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                                                             Hello

                                                      His name is

                                               Yahweh or Jehovah

Exo 3:15 And Elohim said to Moses again, You shall say this to the sons of Israel, YAHWEH, the Elohe of your fathers, the Elohe of Abraham, the Elohe of Isaac, and the Elohe of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is how I should be remembered from generation to generation.

We see clearly from this text that YHWH is Elohim’s name throughout all generations! This is the name of names! It is mentioned 6829 times in the Bible. (No other name comes even close to that number). It is THE most dominant name in the Bible. And a person’s name is not merely an appellation (title) but denotes his identity, and suggests important qualities of being and character to the world outside himself. YHWH is Elohim’s covenant Name, the name He declared was forever, from generation to generation, [Exodus 3:15].

Then in Exodus 6 Elohim twice declares his name is YHWH, and goes on to state that our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never knew Him by the name of YHWH. But how do we pronounce this precious name? Does it matter? Is the name forbidden to pronounce, as the Rabbis assert? Since original Biblical Hebrew has no vowels, one would think that the true pronunciation of the Name could only be known by oral tradition passed down from generation to generation directly from Moses, which would mean it could be lost in history? Or  has it been preserved somewhere in Jewish tradition? How do we say “YHWH” without knowing the vowels between the consonants?

In this New Covenant age, when we walk in Elohim’s presence and can hear His voice as we enjoy a personal relationship with Him through Yeshua, Some might not consider this of much importance, since we can always call Him, “Father”, yet how many of us would not be uncomfortable if someone addressed us by our name, but pronounced it wrong, or even worse, constantly called us by a title instead of our personal name? And since it is Elohim’s covenant Name, by which He will be known by all generations, it also seems significant that we actually pronounce it somehow.

After all, it is the scriptural identification of the Creator’s eternal Name! And even more important, the very Name of Elohim carries authority and power and blessing just to be uttered, if it’s not uttered “in vain”, but with hallowed awe and deep respect. The common practice is to use the term which was substituted for the Name, in the Authorized King James version, the term “LORD”. But this is a title, not a name! It is an alteration of the very word of Elohim. And I’m not at all sure that the Creator, who very intentionally gave us His personal Name, is happy to be constantly addressed by a title, instead of the Name He gave us.

So I submit a tentative personal conclusion based on my own study and meditation on this subject, with the suggestion that we begin at least to consider addressing our Father by His rightful Name, especially when we read the Bible, (even if we may not be 100% sure how to pronounce it). Now, “yaweh”, in Hebrew, is a verb which means, “to constitute, bring into being, or fulfill a promise or covenant”.

And I believe this is the strongest support we have that Elohim’s name is pronounced “Yahweh”. Let me explain: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had the promise of the land. But they never actually inherited the land, remaining sojourners in it. They knew Elohim as El Shaddai. But to Moses, in Exodus 6:4, Elohim explains that He established His land covenant with them, and He tells Moses that “YHWH” is His Covenant Name!

So the pronunciation of the verb “yaweh”, which means “to constitute or fulfill a promise or ‘covenant’, could well be the very key to the pronunciation of the Name of the Covenant making Elohim! I believe this linguistic key points us in the right direction toward the correct pronunciation of “YHWH”. But there is more…

“A name in the Past spoken”

Here are some interesting facts: history and Jewish Holy books clearly teach us that the pronunciation of “YHWH” was prohibited in the time of the high priest Simeon the Just around 200 BC. (“Whoever pronounces the name forfeits his portion in the future world” [Talmud Sanh. x1.1])

The Rabbis, who still believe and teach this to this day, went to great measures to prevent anybody from accidentally pronouncing Elohim’s name. To accomplish this they used a substitute for each of the 6829 times it was written in the Tenach (OT), using vowels which they knew were incorrect when their scribes copied the Bible by hand, so that the pronunciation of the Name was altered by the use of vowels which were known to be inaccurate.

Their method was to remove the correct vowels from the word “YHWH” (according to the pronunciation which they believed was the true one), and then insert the vowels from the word “Lord” (“Adonai”). Thus the name “Jehovah” was formulated, successfully hiding the true pronunciation. Today, religious Jews are extremely unwilling to even give a hint of the correct pronunciation, and instead of pronouncing Elohim’s name, they say, “the name” (“Hashem”), or “Elohim”; and if they are very religious, “Elokim”. Yet we know for certain that King David, all the kings and all the prophets pronounced Elohim’s covenant name without any restrictions.

But there is a remarkable and important exception to this practice. Every year, just as Yom Kippur ends and the sun goes down, Jews are allowed to pronounce this sacred name, because at that time, having repented and prepared an entire mouth, then fasted and thoroughly confessed all their sins, the Rabbis consider observant Jews to be holy enough to utter the Holy Name. And if you happen to be at the Western wall in Jerusalem, or within earshot of Orthodox Rabbis at this unique moment, you will hear the name “Yahweh” being spoken aloud into the air….. but never, “Jehovah”. So, apparently they do believe they have the correct pronunciation; they have simply made it a very well-kept secret…

In 1509 a Catholic Priest by the name of Pietro Galatinus who studied oriental languages in Rome, was meditating on the name “Jehovah”; (which, remember, the Rabbis were using to disguise the real pronunciation). Galatinus came up with another interpretation which he published in 1520. His thesis was that the three letters “Ye”, “ho” “Vah”, are abbreviations of three Hebrew words, “was” , “is”, and “will come”. This was an arbitrary formulation with no direct scriptural support, though it could easily be argued from scripture that Elohim is eternal in both directions of time.

Nevertheless after 1509 this meditation on the falsified pronunciation of the covenant name of YHWH became an established “truth” concerning the interpretation of the name of our Creator. Before 1509 there was no interest or argument at all in the church concerning the correct pronunciation of the name of Elohim.

Just a few years after Galatinus, in 1527, the Bible was first translated into English by William Tyndale. Tyndale was greatly influenced by Galatinus and wrote “IEHOUAH” for the name of Elohim.

90 years later, the original 1617 King James version exchanged the “u” for a “v”, and thus the name “Yehovah” was “memorialized” for posterity. And while we know that Yeshua, the only Son and image of the Father reveals Himself as one who was, is and is to come, the fact remains that the covenant name of “YHWH” is most closely derived from a Hebrew word with a meaning with which He Himself identified: i.e. “to constitute, bring into being, or fulfill a promise or covenant”.

Hebrew names are especially expressive and all have meanings. Our Father carefully chose the Hebrew Name by which He would be eternally identified, a Name which renders a powerful expression of His nature and identity. I believe that Name is “Yahweh”, and I feel personally privileged and even obligated to speak this Holy Name which the Creator chose and gave us in Scripture to be called by us for all generations.

Blessings, Netanel

Netanel Nickels is a believer and tour guide and linguist living in Israel and Jerusalem for many years now. His wife Ditka also works with him in ministry as well as his many children.