KJV corrected
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Tetragrammaton
(Redirected from Yahweh)
The Tetragrammaton, literally means the four-letter word. The word in question is the Hebrew word יהוה spelled using the Hebrew alphabet: yodh י heh ה waw ו heh ה. (Note that Hebrew text is written from right to left). This is the ineffable name of God in Hebrew, and it is believed to be so holy by observant parcticers of Judaism that they read it as "[Adonai]" to mean "My Lord" in their prayers and when learning and studying the Torah or Talmud. When they refer to the name in conversation or in a non-textual context such as in a book, newspaper or letter, they call the name "Hashem" which means simply "The Name."
A reading from the Tanakh when Moses was faced with the burning bush on Mount Sinai, interprets the Tetragrammaton as I am what I am or I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be (Exodus 3:13). Because of the strictures in Judaism, the pronunciation is controversial.
Yahweh is by scholarly convention the most accurate way to spell out the Tetragrammaton (rendered YHWH or YHVH) in English. It is one of many divine personal names in the Tanakh (or Old Testament). Until the beginning of the twentieth century, it was usually written Jehovah (see below). Other currently accepted representations, and perhaps just as accurate, are Yahwe and Yahveh.
According to one variant of Jewish tradition, the Tetragrammaton is related to the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Heb. verb ha·wah´ (become); meaning “He Causes to Become”. This particular name for God is rendered as THE LORD (in small caps) in most modern translations of the Bible. It is customary among Peer-reviewed scholars to accept Yahweh as representing the original pronunciation well enough. In strict Jewish tradition, the Tetragrammaton is a taboo word, and it is blasphemy to utter it. Thus, except for the rare leaders of a few ultra-orthodox Jewish sects, no one claims with absolute certainty just how it was pronounced &mdash but that the Heh's in YHWH are silent.
In recent years, a debate has grown over the derivation and meaning of this name. Linguistically, Yahweh is cognate to Yaw of Ugaritic mythology, suggesting that the silent Heh's are priestly augmentation or encryption. Yahweh is also probably cognate to [[Demiurge|Yao]] of some Gnostic scriptures. In addition, there is a tradition that relates it to the Hebrew root H-Y/V-Y/H (Yod י, He ה, and Waw ו are interchangeable in some cases), which can be used for various aspects of being. In this tradition, Yahweh may be interpreted as "I am the One Who Is." Indeed, this last fits nicely with the admonition from Yahweh of the Burning Bush to Moses to tell the sons of Israel that "I AM has sent you." This may also fit the interpretation of Yahweh as "He Causes to Become," which is based on the causal ה.
The first English spelling of the Tetragrammaton appeared on the title page of William Tyndale's translation of 1525 as "IEHOUAH," which is typographically equivalent to "Jehovah." Subsequent translations in English, including Miles Coverdale's (1535), the Great Bible (1539), The Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop's Bible (1568) and the Authorized Version of 1611 mostly render the Tetragrammaton as The Lord. This practice reflects the Jewish tradition that it is blasphemy to utter this name of God; it was encrypted in Hebrew script in Aramaic texts, and was pronounced Adonai, or "The Lord." How to render the Tetragrammaton in English later led to some confusion among Anglo-Saxon scholars who used the vowels in Adonai with JHWH (=YHWH) to spell it out for western audiences. Hence was Jehovah. The American Standard Version (1901), reflected a growing interest in the Tetragrammaton, and "Jehovah" appears for the first time in a major English translation in place of The Lord. Modern theology has influenced the belief that "Jehovah" was a completely erroneous rendition of the word, and subsequently, most modern scholars have adopted Yahweh, Yahwe, or Yahveh.
However, rather than to spell the Tetragrammaton out, peer-reviewed translators have followed the Jewish tradition which pronounced this taboo word as The Lord (see above). Thus, the Revised Standard Version of 1952 continued the practice of the old Authorized Version (which it replaced), and always renders the Tetragrammaton as THE LORD, in small caps. While most observe Jewish tradition, some versions do include translations/transliterations of the name. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible of 1966 uses Yahweh throughout the Old Testament while J.P. Green's Interlinear translation uses the form Jehovah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh
The name of God in Judaism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people. The various Jewish names of God represent God as He is known, and represents divine attributes.
Names of God
The tetragrammaton
The most important name of God in Judaism is the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God. This name is first mentioned in the book of Genesis and is usually translated as 'the Lord'. Because Jews for quite a long period of time considered it blasphemy to pronounce, the correct pronunciation of this name was forgotten — the original Hebrew texts only included consonants. Modern scholars conjecture that it was pronounced "Yahweh". The Hebrew letters are named Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, and if your browser supports a Hebrew font it is written thus: יהוה (Note that Hebrew is written from right to left, rather than left to right as in English). In English it is written as YHVH. The Tetragrammaton was written in Hebrew characters in the oldest surviving Aramaic texts, and it is believed that it was read as Adonai or "Lord" when encountered.
According to Jewish tradition, in appearance, YHVH is the third person singular imperfect of the verb "to be", meaning, therefore, "God is," or "God will be," or, perhaps, "God lives," the root idea of the word being, probably, "to blow," "to breathe," and hence, "to live." With this explanation agrees the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — "I am". The meaning would, therefore, be "He who is self-existing, self-sufficient," or, more concretely, "He who lives," the abstract conception of pure existence being foreign to Hebrew thought.
The idea of life was traditionally connected with the name YHVH from medieval times. God is presented as a living God, as contrasted with the lifeless gods of the heathen, and God is presented as the source and author of life (comp. 1 Kings 18; Isaiah 41:26-29, 44:6-20; Jeremiah 10:10, 14; Genesis 2:7; etc.)
Yahweh may well be cognate to Yaw of Ugaritic texts and to Yao of Gnosticism. If the Hehs in the Tetragrammaton are seen as sacred augmentation similar to those in Abraham (from Abram) and Sarah (from Sarai), then the association becomes clearer. In Yahweh, the Hehs are not pronounced.
Adonai
Jews also call God Adonai, or "my Lord." Since pronouncing YHVH is considered sinful, Jews would use Adonai instead in prayers. When the Masoretes added vowel pointings to the text of the Tanakh in the first century A.D., they gave the word YHVH the vowels of Adonai, to remind the reader to say Adonai instead. Many Christian bible translators misinterpreted this to mean that God's name was Jehovah, which is the result of combining Adonai's vowels with YHVH's consonants, written using Latin orthography in which "J" is pronounced as the English "Y." This name is cognate to the Phoenician god Adonis (Tammuz).
Pronouncing the tetragrammaton
All modern denominations of Judaism teach that the four letter name of God, YHVH, is forbidden to be uttered except by the High Priest, in the Temple. Since the Temple in Jerusalem is no longer extant, this name is never pronounced in religious rituals by Jews. Orthodox Jews never pronounce it for any reason. Some non-Orthodox Jews are willing to pronounce it, but for educational purposes only, and never in casual conversation or in prayer. Instead of pronouncing YHVH during prayer, Jews say "Adonai".
Jewish law requires that "fences" be built around the basic laws, so that there is no chance that the main law will ever be broken. As such, it is common Jewish practice to restrict the use of the word "Adonai" to prayer only. In conversation many Jewish people will call God "HaShem", which is Hebrew for "the Name" (this was first used in Leviticus 24:11). Many Jews also write "G-d" instead of "God". While this later substitution is by no means required by their religion (only the Hebrew name, not the English, is holy), they do it to remind themselves of the holiness attached to God's name.
English translations of the Bible generally render YHVH as "LORD" (in small capitals), and Adonai as "Lord" (in normal case).
Elohim
A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim.
Despite the -im ending common to many plural nouns in Hebrew, the word Elohim, when referring to God, is grammatically singular, regularly taking singular predicate forms in the Hebrew Bible. The word elohim likely had an origin in a plural grammatical form, because, when the Hebrew Bible uses elohim not in reference to God, it takes plural forms (e.g. Exodus 20:3).
Some scholars interpret the -im ending as an expression of majesty (pluralis majestatis) or excellence (pluralis excellentiae), expressing high dignity or greatness: compare with the similar use of plurals of ba'al (master) and adon (lord). For these reasons, Christian theologians have generally pointed out that it is an exegetical fallacy to draw support for the Christian doctrine of the trinity from the apparently plural ending of the word elohim.
In Ethiopic, Amlak ("lords") is the common name for God. The singular, Eloah, is comparatively rare, occurring only in poetry and late prose (in Job, 41 times). The same divine name is found in Arabic (ilah) and in Aramaic (elah). The singular is used in six places for heathen deities (2 Chronicles 32:15; Daniel 11:37, 38; etc.); and the plural also, a few times, either for gods or images (Exodus 9:1, 12:12, 20:3; etc.) or for one god (Exodus 32:1; Genesis 31:30, 32; etc.). In the great majority of cases both are used as names of the one God of Israel.
The root-meaning of the word is unknown. One theory is that it may be connected with the old Arabic verb alih (to be perplexed, afraid; to seek refuge because of fear). Eloah, Elohim, would, therefore, be "He who is the object of fear or reverence," or "He with whom one who is afraid takes refuge".
El
The word El appears in Assyrian (ilu) and Phenician, as well as in Hebrew, as an ordinary name of God. It is found also in the South-Arabian dialects, and in Aramaic, Arabic, and Ethiopic, as also in Hebrew, as an element in proper names.
It is used in both the singular and plural, both for other gods and for the God of Israel. As a name of God, however, it is used chiefly in poetry and prophetic discourse, rarely in prose, and then usually with some epithet attached, as "a jealous God." Other examples of its use with some attribute or epithet are: El 'Elyon ("most high God"), El Shaddai ("God Almighty"), El 'Olam ("everlasting God"), El Hai ("living God"), El Ro'i ("God of seeing"), El Elohe Israel ("God, the God of Israel"), El Gibbor ("Hero God"). In addition, names such as Gabriel ("Hero of God"), Michael ("Who is Like God"), and Daniel ("God is My Judge") use God's name in a similar fashion.
Shaddai
The name Shaddai, which occurs along with El, is also used independently as a name of God, chiefly in the Book of Job. According to Exodus 6:2, 3, this is the name by which God was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Shaddai was a late Bronze age Amorite city on the banks of the Euphrates river north of Damascus Syria, in modern Arabic the site of its ruin mound is called Tell eth-Thadyen; "Thadyen" being the modern pronunciation of the original West Semitic "Shaddai." It has been conjectured that El Shaddai was therefore the "god of Shaddai" and associated in tradition with Abraham, and the inclusion of the Abraham stories into the Hebrew Bible may have brought the northern name with them. See Documentary hypothesis.
Elyon
The name Elyon occurs with El, with YHVH, with Elohim, and also alone. It appears chiefly in poetic and later Biblical passages.
YHVH Tzevaot
The names Yhwh and Elohim frequently occur with the word tzevaot ("hosts"), as YHVH Elohe tzevaot ("YHVH God of Hosts") or "God of Hosts"; or, most frequently, "Yhwh of Hosts." To this last Adonai is often prefixed, making the title "Lord Yhwh of Hosts."
This compound divine name occurs chiefly in the prophetic literature and does not appear at all in the Pentateuch or in Joshua or Judges. The original meaning of tzevaot may be found in 1 Samuel 17:45, where it is interpreted as denoting "the God of the armies of Israel". The word, apart from this special use, always means armies or hosts of men, as, for example, in Exodus 6:26, 7:4, 12:41, while the singular is used to designate the heavenly host.
The Latin spelling Sebaoth led to identification by Romans with god Sabacius.
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh
The name Ehyeh denotes God's potency in the immediate future, and is part of YHVH. The phrase "ehyeh-asher-ehyeh" (Exodus 3:14) is interpreted by some authorities as "I will be because I will be," using the second part as a gloss and referring to God's promise, "Certainly I will be [ehyeh] with thee" (Exodus 3:12). Other authorities claim that the whole phrase forms one name. The Targum Onkelos leaves the phrase untranslated and is so quoted in the Talmud (B. B. 73a). The "I AM THAT I AM" of the Authorized Version is based on this view.
Yah
The name Yah is composed of the first letters of YHVH. The Rastafarian Jah may derive from this.
Jewish laws of writing divine names
According to Jewish tradition, the sacredness of the divine names must be recognized by the professional scribe who writes the Scriptures, or the chapters for the tefillin and the mezuzah. Before transcribing any of the divine names he prepares mentally to sanctify them. Once he begins a name he does not stop until it is finished, and he must not be interrupted while writing it, even to greet a king. If an error is made in writing it, it may not be erased, but a line must be drawn round it to show that it is canceled, and the whole page must be put in a genizah and a new page begun.
The tradition of seven divine names
According to Jewish tradition, the number of divine names that require the scribe's special care is seven: El, Elohim, Adonai, Yhwh, Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh, Shaddai, and Tzevaot.
However, R. Jose considered tzevaot a common name (Soferim 4:1; Yer. R. H. 1:1; Ab. R. N. 34). R. Ishmael held that even Elohim is common (Sanh. 66a). All other names, such as Merciful, Gracious, and Faithful, merely represent attributes that are common also to human beings (Sheb. 35a).
The prohibition of blasphemy, for which capital punishment is prescribed, refers only to the Name proper, YHVH (Soferim iv., end; comp. Sanh. 66a).
In many of the passages in which "elohim" occurs in the Bible it refers to gentile deities, or in some instances to powerful men (comp. Genesis 3:5), to judges (Exodus 21:6), or to Israel (Psalms 81:9, 82:6). Adonai sometimes refers to a distinguished person.
Shalom
The Talmud says Shalom ("Peace"; Judges 6:23) is a name of God; consequently one is not permitted to greet another with the word "shalom" in unholy places (Talmud, Shabbat 10b). The name Shelomoh (from shalom) refers to the God of Peace, and the Rabbis assert that the Song of Solomon is a dramatization of the love of God: "Shalom" to His people Israel = "Shulamite."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_name_of_God_in_Judaism