- Jun 22, 2023
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Concealing the name of God
Concealing the name of God was not only a custom, it was also made a law.
The sages quoted, "This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Ex. iii. 15). Here the word "le-'olam" (forever) is written defectively, being without the "waw" for the vowel "o," which renders the reading "le-'allem" (to conceal; Ḳid. 71a).
Forty years prior to the destruction of the Temple, the priests ceased to pronounce the Name (Yoma39b). From that time the pronunciation of the Name was prohibited. "Whoever pronounces the Name forfeits his portion in the future world" (Sanh. xi. 1).
30 AD to 70 AD.
Abba Saul (2d cent.) condemned the profanation of the Tetragrammaton by classing those "that speak the Name according to its letters," with those who have no part in the future world (Sanh. x. 1); and according to 'Ab. Zarah 17b, one of the martyrs of Hadrian's time, Hananiah b. Teradion, was burned at the stake because he so uttered the Name.
The view that prayer is more effectual if the name of God is pronounced in it as it is written caused the scholars of Kairwan to address a question in the eleventh century to Hai Gaon with reference to the pronunciation of the Shem ha-Meforash, to which he answered that it might not be uttered at all outside the Holy Land (Hai Gaon, "Ṭa'am Zeḳenim," p. 55; see Löw, "Gesammelte Schriften," i. 204).
Because Hebrews dropped their 'ayins', to keep from saying God's name, hence we have "y'shua." Also spelled Yeshua, for which we have in Greek, "Iēsous" and "Isus." These are corruptions of the names that begin with "Yah."
Thirteen theophoric names with "Yeho" have corresponding forms where the letters eh have been omitted. There is a theory by Christian Ginsburg that this is due to Hebrew scribes omitting the "h", changing Jeho (יְהוֹ) into Jo (יוֹ), to make the start of "Yeho-" names not sound like an attempt to pronounce the Divine Name.
Theophoric Names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophoric_name
Praise, Exalt, and Proclaim His Name
Exodus 34:5
Then Yahwah came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, Yahwah.
1 Chronicles 16:8
Give praise to Yahwah, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 34:3
Glorify Yahwah with me; let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 68:4
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is Yahwah.
Psalm 96:2
Sing to Yahwah, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
Psalm 105:1
Give praise to Yahwah, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 148:13
Let them praise the name of Yahwah, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
Isaiah 12:4
In that day you will say: “Give praise to Yahwah, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Isaiah 47:4
Our Redeemer—Yahwah of Host is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 52:6
Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I.”
Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says Yahwah of Host, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
Last Days.
Zechariah 13:9
This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘Yahwah is our God.’”
Yahwah reveals His name to Moses
Exodus 3:13-15.
13 And Moses said to Elohiym, “Suppose I go to the siblings of the Israelites and say to them, 'The Elohiym of your forefathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?”
14 And Elohiym said to Moses, “The Living that Lives. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'The Living has sent me to you.”
15 And Elohiym also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, 'Yahwah, the Elohiym of your forefathers; the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob has sent me to you.' That’s my name forever, the name by which I’m to be remembered, from generation to generation.”
Exodus 6:3
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name Yahwah I did not make myself fully known to them.
Yahwah
A note on the words hawah and hayah.
Quote from pages 217 and 218 of the Brown-Driver-Briggs. Ref # 3068-69 on page 217.
Brown-Driver-Briggs on page 218 states that, "Many recent scholars explain יהוה as Hiph. of הוה equals היה "
הוה hawah / HWH is hawah.
היה hayah / HYH is hayah.
Note that the vowels are all " a."
יהוה Yahwah
The vowels are "a" in the Brown-Driver-Briggs, the NIV Exhaustive Concordance, and the Strong's Exhaustive Concordances.
The name Yahwah is from the Aramaic, not the Hebrew.
The original spelling of God's name is Yahuah, later changed to Yahwah for modern English.
Concealing the name of God was not only a custom, it was also made a law.
The sages quoted, "This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Ex. iii. 15). Here the word "le-'olam" (forever) is written defectively, being without the "waw" for the vowel "o," which renders the reading "le-'allem" (to conceal; Ḳid. 71a).
Forty years prior to the destruction of the Temple, the priests ceased to pronounce the Name (Yoma39b). From that time the pronunciation of the Name was prohibited. "Whoever pronounces the Name forfeits his portion in the future world" (Sanh. xi. 1).
30 AD to 70 AD.
Abba Saul (2d cent.) condemned the profanation of the Tetragrammaton by classing those "that speak the Name according to its letters," with those who have no part in the future world (Sanh. x. 1); and according to 'Ab. Zarah 17b, one of the martyrs of Hadrian's time, Hananiah b. Teradion, was burned at the stake because he so uttered the Name.
The view that prayer is more effectual if the name of God is pronounced in it as it is written caused the scholars of Kairwan to address a question in the eleventh century to Hai Gaon with reference to the pronunciation of the Shem ha-Meforash, to which he answered that it might not be uttered at all outside the Holy Land (Hai Gaon, "Ṭa'am Zeḳenim," p. 55; see Löw, "Gesammelte Schriften," i. 204).
Because Hebrews dropped their 'ayins', to keep from saying God's name, hence we have "y'shua." Also spelled Yeshua, for which we have in Greek, "Iēsous" and "Isus." These are corruptions of the names that begin with "Yah."
Thirteen theophoric names with "Yeho" have corresponding forms where the letters eh have been omitted. There is a theory by Christian Ginsburg that this is due to Hebrew scribes omitting the "h", changing Jeho (יְהוֹ) into Jo (יוֹ), to make the start of "Yeho-" names not sound like an attempt to pronounce the Divine Name.
Theophoric Names: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophoric_name
Praise, Exalt, and Proclaim His Name
Exodus 34:5
Then Yahwah came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, Yahwah.
1 Chronicles 16:8
Give praise to Yahwah, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 34:3
Glorify Yahwah with me; let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 68:4
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is Yahwah.
Psalm 96:2
Sing to Yahwah, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day.
Psalm 105:1
Give praise to Yahwah, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Psalm 148:13
Let them praise the name of Yahwah, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.
Isaiah 12:4
In that day you will say: “Give praise to Yahwah, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Isaiah 47:4
Our Redeemer—Yahwah of Host is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 52:6
Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I.”
Malachi 2:2
If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says Yahwah of Host, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
Last Days.
Zechariah 13:9
This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘Yahwah is our God.’”
Yahwah reveals His name to Moses
Exodus 3:13-15.
13 And Moses said to Elohiym, “Suppose I go to the siblings of the Israelites and say to them, 'The Elohiym of your forefathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?”
14 And Elohiym said to Moses, “The Living that Lives. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'The Living has sent me to you.”
15 And Elohiym also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, 'Yahwah, the Elohiym of your forefathers; the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob has sent me to you.' That’s my name forever, the name by which I’m to be remembered, from generation to generation.”
Exodus 6:3
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name Yahwah I did not make myself fully known to them.
Yahwah
A note on the words hawah and hayah.
Quote from pages 217 and 218 of the Brown-Driver-Briggs. Ref # 3068-69 on page 217.
Brown-Driver-Briggs on page 218 states that, "Many recent scholars explain יהוה as Hiph. of הוה equals היה "
הוה hawah / HWH is hawah.
היה hayah / HYH is hayah.
Note that the vowels are all " a."
יהוה Yahwah
The vowels are "a" in the Brown-Driver-Briggs, the NIV Exhaustive Concordance, and the Strong's Exhaustive Concordances.
The name Yahwah is from the Aramaic, not the Hebrew.
The original spelling of God's name is Yahuah, later changed to Yahwah for modern English.
