YHWH — the Hebrew Name For God
Have you ever wondered if we should call God Yahweh, Adonai, Elohim, I AM THAT I AM, or some other name? The first verse of the book of Genesis does not tell us that God came into existence. It is simply focused on telling us how we came into existence. Genesis 1:1 assumes God exists. Yet, Genesis 1:1 is also a general introduction to our God. Genesis 1:1 says,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 (NASB)
The Hebrew word for God is Elohim. It is the general word used for God in the Old Testament. Sometimes Elohim is used for a so-called or demonic god. The point is that Elohim is not the name of the God of the Old Testament since it is the general word for both God and other so-called gods. The Bible tells us that all other gods are so-called gods (1 Corinthians 8:5).
Now, what is the name of the God who created the universe? We discover His name when we read Genesis 2:4.
This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven. Genesis 2:4 (NASB)
Here we are told that the LORD God made the earth and heaven. The Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1:1 and in this verse is Elohim, and the Hebrew word for LORD is YHWH. It occurs 6,828 times in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word YHWH is referred to as the Tetragrammaton because there are no vowels in the word. The Jews regarded YHWH as unspeakable since it is the name of our God. The correct pronunciation of YHWH has been lost over time, but recent “inscriptional evidence from the second and first millennia B.C. reveals that YHWH should be pronounced as yahwê.1 Historical evidence exists that reveals the Masoretes inserted the vowel points from the Hebrew word Adonai into YHWH. The result is Yahweh. Therefore, it is not correct to refer to our God as Jehovah, for the vowels do not match. The correct spelling is Yahweh.
The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon states that the word Jehovah came into existence in 1520. It is a different name. They state,
The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but it was contested by Le Mercier, J. Drusius, and L. Capellus, as against grammatical and historical propriety (cf. Bö 88).2
This means that Jehovah is not the best transliteration of the Hebrew. YHWH is preferred.
Now why does Genesis 2:4 say that the LORD God made the earth and heaven? The Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament explains that when YHWH occurs before Elohim, it means that Yahweh is Elohim.3 It explains that YHWH is our God. YHWH is the proper name of our God. So, when Genesis 2:7 says that Yahweh created man, we should notice that we are told the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground.
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 (NASB)
That is, Yahweh is the Elohim who created the world (Genesis 1:1). The proper name of our God is YHWH or Yahweh. Exodus 6:2-3 echoes this truth. His actual name is unique.
God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.”
Exodus 6:2-3 (NASB)
Exodus 15:3 also says that Yahweh is the proper name of our God.
The LORD is a warrior;
The LORD is His name.
Exodus 15:3 (NASB)
Exodus 3:13-15 introduces us to the name of God, but it says that His name is “I AM WHO I AM.”
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘ The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. Exodus 3:13-15 (NASB)
The meaning of the basic Hebrew word for “I AM” is “to be” or “to exist.” It is a verb, not a noun or a name. The verb is in the imperfect tense. That means “I AM” (ehyeh) says Yahweh is existing. He Is. He is because He is.4 He is self-existing. He causes Himself to exist. I AM describes our God as continually existing or continually being. I AM WHO I AM describes the proper name of Yahweh. It has the same root meaning as Yahweh. It reveals that Yahweh is eternally existing.5
The other names of God in the Bible are descriptions of Yahweh’s characteristics. John 8:24, 58 reveals that Jesus declared twice that He is the I AM, and the Jewish religious leaders understood that He was claiming to be Yahweh. That is why they wanted to stone Him to death. They did not believe Him. So, do you believe that Jesus is Yahweh? Visit Searching For God to discover more about God.
In conclusion, we must pay special attention to Deuteronomy 6:4, which says,
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB)
Here the English word LORD is translated from the Hebrew word Yahweh. Therefore, the verse tells us that Yahweh is our God. God is not known by some other name, for His proper name is Yahweh. This is a very personal statement. He has revealed Himself to us in this verse and throughout the Old Testament or the Tanakh.
We recommend the Legacy Standard Bible (an update of the NASB) for those who would like a Bible that uses God’s proper name when it appears in the Old Testament.
References:
1. Merrill Unger. The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Moody Publishers. 2005. p. 1375.
2. Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), p. 218.
3. Keil & Delitzsch. Pentateuch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2006, vol. 1, p. 45.
4. Unger, Ibid. p. 782.
5. Robert Girdlestone. Synonyms of the Old Testament. Baker Book House. 3rd ed., 1983. p. 50.
Suggested Links:
What are the names of God?Jesus Is the Great I Am
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What does the name Yeshua mean in the Bible?