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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 practitioners of Judaism that
they ritually 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.
Non-Jewish Christian Bible scholars have latched onto the notion that Yahweh is the most "accurate equivalent" of the
Tetragrammaton (rendered YHWH or YHVH) in English. It is the Memorial name of God divine personal names in the Tanakh (or Old Testament). When first translated into English by Tyndale in 1525, it was
rendered IEHOUAH. Later it came to written as Jehovah (see below). There are other representations, including
Yahwe, Yahveh, Jave and Yehowah. This approach is totally rejected by all Torah observant Jews, and scholars of Orthodox Judaism condemn the use of this word as a total distortion of the correct names of God in Judaism.
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 many modern
translations of the Bible; two
notable exceptions are the American Standard Version (1901)and The New Jerusalem Bible (1966). In strict Jewish tradition, the
Tetragrammaton is a taboo word, and it is blasphemy to utter it. Thus, except for the
rare hidden Kabbalists, no one claims with absolute certainty just how it was
pronounced — but that the Heh's in YHWH are silent. In the end, it is impossible to state definitively how it was
pronounced.
In recent years, a debate has grown over the derivation and meaning of this name. In this tradition, "Yahweh" is often
rendered as meaning "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." Some suggest: "I AM the One I AM". This may also fit the
interpretation of Yahweh as "He Causes to Become." Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning may be "He Brings Into
Existence Whatever Exists" (Yahweh-Asher-Yahweh).
The first English representation of the Tetragrammaton (that is, the actual four Hebrew letters Yod, He, Vau, He) appeared on
the title page of William Tyndale's translation of 1525 as "IEHOUAH."
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 also used IEHOUAH in several places, while most occurences of the
Tetragrammaton were rendered as THE LORD. Some aver that this practice reflects the Jewish tradition that it is
blasphemy to utter this name of God.
See also
all of which deal essentially with the same subject.
Further reading
External links
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