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Is it Yahweh or Ehyeh asher ahyeh?

Using the name, Jesus is appropriate in every sense.

Brendan on the Catholic Answers forum has posted:
Out of reverence the Hebrew people refrained from speaking this most holy name. But Jesus could say the Divine Name, because that was His Name too. "I AM Who AM", no one else can say that without actually claiming to be God. That is why we do not say that. Why would anyone (at least anyone sane) go about saying that they are Existence itself, that the very WHO THEY ARE defines what it means to Exist. When anyone says "Yahweh", THAT is what they are saying.

I personally do use the Name Yahweh while praying, but rarely. I rely on the Judge of all the universe to know my heart in the matter. As far as the allegations of fraud in your posted link, I don't know what to say about that.
 
“Out of reverence the Hebrew people refrained from speaking this most holy name.
But Jesus could say the Divine Name, because that was His Name too. ‘I AM Who
AM’, no one else can say that without actually claiming to be God. That is why
we do not say that. Why would anyone (at least anyone sane) go about saying that
they are Existence itself, that the very WHO THEY ARE defines what it means to
Exist. When anyone says "Yahweh", THAT is what they are saying.”


There is a lot here which is simply unscriptural (scripture being the meaning found in the Hebrew OT and Greek NT texts which are sometimes imperfectly translated into our English Bibles).


First, “Out of reverence the Hebrew people refrained from speaking this most holy name.”
Throughout the time of God’s people as recorded in the OT Hebrew they spoke the personal name of God in prayer, in praises, and in everyday conversation. Furthermore, scripture itself tells us that God has frequently commanded that his personal name (YHWH) be known, invoked and called upon by all His people.

But the ‘Hebrew people’ finally (after more than a millenium of actually using the name in writing and in everyday speech) allowed a new superstition to cause them to cease speaking the name. Fortunately they kept on copying most of the places the name is used in the OT scriptures (nearly 7000 places). Unfortunately most English translations have eliminated even this from their Bibles.

“…the American Revisers, after a careful consideration, were brought to the unanimous conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine Name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English or any other version of the Old Testament.…” - Preface, p. iv, American Standard Version, Thomas Nelson and Sons.

"The name of God is described as his holy name more often than all other adjectival qualifications [titles, descriptions, etc.] taken together. It was this sense of the sacredness of the name that finally led to the obtuse [dull-witted, stupid] refusal to use Yahweh, leading as it has done to a deep loss of the sense of the divine name in [English-language Bibles]." - New Bible Dictionary, Tyndale House Publ., 1984, p. 813, section d.

One of the most fundamental and essential features of the biblical revelation is the fact that God is not without a name: he has a personal name [Jehovah or Yahweh], by which he can, and is to be, invoked." - p. 649, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 2, Zondervan, 1986.

…………………………

In my next post I will examine the second sentence of Sparrowhawke’s quote of the erroneous statement above
 
“But Jesus could say the Divine Name, because that was His Name too.â€


Second then, Jesus’ personal name, Yehoshua in the OT Hebrew and Iesus (Yay-soos) in the NT Greek, is obviously not the same as YHWH (‘Yahweh’ or ‘Jehovah’).

Furthermore, “Joshua†and others in scripture shared the very same name (Yehoshua and Iesus) with Jesus. This personal name shared by a number of Israelites means “Yahweh (or ‘Jehovah’ in traditional English form) is Salvation.†Does that praise of YHWH really mean Jesus IS YHWH? If so, it would mean that all those other Israelites whose name praised YHWH in the same way are also YHWH!!

Israelite personal names very often were statements praising YHWH. ‘Elijah’ and ‘Joel,’ for example, were names of a number of Israelites. Those personal names meant ‘God is YHWH.’ ‘Elihu’ meant ‘God is he.’

There is simply no way to say that Jesus’ name was the Divine Name.
.................................

The “I AM†statement will be examined in my next post.
 

“‘I AM Who AM’, no one else can say
that without actually
claiming to be God. That is why we do not say
that.â€





Third then, concerns the translation and interpretation of Ex. 3:14 (the only time YHWH explains the meaning of his name, ‘Ehyeh asher Ehyeh’) and of John 8:58 (“before Abraham came into existence, ego eimi.â€

God explains the meaning of his name once only (Ex. 3:14) as Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh. This is frequently translated as ‘I AM Who (or ‘what’) I AM.’ God gives his actual name immediately after in Exodus 3:15 (YHWH: “Jehovah†or “Yahwehâ€), and we find it used about 7000 times throughout the OT scriptures.

Furthermore, everywhere else in the five books by Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) we find ehyeh is always translated as “I will be.†(The use of ehyeh which is found nearest to Ex. 3:14 is in Exodus 3:12.)

That is why even some Trinitarian OT scholars admit that Ex. 3:14 may mean (or even ‘probably means’) “I Will Be What (or ‘Who’) I Will Be.†Most Trinitarian translators, however, prefer to render it, “I Am Who (or ‘What’) I Am†(but not as “I AM who AMâ€) for the sole reason that it can then be applied to Jesus at John 8:58.

At John 8:58 Jesus says “Before Abraham came to be, ego eimi. Ego eimi is most often translated as “I am†in the NT. However, it can be rendered as “I was,†or “I have been.â€

These translations (most by trinitarians) render ego eimi at John 8:58 as:

(1) “I HAVE BEENâ€- alternate reading in 1960 thru 1973 reference editions of NASB
(2) “I HAVE BEEN†- The New Testament, G. R. Noyes
(3) “I HAVE BEEN†- “The Four Gospels†According to the Sinaitic Palimpsest, A. S. Lewis
(4) “I HAVE ALREADY BEENâ€- The Unvarnished New Testament
(5) “I HAVE EXISTED†- The Bible, A New Translation, Dr. James Moffatt
(6) “I EXISTED†- The New Testament in the Language of Today, 1964 ed., Beck
(7) “I EXISTED†- An American Translation, Goodspeed
(8) “I EXISTED†- The New Testament in the Language of the People, Williams
(9) “I EXISTED†- New Simplified Bible
(10) “I WAS IN EXISTENCE†- Living Bible
(11) “I WAS ALIVE†- The Simple English Bible
(12)“I WAS†- Holy Bible - From the Ancient Eastern Text, Lamsa
(13)“I WAS†- Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, 1st ed. (Also see Young’s Concise Critical Commentary, p. 61 of “The New Covenant.â€).
(14) “I WAS†- The Syriac New Testament, Jas. Murdock
(15) “I WAS†- H. T. Anderson
(16) “I WAS†- Twentieth Century New Testament

Furthermore, the context shows that the Jews are asking how long Jesus had been in existence (not who he is).

And if saying ‘ego eimi’ were understood to mean God’s name, no Jew (or Christian) would have dared use this common phrase for himself!! And yet,

at John 9:9 the ex-blind man says ego eimi in the Greek NT manuscripts. And

look at the ego eimi spoken by King David in the Greek Septuagint OT at 2 Kings (2 Samuel 15:26 in most English Bibles): “Behold, I AMâ€! And Isaiah identifies himself in the same manner at Is. 6:8, Septuagint.

Examine Paul’s statement at 1 Cor. 15:10 (“I am what I amâ€- KJV; NRSV; etc.). His statement at Acts 26:29 is quite interesting, also.

There are hundreds (if not thousands of uses of “I am†- ego eimi) in the Septuagint OT. This Greek translation of the Hebrew was made around 200 B.C. by Jewish scholars.

Here are a very few of them - notice who it is that speaks those words.

Genesis (From The Septuagint, Zondervan, 1980 printing):
4:9; 23:4; 24:24,34; 27:32; 30:2; 31:38 (rendered "I have been");31:41 ("I have been"); 45:3, 4; 50:19.

Judges
5:3 (twice); 6:15, 18; 8:5; 11:27, 35, 37; 16:17 ("I have been"); 19:18.

“I AM†simply could not have been understood by the Bible writers as a designation for God!
 
Finally,

“Why would anyone (at least anyone sane) go about
saying that they are Existence
itself, that the
very WHO THEY ARE defines what it means to Exist. When anyone
says ‘Yahweh’, THAT is what they are saying.”

Since Ehyeh (first person singular) at Ex. 3:14 means “I will be whatever I will be” or something similar, and since this is not God’s name, anyway, this explanation of His actual personal name (YHWH) merely shows that YHWH (third person singular) means something close to “He will be [whatever He needs to be].” Since He has always existed, “He Will Be” cannot mean, “He will exist.”

When anyone says ‘Yahweh’ (or ‘Jehovah’), they are praising, invoking, discussing, etc. the Person who is the Most High God (Ps. 83:18, KJV) just as He has commanded innumerable times throughout the OT.
 



Third then, concerns the translation and interpretation of Ex. 3:14 (the only time YHWH explains the meaning of his name, ‘Ehyeh asher Ehyeh’) and of John 8:58 (“before Abraham came into existence, ego eimi.”

God explains the meaning of his name once only (Ex. 3:14) as Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh. This is frequently translated as ‘I AM Who (or ‘what’) I AM.’ God gives his actual name immediately after in Exodus 3:15 (YHWH: “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”), and we find it used about 7000 times throughout the OT scriptures.

Furthermore, everywhere else in the five books by Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) we find ehyeh is always translated as “I will be.” (The use of ehyeh which is found nearest to Ex. 3:14 is in Exodus 3:12.)

That is why even some Trinitarian OT scholars admit that Ex. 3:14 may mean (or even ‘probably means’) “I Will Be What (or ‘Who’) I Will Be.” Most Trinitarian translators, however, prefer to render it, “I Am Who (or ‘What’) I Am” (but not as “I AM who AM”) for the sole reason that it can then be applied to Jesus at John 8:58.

At John 8:58 Jesus says “Before Abraham came to be, ego eimi. Ego eimi is most often translated as “I am” in the NT. However, it can be rendered as “I was,” or “I have been.”

These translations (most by trinitarians) render ego eimi at John 8:58 as:

(1) “I HAVE BEEN”- alternate reading in 1960 thru 1973 reference editions of NASB
(2) “I HAVE BEEN” - The New Testament, G. R. Noyes
(3) “I HAVE BEEN” - “The Four Gospels” According to the Sinaitic Palimpsest, A. S. Lewis
(4) “I HAVE ALREADY BEEN”- The Unvarnished New Testament
(5) “I HAVE EXISTED” - The Bible, A New Translation, Dr. James Moffatt
(6) “I EXISTED” - The New Testament in the Language of Today, 1964 ed., Beck
(7) “I EXISTED” - An American Translation, Goodspeed
(8) “I EXISTED” - The New Testament in the Language of the People, Williams
(9) “I EXISTED” - New Simplified Bible
(10) “I WAS IN EXISTENCE” - Living Bible
(11) “I WAS ALIVE” - The Simple English Bible
(12)“I WAS” - Holy Bible - From the Ancient Eastern Text, Lamsa
(13)“I WAS” - Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible, 1st ed. (Also see Young’s Concise Critical Commentary, p. 61 of “The New Covenant.”).
(14) “I WAS” - The Syriac New Testament, Jas. Murdock
(15) “I WAS” - H. T. Anderson
(16) “I WAS” - Twentieth Century New Testament

Furthermore, the context shows that the Jews are asking how long Jesus had been in existence (not who he is).

And if saying ‘ego eimiwere understood to mean God’s name, no Jew (or Christian) would have dared use this common phrase for himself!! And yet,

at John 9:9 the ex-blind man says ego eimi in the Greek NT manuscripts. And

look at the ego eimi spoken by King David in the Greek Septuagint OT at 2 Kings (2 Samuel 15:26 in most English Bibles): “Behold, I AM”! And Isaiah identifies himself in the same manner at Is. 6:8, Septuagint.

Examine Paul’s statement at 1 Cor. 15:10 (“I am what I am”- KJV; NRSV; etc.). His statement at Acts 26:29 is quite interesting, also.

There are hundreds (if not thousands of uses of “I am” - ego eimi) in the Septuagint OT. This Greek translation of the Hebrew was made around 200 B.C. by Jewish scholars.

Here are a very few of them - notice who it is that speaks those words.

Genesis (From The Septuagint, Zondervan, 1980 printing):
Genesis 4:9; 23:4; 24:24, 34; 27:32; 30:2; 31:38 (rendered "I have been"); 31:41 ("I have been"); 45:3, 4; 50:19.

Judges
Judges 5:3 (twice); Judges 6:15,18; 8:5; 11:27, 35, 37; 16:17 ("I have been"); 19:18.

“I AM” simply could not have been understood by the Bible writers as a designation for God!
I've modified a couple lines at the end of your post so that the RefTagger add-in will work with the quotes. Also notice that I initially pasted a reply from another forum (to start the conversation rolling). Although it doesn't reflect my thoughts I do appreciate your replies.

Have you considered the conversation between Manoah and the Angel of the Lord found in Judges 13? He asked for the name of the angel he was speaking to (because he did not know it was the Angel of the Lord) and the reply is worth looking at here. It has to do with the Name being [פֶֽלִאי׃ or pe·li]wonderful (too wonderful) or "secret" (see Hebrew Interlinear). Also interesting is the presumption that he and his wife would die; we see that concern resolved by the wisdom given to his wife.
 
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