The Divine Name

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The Divine Name refers to the Hebrew word יהוה. Scholars call it the Tetragrammaton. They transliterate it as YHWH. Nobody knows how to pronounce it.

 

 

OVERVIEW

 

The Divine Name refers to the Hebrew word יהוה. Scholars call it the Tetragrammaton. They transliterate it as YHWH. Nobody knows how to pronounce it.

Jewish people have such reverence for the LORD God that they don’t say that Name.

 

In our day, we Christians don’t know how to pronounce the Name. All we have are four letters in Hebrew, and all four are consonants.

We don’t know what the verbs would be, and thus the name of God is unspeakable.

It is unpronounceable.

In English, for the name of God, most Bible translations simply substitute the word, “LORD.”

The LORD God is so far beyond us that we can’t even say his name.

 

Some people assert that the Tetragrammaton is pronounced Jehovah. However, that does not even correspond with the consonants. YHWH is not pronounced as Jehovah.

Similarly, many people assume the Tetragrammaton is pronounced Yahweh. They might be correct. Or not. We do not want to assume something and then act as if our assumption is correct.

 

BIBLE VERSES

 

The Divine Name permeates the entire Old Testament. To keep this page simple, we are providing a few representative verses:

 

2 Chronicles 35:1. Josiah kept a Passover to the LORD in Jerusalem. They killed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Psalm 8:1. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens!

Psalm 54:1. Save me, God, by your name. Vindicate me in your might.

Psalm 68:4. Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to the LORD, his name! Rejoice before him!

1 Esdras 1:1. Josias held the Passover in Jerusalem to his Lord, and offered the Passover the fourteenth day of the first month,

 

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.