It is clear that the name of our Elohim is Yahweh and it is this name that Yahshua exposed to the world, but the world seem to have chosen to call him God, LORD or Lord and other names such as Theos etc.
The name is represented by the Tetragramaton transliterated YHWH. In Hebrew- יהוה - reading from the right) is pronounced Yahweh as far as I know. The pronounciation I know some people may prefer is Jehovah in lieu of Yahweh, and people I am sure can argue their cases. I prefer Yahweh until I am convinced otherwise, which is a long form of the name Yah.
May I say that the word “Yahweh” appears 6828 times in the Jewish Bibles. Some people may prefer to pronounce the Tetragramaton as Yahvah or Yahveh instead of Yahweh.
When we give praise to our Elohim we would say “Halleluiah” and in doing this we are actually saying “Praise be to Yah isn’t it? I gleaned that name from Psalms 68:4 which read:
“Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to his Name, extol him that rides upon the Heavens by his name YAH, and rejoice before him”
I have noted in the KJV that the name is spelt JAH, which needs to be pronounced with a silent J.
Let me explore the name a little further and borrow from a website I had read sometimes ago, unfortunately its reference I did not take down. Nevertheless the article (In blue) is as follows:
THE NAME OF ELOHIM
The concept of the name of Elohim is one which has fascinated scholars and philosophers from the dawn of time. Bluethread explores how a little knowledge of Hebrew helps to enrich this quest.
Moses said to Elohim, "When I come to the Israelites and say to them 'The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" And Elohim said to Moses, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh." He continued, "Ehyeh sent me to you.'" And Elohim said further to Moses, "Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: The Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you: This shall be my name forever,
This My appellation for all eternity. (Exodus 3:13-15)
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה
The name is represented by the Tetragramaton transliterated YHWH. In Hebrew- יהוה - reading from the right) is pronounced Yahweh as far as I know. The pronounciation I know some people may prefer is Jehovah in lieu of Yahweh, and people I am sure can argue their cases. I prefer Yahweh until I am convinced otherwise, which is a long form of the name Yah.
May I say that the word “Yahweh” appears 6828 times in the Jewish Bibles. Some people may prefer to pronounce the Tetragramaton as Yahvah or Yahveh instead of Yahweh.
When we give praise to our Elohim we would say “Halleluiah” and in doing this we are actually saying “Praise be to Yah isn’t it? I gleaned that name from Psalms 68:4 which read:
“Sing unto Elohim, sing praises to his Name, extol him that rides upon the Heavens by his name YAH, and rejoice before him”
I have noted in the KJV that the name is spelt JAH, which needs to be pronounced with a silent J.
Let me explore the name a little further and borrow from a website I had read sometimes ago, unfortunately its reference I did not take down. Nevertheless the article (In blue) is as follows:
THE NAME OF ELOHIM
The concept of the name of Elohim is one which has fascinated scholars and philosophers from the dawn of time. Bluethread explores how a little knowledge of Hebrew helps to enrich this quest.
Moses said to Elohim, "When I come to the Israelites and say to them 'The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" And Elohim said to Moses, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh." He continued, "Ehyeh sent me to you.'" And Elohim said further to Moses, "Thus shall you speak to the Israelites: The Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you: This shall be my name forever,
This My appellation for all eternity. (Exodus 3:13-15)
אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh
So Elohim's name, at least the one given to Moses in the above Torah passage, is "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh." What does that mean? In biblical Hebrew, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" is a deceptively simple phrase consisting of the relative pronoun "asher" sandwiched between two instances of the first person singular imperfect of the verb hayah--to be. "Ehyeh" is most commonly translated as "I will be." Asher is a remarkable Hebrew word. Imagine, in English, a single word that can mean "that" "who" "which" or "where." So the phrase could mean:
I will be that I will be
I will be who I will be
I will be which I will be
I will be where I will be
I will be who I will be
I will be which I will be
I will be where I will be
English has many distinguishable tenses, but biblical Hebrew has only two main tenses, perfect and imperfect. The perfect tense describes actions that are completed:
I walked
I did walk
I had walked
I did walk
I had walked
The imperfect tense describes actions or states that are not completed:
I will walk
I usually walk
I might walk
May I walk?
I would walk
I usually walk
I might walk
May I walk?
I would walk
A Hebrew verb that appears in the imperfect tense can be translated with any of these meanings. (Simon, The First Hebrew Primer, p. 94) The first Ehyeh might be one tense (for instance, "I am") and the second another ("I will be.")
Here are some other possible translations:
Here are some other possible translations:
I am that I am (Hertz, p 215)
I will be what I will be (Rashi, from Hertz, p 215)
I am who I am (Sarna, 1986, p 52)
I will be what I want to be (S.R. Hirsch from Plaut, p 405)
I will be what tomorrow demands (Plaut, p 405)
It is he who creates what comes into existence (Albright, p 171)
He brings into existence whatever exists (Enc. Jud.)
I will be with him that I will be, I exist and fulfill my promises The one who spoke and the world came into being,spoke and all was (Drazin, p. 59, various sources)
I will be what I will be (Rashi, from Hertz, p 215)
I am who I am (Sarna, 1986, p 52)
I will be what I want to be (S.R. Hirsch from Plaut, p 405)
I will be what tomorrow demands (Plaut, p 405)
It is he who creates what comes into existence (Albright, p 171)
He brings into existence whatever exists (Enc. Jud.)
I will be with him that I will be, I exist and fulfill my promises The one who spoke and the world came into being,spoke and all was (Drazin, p. 59, various sources)
The one who spoke to the world at the beginning "be",and it was, and in the future will say to it"be" and it will be (ibid.)
I am he who was, am and will be (ibid.)
Ehyeh asher ehyeh--the self-existent and eternal Elohim; a declaration of the unity and spirituality of the Divine Nature, the exact opposite of all the forms of idolatry, human, animal, and celestial that prevailed everywhere else. [It is]...however, not merely a philosophical phrase; the emphasis is on the active manifestation of the Divine existence....To the Israelites in bondage, the meaning would be, 'Although He has not yet displayed His power towards you, he will do so'....The answer which Moses receives in these words is thus equivalent to, 'I shall save in the way I shall save.' It is to assure the Israelites of the fact of deliverance, but does not disclose the manner. It must suffice the Israelites to learn that 'Ehyeh, I will be (with you) hath sent me unto you.' (Hertz, p. 215)
Martin Buber muses that "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" has a special meaning because of what happens almost immediately before and after it appears in the Torah. He notes that Elohim makes a promise before revealing his name:
But Moses said to Elohim, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?" And He said, I will be with you... (Exodus 3:11-12)
and repeats it soon afterward:
And the Yahweh said to him,"Who gives man speech?Who makes him dumb or deaf,seeing or blind?Is it not I, the Yahweh? Now go, and I will be with you... "(Exodus 4:11-12)
Placed as the phrase is between two concrete expressions of Elohim's promise it clearly means: I am and remain present. Moses (p.51-2).
Although Moses initially asks for the name of Elohim so that he could take it back to Israel "not a single instance is reported in the Torah where he is shown to have actually used it." From this we can conclude that the revelation was never meant for the people at all, nor did Moses really inquire for the sake of the people: Moses had asked for himself, and the answer he receives is also meant for him.--Plaut, p 405-406.
GENERAL REFERENCES
Full citations can be found on our references page.
Albright, Yaweh And The Gods Of Canaan,
Buber, Moses: The Revelation And The Covenant,
Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book Of Exodus
Drazin, Targum Onkelos To Exodus
Exodus Rabbah
Fields, A Torah Commentary For Our Times, Vol II: Exodus and Leviticus
Fox, The Five Books Of Moses
Gianotti, "The meaning of the divine name YHWH," Bibliotheca Sacra
Hertz, The Pentateuch And Haftorahs.
Leibowitz, Studies In Shemot, Part I: Shemot - Yitro
Plaut, The Torah
Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Heritage Of Biblical Israel
Sarna, The J.P.S. Torah Commentary--Exodus, Philadelphia
Sarna, The J.P.S Torah Commentary--Genesis
Simon, The First Hebrew Primer
Steinsaltz,The Essential Talmud
Well I will end here this time around but I will continue to discuss Elohim’s name in my next article. We are told to fear and think about the name of Yahweh our Elohim. Malachi 3:16 (WOY) reads;
“Then that feared Yahweh, spoke often one to another: and Yahweh hearkened and heard it, and the book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought about His name”
Thanks for your attention
I am he who was, am and will be (ibid.)
Ehyeh asher ehyeh--the self-existent and eternal Elohim; a declaration of the unity and spirituality of the Divine Nature, the exact opposite of all the forms of idolatry, human, animal, and celestial that prevailed everywhere else. [It is]...however, not merely a philosophical phrase; the emphasis is on the active manifestation of the Divine existence....To the Israelites in bondage, the meaning would be, 'Although He has not yet displayed His power towards you, he will do so'....The answer which Moses receives in these words is thus equivalent to, 'I shall save in the way I shall save.' It is to assure the Israelites of the fact of deliverance, but does not disclose the manner. It must suffice the Israelites to learn that 'Ehyeh, I will be (with you) hath sent me unto you.' (Hertz, p. 215)
Martin Buber muses that "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" has a special meaning because of what happens almost immediately before and after it appears in the Torah. He notes that Elohim makes a promise before revealing his name:
But Moses said to Elohim, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?" And He said, I will be with you... (Exodus 3:11-12)
and repeats it soon afterward:
And the Yahweh said to him,"Who gives man speech?Who makes him dumb or deaf,seeing or blind?Is it not I, the Yahweh? Now go, and I will be with you... "(Exodus 4:11-12)
Placed as the phrase is between two concrete expressions of Elohim's promise it clearly means: I am and remain present. Moses (p.51-2).
Although Moses initially asks for the name of Elohim so that he could take it back to Israel "not a single instance is reported in the Torah where he is shown to have actually used it." From this we can conclude that the revelation was never meant for the people at all, nor did Moses really inquire for the sake of the people: Moses had asked for himself, and the answer he receives is also meant for him.--Plaut, p 405-406.
GENERAL REFERENCES
Full citations can be found on our references page.
Albright, Yaweh And The Gods Of Canaan,
Buber, Moses: The Revelation And The Covenant,
Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book Of Exodus
Drazin, Targum Onkelos To Exodus
Exodus Rabbah
Fields, A Torah Commentary For Our Times, Vol II: Exodus and Leviticus
Fox, The Five Books Of Moses
Gianotti, "The meaning of the divine name YHWH," Bibliotheca Sacra
Hertz, The Pentateuch And Haftorahs.
Leibowitz, Studies In Shemot, Part I: Shemot - Yitro
Plaut, The Torah
Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Heritage Of Biblical Israel
Sarna, The J.P.S. Torah Commentary--Exodus, Philadelphia
Sarna, The J.P.S Torah Commentary--Genesis
Simon, The First Hebrew Primer
Steinsaltz,The Essential Talmud
Well I will end here this time around but I will continue to discuss Elohim’s name in my next article. We are told to fear and think about the name of Yahweh our Elohim. Malachi 3:16 (WOY) reads;
“Then that feared Yahweh, spoke often one to another: and Yahweh hearkened and heard it, and the book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought about His name”
Thanks for your attention
