Tetragrammaton, (YHVH)

Tetragrammaton = Four Hebrew letters usually transliterated as YHWH (Yahweh) or JHVH (Jehovah) signifying the Hebrew name for God which the Jews rgarded as too holy to pronounce. The original pronunciation forbidden since the 2nd or 3rd century B.C. and hence the Jews quite early ceased to pronounce the Tetragrammaton. So this divine name in substitution, pronounced as Adonai or Elohim.

At the time the Hebrew scriptures were written, spoken language was considered to be very powerful. With a cosmology that viewed the creation as the result of an utterance, the name of the creator was considered very powerful knowledge. Because the pronunciation of the name of God considered to have such great power, it was kept a secret, only the highest-ranked members of the priesthood were entrusted with the knowledge. Even then, the Name was only pronounced during one time of the year, on the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur by the High Priest amidst the prostrations of the assembled multitude (Lev 16:30). The priests was instructed to use the name in Benediction of the people (Num 6:22-27). It was considered as an act of blasphemy for a layman to pronounce the Tetragrammaton. This avoidance of the original name was due to the reverence to God. Partly in consequence of this mystery and partly in accord with widespread superstitions the derivation and pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is still doubtful.

One explanation says, the commandment against "taking the Lord's name in vain" had nothing to do with making disrespectful comments, but referred to the name's inherent power. Similar name traditions existed in Babylonian and Egyptian religion.

(Tetragram = a word that is written with four letters in an alphabetical writing system. eg. bldg. Can't you read/mean it as building.)



It is because of the stricture against pronouncing the name that even after the Hebrew language developed a system for marking vowels in written scripture, its pronunciation was concealed by substituting the vowel markings and pronuciation of the word Adonai, Lord. Christians translating Hebrew texts did not understand this tradition, and mistranslated the text of the name as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah." But this could never be the right pronunciation.

This is four Hebrew letters (Yod, He, Waw and He) called the "Tetragrammaton". The four characters are the four Hebrew letters that correspond to YHWH and are transliterated IAUE or Yahweh. Yahweh is the name of the Almighty Father in Heaven that people commonly call "The LORD" or "God". The reason we see "LORD" and "God" in our bibles is because of a Jewish tradition that the name Yahweh was not to be spoken for fear that the name be blasphemed. However, the scriptures declare that His name should be exalted (e.g. Ps 68:4) and the third commandment forbids this practice. The Preface of some bibles will admit why they change His name. Nearly all will cite tradition and familiarity as the reason. This is probably wrong. The name of Yahweh is used in reference to the Heavenly Father because in the scriptures we are told to praise, exalt, bless, love, teach, preach, anoint, assemble, believe, give thanks, honor and call on His name.

The Tetragrammaton has been found in the 2000 year old Dead Sea Scrolls and in ancient copies of the Septuagint!