Father. Yah is the basic or short form of the Heavenly Father’s Name. The full form of the Father’s sacred Name is Yahweh. This Name is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, Bible concordances, encyclopedias and dictionaries, as well as in many current writings of history and archaeology.
Yahweh’s Name is found more than 6,800 times in the Bible’s original language. We also find it as the end of many names of Bible prophets, such as Elijah (EliYah), which means “My Mighty One is Yah,” as well as Jeremiah, Obadiah, Isaiah, Zechariah, etc.
Furthermore, coming down to us from the ancient past the name of the prophet Elijah, in the Hebrew language is a combination of the Hebrew term “El” (meaning " mighty one ", and normally translated as “God” in English) and the basic form of our Creator's name as it is found in the first three letters Y H W.
Again we know with great certainty that the correct pronunciation of this name Elijah as written in Hebrew is EliYahu. We know this because the Jews have sung it in the song “Eliyahu ha nabi” (“Elijah the Prophet”) in every Passover service for century upon century past. Thus we know the pronunciation of the first part of our Creator's name with great certainty. All that remains to be determined is which vowel is to be used between the W and of the final H. We basically have only two options.
We can use the “a” and pronounce the name as “Yahwah”, or we can use the “e” and pronounced the name as “Yahweh”. (The “e” in this case represents the sound of the “e” in the word “eh”, not to sound of “e” as found in the word “he”.) This is really the only uncertainty there is in regards to how to pronounce this sacred name. However, the fact of the matter is, this uncertainty is very slight. Hebrew nouns that are masculine in gender generally end in “eh”.
Whereas, those that are feminine in gender generally end in “ah”. Therefore, since the scriptures clearly represent Yahweh as masculine, we would expect his name to end in “eh”, not “ah”. Thus it is quite certain that our Creator's name, spelled Y H W H in Hebrew, would be pronounced “Yahweh”. This is the way it is found written in practically all scholarly writings.
Furthermore, there is considerable evidence from the way that His name is transliterated into other languages, such as the Greek language, that Yahweh is the correct pronunciation of our Creator's name. The Encyclopedia Judaica, volume seven, page 679 states this: "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’....”
Also in the 20th-Century Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, on pages 1194, 1195, we read that, " the pronunciation ‘Yahweh’ of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton need no longer be based primarily on traditions preserved in 5 late patristic sources. Both the vocalizations yahwe and yahu (a shortened form used chiefly in personal names) are now confirmed by a variety of ancient Near Eastern inscription materials from the first and second millennia B.C. "
It would seem to me that an honest attempt to pronounce our Creator's name, to use it in worship, and in our reading of the scriptures would be much more pleasing to our Creator, even if we didn't get it just right, than completely ignoring it would be.
Since there is great certainty that Yahweh is the correct way of bringing His name over into English, there should be no doubt that we should use this name in our translations of the Bible into English instead of removing it altogether and substituting something else in its place. To remove his name from the Scriptures and put something else in its place, when it is not necessary to do so, is a serious error and a transgression of the command to not take away from or add to His word.
Now that you can pronounce יהוה as "Yahweh," you should practice reading all Bible verses containing יהוה or the LORD using our Creator's true personal name where it belongs. Or better yet, get one of several Bibles which have transliterated the Creator's true name rather than substituting titles where it occurs in the Scripture (2) Rotherham version, 1902; The Jerusalem Bible, 1966 and The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985, Doubleday.
The Word of Yahweh, Assembly of Yahweh, 1017 N. Gunnell Rd, Eaton Rapid, MI 48827. The Scriptures (This version uses the Hebrew characters for the name). Strawberry Islands; Lew White; 2325 Bardstown Road; Louisville, KY 40205-2120. Other new translations are in process as this is written. Watch for them.
Why All Languages Should Transliterate the Hebrew Pronunciation Of His Name?
If your language is English, you may wonder: Why leave only the name in Hebrew while translating the rest into English? If we are going to speak English, then wouldn't it be more consistent to translate the whole thing into our English language? That is a fair question.
Here is the answer. Just as Yahweh through divine will caused the previously discussed word HalleluYah which contains the pronunciation of his Name to be Universal, the same is meant for His personal name itself. If you listen at international press conferences and events, as a rule, no matter what language is being spoken, the proper names of people from Presidents to Diplomats, stars and Athletes are not simply translated into another language but have been transliterated so that it's pronunciation can be recognized by all who hear universally.
You may not understand anything else someone in a foriegn language is saying but you know when they're talking about the specific leader of your nation because the pronunciation for the most part stays the same. It is no different for the personal name of our Creator which He intended to be universally recognized by His people in all languages in both pronunciation and meaning.
This universal recognition cannot easily occur across all various multitudes of languages unless a successful transliteration of the Tetragrammaton can be read and understood in all languages.
We see in scripture that Yahweh wanted not only the meaning or definition of His name to be known among His people, but His proper name itself. In Exodus 3 Yahweh first gives the definition or meaning of His Holy Name...
14"Elohim said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Then He gives His own actual personal Holy Name for all eternity... "
15 Elohim, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorialname to all generations."
Yahweh is the singular name He wants to be remembered by all generations of His people. Not just those among natural Israel but eventually all His people through out the world; no matter what tribe, Tongue or Nation they are from..
Malachi 1:11,""For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations," says Yahweh of hosts."
At the time the Creator gave His name to the Israelites, Niether Yahweh or His name was known or recognized in the foreign languages of the other nations.
Exodus 5:1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith Yahweh Elohim of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not Yahweh, neither will I let Israel go. 3 And they said, The Elohim of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto Yahweh our Elohim; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword."
Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Ezekiel 39:7,"SO WILL I MAKE MY HOLY NAME KNOWN in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am YAHWEH, the Holy One in Israel."
Exodus 15:3,"Yahweh is a warrior; Yahweh is his name."
Since the Days of Noah, the people of the world have forgotten the name of Yahweh; both the meaning of who He is , and its Pronunciation. The foreign nations had their own gods. They did not worship the god of the Hebrews and they did not know the name of the god of the Hebrews.
The Creator's communications of His name came only through the Hebrews, and it is through them that the rest of world once again became aware of the fact that the Creator has a personal revealed name; and are now able to transliterate it in writing unto all people, and languages...
Yahweh Revealed His Name
In the seventeenth century, the telescope was invented. The Creator did not tell us to call it a telescope. We made up that word on our own. But we humans did not make up the Creator's name.
Yahweh said that His name is Yahweh! Again, when the Israelites were congregated at Mount Sinai, the Creator introduced Himself and revealed His single personal name. His name occurs eight times within the ten commandments, which were given audibly and written in stone. According to Ex. 20:2, He introduced Himself in the following words:
H3068 (3) YAHWEH
H340 ELOHIM
The H and G numbers above, refer to the numbers in Strong's Concordance of the Bible. H refers to Hebrew and G refers to Greek.
I am יהוה your "god" who brought you out.... His revealed name is הוה י and god is just a title.
Does Yahweh's Word Communicate The Importance Of His Personal Name being Known, Proclaimed in Praise, Reverenced,and Regularly Used And Taught among His people; And to Others?
It would seem that anyone who wants to know their Creator as their Heavenly Father would want to know His name. The Bible itself does not leave us in any doubt as to the vital importance of the Name of Yahweh.
When the true Name is put back into the pas- sages where translators substituted the words “the LORD,” the Bible makes it very clear that we should know, love, and use the Name of Yahweh.
Again, a simple examination of the Scriptures shows that the issue of Yahweh’s Holy Personal Name and its use is of paramount importance to Him — just as your name is important to you. In The Hebrew original of Isaiah 42:8. which contains the Tetragrammaton YHWH, He thunders,
"I am YAHWEH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images,"
Ezekial 39:7,(ESV) “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel."
Deuteronomy 32:3,(AKJV) "Because I will publish the name of Yahweh: ascribe you greatness to our Elohim."
John 17:26(KJB) "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."
Psalm 145:2 (KJB) "Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever."
Isaiah 52:6,(NASB) "Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, 'Here I am.'" Psalm 68:4,(NET BIBLE) "Sing to Elohim! Sing praises to his name! Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! For Yahweh is his name! Rejoice before him!
Joel 2:32,"(NASB) "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered [saved].”; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls."
Micah 6:9, “Yahweh’s voice cries unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see Thy Name.”
Zechariah 14:9, “Yahweh will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be Yahweh, and His Name the only Name.” NIV
Exodus 20:7, “Thou shalt not take the Name of Yahweh thy Almighty One in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.” To say it is unimportant or a vain thing is certainly one way of taking it in vain.
Malachi 3:16, “...and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon His Name.”
One further verse gives powerful evidence of the need to use this Name. That verse is Psalm 68:4 (KJV), “Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to His Name; extol Him...by His Name JAH, and rejoice before Him.” (JAH is pronounced YAH as in hallelujah.) There was no J in the original Hebrew.
As we've just seen,Yahweh is resolute about His revealed in scripture Name. He desires that His people call on Him by the only Name that he says ensures salvation. The New Testament Book of Acts tells us, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," Acts 4:12.
So it is very clear from Scripture that the Name of Yahweh is meant to be known and used by those who love Him.
If a person told you his personal name, would you argue with him about it? Would you tell him, "No, I don’t think so. I’ll call you something else instead"? Of course not, that would be absurd! You have no right to do such a thing and you would certainly not make him too happy if you did.
Yet when it comes to the personal Name of the Father in Heaven, many believe that they have the prerogative to decide what they will call the One they worship. They will go to great lengths to avoid using the revealed personal Name of the Heavenly Father, Yahweh.
The most creative mental gymnastics are performed in an effort to justify the continued use of common titles over or in replacement of the personal Name Yahweh, which the Bible says is a name above every name.
Following are the most familiar arguments given to justify the primary use of substitute titles like "God" and "Lord" in place of the true Name Yahweh. We will examine each in light of the Bible to see whether any has validity.
"He has many names."
Despite the admonition of scripture, in an effort to quiet their consciences, some will argue, "He has many names." Many will rationalize, "He knows who I mean no matter what I call Him," while others will postulate, "His ‘name’ just means His authority."
Anyone who studies to show themselves approved by looking into, and rightly dividing this important matter of truth from the Scriptures, however, soon discovers that Yahweh Himself rejects all of these arguments, as well as many other common assumptions about not using His personal Name.
He even wrote the Third Commandment specifically to address the neglect of His Name: "Thou shalt not take the name of Yahweh thy Elohim in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain."
The Hebrew behind that commandment says "bring to deso-lation and ruin," which is exactly what will happen if as a continual practice people substitute other names and titles for the Creators one true personal Name above all names. People have the erroneous idea that there are many names of equal value and importance, and since there is no difference any of them can easily replace Yahweh as the Creators personal name.
Titles Are Not A Personal Name...
Again, he has many names, is one of the most popular justifications advanced to avoid making regular use of the Name Yahweh as his one and only eternally personal name. If He has many names or titles, then it is assumed that no single name stands out as His one, special, personal Name.
Or in other words, He has many names but no personal name. The problem with this argument is the failure to recognize the important difference between ones personal name and generic titles or secondary names that are simply descriptive's or adjectives.
Take "Mr. Sam Jones," for instance. "Mister" is not the name of "Sam Jones." Mister is only a title for him. Sam Jones cannot sign a document with only the word "Mister" and expect anyone to accept it as his authentic endorsement. One is a generic term that applies to any man, the other is his real name.
The same goes for the various descriptive titles for Yahweh that some erroneously think are the same as His personal name. Yahweh has more than one title; like eloah ("mighty one"), el shaddai ("the all-powerful") and adon/adonai ("sovereign").
Sometimes in Bible dictionaries, and other sources, it is said that Elohim is one of "the names of God". Although Elohim is a name in the generic sense, it is not an actual personal name. In other words, Elohim is a name pretty much in the same way as the term man is a name. “Man” is the name of a certain type of being. You could say, "the man came", or you could say, “John came” (if the name of that particular man was John). In the first instance you are using “man” as a name only in the generic sense, that is, as a descriptive noun.
In the second instance you are using the actual name of the individual about whom you are speaking. In other words, “man” is a name only in the generic sense, but “John” is a proper noun, a specific, personal name. In the same way as illustrated above, when you use the Hebrew term Elohim you are speaking of a certain kind of being. You are not giving the personal name of that being, but merely giving the generic name of the being of whom you are speaking. Strictly speaking the Hebrew word Elohim means “mighty ones”.
This is the sense in which this word would generally be used when speaking of more than one false god. This would be a numeric plural. However, when speaking of the one true Almighty One the plurality is a plural of majesty, and not of number, for there is only one true Almighty One. But in either case the term Elohim is a name only in the generic sense.
Like "doctor," the word "elohim" is a title. This Hebrew word is correctly rendered into English as "god" with a small "g," and is frequently and consistently used as a title for the deities of the nations. To verify this, look up "gods" (H430) in Strong's Concordance.
It is the name of a kind of being whether speaking of the true Almighty One, or of false, fictitious mighty ones. Thus, as has been said, Elohim is a name only in the generic sense. It is not a proper noun or personal name.
A good example is Deut. 12:30: "...that thou enquire not after their gods (elohim), saying, How did these nations serve their gods (elohim)'! even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Yahweh thy god (elohim)..." It is obvious that the sentence, "I am Yahweh, your god; you shall have no other gods beside me" is similar to, "I am John, your doctor; you shall have no other doctors beside me."
Strictly speaking then is incorrect to say that Elohim is “one of the names of God”. Although our creator has many titles or generic terms used of Him in the Bible, the fact of the matter is that He has only one actual name. He has only one personal name; Yahweh!
The term Elohim is the only term used to speak of our Creator in the Genesis Chapter one, and in the first three verses of Chapter two. As has been pointed out, in most English translations of the Bible this term “Elohim” is translated by the word “God”.
The English term “God”, according to its most common usage in the English language, means the Supreme Being or object of worship. However, in the Hebrew language there is a word pronounced exactly like we pronounce the English term “God”. This Hebrew word means “fortune” or “troop”, with fortune being the meaning most commonly given to it today.
Written with the Hebrew letters that are equivalent to the English letters G-d, this word, pronounced as we pronounce the term “God”, is used as the name of one of the tribes of Israel, and as the name of one of the prophets of Israel. It also is used as the name of a false deity - the god of fortune, or possibly the god of troops or fortification. This name of one of the tribes of Israel, of a prophet of Israel, and of this deity of fortune is written in English as “Gad”, with the “a” pronounced like the “a” in the word “dad”.
But, as already pointed out, in Hebrew it is pronounced like our English word “God”. Because of this seeming link to the name of a particular pagan deity that Isaiah tells us the children of Israel forsook the Almighty in order to worship, there are some who feel it is wrong to use the term “God” when referring to the Almighty. [See Isaiah 65:11 wherein the Hebrew word “Gad” is translated as “that troop”.]
I understand how those who reject the use of this word in reference to the Almighty feel. I have even leaned in that direction myself at times myself. If you require, I will explain my thinking in this matter more at a later time. However, for the time being, in this study I use the term “God” in its common English meaning and as a common translation for the Hebrew term “Elohim” and other related Hebrew terms.
For the moment, I just wish to note again that the term “God”, which is used in most English versions of the Bible as a translation of “Elohim”, is the only term used in them to refer to our Creator in the book of Genesis until we reach the 4th verse of chapter 2, and to note that this is not used as a personal name or proper noun, but merely as a title or generic, descriptive noun.
Don't get me wrong, as the original scriptures of the Bible itself do, I believe we can and should use the inspired titles in conjunction with, or as a compliment to the one and only Holy personal name of Yahweh. We should never replace the name, in the sense of communicating these titles as if they are the same as our Elohim's personal name above all names; because as shown they are not. If you want to know more on the Biblical view of the inspired Titles see the article made available in our study course...
The following is from an article by Elder Dale George entitled The Truth About Inspired Titles.
Attributes Are Not A Personal Name...
Others are confused by attributions that are sometimes used in connection with His Name, like Yahweh-Yireh ("Yahweh provides"), Yahweh-Zidkenu ("Yahweh our righteousness") and Yahweh-Rapha ("Yahweh our healer").
The inspired practices of forming and compuonding our Creator's name by connecting attributes which isolate and focus on specific truths about our EL, that bring glory to Yahweh’s Name are found in the Law and the phophets .This Practice Can Be Seen In Presentation Of The Name Of Elohim The Son, By Inspiration Through The Prophets.
The Name Link Between Father and Son
The Messiah’s Name, Yahshua, contains the Sacred, heavenly family Name Yah: Yah-shua. He truly and literally came in His Father’s Name, as He Himself said (John 5:43).
He alone is the “Salvation of Yah.”
“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12).
This is not to say that those who have been unwillingly ignorant of His true Name have not found salvation in the person of the Savior. Yahweh is full of justice and mercy. Nevertheless, His past mercy in no way justifies continuing in error. To use the words of Acts 17:30, “The times of this ignorance Yahweh winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent.”
When any truth is restored, which men’s traditions have hidden, it becomes the responsibility of His true people to walk in that truth regardless of the cost. “Therefore, to him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
One of the first things we should learn in our search for the true Savior is His Name. In His word Yahweh wants us to realize the importance of knowing the relationship between His name and His Son’s Name cannot be overstated.
Proverbs 30:4,"Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!"
Yes, we do know; because If we have Elohim the Father's name, we have Elohim the Son's name. It's not two but one single name that They both share, that will be written on our foreheads in Revelation 14:1...
"Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred fortyfour thousand who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. "
John 5:43,"I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him."
You say, how is Jesus the same name as Yahweh? They don't even sound alike! Your right Yahweh is a Hebrew name and Jesus is a Greek name, in both pronunciation and meaning, the two are nothing alike.
Names were and are very important to Yahweh the Elohim of the Hebrew people, thus they are very important to the Hebrew people even today. The meanings of names are of great significance, not only to individuals, but also to entire families.
Again, the name Jesus is not even Hebrew, It's Greek. “Jesus” is derived from the Greek name Iesous, which is found in the Greek translations It is a invention of man which resulted from a flawed transliteration of our Saviors true name passed on from the Hebrew to the Greek.
A flaw further expanded into Latin, and completed in English. Jesus not only failed in its original attempt to successfully carrying over the proper pronunciation of our Saviors name from the Hebrew Language to Greek,Latin and English; but this false name in no way carries the meaning of the true Name of this Man mentioned in the New Testament. Jesus carries no meaning at all.
The simple fact (which is easily proven from authoritative sources) as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, and elsewhere is that this man over two thousand years ago was born a Hebrew, and had a Hebrew name. There is no such name as Jesus in the Hebrew language. Joseph was told by the angel: “She shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His Name Yahshua, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Bible scholars know that our Savior was not known by the name “Jesus.” The fact that many have come to accept the person of the Savior while knowing only the name of Jesus does not make that His actual Name. There is no such letter as "J"in the Hebrew alphabet. As a letter "J' has only existed in any alphabet for around five hundred years. Both the popular names Jehovah and Jesus were not in the original Scriptures and therefore cannot be genuine. It is a fact, provable in part by the historical nonexistence of the letter J.
"Precious name, oh how sweet," sing many voices as people gather each week to praise and worship the Savior and Redeemer of Israel. But the name they sing praises to is not the Messiah's name and never was.
Now learn what the inspired names of the Father and Son actually are.
Again, the name "Jesus" is a combination of the Greek "Iesous" and the Latin version employing the letter J. This name commonly used in Christianity did not exist until about 500 years ago.
The French philosopher, historian, and religion scholar Ernest Renan stated in his book, The Life of Jesus, that the Savior never was called Jesus in His lifetime. Renan based his conclusion on his archaeological trips to the Holy Land in searching for inspiration and materials on the Savior.
Renan is not the only one disclaiming the popular false name of the Messiah. Proof likely exists in your own home or can easily be found in your local library. You'll find a wealth of proof in these pages—references common in any library.
There is so much more we can show about the Letter "J" proving how it came about to helped form the false name that is commonly excepted today as Jesus; for now simply reading from The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 10, page 10, we find that the supposed name Jesus is actually the common Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua.
JESUS (d. 30 c.e.), whom Christianity sees as its founder and object of faith, was a Jew who lived toward the end of the Second Commonwealth period.
THE NAME, BIRTH, AND DEATH DATE OF JESUS. Jesus is the common Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. Jesus’ father, Joseph, his mother, Mary (in Heb. Miriam), and his brothers James (in Heb. Yaaqob), Joses (Yahseph), Judah, and Simon (Mark 6:3) likewise bore very popular Hebrew names.
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 12, page 805, gives us additional information, concerning the Hebrew spelling of Joshua, which is yod-heh-waw-shin-ayin.
This source also points out to us that this Name, correctly pronounced Yahshua, is a compound name constructed with the Tetragrammaton,which is the Name: YAHWEH, . The Name Yahshua follows the common practice among the true worshippers of Yahweh, in forming or compounding the Creator's name with a attribute which brought glory to Yahweh’s Name.
The Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume 9, page 153, tells us this about compound names which glorify Yahweh:
The Interpreter’s Dictionary, Volume 3, page 505, tells us:
The Name Yahshua is just such a compound Name. It is a combination of Yahweh’s personal Name in its shortened form (YAH: yod-heh) and SHUA (shin-ayin), which means salvation. The Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, page 221, tells us that the Name Yahshua means Yahweh is salvation.
Another aspect of the existence of the name of the Heavenly Father in the name of his son, our Savior and redeemer, goes into the pronunciation of the Son's Name. I will not take time now to go deeply into this matter of the Savior’s name. Of course today our Savior is commonly called “Jesus”.
However, this is far removed from the correct pronunciation of his name as it was given to him when he was born of his Hebrew, Virgin mother approximately 2000 years ago. His name, as it was given to him at his birth, contained the name of Yahweh in its meaning and in its sound. Whereas stated before, the name “Jesus” does neither. Two different times in the King James translation of the Bible we find the name “Jesus” being used when it does not refer to the Savior, but to Joshua the son of Nun who was the successor of Moses.
Those passages are Acts 7: 45 and Hebrews 4: 8. In fact, many more recent translations actually use the name “Joshua” in those verses. The reason the King James Version uses “Jesus” in those passages is because in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament the same word is used in those passages as is used elsewhere for our Savior’s name. This is proof that our saviors Name is actually the same as Joshua, the successor of Moses.
In the King James, in He– brews 4:8 and Acts 7:45, the name “Jesus” is used when speaking of Joshua. This shows that “Jesus” is being substituted for the Hebrew name Joshua. The Greek text actually has the same name Iesous for both men.
If the J in Joshua is pronounced as Y in ac– cordance with Hebrew, which has no J sound, we have the correct pronunciation of the Sav- ior’s Name. But the spelling “Yoshua” does not show a connection with the Father’s Name. Therefore, the more correct transliteration or way to write His Name in English as “Yahshua.”
Originally, Joshua was called Hoshua or Oshea, meaning “salvation” or “deliverance.” But led of the Spirit Moses added the sacred Name to this and called him Yah-oshua, meaning “salvation of Yah” or “Yah-salvation” (Numbers 13:16).
The name “Joshua” as it existed as in Hebrew is a combination of the name “Hoshua”, which meant “Salvation”, and the basic form of the Sacred Name of “Yahweh”. It was pronounced as “Yahoshua”, or “Yahushua”.
Later, the o sound was dropped in usage and the name became shortened to Yahshua. This happened after Israel’s Babylonian captivity. The name that Moses gave to the one who was to become his successor and to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, became shortened by the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, as we read in Nehemiah 8:17 in the Hebrew text of the scripture.
It became written with the Hebrew letters that are equivalents of our English letters Y S H UA. The shortened form, then, was in use when the Savior of man was named in the New Testament. Historical evidence indicates that this is the form of the name given to our Savior at his birth.
At Psalm 72:17 in the well-known World Publishing Co. edition of the King James Bible, the center reference shows the original Hebrew reads as follows: “His Name shall be as a Son to continue His Father’s Name forever: and men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.”
This is clearly a prophecy concerning the Savior. And of course, a son always bears his father’s or family name. The Savior Himself said, “ I have come in my Father’s Name…” (John 5:43).
When all facts are considered, more and more, it becomes apparent that the name “Jesus” came about through a mispronunciation or mistransliteration of the form used in those Greek manuscripts for the Savior’s name.
The pronunciation and the meaningful connection to Elohim's personal name went further and further away as it was transliterated into Latin and, finally, into English.
Again you may still question, how can we be sure how our Saviors name is pronounced? What vowel should be used after the “Y”? 6 In Modern Hebrew they pronounce this name as “Yeshua” (using the “eh” for the sound for the vowel).
However, all indications are that in biblical ancient Hebrew it was pronounced as “Yahshua” (using the “ah” sound for the vowel after the initial “Y”). It could also be transliterated as “Yashua”. However, using that form in English leaves uncertainty with the reader as to whether the “a” should be sounded as the “a” in “care”, or as the “a” in “father”, whereas, the “ah” makes the correct pronunciation clear.
Therefore, as we continue to read the Bible, every where the false name Jesus is written, we should use “Yahshua” or Yahoshua for the true name of the Savior.
Many would be surprised to know that the Sacred Name of the Messiah, Yahshua, is the only personal Name by which He was known to His disciples. Though He has many titles such as Son of Man, Savior, Anointed, and King of Kings. His Name is composed of two parts: Yah-Hoshua (Saviour). Thus, the contraction Yahshua signifies YahwehSaviour and strikingly bears out the logic of Matthew 1:21,...
"And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Yahshua, for He will save His people from their sins."
Again, the statement that Yahweh has many names is only true in a general or broad sense. In the sense that he has many secondary names, titles or categories of attributes or roles that can be used individually to describe specific facets of His Ultimate representation of them.
It is not true if by saying this you believe our Creator has many personal names that are interchangeable as His personal Holy, Sacred name. If you look up "name" in a concordance, you will find many references to the name of Yahweh, but not even once will it refer to His names (plural).Yahweh has many titles and attributes that he can be called; such as seen in....
Isaiah 9:6," 6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders;And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Elohim, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Not one of these many titles or attributes can or should be used in replacement of our Elohim's one and only, singular Personal name. When it came to sharing the ministry of the gospel of salvation, Yahshua in His command as Elohim in the flesh showed that Elohim the Father. Elohim the Son, and Elohim the Spirit share a singular eternal name....
Matthew 28:18Then Yahshua came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "
Notice that the singular word "name" is used here for the triune representations of Elohim. Our Savior did not use the plural form of names. And what singular name belonging to our triune Elohim, did the disciples in obedience to the Master, consistently baptize all new converts in?....
Acts 2:38,"Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to Elohim, and be baptized in the name of Yahshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 8:16,"because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Yahshua."
Acts 10:48,"And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Yahshua Messiah. Then they asked him to remain for some days." We already showed earlier in this study, how that the true singular Elohim given name was not the false name Jesus, but Yahshua which is Hebrew for the personal Holy name of Yahweh; combined with, or connected to, his attribute of Salvation.
In the future, Yahweh will still prove to have one personal Holy name, according to Zech. 14:9.
New American Standard Bible
"And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name the only one."
Regardless of the many titles and attributes that scripture shows can be added or connected too His name, He still has only one Name — Yahweh. He inspired the prophet Isaiah in 42:8 to write, "I am YAHWEH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
Psalm 83:18 confirms that He has but one Name: "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is YAHWEH, art the most high over all the earth." Nowhere in the pages of the Bible can we find a statement saying He has many names. But we can find many passages attesting to His one true Name.
There Can Only Be One Name Above All Names
Philippians 2:9, "Therefore Elohim exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the name above all names,"
Psalm 148:13,"Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for his name alone is lifted up; his majesty transcends earth and heaven.
Does Name Really Mean Name?
Some argue that the word "name" means authority or power, rather than name. I argue that it means both because Elohim's authority or power is contained in His name. Also it's by the authority of His word, the Creator tells us that He has a literal personal name!
The word "name" (H8034 - shem) is used over 200 times in the Torah, and is correctly and consistently translated "name." To verify this, look up "name" in Strong's Concordance. A different word (H3581- koach), means power.
Yahweh does indeed have power or authority, but as scripture bears out, He also has a name. Through Moses, Yahweh said to Phar-aoh in Ex. 9:16, "And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, for to show in you My power (koach)... and that My name (shem) may be declared throughout all the earth."
Conclusion
Does Israel's mighty one have a personal Holy name? Is His name "God?"
These are simple yes or no questions. Now that you know the answers, why would you primarily continue using the word "god" as if it were Yahweh's own personal name? Some will argue that words are merely for communication, but the important thing is the meaning or the intent of the heart.
Well, that is precisely the point! Your Creator, Yahweh, loves you and cares for you. He knows you by name and has a place for your own name to be written in His book of life. He cares about you personally. But He also wants you to care about Him personally.
He wants you to be kept, not in His title or some substitute, but IN HIS NAME, YAHWEH! Look into this issue for yourself and commit yourself to getting to know and refer to your Creator by His true personal Holy name.
Does He Have a Personal Name?
That is a simple "yes" or "no" question. Let's see if the scriptures give an answer. Ex. 20:7: You shall not take the NAME of יהוה your God in vain.
Ex. 20:11: For in six days יהוה made heaven and earth...
Lev. 22:32-33: Neither shall ye profane My holy NAME; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am יהוה which hallow you; That brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your god: I am יהוה. (1) These four letters of the Hebrew alphabet are what is called the Tetragrammaton. Most English Bibles have substituted "the LORD" in place of this name.
Ps. 83:18: That men may know that thou whose NAME alone is יהוה art the most high over all the earth. Isa. 42:8: I am יהוה that is My NAME; and My glory will I not give to another...
There are many other verses which clearly show the Creator does have a personal name.
What Is His Name?
To better understand the points made in the rest of this study, It helps to known the meaning behind transliteration...
Transliterate (def):to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet.You may ask, what is the difference between a translation and a transliteration?Translation is meaning of something in language other than the one in which it was said/written. Transliteration gives the word from a different language in letters that you can understand so as to be able to pronounce it.
Define Pronunciation at Dictionary.com noun. 1. the act or result of producing the sounds of speech, including articulation, stress, and intonation, often with reference to some standard of correctness or acceptability: (2).Transliterating means to represent the sound in another language. Proper names are transliterated. A translator will transliterate a word as best as possible to represent or transfer the sound of a name from one language to the next by matching the corresponding sound of the letters from the alphabet of both languages so that the name can accurately be recognized by its sound and pronounced.You say what does all this have to do with knowing our Creators name? In the above verses, written in English, we see the Creator's name to be יהוה being spelled with letters from the Hebrew alphabet. No one has gone back in time and audio recorded the ancient Hebrew people of Israel to prove the exact sound of the original pronunciation, but it is certain, however, that His name is not "the LORD." Scholars know "Jehovah" is erroneous, and that "Yahweh" is the more correct spelling
Where We Got the Word “Jehovah” And How Do We Know Its Not Correct And Yahweh is the Pronunciation?
Until recent years, many people thought that His Name was to be pronounced “Jehovah,” but, as the Encyclopedia Britannica explains, “Jehovah” is an erroneous form of the Sacred Name, of which the true form is Yahweh.”
Most modern dictionaries show the same. We should not profane the Creator’s Name by using an erroneous or corrupted form. This wrong form came about when certain Bible translators mistakenly used the vowel sounds of the Hebrew word for master (adonai) and mixed them with the four Hebrew letters (tetragrammaton) that form the Heavenly Father’s Name.
Here is how and why this happened: Originally, the Name Yahweh was known and used worldwide when all men knew Him and there were no false deities. But after most of the world went into idolatry, Yahweh made Himself known again by Name to certain men such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 12:8, 26:25, 28:13) and later to Moses (Ex. 3:15, 34:5-6).
Thus, His Name was revealed to the Hebrew people who were instructed to use it. For centuries it was freely used. But much later, religious leaders began to say it was too sacred to be spoken. They told the people to just say or read adonai (my Lord) when they came across the Sacred Name in the Scriptures.
Because of this, when vowel marks were later added to the Hebrew language, the vowel marks for adonai were inserted with the letters of the Sacred Name. This was to indicate to the people to say adonai and not the true Name Yahweh.
As a result, when translators in later years sought to translate the Scriptures into other languages, they became confused. They mixed the vowel sound for adonai with the letters of the Sacred Name and ultimately came up with “Jehovah.”
On page xx of the introduction to Moffatt's Bible, he says, "Strictly speaking, this ought to be rendered 'Yahweh' which is familiar to modern readers in the erroneous form of 'Jehovah.'"
In the International Bible Encyclopedia of the King James Version, published by Garden City Publishing Co., we note the following under the heading "Jehovah:" "It is believed that the correct pronunciation of this word is 'Yahweh.' "
In The Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance we find this on page 121: "Jehovah, the name revealed to Moses at Horeb...Its real pronunciation is approximately Yahweh. The name itself was not pronounced Jehovah before the 16th century."
In the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 7, p. 88 is this: "The reading Jehovah is a comparatively recent invention. Jehovah is generally held to have been the invention of Pope Leo the 10th's Confessor, Peter Galatin (De Arcanis Catholic Veritates 1518, Folio XLIII), who was followed in the use of this hybrid form by Fagius Drusius. Van de Driesche, who lived between 1550 and 1616, was the first to ascribe to Peter Galatin the use of Jehovah, and this view has been taken since his day."
A New Standard Bible Dictionary states, "Jehovah...properly Yahweh ...the form 'Jehovah' is impossible, according to the strict principles of Hebrew vocalization."
Among the many other sources which indicate that "Yahweh" is the correct transliteration, is page v of the preface to the Revised Standard Version.
"LORD" in the Bible
When we come to Genesis 2, verse 4, we have the first occurrence in the Bible of the term " the LORD". We read, "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."
This is the way it is written in the King James Version. Notice that the term " the LORD " has all capital letters for the word “LORD”. In other places in the Bible you will find this term “Lord” spelled with only the first letter capitalized and all the rest in small letters. In most of such cases it is a translation of a Hebrew or Greek word meaning “Lord” when referring to the Almighty as being our Sovereign, Master, or Lord.
And in other instances the term lord is found in the Bible with none of the letters capitalized. In such cases it is again a translation of a Hebrew or Greek word mean lord, master, or sir when not referring to the Almighty. However, when the term " the LORD " occurs in this fashion, with all the letters capitalized, it is not the translation of any Hebrew word meaning “Lord”, but is merely a substitute for the Creator’s name.
These two words, "the LORD", have been substituted for our Creator’s name over 6,832 times in the King James translation of the Bible as well as in most other English translations. 3 This practice of substituting “the LORD” for our creator’s name came about as a result of a practice that developed, and yet takes place today, in the Jewish synagogues.
In an attempt to protect the Sacred Name from being profaned, misused, or blasphemed the leaders of the Jewish people, during the time they were in captivity in Babylon, taught the people not to pronounce the sacred name, but to substitute the Hebrew term “adonai”, meaning “Lord”, for it. Therefore, when they would come to the reading of the Sacred Name - the Creator’s one personal name - in the Bible, they would say this Hebrew word meaning Lord instead of the name of the creator.
The translators of our English Bibles went a step further and followed this practice in written form when they translated from Hebrew into English. They took away the name of the Creator, and put the two words "the LORD" in its place. The end result is that in doing this they changed the actual text of the Bible. To indicate that they were using “the LORD” as a substitution for the Creator’s name they used all capital letters for the word “LORD”.
It was also the practice in the reading of the Bible in the Hebrew synagogues to substitute “Elohim” for the Creator’s name whenever that name occurred in the Hebrew text along with the word “adonai”. This was in order to avoid saying “adonai adonai” (“Lord Lord”).
This practice in the synagogue's, of substituting the term Elohim for the Creator’s name, when “adonai” was found already written alongside of the Creator’s name in text of the Bible, led the translators of our English Bibles to substitute “GOD”, also spelled with all capitals, for the Creator’s as name. Therefore, wherever you see " the LORD ", or " GOD ", in the Bible you are not seeing a translation of any words meaning “Lord” or “God”. What you're seeing is words substituted for the Creator's name, the name of “Yahweh”.
In the introduction to the James Moffatt translation (pages 20-21), Moffatt makes it clear that he would have had no hesitation in using the name Yahweh in his translation if he had intended it for students of the original Scriptures.
We find the following in the preface to the Goodspeed translation: "The Hebrews called their deity by the name Yahweh, and in shorter form Yah."
They're basically admitting to using generic substitutes for the proper name Yahweh. Therefore, if you wish to read the scriptures as they should be read, that is, as it is written in the original text, you can do so by putting Yahweh in place of those words that have been substituted for his name.
If you will do this, as you read the scriptures you see that Yahweh wants his name to be known by his people and used by them, especially in their worship of Him. In fact, by reading Yahweh in those nearly 7000 places in which it was removed from the Scriptures, a person should arrive at the conclusion that it was a serious mistake to remove Yahweh’s personal name from the Scriptures in the process of translating them.
We owe a great deal of thanks to those who originally translated the Bible into our language. So it is not my purpose to condemn them, or to cast aspersions upon them. I suppose that what they did in this regard was done innocently with no wrong intent whatsoever. Had they given it more thought they may have sought for the correct pronunciation of this personal name of our Creator.
As it appears, at least to my understanding, they merely followed the precedent set in the Hebrew synagogues without thinking it through. It may be that they did this because they were quite uncertain about its correct pronunciation. In fact, many of the translators of the more modern versions of the Bible give this as their reason for not using “Yahweh” in their translations, and for following the same practice of substituting for His name.
They make the claim that we cannot be absolutely certain as to the correct pronunciation of His name. However, the fact of the matter is, there's much evidence that the name of our Creator as written in the scriptures is indeed to be pronounced as " Yahweh ". 4 This name is written in Hebrew with the four letters of the Hebrew alphabet that are equivalent to the sound of our English letters YHWH.
We have great certainty as to the pronunciation of the first part of this name, the Y H. This is the shorter, political form of our Creator’s name, and is pronounced as “Yah”. We know this for a certainty because it is found in the word ...
הללויה - HalleluYah
Its Origin and Significance
“Hallelujah”, which has come down to us through time immemorial, gives us a big clue as far as proof of pronunciation and suggest that despite mans erroneous oversight, Yahweh always intended for His personal Holy Name to be universally known and utilized in all languages.
I don't believe it is a coincidence that the universal praise word hallelujah is found today in most languages throughout the civilized world. The word hallelujah, pronounced “halleluYah,” is the most ancient of all words of praise.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hallelujah (/ˌhælᵻˈluːjə/ HAL-ə-LOO-yə) is a transliteration of the Hebrew word הָּלוּיְ לַּ ה) Modern halleluya, Tiberian halləlûyāh), which is composed of two elements: לוְּ לַּ ה) second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hallal: an exhortation to "praise" addressed to several people[1]) and הָּי) the names of God Jah or Yah). [2] [3][4]
Hallelujah is an excellent example of a word from an ancient language that has been successfully transliterated into all languages; preserving the original pronunciation. It is used both on earth and in heaven to worship the Almighty (Rev. 19:1-6). What is the origin, meaning, and significance of this wellknown word concerning our Creator's Name?
This English spelling with the “Jah” on the end is taken from the Latin language in which the “J” it sounded as we do the English “Y ”. This word “Hallelujah”, as has been pointed out, has come down with this pronunciation from ancient times so that there's no question about its correct pronunciation. HalleluYah is a pure ancient Hebrew word and yet it is found universally pronounced in almost every language under the sun.
The first part of the word, “hallelu,” means “praise” or “praise ye.” The last part, “Yah,” is the Name of the One being praised. So the YH of the Sacred Name is without question to be pronounced as we pronounce the “Jah” in the word “Hallelujah”. That is, it is with out question to be pronounced as “YAH”.
Yahweh is the personal Name of the Heavenly Father. Yah is the basic or short form of the Heavenly Father’s Name. The full form of the Father’s sacred Name is Yahweh. This Name is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, Bible concordances, encyclopedias and dictionaries, as well as in many current writings of history and archaeology.
Yahweh’s Name is found more than 6,800 times in the Bible’s original language. We also find it as the end of many names of Bible prophets, such as Elijah (EliYah), which means “My Mighty One is Yah,” as well as Jeremiah, Obadiah, Isaiah, Zechariah, etc.
Furthermore, coming down to us from the ancient past the name of the prophet Elijah, in the Hebrew language is a combination of the Hebrew term “El” (meaning " mighty one ", and normally translated as “God” in English) and the basic form of our Creator's name as it is found in the first three letters Y H W.
Again we know with great certainty that the correct pronunciation of this name Elijah as written in Hebrew is EliYahu. We know this because the Jews have sung it in the song “Eliyahu ha nabi” (“Elijah the Prophet”) in every Passover service for century upon century past. Thus we know the pronunciation of the first part of our Creator's name with great certainty. All that remains to be determined is which vowel is to be used between the W and of the final H. We basically have only two options.
We can use the “a” and pronounce the name as “Yahwah”, or we can use the “e” and pronounced the name as “Yahweh”. (The “e” in this case represents the sound of the “e” in the word “eh”, not to sound of “e” as found in the word “he”.) This is really the only uncertainty there is in regards to how to pronounce this sacred name. However, the fact of the matter is, this uncertainty is very slight. Hebrew nouns that are masculine in gender generally end in “eh”.
Whereas, those that are feminine in gender generally end in “ah”. Therefore, since the scriptures clearly represent Yahweh as masculine, we would expect his name to end in “eh”, not “ah”. Thus it is quite certain that our Creator's name, spelled Y H W H in Hebrew, would be pronounced “Yahweh”. This is the way it is found written in practically all scholarly writings.
Furthermore, there is considerable evidence from the way that His name is transliterated into other languages, such as the Greek language, that Yahweh is the correct pronunciation of our Creator's name. The Encyclopedia Judaica, volume seven, page 679 states this: "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’....”
Also in the 20th-Century Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, on pages 1194, 1195, we read that, " the pronunciation ‘Yahweh’ of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton need no longer be based primarily on traditions preserved in 5 late patristic sources. Both the vocalizations yahwe and yahu (a shortened form used chiefly in personal names) are now confirmed by a variety of ancient Near Eastern inscription materials from the first and second millennia B.C. "
It would seem to me that an honest attempt to pronounce our Creator's name, to use it in worship, and in our reading of the scriptures would be much more pleasing to our Creator, even if we didn't get it just right, than completely ignoring it would be.
Since there is great certainty that Yahweh is the correct way of bringing His name over into English, there should be no doubt that we should use this name in our translations of the Bible into English instead of removing it altogether and substituting something else in its place. To remove his name from the Scriptures and put something else in its place, when it is not necessary to do so, is a serious error and a transgression of the command to not take away from or add to His word.
Now that you can pronounce יהוה as "Yahweh," you should practice reading all Bible verses containing יהוה or the LORD using our Creator's true personal name where it belongs. Or better yet, get one of several Bibles which have transliterated the Creator's true name rather than substituting titles where it occurs in the Scripture (2) Rotherham version, 1902; The Jerusalem Bible, 1966 and The New Jerusalem Bible, 1985, Doubleday.
The Word of Yahweh, Assembly of Yahweh, 1017 N. Gunnell Rd, Eaton Rapid, MI 48827. The Scriptures (This version uses the Hebrew characters for the name). Strawberry Islands; Lew White; 2325 Bardstown Road; Louisville, KY 40205-2120. Other new translations are in process as this is written. Watch for them.
Why All Languages Should Transliterate the Hebrew Pronunciation Of His Name?
If your language is English, you may wonder: Why leave only the name in Hebrew while translating the rest into English? If we are going to speak English, then wouldn't it be more consistent to translate the whole thing into our English language? That is a fair question.
Here is the answer. Just as Yahweh through divine will caused the previously discussed word HalleluYah which contains the pronunciation of his Name to be Universal, the same is meant for His personal name itself. If you listen at international press conferences and events, as a rule, no matter what language is being spoken, the proper names of people from Presidents to Diplomats, stars and Athletes are not simply translated into another language but have been transliterated so that it's pronunciation can be recognized by all who hear universally.
You may not understand anything else someone in a foriegn language is saying but you know when they're talking about the specific leader of your nation because the pronunciation for the most part stays the same. It is no different for the personal name of our Creator which He intended to be universally recognized by His people in all languages in both pronunciation and meaning.
This universal recognition cannot easily occur across all various multitudes of languages unless a successful transliteration of the Tetragrammaton can be read and understood in all languages.
We see in scripture that Yahweh wanted not only the meaning or definition of His name to be known among His people, but His proper name itself. In Exodus 3 Yahweh first gives the definition or meaning of His Holy Name...
14"Elohim said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Then He gives His own actual personal Holy Name for all eternity... "
15 Elohim, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is My memorialname to all generations."
Yahweh is the singular name He wants to be remembered by all generations of His people. Not just those among natural Israel but eventually all His people through out the world; no matter what tribe, Tongue or Nation they are from..
Malachi 1:11,""For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations," says Yahweh of hosts."
At the time the Creator gave His name to the Israelites, Niether Yahweh or His name was known or recognized in the foreign languages of the other nations.
Exodus 5:1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith Yahweh Elohim of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is Yahweh, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not Yahweh, neither will I let Israel go. 3 And they said, The Elohim of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto Yahweh our Elohim; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword."
Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Ezekiel 39:7,"SO WILL I MAKE MY HOLY NAME KNOWN in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am YAHWEH, the Holy One in Israel."
Exodus 15:3,"Yahweh is a warrior; Yahweh is his name."
Since the Days of Noah, the people of the world have forgotten the name of Yahweh; both the meaning of who He is , and its Pronunciation. The foreign nations had their own gods. They did not worship the god of the Hebrews and they did not know the name of the god of the Hebrews.
The Creator's communications of His name came only through the Hebrews, and it is through them that the rest of world once again became aware of the fact that the Creator has a personal revealed name; and are now able to transliterate it in writing unto all people, and languages...
Yahweh Revealed His Name
In the seventeenth century, the telescope was invented. The Creator did not tell us to call it a telescope. We made up that word on our own. But we humans did not make up the Creator's name.
Yahweh said that His name is Yahweh! Again, when the Israelites were congregated at Mount Sinai, the Creator introduced Himself and revealed His single personal name. His name occurs eight times within the ten commandments, which were given audibly and written in stone. According to Ex. 20:2, He introduced Himself in the following words:
H3068 (3) YAHWEH
H340 ELOHIM
The H and G numbers above, refer to the numbers in Strong's Concordance of the Bible. H refers to Hebrew and G refers to Greek.
I am יהוה your "god" who brought you out.... His revealed name is הוה י and god is just a title.
Does Yahweh's Word Communicate The Importance Of His Personal Name being Known, Proclaimed in Praise, Reverenced,and Regularly Used And Taught among His people; And to Others?
It would seem that anyone who wants to know their Creator as their Heavenly Father would want to know His name. The Bible itself does not leave us in any doubt as to the vital importance of the Name of Yahweh.
When the true Name is put back into the pas- sages where translators substituted the words “the LORD,” the Bible makes it very clear that we should know, love, and use the Name of Yahweh.
Again, a simple examination of the Scriptures shows that the issue of Yahweh’s Holy Personal Name and its use is of paramount importance to Him — just as your name is important to you. In The Hebrew original of Isaiah 42:8. which contains the Tetragrammaton YHWH, He thunders,
"I am YAHWEH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images,"
Ezekial 39:7,(ESV) “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel."
Deuteronomy 32:3,(AKJV) "Because I will publish the name of Yahweh: ascribe you greatness to our Elohim."
John 17:26(KJB) "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them."
Psalm 145:2 (KJB) "Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever."
Isaiah 52:6,(NASB) "Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, 'Here I am.'" Psalm 68:4,(NET BIBLE) "Sing to Elohim! Sing praises to his name! Exalt the one who rides on the clouds! For Yahweh is his name! Rejoice before him!
Joel 2:32,"(NASB) "And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh Will be delivered [saved].”; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As Yahweh has said, Even among the survivors whom Yahweh calls."
Micah 6:9, “Yahweh’s voice cries unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see Thy Name.”
Zechariah 14:9, “Yahweh will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be Yahweh, and His Name the only Name.” NIV
Exodus 20:7, “Thou shalt not take the Name of Yahweh thy Almighty One in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.” To say it is unimportant or a vain thing is certainly one way of taking it in vain.
Malachi 3:16, “...and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon His Name.”
One further verse gives powerful evidence of the need to use this Name. That verse is Psalm 68:4 (KJV), “Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to His Name; extol Him...by His Name JAH, and rejoice before Him.” (JAH is pronounced YAH as in hallelujah.) There was no J in the original Hebrew.
As we've just seen,Yahweh is resolute about His revealed in scripture Name. He desires that His people call on Him by the only Name that he says ensures salvation. The New Testament Book of Acts tells us, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," Acts 4:12.
So it is very clear from Scripture that the Name of Yahweh is meant to be known and used by those who love Him.
If a person told you his personal name, would you argue with him about it? Would you tell him, "No, I don’t think so. I’ll call you something else instead"? Of course not, that would be absurd! You have no right to do such a thing and you would certainly not make him too happy if you did.
Yet when it comes to the personal Name of the Father in Heaven, many believe that they have the prerogative to decide what they will call the One they worship. They will go to great lengths to avoid using the revealed personal Name of the Heavenly Father, Yahweh.
The most creative mental gymnastics are performed in an effort to justify the continued use of common titles over or in replacement of the personal Name Yahweh, which the Bible says is a name above every name.
Following are the most familiar arguments given to justify the primary use of substitute titles like "God" and "Lord" in place of the true Name Yahweh. We will examine each in light of the Bible to see whether any has validity.
"He has many names."
Despite the admonition of scripture, in an effort to quiet their consciences, some will argue, "He has many names." Many will rationalize, "He knows who I mean no matter what I call Him," while others will postulate, "His ‘name’ just means His authority."
Anyone who studies to show themselves approved by looking into, and rightly dividing this important matter of truth from the Scriptures, however, soon discovers that Yahweh Himself rejects all of these arguments, as well as many other common assumptions about not using His personal Name.
He even wrote the Third Commandment specifically to address the neglect of His Name: "Thou shalt not take the name of Yahweh thy Elohim in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain."
The Hebrew behind that commandment says "bring to deso-lation and ruin," which is exactly what will happen if as a continual practice people substitute other names and titles for the Creators one true personal Name above all names. People have the erroneous idea that there are many names of equal value and importance, and since there is no difference any of them can easily replace Yahweh as the Creators personal name.
Titles Are Not A Personal Name...
Again, he has many names, is one of the most popular justifications advanced to avoid making regular use of the Name Yahweh as his one and only eternally personal name. If He has many names or titles, then it is assumed that no single name stands out as His one, special, personal Name.
Or in other words, He has many names but no personal name. The problem with this argument is the failure to recognize the important difference between ones personal name and generic titles or secondary names that are simply descriptive's or adjectives.
Take "Mr. Sam Jones," for instance. "Mister" is not the name of "Sam Jones." Mister is only a title for him. Sam Jones cannot sign a document with only the word "Mister" and expect anyone to accept it as his authentic endorsement. One is a generic term that applies to any man, the other is his real name.
The same goes for the various descriptive titles for Yahweh that some erroneously think are the same as His personal name. Yahweh has more than one title; like eloah ("mighty one"), el shaddai ("the all-powerful") and adon/adonai ("sovereign").
Sometimes in Bible dictionaries, and other sources, it is said that Elohim is one of "the names of God". Although Elohim is a name in the generic sense, it is not an actual personal name. In other words, Elohim is a name pretty much in the same way as the term man is a name. “Man” is the name of a certain type of being. You could say, "the man came", or you could say, “John came” (if the name of that particular man was John). In the first instance you are using “man” as a name only in the generic sense, that is, as a descriptive noun.
In the second instance you are using the actual name of the individual about whom you are speaking. In other words, “man” is a name only in the generic sense, but “John” is a proper noun, a specific, personal name. In the same way as illustrated above, when you use the Hebrew term Elohim you are speaking of a certain kind of being. You are not giving the personal name of that being, but merely giving the generic name of the being of whom you are speaking. Strictly speaking the Hebrew word Elohim means “mighty ones”.
This is the sense in which this word would generally be used when speaking of more than one false god. This would be a numeric plural. However, when speaking of the one true Almighty One the plurality is a plural of majesty, and not of number, for there is only one true Almighty One. But in either case the term Elohim is a name only in the generic sense.
Like "doctor," the word "elohim" is a title. This Hebrew word is correctly rendered into English as "god" with a small "g," and is frequently and consistently used as a title for the deities of the nations. To verify this, look up "gods" (H430) in Strong's Concordance.
It is the name of a kind of being whether speaking of the true Almighty One, or of false, fictitious mighty ones. Thus, as has been said, Elohim is a name only in the generic sense. It is not a proper noun or personal name.
A good example is Deut. 12:30: "...that thou enquire not after their gods (elohim), saying, How did these nations serve their gods (elohim)'! even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto Yahweh thy god (elohim)..." It is obvious that the sentence, "I am Yahweh, your god; you shall have no other gods beside me" is similar to, "I am John, your doctor; you shall have no other doctors beside me."
Strictly speaking then is incorrect to say that Elohim is “one of the names of God”. Although our creator has many titles or generic terms used of Him in the Bible, the fact of the matter is that He has only one actual name. He has only one personal name; Yahweh!
The term Elohim is the only term used to speak of our Creator in the Genesis Chapter one, and in the first three verses of Chapter two. As has been pointed out, in most English translations of the Bible this term “Elohim” is translated by the word “God”.
The English term “God”, according to its most common usage in the English language, means the Supreme Being or object of worship. However, in the Hebrew language there is a word pronounced exactly like we pronounce the English term “God”. This Hebrew word means “fortune” or “troop”, with fortune being the meaning most commonly given to it today.
Written with the Hebrew letters that are equivalent to the English letters G-d, this word, pronounced as we pronounce the term “God”, is used as the name of one of the tribes of Israel, and as the name of one of the prophets of Israel. It also is used as the name of a false deity - the god of fortune, or possibly the god of troops or fortification. This name of one of the tribes of Israel, of a prophet of Israel, and of this deity of fortune is written in English as “Gad”, with the “a” pronounced like the “a” in the word “dad”.
But, as already pointed out, in Hebrew it is pronounced like our English word “God”. Because of this seeming link to the name of a particular pagan deity that Isaiah tells us the children of Israel forsook the Almighty in order to worship, there are some who feel it is wrong to use the term “God” when referring to the Almighty. [See Isaiah 65:11 wherein the Hebrew word “Gad” is translated as “that troop”.]
I understand how those who reject the use of this word in reference to the Almighty feel. I have even leaned in that direction myself at times myself. If you require, I will explain my thinking in this matter more at a later time. However, for the time being, in this study I use the term “God” in its common English meaning and as a common translation for the Hebrew term “Elohim” and other related Hebrew terms.
For the moment, I just wish to note again that the term “God”, which is used in most English versions of the Bible as a translation of “Elohim”, is the only term used in them to refer to our Creator in the book of Genesis until we reach the 4th verse of chapter 2, and to note that this is not used as a personal name or proper noun, but merely as a title or generic, descriptive noun.
Don't get me wrong, as the original scriptures of the Bible itself do, I believe we can and should use the inspired titles in conjunction with, or as a compliment to the one and only Holy personal name of Yahweh. We should never replace the name, in the sense of communicating these titles as if they are the same as our Elohim's personal name above all names; because as shown they are not. If you want to know more on the Biblical view of the inspired Titles see the article made available in our study course...
The following is from an article by Elder Dale George entitled The Truth About Inspired Titles.
Attributes Are Not A Personal Name...
Others are confused by attributions that are sometimes used in connection with His Name, like Yahweh-Yireh ("Yahweh provides"), Yahweh-Zidkenu ("Yahweh our righteousness") and Yahweh-Rapha ("Yahweh our healer").
The inspired practices of forming and compuonding our Creator's name by connecting attributes which isolate and focus on specific truths about our EL, that bring glory to Yahweh’s Name are found in the Law and the phophets .This Practice Can Be Seen In Presentation Of The Name Of Elohim The Son, By Inspiration Through The Prophets.
The Name Link Between Father and Son
The Messiah’s Name, Yahshua, contains the Sacred, heavenly family Name Yah: Yah-shua. He truly and literally came in His Father’s Name, as He Himself said (John 5:43).
He alone is the “Salvation of Yah.”
“Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12).
This is not to say that those who have been unwillingly ignorant of His true Name have not found salvation in the person of the Savior. Yahweh is full of justice and mercy. Nevertheless, His past mercy in no way justifies continuing in error. To use the words of Acts 17:30, “The times of this ignorance Yahweh winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent.”
When any truth is restored, which men’s traditions have hidden, it becomes the responsibility of His true people to walk in that truth regardless of the cost. “Therefore, to him that knows to do good and does it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
One of the first things we should learn in our search for the true Savior is His Name. In His word Yahweh wants us to realize the importance of knowing the relationship between His name and His Son’s Name cannot be overstated.
Proverbs 30:4,"Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!"
Yes, we do know; because If we have Elohim the Father's name, we have Elohim the Son's name. It's not two but one single name that They both share, that will be written on our foreheads in Revelation 14:1...
"Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred fortyfour thousand who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. "
John 5:43,"I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him."
You say, how is Jesus the same name as Yahweh? They don't even sound alike! Your right Yahweh is a Hebrew name and Jesus is a Greek name, in both pronunciation and meaning, the two are nothing alike.
Names were and are very important to Yahweh the Elohim of the Hebrew people, thus they are very important to the Hebrew people even today. The meanings of names are of great significance, not only to individuals, but also to entire families.
Again, the name Jesus is not even Hebrew, It's Greek. “Jesus” is derived from the Greek name Iesous, which is found in the Greek translations It is a invention of man which resulted from a flawed transliteration of our Saviors true name passed on from the Hebrew to the Greek.
A flaw further expanded into Latin, and completed in English. Jesus not only failed in its original attempt to successfully carrying over the proper pronunciation of our Saviors name from the Hebrew Language to Greek,Latin and English; but this false name in no way carries the meaning of the true Name of this Man mentioned in the New Testament. Jesus carries no meaning at all.
The simple fact (which is easily proven from authoritative sources) as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, and elsewhere is that this man over two thousand years ago was born a Hebrew, and had a Hebrew name. There is no such name as Jesus in the Hebrew language. Joseph was told by the angel: “She shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His Name Yahshua, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Bible scholars know that our Savior was not known by the name “Jesus.” The fact that many have come to accept the person of the Savior while knowing only the name of Jesus does not make that His actual Name. There is no such letter as "J"in the Hebrew alphabet. As a letter "J' has only existed in any alphabet for around five hundred years. Both the popular names Jehovah and Jesus were not in the original Scriptures and therefore cannot be genuine. It is a fact, provable in part by the historical nonexistence of the letter J.
"Precious name, oh how sweet," sing many voices as people gather each week to praise and worship the Savior and Redeemer of Israel. But the name they sing praises to is not the Messiah's name and never was.
Now learn what the inspired names of the Father and Son actually are.
Again, the name "Jesus" is a combination of the Greek "Iesous" and the Latin version employing the letter J. This name commonly used in Christianity did not exist until about 500 years ago.
The French philosopher, historian, and religion scholar Ernest Renan stated in his book, The Life of Jesus, that the Savior never was called Jesus in His lifetime. Renan based his conclusion on his archaeological trips to the Holy Land in searching for inspiration and materials on the Savior.
Renan is not the only one disclaiming the popular false name of the Messiah. Proof likely exists in your own home or can easily be found in your local library. You'll find a wealth of proof in these pages—references common in any library.
There is so much more we can show about the Letter "J" proving how it came about to helped form the false name that is commonly excepted today as Jesus; for now simply reading from The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 10, page 10, we find that the supposed name Jesus is actually the common Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua.
JESUS (d. 30 c.e.), whom Christianity sees as its founder and object of faith, was a Jew who lived toward the end of the Second Commonwealth period.
THE NAME, BIRTH, AND DEATH DATE OF JESUS. Jesus is the common Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. Jesus’ father, Joseph, his mother, Mary (in Heb. Miriam), and his brothers James (in Heb. Yaaqob), Joses (Yahseph), Judah, and Simon (Mark 6:3) likewise bore very popular Hebrew names.
The Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 12, page 805, gives us additional information, concerning the Hebrew spelling of Joshua, which is yod-heh-waw-shin-ayin.
This source also points out to us that this Name, correctly pronounced Yahshua, is a compound name constructed with the Tetragrammaton,which is the Name: YAHWEH, . The Name Yahshua follows the common practice among the true worshippers of Yahweh, in forming or compounding the Creator's name with a attribute which brought glory to Yahweh’s Name.
The Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume 9, page 153, tells us this about compound names which glorify Yahweh:
The Interpreter’s Dictionary, Volume 3, page 505, tells us:
The Name Yahshua is just such a compound Name. It is a combination of Yahweh’s personal Name in its shortened form (YAH: yod-heh) and SHUA (shin-ayin), which means salvation. The Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, page 221, tells us that the Name Yahshua means Yahweh is salvation.
Another aspect of the existence of the name of the Heavenly Father in the name of his son, our Savior and redeemer, goes into the pronunciation of the Son's Name. I will not take time now to go deeply into this matter of the Savior’s name. Of course today our Savior is commonly called “Jesus”.
However, this is far removed from the correct pronunciation of his name as it was given to him when he was born of his Hebrew, Virgin mother approximately 2000 years ago. His name, as it was given to him at his birth, contained the name of Yahweh in its meaning and in its sound. Whereas stated before, the name “Jesus” does neither. Two different times in the King James translation of the Bible we find the name “Jesus” being used when it does not refer to the Savior, but to Joshua the son of Nun who was the successor of Moses.
Those passages are Acts 7: 45 and Hebrews 4: 8. In fact, many more recent translations actually use the name “Joshua” in those verses. The reason the King James Version uses “Jesus” in those passages is because in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament the same word is used in those passages as is used elsewhere for our Savior’s name. This is proof that our saviors Name is actually the same as Joshua, the successor of Moses.
In the King James, in He– brews 4:8 and Acts 7:45, the name “Jesus” is used when speaking of Joshua. This shows that “Jesus” is being substituted for the Hebrew name Joshua. The Greek text actually has the same name Iesous for both men.
If the J in Joshua is pronounced as Y in ac– cordance with Hebrew, which has no J sound, we have the correct pronunciation of the Sav- ior’s Name. But the spelling “Yoshua” does not show a connection with the Father’s Name. Therefore, the more correct transliteration or way to write His Name in English as “Yahshua.”
Originally, Joshua was called Hoshua or Oshea, meaning “salvation” or “deliverance.” But led of the Spirit Moses added the sacred Name to this and called him Yah-oshua, meaning “salvation of Yah” or “Yah-salvation” (Numbers 13:16).
The name “Joshua” as it existed as in Hebrew is a combination of the name “Hoshua”, which meant “Salvation”, and the basic form of the Sacred Name of “Yahweh”. It was pronounced as “Yahoshua”, or “Yahushua”.
Later, the o sound was dropped in usage and the name became shortened to Yahshua. This happened after Israel’s Babylonian captivity. The name that Moses gave to the one who was to become his successor and to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land, became shortened by the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, as we read in Nehemiah 8:17 in the Hebrew text of the scripture.
It became written with the Hebrew letters that are equivalents of our English letters Y S H UA. The shortened form, then, was in use when the Savior of man was named in the New Testament. Historical evidence indicates that this is the form of the name given to our Savior at his birth.
At Psalm 72:17 in the well-known World Publishing Co. edition of the King James Bible, the center reference shows the original Hebrew reads as follows: “His Name shall be as a Son to continue His Father’s Name forever: and men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.”
This is clearly a prophecy concerning the Savior. And of course, a son always bears his father’s or family name. The Savior Himself said, “ I have come in my Father’s Name…” (John 5:43).
When all facts are considered, more and more, it becomes apparent that the name “Jesus” came about through a mispronunciation or mistransliteration of the form used in those Greek manuscripts for the Savior’s name.
The pronunciation and the meaningful connection to Elohim's personal name went further and further away as it was transliterated into Latin and, finally, into English.
Again you may still question, how can we be sure how our Saviors name is pronounced? What vowel should be used after the “Y”? 6 In Modern Hebrew they pronounce this name as “Yeshua” (using the “eh” for the sound for the vowel).
However, all indications are that in biblical ancient Hebrew it was pronounced as “Yahshua” (using the “ah” sound for the vowel after the initial “Y”). It could also be transliterated as “Yashua”. However, using that form in English leaves uncertainty with the reader as to whether the “a” should be sounded as the “a” in “care”, or as the “a” in “father”, whereas, the “ah” makes the correct pronunciation clear.
Therefore, as we continue to read the Bible, every where the false name Jesus is written, we should use “Yahshua” or Yahoshua for the true name of the Savior.
Many would be surprised to know that the Sacred Name of the Messiah, Yahshua, is the only personal Name by which He was known to His disciples. Though He has many titles such as Son of Man, Savior, Anointed, and King of Kings. His Name is composed of two parts: Yah-Hoshua (Saviour). Thus, the contraction Yahshua signifies YahwehSaviour and strikingly bears out the logic of Matthew 1:21,...
"And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Yahshua, for He will save His people from their sins."
Again, the statement that Yahweh has many names is only true in a general or broad sense. In the sense that he has many secondary names, titles or categories of attributes or roles that can be used individually to describe specific facets of His Ultimate representation of them.
It is not true if by saying this you believe our Creator has many personal names that are interchangeable as His personal Holy, Sacred name. If you look up "name" in a concordance, you will find many references to the name of Yahweh, but not even once will it refer to His names (plural).Yahweh has many titles and attributes that he can be called; such as seen in....
Isaiah 9:6," 6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders;And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Elohim, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Not one of these many titles or attributes can or should be used in replacement of our Elohim's one and only, singular Personal name. When it came to sharing the ministry of the gospel of salvation, Yahshua in His command as Elohim in the flesh showed that Elohim the Father. Elohim the Son, and Elohim the Spirit share a singular eternal name....
Matthew 28:18Then Yahshua came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, "
Notice that the singular word "name" is used here for the triune representations of Elohim. Our Savior did not use the plural form of names. And what singular name belonging to our triune Elohim, did the disciples in obedience to the Master, consistently baptize all new converts in?....
Acts 2:38,"Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to Elohim, and be baptized in the name of Yahshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 8:16,"because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Yahshua."
Acts 10:48,"And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Yahshua Messiah. Then they asked him to remain for some days." We already showed earlier in this study, how that the true singular Elohim given name was not the false name Jesus, but Yahshua which is Hebrew for the personal Holy name of Yahweh; combined with, or connected to, his attribute of Salvation.
In the future, Yahweh will still prove to have one personal Holy name, according to Zech. 14:9.
New American Standard Bible
"And Yahweh will be king over all the earth; in that day Yahweh will be the only one, and His name the only one."
Regardless of the many titles and attributes that scripture shows can be added or connected too His name, He still has only one Name — Yahweh. He inspired the prophet Isaiah in 42:8 to write, "I am YAHWEH: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."
Psalm 83:18 confirms that He has but one Name: "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is YAHWEH, art the most high over all the earth." Nowhere in the pages of the Bible can we find a statement saying He has many names. But we can find many passages attesting to His one true Name.
There Can Only Be One Name Above All Names
Philippians 2:9, "Therefore Elohim exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the name above all names,"
Psalm 148:13,"Let them praise the name of Yahweh, for his name alone is lifted up; his majesty transcends earth and heaven.
Does Name Really Mean Name?
Some argue that the word "name" means authority or power, rather than name. I argue that it means both because Elohim's authority or power is contained in His name. Also it's by the authority of His word, the Creator tells us that He has a literal personal name!
The word "name" (H8034 - shem) is used over 200 times in the Torah, and is correctly and consistently translated "name." To verify this, look up "name" in Strong's Concordance. A different word (H3581- koach), means power.
Yahweh does indeed have power or authority, but as scripture bears out, He also has a name. Through Moses, Yahweh said to Phar-aoh in Ex. 9:16, "And in very deed for this cause have I raised you up, for to show in you My power (koach)... and that My name (shem) may be declared throughout all the earth."
Conclusion
Does Israel's mighty one have a personal Holy name? Is His name "God?"
These are simple yes or no questions. Now that you know the answers, why would you primarily continue using the word "god" as if it were Yahweh's own personal name? Some will argue that words are merely for communication, but the important thing is the meaning or the intent of the heart.
Well, that is precisely the point! Your Creator, Yahweh, loves you and cares for you. He knows you by name and has a place for your own name to be written in His book of life. He cares about you personally. But He also wants you to care about Him personally.
He wants you to be kept, not in His title or some substitute, but IN HIS NAME, YAHWEH! Look into this issue for yourself and commit yourself to getting to know and refer to your Creator by His true personal Holy name.