THE NAME OF THE LORD [YHWH] REVEALED. Part 2.

-- Exodus  3:13 And Mosheh{gr.Moses} said to God, Behold, I shall go forth to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of our fathers has sent me to you; and they will ask me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? 14 And God spoke to Mosheh{gr.Moses}, saying, I am THE BEING; and he said, Thus shall ye say to the children of Israel, THE BEING has sent me to you. -- Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)*

 

-- Heb 11:6 To believe indeed it behoves the one drawing near – to God that He exists (He is)... -- Hebrews 11 Interlinear

 

As we have read in Part 1 of this study - The personal NAME of the Sovereign LORD as it was revealed to Moses by the mouth of the Angel of the LORD is: יהוה [=YHWH]. 

 

The question one would almost immediately ask upon this revelation is: So then what is the meaning of this NAME? What is He (If one might be so impertinent to even ask such a question)? Who is this God we have come to "know" from scripture as the Almighty El-Shaddai, and what is He trying to convey by it? Just what is God trying to tell Israel and all the rest of us about His personal  NAME? 

-- Exo 3:13-15: "When Moses had been thus emboldened by the assurance of divine assistance to undertake the mission, he inquired what he was to say, in case the people asked him for the name of the God of their fathers. The supposition that the people might ask the name of their fathers' God is not to be attributed to the fact, that as the Egyptians had separate names for their numerous deities, the Israelites also would want to know the name of their own God. For, apart from the circumstance that the name by which God had revealed Himself to the fathers cannot have vanished entirely from the memory of the people, and more especially of Moses, the mere knowledge of the name would not have been of much use to them. The question, "What is His name?" presupposed that the name expressed the nature and operations of God, and that God would manifest in deeds the nature expressed in His name. God therefore told him His name, or, to speak more correctly, He explained the name יהוה, by which He had made Himself known to Abraham at the making of the covenant (Gen 15:7), in this way, אהיה אשׁר אהיה, "I am that I am," and designated Himself by this name as the absolute God of the fathers, acting with unfettered liberty and self-dependence. This name precluded any comparison between the God of the Israelites and the deities of the Egyptians and other nations, and furnished Moses and his people with strong consolation in their affliction, and a powerful support to their confidence in the realization of His purposes of salvation as made known to the fathers. To establish them in this confidence, God added still further: "This is My name for ever, and My memorial unto all generations;" that is to say, God would even manifest Himself in the nature expressed by the name Jehovah, and by this He would have all generations both know and revere Him. שׁם, the name, expresses the objective manifestation of the divine nature; זבר, memorial, the subjective recognition of that nature on the part of men. דּר דּר, as in Exo 17:16 and Pro 27:24. The repetition of the same word suggests the idea of uninterrupted continuance and boundless duration (Ewald, §313a). The more usual expression is ודר ידר, Deu 32:7; Psa 10:6; Psa 33:11; or דּרים דּר, Psa 72:5; Psa 102:25; Isa 51:8." Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"According to one Jewish tradition, the Tetragrammaton is related to the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb הוה (ha·wah, “to be, to become”), meaning “He will cause to become” (usually understood as “He causes to become”).
Another tradition regards the name as coming from three different verb forms sharing the same root YWH, the words HYH haya (היה): “He was”; HWH howê (הוה): “He is”; and YHYH yihiyê (יהיה): “He will be”. This would therefore show that God is timeless and self-existent. Other interpretations include the name as meaning “I am the One Who Is.” This can be seen in the O. T. biblical account of the “burning bush” commanding Moses to tell the sons of Israel that “I AM (אהיה) has sent you,” (Exodus 3:13–14). Some suggest, “I AM the One I AM” [אהיה אשר אהיה]. This may also fit the interpretation as “He Causes to Become.” From the article: Theopedia: Yahweh - Meaning

"In the traditional Jewish view, YHVH is the Name expressing the mercy and condescension of Almighty God:

"The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to those, You want to know my name? I am called according to my actions. When I judge the creatures I am Elohim, and when I have mercy with My world, I am named YHWH" (Exodus Rabbah 3:6)." From the article: The Sacred Name YHVH

"The name Jehovah is a verb and is related to the Hebrew verb “to be.” It is usually associated with the form of the name Moses was told at the burning bush: אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (Exodus 3:14). It is usually translated “I am what I am”. When understood this way, it’s a pretty vague description of who he really is, easily bringing up the question “What is he?” thus causing more confusion about his name.

Looking deeper into grammar, Jehovah is in the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb הוה (ha·wah′, “to become”). Therefore, does not mean “I am”, or “He is . . . (something, like love or mercy),” but rather “He Causes to Become.” the more accurate translation of the Divine Name is “I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be”. From the article: Insight into Hebrew: The Divine Name

“Jehovah” (Heb., יהוה, YHWH), God’s personal name, first occurs in Ge 2:4. The divine name is a verb, the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Hebrew verb הוה (ha·wah′, “to become”). Therefore, the divine name means “He Causes to Become.” This reveals Jehovah as the One who, with progressive action, causes himself to become the Fulfiller of promises, the One who always brings his purposes to realization. See Ge 2:4 ftn, “Jehovah”; App 3C. Compare Ex 3:14 ftn.

The greatest indignity that modern translators render to the Divine Author of the Holy Scriptures is the removal or the concealing of his peculiar personal name. Actually his name occurs in the Hebrew text 6,828 times as יהוה (YHWH or JHVH), generally referred to as the Tetragrammaton (literally meaning “having four letters”). By using the name “Jehovah,” we have held closely to the original-language texts and have not followed the practice of substituting titles such as “Lord,” “the Lord,” “Adonai” or “God” for the divine name, the Tetragrammaton.

Today, apart from a few fragments of the early Greek Septuagint where the sacred name is preserved in Hebrew, only the Hebrew text has retained this most important name in its original form of four letters, יהוה (YHWH), the exact pronunciation of which has not been preserved. Current circulating texts of the Greek Septuagint (LXX), Syriac Peshitta (Sy) and Latin Vulgate (Vg) substitute the mere title “Lord” for God’s unique name.—See App 1C.

The text located in the U.S.S.R., namely, the Codex Leningrad B 19^A, used for Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), vowel-points the Tetragrammaton to read Yehwah′, Yehwih′ and a number of times Yeho·wah′, as in Ge 3:14. The edition of the Hebrew text by Ginsburg (Gins.) vowel-points YHWH to read Yeho·wah′. While many translators favor the pronunciation “Yahweh,” the New World Translation continues to use the form “Jehovah” because of people’s familiarity with it for centuries. Moreover, it preserves, equally with other forms, the four letters of the divine name, YHWH or JHVH.—See ad under “Jehovah.”

The practice of substituting titles for the divine name that developed among the Jews was applied in later copies of the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and many other translations, ancient and modern. Therefore, A Greek-English Lexicon, by Liddell and Scott (LS), p. 1013, states: “ὁ Κύριος,=Hebr. Yahweh, LXX Ge. 11.5, al.” Also, the Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods, by E. A. Sophocles, Cambridge, U.S.A., and Leipzig, 1914, p. 699, says under κύριος (Ky′ri·os): “Lord, the representative of יהוה. Sept. passim [scattered throughout].” Moreover, Dictionnaire de la Bible, by F. Vigouroux, Paris, 1926, col. 223, says that “the Septuagint and the Vulgate contain Κύριος and Dominus, ‘Lord,’ where the original contains Jehovah.” Regarding the divine name, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary, edited by J. Payne Smith, Oxford, 1979 reprint, p. 298, says that Mar·yaʼ “in the [Syriac] Peshita Version of the O. T. represents the Tetragrammaton.”

Jehovah’s name was first restored to the English Bible by William Tyndale. In 1530 he published a translation of the first five books of the Bible into English. He included Jehovah’s name once, in Ex 6:3. In a note in this edition Tyndale wrote: “Iehovah is God’s name . . . Moreover, as oft as thou seist LORD in great letters (except there be any error in the printing) it is in Hebrew Iehovah.” From this the practice arose among translators to use Jehovah’s name in just a few places, but to write “LORD” or “GOD” in most places where the Tetragrammaton occurs in Hebrew. This practice was adopted by the translators of the King James Version in 1611, where Jehovah’s name occurs only four times, namely, in Ex 6:3; Ps 83:18; Isa 12:2; 26:4.

Further, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Vol. 1, Chicago (1980), p. 13, says: “To avoid the risk of taking God’s name (YHWH) in vain, devout Jews began to substitute the word ʼǎdōnā(y) for the proper name itself. Although the Masoretes left the four original consonants in the text, they added the vowels ē (in place of ǎ for other reasons) and ā to remind the reader to pronounce ʼǎdōnā(y) regardless of the consonants. This feature occurs more than six thousand times in the Hebrew Bible. Most translations use all capital letters to make the title ‘LORD.’ Exceptions are the ASV [American Standard Version] and New World Translation which use ‘Jehovah,’ Amplified [Bible] which uses ‘Lord,’ and JB [The Jerusalem Bible] which uses ‘Yahweh.’ . . . In those places where ʼǎdōnā(y) yhwh occurs the latter word is pointed with the vowels from ʼēlōhim, and the English renderings such as ‘Lord GOD’ arose (e.g. Amos 7:1).”

DIVINE NAME IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES (NW)

The very frequency of the appearance of the name attests its importance to the Bible’s author, whose name it is. The Tetragrammaton occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew text (BHK and BHS). This is confirmed by the Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament, Vol. I, edited by E. Jenni and C. Westermann, 3rd ed., Munich and Zurich, 1978, cols. 703, 704. The New World Translation renders the Tetragrammaton as “Jehovah” in all occurrences except Jg 19:18, where see ftn.

Based on the readings in LXX, we have restored the Tetragrammaton in three places and rendered it as “Jehovah,” namely, in De 30:16; 2Sa 15:20 and 2Ch 3:1, where the footnotes in BHK give יהוה.

According to BHK and BHS footnotes, in Isa 34:16 and Zec 6:8 the divine name should be read instead of the first-person singular pronoun “my.” We restored the divine name in these two places and rendered it as “Jehovah.”

For an explanation of the 141 additional restorations of the divine name, see App 1B.

The name “Jehovah” occurs 6,973 times in the text of the Hebrew Scriptures of the New World Translation, including three combination names (Ge 22:14; Ex 17:15; Jg 6:24) and six occurrences in the superscriptions of the Psalms (7 sup; 18 sup [3 times]; 36 sup; 102 sup). These nine occurrences are included in the 6,828 times in BHK and BHS.

“Jehovah” in H.S. of NW

      6,827       YHWH rendered “Jehovah”

        146       Added Restorations

Total 6,973       “Jehovah” in Ge–Mal

THE SHORTER FORM OF THE DIVINE NAME

The shorter form of the divine name occurs 50 times in the Masoretic text as Yah, rendered “Jah.” Following is a list of its occurrences: Ex 15:2; 17:16; Ps 68:4, 18; Ps 77:11; Ps 89:8; Ps 94:7, 12; Ps 102:18; Ps 104:35; Ps 105:45; Ps 106:1, 48; Ps 111:1; Ps 112:1; Ps 113:1, 9; Ps 115:17, 18, 18; Ps 116:19; Ps 117:2; Ps 118:5, 5, 14, 17, 18, 19; Ps 122:4; Ps 130:3; Ps 135:1, 3, 4, 21; Ps 146:1, 10; Ps 147:1, 20; Ps 148:1, 14; Ps 149:1, 9; Ps 150:1, 6, 6; Ca 8:6; Isa 12:2; 26:4; 38:11, 11." Taken from the article:The Divine Name in the Hebrew Scriptures Heb., יהוה (YHWH)

YHWH.
Of the names of God in the Old Testament, that which occurs most frequently (6,823 times) is the so-called Tetragrammaton, Yhwh (), the distinctive personal name of the God of Israel. This name is commonly represented in modern translations by the form "Jehovah," which, however, is a philological impossibility (see Jehovah). This form has arisen through attempting to pronounce the consonants of the name with the vowels of Adonai ( = "Lord"), which the Masorites have inserted in the text, indicating thereby that Adonai was to be read (as a "ḳeri perpetuum") instead of Yhwh. When the name Adonai itself precedes, to avoid repetition of this name, Yhwh is written by the Masorites with the vowels of Elohim, in which case Elohim is read instead of Yhwh. In consequence of this Masoretic reading the authorized and revised English versions (though not the American edition of the revised version) render Yhwh by the word "Lord" in the great majority of cases.
This name, according to the narrative in Ex. iii. (E), was made known to Moses in a vision at Horeb. In another, parallel narrative (Ex. vi. 2, 3, P) it is stated that the name was not known to the Patriarchs. It is used by one of the documentary sources of Genesis (J), but scarcely if at all by the others. Its use is avoided by some later writers also. It does not occur in Ecclesiastes, and in Daniel is found only in ch. ix. The writer of Chronicles shows a preference for the form Elohim, and in Ps. xlii.-lxxxiii. Elohim occurs much more frequently than Yhwh, probably having been substituted in some places for the latter name, as in Ps. liii. (comp. Ps. xiv.).
In appearance, Yhwh () is the third person singular imperfect "ḳal" of the verb ("to be"), meaning, therefore, "He is," or "He will be," or, perhaps, "He 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 Ex. iii. 14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person—"I am" (, from , the later equivalent of the archaic stem ). 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. There is no doubt that the idea of life was intimately connected with the name Yhwh from early times. He is the living God, as contrasted with the lifeless gods of the heathen, and He is the source and author of life (comp. I Kings xviii.; Isa. xli. 26-29, xliv. 6-20; Jer. x. 10, 14; Gen. ii. 7; etc.). So familiar is this conception of God to the Hebrew mind that it appears in the common formula of an oath, "ḥai Yhwh" (= "as Yhwh lives"; Ruth iii. 13; I Sam. xiv. 45; etc.).
If the explanation of the form above given be the true one, the original pronunciation must have been Yahweh () or Yahaweh (). From this the contracted form Jah or Yah () is most readily explained, and also the forms Jeho or Yeho ( = ), and Jo or Yo (, contracted from ), which the word assumes in combination in the first part of compound proper names, and Yahu or Yah () in the second part of such names. The fact may also be mentioned that in Samaritan poetry rimes with words similar in ending to Yahweh, and Theodoret ("Quæst. 15 in Exodum") states that the Samaritans pronounced the name 'Iαβέ. Epiphanius ascribes the same pronunciation to an early Christian sect. Clement of Alexandria, still more exactly, pronounces 'Iαουέ or 'Iαουαί, and Origen, 'Iα. Aquila wrote the name in archaic Hebrew letters. In the Jewish-Egyptian magic-papyri it appears as Ιαωουηε. At least as early as the third century B.C. the name seems to have been regarded by the Jews as a "nomen ineffabile," on the basis of a somewhat extreme interpretation of Ex. xx. 7 and Lev. xxiv. 11 (see Philo, "De Vita Mosis," iii. 519, 529). Written only in consonants, the true pronunciation was forgotten by them. The Septuagint, and after it the New Testament, invariably render δκύριος ("the Lord"). From the article: Jewish Encyclopedia - NAMES OF GOD. YHWH  

"I Am that I Am (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, ehyeh ašer ehyeh [ehˈje aˈʃer ehˈje]) is a common English translation (JPS among others) of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for his name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Torah. Hayah means "existed" or "was" in Hebrew; "ehyeh" is the first person singular imperfect form and is usually translated in English Bibles as "I will be" (or "I shall be"), for example, at Exodus 3:14. Ehyeh asher ehyeh literally translates as "I Will Be What I Will Be", with attendant theological and mystical implications in Jewish tradition. However, in most English Bibles, in particular the King James Version, this phrase is rendered as I am that I am.
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (often contracted in English as "I AM") is one of the Seven Names of God accorded special care by medieval Jewish tradition.^[1] The phrase is also found in other world religious literature, used to describe the Supreme Being, generally referring back to its use in Exodus. The word Ehyeh is considered by many rabbinical scholars to be a first-person derivation of the Tetragrammaton, see for example Yahweh.

Judaism

Hebrew Bible

The word Ehyeh is used a total of 43 places in the Hebrew Bible, where it is often translated as "I will be" — as is the case for its first occurrence, in Genesis 26:3 — or "I shall be," as is the case for its final occurrence in Zechariah 8:8. Used by God to identify himself in the Burning Bush, the importance placed on the phrase, as it is, stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists by himself for himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore "I am who I am" (ongoing).
Some scholars state that the Tetragrammaton itself derives from the same verbal root, following a rabbinical interpretation of Exodus 3:14, but others counter that it may simply sound similar as intended by God, such as Psalm 119 and the Hebrew words "shoqed" (watching) and "shaqed" (almond branch) found in Jeremiah 1:11-12. Whether the Holy Name (written as YHWH) is derived from Eyheh or whether the two are individual concepts, is a subject of debate amongst historians and theologians.
In appearance, it is possible to render YHWH (יהוה) as an archaic third person singular imperfect form of the verb hayah (אהיה) "to be" meaning, therefore, "He is". It is notably distinct from the root El, which can be used as a simple noun to refer to the creator deity in general, as in Elohim, meaning simply "God" (or gods). This interpretation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — ehyeh "I am". Other scholars regard the triconsonantal root of hawah (הוה) as a more likely origin for the name Yahweh (יהוה).

Intertestamental Judaism

In the Hellenistic Greek literature of the Jewish Diaspora the phrase "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" was rendered in Greek "ego eimi ho on ", "I am the BEING".

• Septuagint Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I am HE WHO IS (ho ōn): and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, HE WHO IS (ho ōn) hath sent me unto you.^[2]
• Philo : And God said, "At first say unto them, 'I am (egō eimi) THE BEING', (ho ōn, nominative of ontos) that, when they have learnt that there is a difference between THE BEING (ontos, genitive of ho ōn) and that-that-is-not (me ontos), they may be further taught that there is no name whatever that can properly be assigned to Me (ep' emou kuriologeitai), to whom (hoi) only (monoi) belongs (prosesti) the existence (to einai). (Philo Life Of Moses Vol.1 :75)^[3][4]
• ho Ōn, "He who is" (Philo, Life of Moses I 75)
• to Ōn, "the Being who is" (Philo, Life of Moses II 67),
• tou Ontos, "of Him that is" (II 99)
• tou Ontos, "of the Self-Existent" (II 132)
• to Ōn, "the Self-Existent" (II 161)^[5]

This usage is also found in the New Testament:

• Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, the BEING (ho ōn), and THE WAS (ho ēn), and THE IS TO COME (ho erchomenos), the Almighty (ho pantokrator).^[6]
• Rev 4:8 holy, Lord God Almighty, the WAS (ho ēn), and the BEING (ho ōn), and the IS TO COME (ho erchomenos)." From the article: I Am that I Am

-- **[Interesting article: Is the Correct Pronunciation Known?]

-- "Yahweh" Explained - (Part 1) - Dr. Joe Martin & J. Dan Gill - YHWH

(External Youtube link:) "Yahweh" Explained - (Part 1) - Dr. Joe Martin & J. Dan Gill - YHWH  

-- "Yahweh" Explained - (Part 2) - Dr. Joe Martin & J. Dan Gill - YHWH

(External Youtube link:)  "Yahweh" Explained - (Part 2) - Dr. Joe Martin & J. Dan Gill - YHWH  

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Conclusion: Far be it from a mortal man like myself to truly and properly conclude on "who YHWH finitely is". One thing is extremely clear however and that is: He is the immutable God of the Universe, the Supreme Being "who causes to become". The very Creator of Heaven and Earth, the God who forever is and will be, the Eternal ONE - The God who is far above our mortal concepts and our finite minds: Is 55: 8 NASB "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Yet, willing to stoop down low, draw near to us, coming near to redeem us.

--This YHWH God then is to me, yes has become to me, the God of us all - the great I AM! The I AM HE WHO IS, AND WHO WILL BE. He is the is the living and self-existing GOD, the God of Mercy and Deliverance. The greatest BEING in the universe, the ONE who exists and who causes all else to be! He is YHWH our God - "the Alpha and the Omega," .The ONE. "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Rev 1:8 NASB Amen!

-- *NOTE: The Greek Septuagint rendered the name EHYEH ASHER EHYEH in Exodus 3:14 as (transliterated) EGO EIMI HO ON, which is translated into English as “I am the Being”. The second usage of EHYEH as a name in Exodus 3:14 is rendered, not as EGO EIMI, but as HO ON (The Being). I am not saying that this accurate, but it is important to note, since many claim that Jesus quoted from the Septuagint in John 8:58 and many other verses. However, if Jesus had been quoting from the Septuagint, and if he had been by his usage of the phrase EGO EIMI claming to be EHYEH of Exodus 3:14, then he would have used HO OHN instead of EGO EIMI, since, in the Septuagint, the short form is not EGO EIMI, but HO OHN." Taken From the Article: The Biblical Usage of Ehyeh and Ego Eimi

**NOTE: Conclusion : Is the Correct Pronunciation Known?
The evidence proves that the pronunciation of the sacred name was never lost; it has always been there for anyone willing to seek it out. As Joseph Rotherham concludes, “The exact pronunciation claims a word to itself.” Remarkable is the fact that the four sacred letters forming the sacred name are all vowels, thereby making them free from any need of other vowels to aid in their enunciation. The name stands by itself; a perfect name in its structure. Its original sounds are easily and completely understood by the four vowel letters alone. Despite the fact that many still try and force the four letters of the sacred name into the role of consonants, and therefore try to place vowels between them, they cannot escape the compelling conclusion that the sacred name is pronounced “Yah-oo-ay.” In English we can transliterate hwhy as “Yahweh” if we understand that our “w” is to be sounded as “oo ——” and our “eh” as “ay”. Once it is realized that we are dealing with four vowels rather than four consonants, this conclusion becomes inescapable.
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To be continued...
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(Religious Disclaimer: I would like to, and from the outset make it clear, that I am not affiliated with any Christian denomination, ministry or move, or hold to any of their respective teachings, creeds, or views on their respective theological interpretations on the whole. My only concern is with the logical truth and what scripture wills to interpret on scripture... I am therefore not trying to fit religious views per se, to a set framework that might not entirely befit the sum total of God's Word and truth. I will however try my best to get the point of the subject at hand across and will therefore use all material at my disposal to try conclude the quest. Materials then, which I deem pertinent to the subject at hand. These materials will stand for it's content alone and should not offend the reader into viewing it as a representation of the whole of an organizations or it's collective teachings). 

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