MEET INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

JEHOVAH & YEHWEH

H
EBREW NOT UNDERSTOOD! Ask most Bible Believers what the name of the Heavenly Father is and they probably will say Jehovah. Ask them for some proof of this and they will either point to traditional usage or refer you to some Old Testament English Bible version.

Surprisingly, the name of the Heavenly Father is not Jehovah, and never was. The history of Jehovah which some encyclopedias call erroneous and which many Bible scholars agree is not accurate, is quite eye opening.

In the oldest text of the Bible, the Palaeo Hebrew script, the sacred Name is represented by two Hebrew letters repeated twice and being interpreted is called, “I AM that I AM.” The four letters are given a name, the Tetragrammaton. Jewish law experts during and after the Babylonian captivity decided to hide this Name to make certain it would not be taken in vain or blasphemed. Therefore, when the four letters of the Tetragrammaton appeared in the later texts, scribes “pointed” it with substitution vowels of the Hebrew word adonai (meaning LORD). When spoken it was then read as “adonai” instead of the sacred Name YAH, or in English, “I AM”.

The first converts to the Savior were Jews, including the Rabbis or Priests of the assemblies. As more Gentile converts were accepted, the assembly took on a Gentile flavor with Gentile customs and practices. These Gentiles generally did not understand Hebrew, in fact, at the time of Constantine there was a most decided anti-Jewish bias and for the most part these Gentile converts wanted nothing to do with anything Jewish. When the First Covenant was translated into Greek (known as the Septuagint) it became the standard text for the early assembly, now overwhelmed by pagan converts, which by then spoke Latin or Greek.

Even though the Septuagint was written in Greek, the Sacred Name ה ו ה י (Tetragrammaton) was first written into the text in gold Hebrew Letters. Being ignorant of Hebrew the readers of the Greek text mistakenly pronounced the Hebrew Tetragrammaton “Pipi,” as the Greek pi,π resembled the Hebrew he, ה.

The Latin translations became standard for the Roman church and the Latin letters IHVH appeared for the Hebrew Tetragrammaton. At the same time the vowel I was equivalent to the Y. The V had the sound of W, “oo.”

Interestingly, even the Jehovah’s Witnesses acknowledge that the name Jehovah is improper. Their book, “Let Your Name Be Sanctified” freely admits on pages 16 and 18 that YHVH is the superior translation of the Tetragrammaton. This book has lately been withdrawn. However, in the preface of their “The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures,” we find on page 23 the following admission. “While inclining to view the pronunciation ‘YHVH’ as the more correct way, we have retained the form of ‘Jehovah’ because of the people’s familiarity.

We cannot let tradition lead us to call the Heavenly Father by a wrong name! Much scholarly proof is now available to show that Jehovah is wrong. We are to walk in all the truth we are given so that Yahshua will give us even more light. The scripture clearly commands us to worship GOD in spirit and in truth.

JEHOVAH IS A DERIVATIVE WITH CHALDEE VOWEL INSERTS INSERTED INTO THE TETRAGRAMMATON, ( ה ו ה י ) TO GIVE A SOUND-ABLE WORD. PURE Palaeo-HEBREW IS ONLY CONSONANTS with no vowels such as; a,e,o,i,u. Further, to use the four square letters mechanically as a group meaning one name is incorrect.

Exodus 3:14 reads; “....Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” The word I AM comes from ה י and cannot possibly be made into Jehovah or Yahweh.

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA

The derivation and pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is still doubtful. The form “Jehovah” (q.v.) used in some of the English Versions is an error which arose in the 16th century. It is now generally assumed that the word is the causative form (hiphˋil).

YHVH is the most holy name of G-d and is incorrectly rendered Yehweh and Jehovah by English interpreters and biblical writers. When searching the library of Artscroll on the World Wide Web , URL address; http://www.artscroll.com, we find no trace of Yehweh or Jehovah. The Publishers of Artscroll books are considered the most accurate available in English today concerning Israel and their GOD. The Publisher is headquartered in Jerusalem. Surely one would think that there would be some recognition of this name if it was in fact the name of the Jewish GOD that the Gentiles write about from the Jewish Apostles writings in their English bibles?

There is also no J in Palaeo-HEBREW, yet the translators who wrote our FIRST ENGLISH SCRIPTURES USED IT IN PLACE OF Y. This perversion came to us from the insertions of the Chaldee tongue into the PURE Palaeo-HEBREW MIND during the CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN IN BABYLON. From Babylon it proceeded into our earliest English writings which came to us through the Latin Vulgate. Satan is still trying to conquer GOD’S people by changing their pure language of worship.

After having vowels and erroneous letters inserted in the Tetragrammaton it is pronounced Jee-Ho-vah. The Tetragrammaton was not to be opened by man, but by the mouth of the LORD when the Messiah would come. Jehovah is not a Yiddish word and it is not a Hebrew word. It is some scribe's Latin transliteration of YHVH, to which the vowel marks from "Adonai" had been added. The word appeared for the first time in an English text in 1530.

The pictographic square letters of YHVH were un-lawful to be spoken by anyone outside the Temple. So the Macerates (who observed the tradition of Mesorah, interpretive notes for the "correct" spelling and meaning of ancient Hebrew texts) added vowel marks to YHVH as a signal to readers to say "Adonai" instead; this combination YHVH and ADONAI was later transliterated into Latin as JeHoVa(H)--or JeHoVa(h)- so used for the first time in the year 1516 by a German writer for the Pope, says the Oxford English Dictionary.

Ignorant people took these four Palaeo-HEBREW consonants and tried to make a numerologist and phonetic interpretation of it so that man would know the secret name of GOD. The Mishna, or the secrets of the Priest and Elders stated that the Tetragrammaton would not be revealed until the Messiah was born. Supporting Isa 62:1-3.

We read in De. 29:29; “The secret things belong unto the LORD our GOD: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

The word Jehovah was inserted into our bibles because the Jews looked upon the four letters , YHVH as a representation of GOD in ancient times. To the Gentiles it contained no meaning nor commanded any reverence because it has no vowels.

The word Jehovah could only come from one modern Hebrew word, "hôvâh", (See Strongs #1943 meaning ruin, mischief), "Surely the Great GOD OF HEAVEN IS NOT MISCHIEF AND RUIN!

When we use Concordances like the modern day Strongs we must be careful, noting where the words listed have their roots, that is, which original, or ancient word are they derived from. The Strongs Hebrew word definitions are intermingled with Chaldee, corrupt Palaeo-HEBREW words.

YEHWEH, With no “W” in ancient Hebrew

YHVH is the most holy representation of GOD’S name, and It is very often (incorrectly) rendered Yehweh in English translations. The accepted translation of YHVH is, I AM that I AM. To make a word containing four consonants and two vowels from one word with only two consonants is erroneous.

Exodus 3:14 reads; “....Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” The word I AM comes from ה י and cannot possibly be made into Jehovah or Yahweh.

Yehweh is not a word that can be biblically or grammerically connected to the Father as being His name in any dispensation of time. This word was made by man and written in modern literature implying that it is the Father’s true Hebrew Name revealed. A quick look at the Palaeo-HEBREW alphabet used by Moses, reveals to the searcher that there is no letter with a corresponding, “W,” alphabetical meaning.

Recently during a trip to Trinidad W.I., I was told that a complete church of Monotheistic believers where re-baptized into the name Yehweh which is not a name that can be connected to the Father of Creation through the record of His written Word, much less to the atoning blood of Golgotha.

Through many hours of study and research I have come to one very sound understanding, that the pure language of GOD ceased to be spoken in about 6 B.C., preparing the way for the Messiah. When He came John spoke about Him with such loving words;

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ: and these things we write, that your joy may be fulfilled. And this is the message which we have heard from him, and announce unto you, that GOD is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Approximately in 1150 A.D., Maimonides writes; ‘It is possible that in the Hebrew language, of which we have now but a slight knowledge, the Tetragrammaton, in the way it was pronounced, conveyed the meaning of “absolute existence.” In short, the majesty of the name and the great dread of uttering it, are connected with the fact that it denotes GOD Himself, without including in its meaning any names of the things created by Him. Thus our sages say: “My name (Num. 6:27) means the name which is peculiar to Me.” All other names of GOD have reference to qualities, and do not signify a simple substance, but a substance with attributes, that is, of some extraneous element super added to His essence. Such is the meaning of all derivative names; they imply the presence of some attribute and its substratum, though this be not distinctly named. GOD is not a substratum capable of attributes, we are convinced that those appellatives when employed as names of GOD, only indicate the relation of certain actions to Him, or they convey to us some notion of His perfection.’

THE SPELLING OF BIBLICAL NAMES

“Quote” Our modern languages show little uniformity in the spelling of Biblical Names for the obvious reason, that, in many cases they habitually attach different sound-values to any given letter of the Latin Alphabet. To Mention only two examples, the letter u has various values in our Western idioms, and there are three ways of representing the unvoiced guttural occlusive: c, k, q.

These divergences are already very marked between related languages, such as Greek, Latin, and the Western languages. They become even more serious when we are obliged to write down the sounds of a non-Indo-European language such as Hebrew, the language of the Bible, which belongs to the Semitic group. The alphabets of the Semitic languages contain only consonants, the vowels being indicated by various diacritics. Hebrew has a total of twenty-two consonants, including, unfortunately, several which are polyphonic. There are, for example, only three letters to represent four distinct sibilants {sounded with a hissing sound}. Arabic, with its twenty-eight consonant signs, is much better equipped to represent the wide variety of sounds which occur in Semitic speech.

To better acquaint the casual reader and student with the ancient Hebrew of Moses’ time, we show the original alphabet listing the twenty-two consonants given to Moses, almost five thousand years ago. By taking note of this alphabet and by comparative study of ancient Latin and Greek, developed from other branches of the Semitic tongue, we begin to see the dilemma of man in understanding correctly the Word of GOD by intellect. Only by His Spirit, the author of the letter, can we understand that which is not written by the written.

THE HEBREW ALPHABET

THERE ARE 22 CONSONANTS IN THE HEBREW ALPHABET.

PRINTED NAME OF TRANSLIT- NUMERICAL

FORM LETTER ERATION VALUE

1. א áh-leph ) 1

2.* ב beth b 2

ב veth v

3.* ג gée-mel g 3

4.* ד dáh-leth d 4

5. ה heh h 5

6. ו vahv v 6

7. ז záh-yin z 7

8. ח heth h 8

9. ט teht t 9

10. י yodh y 10

11.*  kahf k 20

כ khahf kh

12. ל láh-med l 30

13. מ mem m 40

14. נ nun n 50

15. ס sáh-mekh s 60

16. ע áh-yin ( 70

17.*  peh p 80

 feh f

18. צ tsáh-dee s 90

19. ק kofh q 100

20. ר rehsh r 200

21.  seen s 300

ש sheen š,sh 300

22.* ת taw t 400

* See Note 5.

NOTES

1. Each sign of the alphabet is also the initial letter of its corresponding Hebrew name; thus the fourth sign ד,d is also the initial of its own Hebrew name dah-leth.

2. There are no capital letters in Hebrew.

3. The printed forms are sometimes known as Square script or letters.

4. Each Square Letter of the alphabet, whether printed or written, stands alone. Unlike English or Arabic writing, no square letters of the Hebrew alphabet are ever joined together.

5. Six consonants, ב, ג, ד, כ, , ת, conveniently pronounced BeGaD KeFaT, may be used with or without a dot. This dot is called a dagesh. When these letters occur at the beginning of a word, they take a dagesh. There is hardly any difference retained today in the pronunciation of ג or ד with or without a dot. For the sake of clearer pronunciation, however, the other four square letters, ב, , , , with a dot, assume a hardened sound: b, k, p, t, respectively; whereas ב, כ, , ת, without a dot are soft: v, kh (like ch in the Scottish word loch), f, th, (as in think), respectively. In Modern Hebrew and in some universities and seminaries, both  and ת are pronounced like t.

6. Five square letters when used at the end of words assume a special final form. They are sometimes known as final letters. Note that the lower horizontal lines of four of these consonants, כ, נ, , צ, terminate in a continuous downstroke: ך, ן, , ץ.

REGULAR FORM FINAL FORM

כ ך

מ ם

נ ן

 

צ ץ

NOTE: In ancient Palaeo-HEBREW script, final forms did not exist.

7. Hebrew is read and written from right to left.

8. Each square letter in Hebrew has a numerical value as indicated in the right column of the list at the beginning of this lesson. This usage is not biblical. The earliest traces of it are found on Maccabean coins (about the second century B.C.) Numerical values are given here for reference only.

When European scholars wish to reproduce Semitic words in their own alphabet, they are obliged to resort to various expedients, that is, more impractical words. These are all inadequate, and, to make matters worse, they differ from country to country. In the case of Hebrew Names, the position has been greatly complicated by historical events and longstanding traditions. For Arabic names, the English system of transliteration, already adopted for the Dutch and French editions of this Atlas has the advantage of brevity, that is, it is more terse or concise, and is therefore steadily gaining ground.

Four stages may be distinguished in the history of their graphic representation:

(A) In ancient Israel only the consonants were written down.

(B) The Greek-speaking Jews, such as the translators of the Septuagint and the authors of the New Testament, noticed the Greek alphabet does not contain letters corresponding to all the Hebrew consonants. They therefore adopted the easiest solution, and omitted certain consonants completely. They also introduced vowels corresponding to the Hebrew pronunciation of their own time. Finally, they added grammatical terminations designed to fit the words into declensional categories. These Hellenised forms became the accepted usage of the early Latin Bible, written by St. Jerome for the Catholic church.

(C)Towards the ninth century A.D., certain rabbis (the Massoretes) provided the Hebrew text of the Bible with vowel points to indicate what they believed to have been the ancient Hebrew pronunciation.

(D) During the Reformation, many Protestant translators adhered as closely as possible to the Masoretic spelling, which was regarded as that of the original Hebrew text.

For example, in the name of Solomon’s son, rhb’m, the second and fourth consonants (the latter represented here by the apostrophe) were very difficult to pronounce for speakers of Greek, and were omitted in writing. To write the Greek sound of Hebrew words, letters were introduced to represent the vowel sounds which they heard, and the Hellenised Jews therefore wrote, Roboam. A form which stands in the Gospel of St. Matthew (1:7) in the Greek and also in the Authorized (King James) Version of the English Bible and in all Catholic Bibles. The Massorete, in accordance with their principles, wrote the vowels of this name as follows: a weak e, an o (same sign as for a), an e still weaker than the first, and an a, Rehabeam or Rehobeam, which becomes Rehoboam in the Protestant Old Testament. The Catholic Bibles, however, have the Hellenised form Roboam also in the Old Testament.

As a result of these historical developments, there is in certain countries so great a difference between the Protestant and Catholic translations that the names are often difficult to recognize. We find, for example, the variants Hezekiah and Ezechias, Ahaziah and Ochozias, Jesse and Isai, etc. Neither Protestants nor Catholics, however, have chosen a uniform system of transliteration.

GOD is restoring the pure language of praise, worship and servitude to those that truly love Him. He is doing this by the power of His Spirit, the Holy Ghost in us, so that we may please Him and shine as great lights in this last hour. We are anxiously awaiting the manifestation of His Kingdom of Peace and Righteousness on earth, the righteous rule of the Father for the one thousand-year millennial reign.

The intent of this book is not to delve into the future as outlined in scriptures not yet revealed, but to diligently search for that which is revealed to ensure we are worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth. Thus, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our GOD: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

It is a mandate from The Father to know him by His Name and to openly declare our love for Him without reservation. GOD [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.

From the Book: In The Name of The Father, written by Dr. Strome, Th.D.