Not exactly on the topic... but a balancing view to be
considered??
"This Is My Name Forever"
YHWH
The name or title by which one refers to Deity has been a subject
of interest to mankind from time immemorial. Who is the Creator of
the universe, and what is his name? While various titles, including
God, Lord, the Great King, the Almighty, and the like have been
applied to the Creator, he must certainly have a personal name, a
name which expresses his nature and being as names applied to
individuals did in Hebrew culture.
This was the question that Moses put to the Eternal God when he was
commissioned to liberate Israel from Pharaohs bondage: "Behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them,
the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say
unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?" (Exodus
3:13). When the time came for the exodus, God equipped Moses with
an infallible witness for his authority to organize such a
momentous event when he revealed to him the meaning of his secret
name, the name by which he was to be known forever. Listen to Gods
answer to Moses question in Exodus 3:14, 15: "And Elohim [God]
said unto Moses, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I AM WHO I AM] . . . and Elohim
said again to Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of
Israel, Yahweh of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim
of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is
my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all
generations."
The Name and Its Pronunciation
The name Yahweh has been called the tetragrammaton because it is
composed of four Hebrew letters, hwhy. YHWH in English cannot be
pronounced because it has no vowels. On this technicality of the
usage of vowels and their placement within the tetragrammaton,
there is much controversy; however, the consensus of scholarship
concludes that the most likely pronunciation is Y䨴-wꨮ
Since the tetragrammaton appears so frequently in the Hebrew texts,
it is important that we maintain the sound of that name as we bring
it into English. This process is referred to as transliteration,
which literally means to "represent, as a word, by the alphabetic
characters of another language having the same sound."
Transliteration enables us to bring the letters of one language
across into another so that the word, when pronounced, sounds the
same in both languages. While words may be translated from one
language to another, names can only be transliterated. If ones
name were Smith in English, it would still be pronounced Smith in
Russian. Although the characters of the alphabet would be
different, the sounds of the Russian letters would approximate the
sounds of the English letters, S-m-i-t-h.
We cannot circumvent the fact that the Bible is a Hebrew book. It
is essential, therefore, that we transliterate (not translate)
Hebrew names from that book. Most scripture versions maintain this
principle; however, when they come to the name of Deity, they break
the rule and substitute a title for it. Hence we have Lord for
Yahweh. If the principle had been consistent, we could just as
logically have George for Moses. Consistency must be maintained;
therefore, we must transliterate the name of names, YHWH.
Meaning of the Name
The Hebrew name Yahweh can be compared with the Hebrew word for
being, hayah, to gain the full significance of its meaning. Hayah
means "I am." Yahweh means, "I am because I am, I am that I am, or
I cause myself to be." It is a formation of the causative (hiphil)
conjugation of the verb and is intended to reveal the cause of
existence. Yahwehs choice of this name to express his being then,
was highly accurate, for he alone possesses the quality of
aseityhe is the cause of his own existence.It is also an accurate
expression of the fact that God alone is the cause of all
existence. "Without him was not any thing made that was made" (John
1:3). The name Yahweh has also been translated, "I will be what I
will be," which is a statement of Gods immutability, a
characteristic which he alone possesses. This name can also be
translated, "I will be there," a statement of his eternal
presence.
Excessive Caution
Gods statement in Exodus 3 regarding his name, Yahweh, has a very
noteworthy ring of finality: "This is my name for ever." The
prophet Hosea reconfirms Moses account of Gods name: "Even Yahweh
is Elohim of hosts; Yahweh is his memorial [name]" (Hosea 12:5).
Isaiah corroborates this: "I am Yahweh; that is my name; and my
glory will I not give to another" (Isaiah 42:7). Jeremiah adds his
confirmation: "They shall know that my name is Yahweh" (Jeremiah
16:21). Amos says, "Yahweh is his name" (Amos 5:
. Zechariah declares: "In that day there shall be one
Yahweh, and his name one" (Zechariah 14:9). Considering the
explicitness of this evidence, why would anyone wish to discontinue
the use of the name of the Supreme Deity?
Because of their fervor to avoid misuse of the name Yahweh and
their fear of violating the third commandment ("Thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain."), over time, the Jewish
people became very reluctant to use the name at all. By the time of
Christ, it was used only once a year by the high priest on the day
of atonement and then only in such hushed tones that it was
virtually lost in the chanting of the priests. Fearing an unwitting
violation of this commandment, Jewish scholars substitute the word
Adonai (Lord) instead of the name Yahweh in their reading of the
Scriptures. In the later Masoretic text, the vowel pointing for the
word adonai was used with the consonants of the name YHWH to
underscore the fact that adonai should be read instead of Yahweh.
The Talmud says, "It is written yothe hay [Yahweh] but it is
pronounced aleph daleth [Adonai]." Because their lack of
understanding of this this rabbinic vowel pointing of YHWH, later
translators offered the word Jehovah as the name of God (which is
totally in error).
When the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek of the
Septuagint, this emphasis was maintained so that Yahweh was
"translated" Kurios, which means Lord. Subsequent translations of
Holy Scripture have respected this same Jewish tradition of not
pronouncing the name YHWH and offering instead a substitute
rendering. It is primarily for this reason that we have the
present-day representationwe cannot say renderingin the
Authorized Version, which is "Lord" in most cases. A seemingly
legitimate reason for not transliterating the name YHWH, therefore,
has caused the pnonunciation and understanding of Gods personal
name to be lost to the vast majority of the Christian
community.
The Son of God and His Name
When the Son of Yahweh was brought into the world in the role of
Savior, he maintained the name of divinity by which he had
previously revealed himself to Moses and other patriarchs of Israel
in his pre-incarnation Christophanies. The name which the angel
Gabriel instructed Joseph and Mary to call him was Yeshua, which
simply means Yah in the role of Saviour. Jesus was the Memra (Logos
in Greek), the Word of God who existed with the Father from
eternity past and shared the name Yahweh. It was only fitting,
then, that when he became man, he should maintain that name
together with the expression of his role. Some have even suggested
that the name Yah was more emphatic in the Saviours name. The
Emphatic Diaglott says, "For Isoua among the Hebrews is salvation,
and among them the son of Nun is called Joshua; and Iasoue is the
salvation of Jah."
The English word by which we refer to the Son of God is Jesus,
which is a transliteration of the Latin Iesus, which comes from the
Greek form Iesous, which in turn is a representation of the Hebrew
Yeshua. Some have supposed that the word Jesus is a translation of
Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. It is totally inconceivable that
the scholars who translated the Hebrew into the Greek for the
Septuagint Version would have used the name of a pagan deity in
reference to their national hero, Joshua, who was called Yeshua in
the Hebrew but was called Iesous in the Greek. This is the reason
why Joshua is called Jesus in Acts 7:45 and in Hebrews 4:8 of the
Authorized Version. We are certainly at liberty to use Jesus as the
name of our Saviour in addition to his Hebrew name, Yeshua.
The name Yahweh was understood by the early Christian scholars.
Clement of Alexandria (212 C.E.) gave Iaove (pronounced 뭤-oo-꠬ or
Yahweh) as Gods name. Origen (253 C.E.) gives Iae as Gods name, a
transliteration of Yah, the abbreviated form of Yahweh. Epiphanius
(404 C.E.) and Theodoret (457 C.E.) give Iabe.
A Balanced Approach to Using the Name
One might well question the importance of learning the proper name
of Deity. After all, in the most popular versions of the Holy
Scriptures, this name does not appear. The Authorized Version gives
his name as I AM THAT I AM and occasionally refers to him as Jah or
Jehovah. Most often it names him as "the Lord." When one reads the
Hebrew Scriptures, however, the continued and repetitive use of
Yahweh in reference to Deity is unmistakable. This personal name
Yahweh appears approximately 5,500 times in the Hebrew Bible. If
the Heavenly Father was careful enough to give Israel his proper
name, it would seem that we who honor and worship him should want
to learn that name for ourselves.
On the other hand, it is certainly not so utterly distasteful for
believers to refer to Yahweh by the various titles which rightly
apply to his Being that he would cut them off for worshipping false
gods, as some have mistakenly suggested. Using such titles and
names to refer to Deity could not be construed as violation of the
third commandment, for one would have to take or use the name
Yahweh in vain, not use another name or title in sincere reference
to the Eternal. Indeed, Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Our
Father," not, "Our Yahweh." While the names of Deity are important,
it should be remembered that all names are merely words designed to
reveal the qualities of the bearer. Though Yahweh and Yeshua are
the proper names of deity, it is appropriate to say, "The Eternal,"
or "The Savior."
Too often Gods people lack balance. This has been the case with
the name Yahweh. The Jews were so afraid of violating the third
commandment by pronouncing the name that they avoided its use and
nearly lost its pronunciation altogether. Some Christians have
rediscovered and restored the use of the name and have taken the
other extreme, believing that failure to use the name exclusively
is a violation of the third commandment. We must remember that God
speaks English, Chinese, and Spanish, as well as Hebrew and that we
can use terms and names that communicate with one another and with
the public our understanding of God.
We must use wisdom in conversing the unbelievers in the language
with which they are familiar. By isolating ourselves totally to the
use of biblical Hebrew surnames of God, we severely restrict the
effectiveness of our witness. While understanding the name of God
is important for informations sake, understanding the authority
and meaning of the name is more essential to the believer
today.
Restoration
Biblical names in Hebrew forms, transliterated into the worlds
languages, are a part of the restoration of Christianitys Jewish
foundations. Believers should gain this knowledge and enrich their
relationship with God by understanding his nature revealed in his
name and by communicating with him and about him, using his proper
name, Yahweh.
The need for restoring the knowledge of Gods name by the believers
today is readily recognizable in the fact that those who are called
his elect are referred to in Revelation 14:1 as "having his
Fathers name written in their foreheads." Surely those who will be
called by his name would want to know his name. Moses did!
The name, Yahweh, is but another part of the great heritage of
Judaism that is being restored in our day. It is a part of the
better way of recognition and worship of the Eternal.
http://www.restorationfoundation.org/
