What
is His Name?
{All underlines have been added}
Jehovah
& Jah
Jehovah: Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Is. 12:2 & 26:4. Jah: Ps. 68:4
The Heavenly Father's Name is Yahweh. Sometimes you will find in scripture that
He is called simply "Yah." See your King James or New King James Bible
for confirmation of this. Here is the King James Version of Psalms 68:4, Sing
unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by
His Name JAH, and rejoice before him.
Ten
Commandments
Note that the first three of the Ten Commandments deal with Yahweh and
His powerful Name. In the original
Hebrew the first five Commandments use His Name Yahweh ten times!
“J”
There is not now nor was there ever an equivalent letter "j" in
the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Nor is there any Hebrew letter that
carries even an approximate sound of the consonant letter "j." Neither
is there a letter "j" in the Greek alphabet.
From the 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia Corporation’s Microsoft
Encarta.
J, tenth letter and seventh consonant in the English alphabet. It is the
latest addition to English script and has been inserted in the alphabet after I,
from which it was developed. Not until the middle of the 17th century did the
use of j as an initial become universal in English books.
“LORD”
in Strong’s
Look up “LORD” in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, it will
direct you in the Hebrew Dictionary to #3068: Yehovah, the
self-Existent or Eternal, Jewish national name of God. #3050, Yahh,
contraction for #3068, and meaning the same; Jah, the sacred name.
HalleluYah
& Jeremiah
One of the most widely known words in the world is "halleluYah,"
meaning, "Praise you Yah." Notice
that the short or poetic form is “Yah.”
HalleluYah is heard the world over and sounds the same in all languages.
“Yah” also appears in names like Isaiah (IsaYah), Jeremiah (JeremYah),
Zephaniah (ZephanYAH), Nehemiah (NehemYAH), Obadiah (ObadYah), Zechariah (ZecharYah),
and other names ending in "iah." Jeremiah translates Yahweh exalts,
Obadiah translates servant of Yahweh, Nehemiah translates comfort of Yahweh.
Note: A study Bible, or even a good reference Bible will give you most of this information. Check out your own.
References from your own Bible
New American Standard Version,
1901.
Preface to the New American Standard Bible, 1963, pg. vi.
It is known that for many years YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh.
No complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation. However, it is felt by
many who are in touch with the laity of our churches that this name conveys no
religious or spiritual overtones. It (this name) is strange, uncommon, and
without sufficient religious and devotional background. No amount of scholarly
debate can overcome this deficiency. Hence, it was decided to avoid the use of
this name in the translation proper.
Revised Standard Version, 1946, Preface, pg. v.
The form “Jehovah” is of late medieval origin; it is a combination of
the consonants of the Divine Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes
but belonging to an entirely different word. The sound of Y is represented by J
and the sound of W by V, as in Latin. For two reasons the Committee has returned
to the more familiar usage of the King James Version: (1) the word “Jehovah”
does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew; and
(2) the use of any proper name for the one and only God, as though there were
other gods from whom He had to be distinguished, was discontinued in Judaism
before the Christian era and is entirely inappropriate for the universal
faith of the Christian Church.
New International Version, 1973, Preface, pg. ix.
New King James Version, 1982, Preface, pg. iv &
v.
The covenant name of God was usually translated from the Hebrew as
“LORD” in the King James Old Testament. This tradition is maintained.
The Jerusalem Bible, 1966, Editor’s Foreword,
pg. vi.
New English Bible, the introduction to the Old
Testament.
References for Old Testament
Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1971, pg. 455.
Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia Corporation’s Microsoft
Encarta, 1994.
Jehovah, name of the God of the
Hebrew people as erroneously transliterated from the Masoretic Hebrew
text. The word consists of the consonants JHVH or JHWH, with the vowels of a
separate word, Adonai (Lord). Because of an interpretation of such texts as
Exodus 20:7 and Leviticus 24:11, the name came to be regarded as too sacred for
expression; the scribes, in reading aloud, substituted “Lord” and therefore
wrote the vowel markings for “Lord” into the consonantal framework The
translators of the Hebrew, not realizing what the scribes had done, read the
word as it was written down, taking the scribal vowel markings as intrinsic to
the name of their God rather than as a mere reminder not to speak it. From this
came the rendition Jehovah. It indicates that the name was originally spoken
Jaweh or Yahwe (often spelled Yahweh in modern usage).
The New Bible Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1986, pg. 430.
The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by transliterations of the name
into Greek in early Christian literature.
Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only ‘name’ of God. In
Genesis wherever the word sem (‘name’) is associated
with the divine being that name is Yahweh. Yahweh, therefore, in contrast
with Elohim (God) is a proper noun, the name of a Person, though that Person is
divine. A study of the word ‘name’ in the OT reveals how much it means in
Hebrew. The name is no mere label, but is significant of the real personality of
him to whom it belongs.
"Yahweh-the personal name of the [El] of the Israelites...The
Masoretes, Jewish biblical scholars of the Middle Ages, replaced the vowel signs
that had appeared above or beneath the consonants of YHWH with the vowel signs
of Adonai or of Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came
into being. Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation
periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblical
scholars again began to use the form Yahweh, thus this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton
was never really lost. Greek transcriptions also indicate that YHWH should be
pronounced Yahweh."
Old Testament Scripture
Exodus 3:13- And Moses said to God,
Behold, [when] I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God
of your fathers hath sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his
name? what shall I say to them? [14] And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM:
and he said, Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me to
you. [15] And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the children of
Israel, Yahweh God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: this [is] my name for ever,
and this [is] my memorial to all generations. [16] Go, and gather the elders of
Israel together, and say to them, Yahweh God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited
you, and [seen] that which is done to you in Egypt:
Exodus 6:3- And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty, but
by my name Yahweh was I not known to them.
Exodus 34:14- For thou shalt worship no
other God: for Yahweh, whose name [is] Jealous, [is] a jealous God:
Deut. 28:10 - And all people of the earth
shall see that thou (Israel) art called by the name of Yahweh; and
they shall be afraid of thee.
1Kings 18:24, 36-39 [Elijah] And call ye
on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Yahweh: and the
God that answereth by fire, let him be God. [36b Elijah says] Yahweh God
of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in
Israel. [37] Hear me O Yahweh. [38] Then the fire of Yahweh fell,
and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust,
and licked up the water that was in the trench. [39] And when all the people saw
it they fell on their faces: and they said, Yahweh, he is the God; Yahweh he
is the God.
Ps. 29:2 - Give unto Yahweh the
glory due his name.
Ps. 34:3- O magnify Yahweh with me;
and let us exalt his name together.
Ps. 35:27 -Let them shout for joy, and
be glad , that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually,
“Let Yahweh be magnified!,"
Ps. 54:6 - I will freely sacrifice
unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Yahweh; for it is good.
Ps. 63:4 - Thus will I bless (praise)
thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
Ps 68:4 - Sing unto God, sing
praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name YAH, and
rejoice before him.
Ps. 72:18-19 - Blessed be Yahweh, the God
of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. [19] And blessed be his glorious
name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Ps 83:18 - That men may know that
thou, whose name alone is Yahweh, art the most high over all the earth.
Ps. 86:11 - Teach me thy way, Yahweh;
I will walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name.
Ps. 89:15-16 - Blessed is the people that
know the joyful sound: "Yahweh"; they shall walk in the light
of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day.
Ps. 92:1 - It is a good thing to give
thanks unto Yahweh, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.
Ps. 99:2-3 - Yahweh is great in Zion;
and he is high above all the people. [3] Let them praise thy great and
terrible (reverened) name; for it is holy.
Ps 111:9 - Holy and reverend [is] his
name.
Ps. 113:1-3 - Praise ye Yahweh! Praise,
O ye servants of Yahweh, praise the name Yahweh. [2]Blessed be the
name of Yahweh from this time forth and for evermore. [3]From the rising of
the sun unto the going down of the same Yahweh's name is to be praised.
Ps. 135:1& 3 - Praise ye Yahweh, Praise ye
the name of Yahweh. [3] Praise Yahweh; for Yahweh is good: sing praises unto
his name; for it is pleasant.
Proverbs 18:10- The name of Yahweh [is] a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe.
Isa. 12:4 - And in that day shall ye say,
"Praise Yahweh!" Call upon his name; declare his doings
amoung the people; make mention that his name is exalted.
Isa. 42:8 - I am Yahweh;
that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my
praise to graven images.
Isa. 47:4 - [As for] our redeemer, Yahweh
of hosts [is] his name, the Holy One of Israel.
Isa. 48:11 - For how should my name
be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
Isaiah 63:16 - O Yahweh, [art] our
father, our redeemer; thy name [is] from everlasting.
Jer. 33:2 - Thus saith Yahweh the
maker thereof, Yahweh that formed it, to establish it; Yahweh is his name;
Yahweh speaking of lying prophets said in Jer. 23:27: Which think to cause my
people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his
neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
Jer. 34:16 - Ye turned and polluted
my name.
In Ezekiel 39:7 He speaks of the
end time. 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.
Eze 43:7 - My holy name, shall the
house of Israel no more defile.
Malachi 1:11 - For from the rising of the
sun even unto the going down of the same my name [shall be] great among
the Gentiles; and in every place incense [shall be] offered unto my name,
and a pure offering: for my name [shall be] great among the heathen
(Gentiles), saith Yahweh of hosts.(Pure sacrifices He. 13:15, 1P. 2:5)
Malachi 3:16 - Then they that feared
Yahweh spake often one to another: and Yahweh hearkened, and heard it, and a
book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared Yahweh, and
that thought upon His name. Rev. 20:15 - Whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
New Testament Scripture
Mt. 23:38-39 - Behold, your house is left
unto you desolate; [38]For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth till
ye shall say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Yahweh."
Lu. 3:4 - The voice of one crying in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Yahweh, make his paths straight.
Jn. 17:6 - I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. [11] Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. [12] While I
was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. [26] And I have
declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it].
Ac. 2:21-22; Joel 2:31-32
- Peter, on the day of Pentecost, quoted Joel:
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before
that great and notable day of Yahweh come. [21] And it shall come to
pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved.
Acts 9:15 - But the Master said unto
him, Go thy way: for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name
before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Ephesians 3:14-15 - For this cause I bow my
knees unto the Father of our Master Yahshua the Messiah, of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named.
Rev. 14:1 (NKJV) Then I looked, and
behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred [and] forty-four
thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.
Seek & prove
Mt. 7:7 - Ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Ac. 17:11 - The saints in Berea were
more noble for: “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched
the scriptures daily, whether those thing were so.”
1 Co. 2:15 - But he that is spiritual
judgeth* all things. [*Strong’s #350, to scrutinize, investigate, question,
examine, judge or search]
1 Th. 5:21 - Prove* all things.
[*Strong’s #1381, to test, discern, examine, try]
2 Ti. 2:15 - Study to shew thyself
approved unto Yahweh, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing
the word of truth.
He. 11:6 - He is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him.
The evidence is overwhelming; the name of our Heavenly Father is YAHWEH.
After all our creator’s name is a name not a title.