IMPORTANT NOTE AND UPDATE - 03/12/2013: Lately, I have noticed that there are many using the form "Yahuah" or "Yahuwah" based on the fact that the name יהודה "Yahudah/Yehudah" (Judah) contains the same letters as יהוה with the exception of the ד Daleth (D) being added (Hebrew reads from right to left). In other words, Yahweh's name contains יהוה (Yod Heh Waw Heh) and the name of one of the sons of Israel (Judah) is יהודה (Yod Heh Waw Daleth Heh.) They say that the Heavenly Father's name can be "made simple" by believing that since there is only one letter difference between the two names, we can learn the right pronunciation of the Heavenly Father's name by looking at how Judah's name is pronounced in Hebrew. But the truth is, we cannot determine the pronunciation of one Hebrew word by looking at how another word is pronounced with similar letters. This is because Hebrew words usually contain missing vowels. The reader has to supply the vowels based on their existing knowledge of the language. Thus, you can have numerous words where there is one consonant difference and yet they are pronounced completely different. Here are a couple of examples in Hebrew where there is only one letter different than Yahweh's name, yet the pronunciation is different:
If we removed vowels from two English words that had similar consonants, no one would argue that we can learn the vowels of one word by knowing the vowels of another. For instance "word," "ward" and "weird' would all have the same consonants (WRD) but different vowel sounds and different meanings. In fact, there are examples in Hebrew of where two words with different meanings are spelled exactly the same way, yet they are pronounced differently. The word שאול, which is pronounced "Shaul" (King Saul's name) is spelled exactly the same as the word שאול, pronounced "Sheol." "Shaul" means "desired" but "Sheol" means "grave." The vowels and meaning are different, but the word is spelled the same. If שאול (Shaul) is spelled the same as שאול (Sheol), yet has different vowels, why would we believe that יהוה must automatically have the same vowels as יהודה ? If the "Yahu" in "Yahu-dah" means "praise Yahweh," this would be a compound word with the "Yahu-" referring to Yahueh/Yahweh and the "-dah" coming from another word altogether. Thus, we really can't rely on the "Dah" pronunciation to arrive at the correct pronunciation of the final syllable in יהוה. It is derived from a different source. The reason why Yahweh's name is upon His people is not because "Yahudah" contains part of Yahweh's name as some claim. All of Yahweh's people (including the other 11 tribes) are called by His name because of the elements seen in the priestly blessing:
So in conclusion, to
base the pronunciation of the Heavenly Father's name on how another name
or word is pronounced is not sound reasoning and should be completely
disregarded when seeking to understand how יהוה
is pronounced.
Yehowah/Yehovah? It's a surprise to me, but another pronunciation growing in
popularity is "Yehowah." This is actually the Hebraic way of saying
"Jehovah." The term "Jehovah/Yehowah" came about when the Masorite
scribes placed the vowels for Adonai in between the letters of Yahweh's
name. This was to show the reader that he was supposed to say "Adonai"
instead of uttering the actual pronunciation of His name.
Those who support the "Yehowah" pronunciation often say
that the scribes were not trying to hide the name, but were actually correct in their
vowel pointing. Their evidence is
that the first vowel point in "Yehowah" produces an "Eh" sound and not
an "Ah" sound like the first vowel sound in "Ah-donai."
But the Masorites had to omit or change the first vowel simply because
the first vowel sound in Adonai (Ah) matches the first vowel in
"Yahweh." What else were they to do? Nevertheless, there is a way to be certain that
the scribes were actually inserting vowels to cause the reader to say
"Adonai" rather than the actual pronunciation of His name. If you have a strong's concordance, look
up word number 3069. Notice that the vowel points underneath Yahweh's
name are different than #3068, and produce the pronunciation: Yehowih (Yehowee).
Where did this come from?
In the Masoretic text (hebrew
scriptures) "Yehowih" is found in over 300 instances. In each instance
where "Yehowih" is found, the Hebrew word "Adonai" always precedes it.
Thus, it says "Adonai Yehowih." The reason for this oddity proves that the
scribes were trying to get the reader to say "Adonai" when giving us "Yehowah."
If the scribes had actually put "Adonai Yehowah" instead of "Adonai
Yehowih" the reader would have had to say "Adonai Adonai" whenever they
came across this phrase, a rather awkward situation. Therefore, they put the
vowel points for "Elohim" (YeHoWiH)
in Yahweh's name whenever "Adonai Yahweh" existed in the text so that
the reader would say "Adonai Elohim" rather than "Adonai Adonai."
To me this easily proves that the intent of
the vowel points inserted in Yahweh's name was not to supply a correct
pronunciation of our Father's name, but rather to get the reader to say
"Adonai" or "Elohim" instead. Thus, "Yehowah" (and it's companion "Yehowih")
are not correct pronunciations of our Father's name, but are actually
hybrids that combine the letters of Yahweh's name with the vowel sounds
of two other words: Adonai and Elohim. Some suggest that since there are cases where
even the vowel point for "O" from Adonai is missing from the Name, there
was a conspiracy to prevent readers from pronouncing the Name as "Yehowah."
But Exodus 13:9, Jeremiah 36:8, Ezekiel 44:5 and Nahum 1:3 you will find
both Yehowah and Yehwah in the same verse. Also, whenever the vowel
points for "Elohim" are used, about 90% of them also lack the "O" sound
in the middle. It appears that the Masorites were more careless with the
placement of these uninspired vowel points due to the fact that most
Jews had practiced the substitutions from their youth, and one or two
vowel points from either "Adonai" or "Elohim" would have been sufficient
reminder. Contact me if you
are interested in a point-by-point rebuttal to an article (which was
written by an unbeliever) supporting the "Yehowah" pronunciation. Yahweh It is important to understand that in Hebrew, the verb form determines how the vowels sound. This is somewhat like English where the verb "Run" changes to "Ran" if past tense is intended, and "Running" if present tense is intended. But in Hebrew, certain letters are added and vowel sounds will change depending on whether it is 1st, 2nd or 3rd person, or whether it is masculine or feminine, or whether the word is intensive, causative, etc.
Understanding this basic fundamental of the Hebrew language will help us
to understand Yahweh's own explanation of His name in Exodus 3:14
Exod. 3:13-14 -
Then Moses said to Elohim, "Indeed, when
I come to the children of Israel and say to them,`The Elohim of
your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me,`What is
His name?' what shall I say to them?" Yahweh said to tell the
people of Israel that His name is "I AM THAT I AM" or "Ehyeh asher
ehyeh." We know that "ehyeh" is the way you pronounce "Hayah"
(a verb meaning, "to be") in the first person form. So why
then did He tell Moshe to call Him
יהוה
'Yahweh' rather than
אהיה
'Ehyeh' in the
next verse? Exod. 3:15 - Putting it simplistically, the form "Yahweh" is the 3rd person form of the same Hebrew verb, "Hayah." Yahweh was declaring who He is in saying "I AM" ("ehyeh") in Exodus 3:14, but when we refer to Him we say "HE IS, or He causes to exist" יהוה which is the 3rd person form, causative. This understanding is supported in verses like: Ezek. 37:6 -
"I will put sinews on you and bring flesh
upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live.
Then you shall know that I am Yahweh." Don't they already know He is Yahweh? What is He saying here? Well, if we understand that יהוה is the 3rd person causative form of the verb "hayah", the Hebrew reader would understand that once He puts breath in them and they live, they would know that "I am 'He who causes to exist' (Ani Yahweh)." All throughout history this has been the ultimate debate. Who is the author of all that exists? There are 73 scriptures where Yahweh makes this statement "you/they shall know that I am Yahweh". He wants us to have the understanding that HE IS, and HE WILL CAUSE YOU TO KNOW THAT HE IS BY WHAT HE DOES. This is how He introduced Himself to Yisrael, for "He who comes to Elohim must believe that HE IS" (Hebrews 11:6). As far as I know, other proposed pronunciations (Yahuah, Yahuwah, Yehowah, etc) have no meaning at all in the Hebrew language, whereas it seems to me that Yahweh Himself in Exodus 3:14 was trying to attach a genuine meaning to His name. In the vast majority of cases, an "-ah" ending (with ה as the final letter) is actually a feminine ending in Hebrew. The fact that the Masorites were willing to place a vowel point indicating an "ah" sound at the end of יהוה is further evidence that His name would not end in "ah." Some suggest that since there are
some other Hebrew names don't follow Hebrew verb patterns, Yahweh's name
shouldn't either. But the fact that "Ehyeh" does follow the
correct (1st person) grammatical verb pattern, it would logically follow
that
יהוה
would also contain the correct verb pattern. After all, He was using
first person form to clarify the etymology of His name. And of all the
proposed pronunciations, the only one that makes any grammatical sense
or even carries a meaning at all in the Hebrew is the form "Yahweh." |
Home
| E-mail list
| Request printed copy of this page | Search |
