Proverbs 30:4 Our Creator's name, which is found 6828 times in scripture is spelled (יהוה) and commonly represented by the English letters YHWH but is properly pronounced YaHUaH . The W was used because in early English it was pronounced as a double-U. The four Hebrew letters in our Creator's name (יהוה) pronounced yod, hay, vav, hay each have their own meaning: hand - behold - nail - behold - The Father's name is a revelation of his Son's sacrifice for us. A more in depth presentation of evidence follows the scriptural evidence of its signifance. Our Creator stating His name in scripture: Exodus 3:15 Isaiah 42:8 Jeremiah 16:21 False Names: 6828 times Bible translators replaced YHWH and YAH with LORD or GOD in most English translations. They also replaced most Hebrew names that had YAH or YAHU in them with English names. Example: Yahudah was replaced with Judah. Exodus 23:13 Hosea 2:16-17 Jeremiah 23:26-27 Jeremiah 16:19-21 More scripture evidence: Exodus 23:13, Hosea 2:16-17, Psalm 138:2, Proverbs 30:4, Ezekiel 22:26, Genius 30:11, Jeremiah 12:16 & 23:26-27 His Holy Name: Leviticus 22:31-32 Psalm 145:18-21 Ezekiel 20:39 Ezekiel 22:26 Ezekiel 36:23 More scripture stating YAHUAH's name is holy: Lev 20:3, 22:2,32 Calling on His Name: Malachi 3:16 Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." (Exodus9:16) Revelation 3:8 Jeremiah 23:5-6 Deuteronomy 28:58 Revelation 14:1 More scriptural evidence of people calling on YAHUAH's name and scriptures telling us to call upon, proclaim, and praise YAHUAH's name: Genius 4:1 Eve, Matthew 6:9, 12:21, 23:39, 28:19,20 The evidence: First, lets take a look at what the first bible translaters knew. Jehovah is an old English spelling that is universally mispronounced in today's world. The name "Jehovah" first appeared in an English BIBLE in 1530, when William Tyndale published a translation of the first five books of the Bible. In this, he transliterated the name of our Creator as IEHOUAH. The well known 1911 KJV had no letter "J" anywhere in its pages. Jehovah was spelled Yehovah. The "J" should be pronounced like a "Y" as seen today in old words like hallelujah and fjord.The word "hallelujah" was created by combining two Hebrew words that mean "praise Yah". Yah is the short or poetic form of our Creator's name (see Psalms 68:4 KJV). The "V" in Jehovah or Yehovah should be pronounced like a "U" as it was in old English. Proof of this can still be seen on stone engravings above old court houses. Just Google "covnty covrt hovse" to see photos. Given these facts, Jehovah is correctly pronounced Yehouah. However, Psalms 68:4 tells us the first two letters of our Creator's name (יה) are pronounced "Yah" not "Yeh". So more correctly our Creator's name (יהוה) is pronounced "Yahouah" or more simply written "YAHUAH" in today's vernacular. These four Hebrew letters spelling our Creator's name (יהוה) are most commonly represented by the English letters YHWH. Keep in mind that Hebrew reads from right to left. Y represents (י), the two H's represent both (ה) and the W represents the (I). Our second and more trustworthy witness is the Holy Scriptures themselves. As already stated Psalms 68:4 gives us YAH (יה) as our Creator's contracted name. YAHUAH is called YAH (יה) 45 times in scripture. The remainder of scripture (old and new) has retained our Creator's name among the names of His people called by His name (2 Chronicles 2:14, Isaiah 43:7, Daniel 9:19). There are 100 Hebrew names in scripture that have embedded in them the first three of the four Hebrew letters that spell YAHUAH 's name, "YHW" (יהו). In all cases those three letters stand for "YAHUAH" in the names' meanings and are pronounced "YAHU" within the names (see *). Two familiar examples: Yeshiyahu, known as Isaiah, who's name means "salvation of YAHUAH " and Yahushua, known as Joshua and Jesus, who's name means YAHUAH saves! The Old testament was first translated into Greek in Alexandria Egypt around 300 BC by Hellenize Jews and is commonly called the Septuagent or LXX. The earliest manuscripts of the Septuagint show the sacred name in Paleo Hebrew as (יהוה) not in Greek. In later copies, the name was written in Greek as IAO (Iota/Alpha/Omega), a genuine effort to transliterate the tetragramiton as "ee-aa-oo" or Yahu. It is likely the full spelling was not used because in Greek only feminine names end in the "ah" sound. As a third witness we have the writings of the famous Jewish historian and army commander, Flavius Josephus. He was the son of a levite priest and was born in Jerulalem in 37AD. Josephus wrote in his book - The War of the Jews: "A mitre also of fine linen encompassed his [high priest's] head, which was tied by a blue ribbon, about which there was another golden crown, in which was engraven the sacred name [YHWH (יהוה)]: it consisted of four vowels." Quote from The War of the Jews, Book 5, chapter 5, paragraph 7. From this we see the four vowels YHWH (יהוה) pronounced: "ee-ah-uu-ah". As a fourth witness we have the writings of another famous Jewish historian Philo of Bybios born in 64AD. His most famous work is his Greek translation of Sanchuniathon's book on Phoenician History written around 1,000BC. Chapter four of his book is about the Israelites. This chapter's information is credited to "Jerubbaal, the Priest of YHWH (יהוה). (Coincidently Jerubbaall is Gideon's Hebrew name recorded in Judges 7:1.) Philo's Greek translation of YHWH (יהוה) is IEUOA. The "I" is pronounced in the Greek language as a "Y" in English, giving us YEUOA, very close to YAHUAH. As a fifth witness we have the writings of Yefet ben Eli (Yefet son of Eli), a famous Jewish Karaite scholar who translated the Hebrew scriptures into Arabic around 960AD. Here we find the Creator's name written to be pronounced YAHUAH over 6,800 times. Abundant evidence is also found in other languages and cultures throughout history. A brief Egyptian hieroglyph inscription, dated around 1400 BC that has been found at the Sudan town of Soleb, may be the oldest archaeological occurrence of YAHUAH’s sacred name. Professor Gerard Gertoux, from the Association Biblique de Recherche d’Anciens Manuscrits in France, who translated the inscription said, “The text is easy to decipher—it sounds “ta’ sha’suw yehua’w”, which means in English, “land of the bedouins those of Yehua.” So Gertoux concludes that the God of the Bedouin’s name in Soleb, is most likely vocalized as YEHUA. Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (840BC) the two meter obelisk was found in the Palace at Nimrud located on the Tigris River southeast of Mosul in the north of modern day Iraq. The obelisk shows five kings bringing tribute and laying prostrate before the Assyrian king. One of the kings is Jehu, the king of Israel. He is identified by an inscription of his name rendered in the ancient Arcadian language as "Ya-u-a". The Elephantine Papyri (607BC) comes from a Jewish community at Elephantine, an ancient northern Egyptian border fortresses. In these Jewish documents the name is consistently recorded as YAHU (יהו) in the Aramaic language. Murashu Documents (440BC) represent 900 tablets that were discovered in 1893 in Nippur Babylonia by John Henry Hayes. The sacred name is found in over 730 of these Aramaic tablets the sacred name is embedded within the Jewish names listed. Again, the spelling is consistently written as YAHU (יהו) in Aramaic. Clement of Alexandria (200AD) was a christian theologian who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria in Egypt around 200AD. The only surviving manuscript of Clements where he spells out the Creator's name in Greek is in Codex Eldar where he spells the sacred name IAOU, pronounced in Greek as YAHU. Severus of Antioch, Turkey is one of the founders of the Syriac orthodox church (500AD). He wrote a commentary on the gospel of John where he uses the Greek letters IOA (Iota/Omega/Alpha) to identify the Creator. It is noteworthy that this same spelling is also found in some older Septiguent manuscripts. *Akkadian cuneiform tablets dated about 2,500 BC are among the oldest surviving records that include Hebrew names. These tablets include property deeds and financial transaction documents that contain many Hebrew theophoric names. In all cases where the theophoric names begin with YHW, they are vowel pointed (vowel points in 2500BC?) to read Yahu, never once as Yeho as we see today. The theophoric names ending in YHW are also vowel pointed to read Yahu as is still done today. Isaiah 42:8 "I am YAHUAH, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. Zechariah 14:9 And YAHUAH will be king over all the earth; in that day YAHUAH will be the only one, and His name the only one. Revelation 14:1 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. |
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