Pronunciation of God's Name
Exodus 3:14-15
Yahweh. The most important name for God in the OT is the tetragrammaton YHWH (occurs about 6,800 times), usually pronounced ‘Yahweh,’ though the known pronunciation was lost in the postexilic period. Due to the increasing sanctity attached to the name and the consequent desire to avoid misuse, the title ¯Adonai (Heb., ‘My Great Lord’) was pronounced in place of the tetragrammaton. In written texts the vowels of ¯Adonai were combined with the consonants YHWH to remind readers to pronounce ¯Adonai instead of Yahweh. The incorrect hybrid, ‘Jehovah,’ arose from Christian misunderstanding in the late Middle Ages. The respect for the sanctity of the personal name of God is reflected in modern Judaism.
The origin of the name Yahweh (usually translated ‘LORD’ in English Bibles) remains uncertain. Even the biblical sources are divided at this point. The Yahwist (J) traces the revelation of the name Yahweh to the primeval period (Gen. 4:26), while the Priestly Source (P) honors Moses as the first to know this name (Exod. 6:2-3). The meaning of the name most probably derives from the imperfect form of the Hebrew verb ‘to be.’ In Exod. 3:14 (the Elohist Source, E,), God responds to Moses’question about his identity with the ambiguous statement, ‘I am who [what] I am,’ or ‘I will be who [what] I will be.’ In E’s connection of the name with the Hebrew Qal (simple) stem of the ‘to be’ verb, the meaning appears to connote divine mystery (cf. Gen. 32:22-32) and freedom. A variation of this same interpretation understood the name to signify God’s presence. Another interpretation connects Yahweh with the Hebrew Hiphil (causative) verbal stem and thus understands God’s name to mean: ‘He causes to be what exists [happens]’; i.e., Yahweh is creator and ruler of history. It is this latter meaning that is more likely. Through Israel’s encounter with God in nature and history, faith in God as the one who created the world, shaped human destiny, and elected Israel to be the covenant people was actualized. Each pronouncement of the name Yahweh was a succinct expression of this faith.
Achtemeier, Paul J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. Harper’s Bible dictionary 1985 : 685–686. Print.
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