What is the exact and correct way to pronounce the biblical name of God - YHWH ?

Question

The MOST famous name for God in the OT is called the Sacred Tetragrammaton –It is YHWH.

The name Yahweh is derived from the statement God made to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Moses asked God as to what his name was and he got the reply -- "ehyeh esher ehyeh" .

The editors of the NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE explain this as : "The Hebrew can be translated literally 'I am what I am' , which would mean that GOD did not wish to reveal his name to them" (p. 85)

Biblibal scholars go even further and admit :

"The truth is , nobody knows for sure how the name of God was pronounced" (Pg. 7 - Watchtower Bible and Tract Society)



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Answer 1

WOW! I didn't know this. Thanks :)

Answer 2

Do the Jews still get a vote in this? We did come up with the concept.

Judaism holds that the Tetragrammaton cannot be pronounced. (Apostate has it exactly right, even if s/he's found a delightfully colourful way to express it. :-) Two interpretations of that, one that it *should not* be pronounced, except by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (and this information is now lost forever). The other, that it *cannot,* quite literally, be pronounced by humans and that the High Priest was in some sort of divinely altered state at the time. (My favorite take is that he went into the Holy of Holies and simply breathed. Think it through.)

The letters sort of fit with the root -to be- (cf ehyeh), so I AM is a reasonable approximation. Except that you need to think of it as more like being both exclusive of and outside of the present tense. And specific subject pronoun.

The heart of the Jewish tradition is that whatever we call G-d omits far too much. And pretending that we know G-d personally just gets us into trouble because we forget how much we don't know.

Please respect our tradition. It has much wisdom.

Answer 3

You don't. Aravah is correct that the Torah scrolls do not contain the vowel points. The vowel points that appear in the Tanach under the Tetragramaton are actually the vowel points from "Adonai". These vowel points were included as a reminder NOT to pronounce the Tetragramaton but to read it as "Adonai". Someone not familiar with this practice saw the vowel points and mistakenly thought these were the vowel points associated with the Tetragramaton and this is why Jews can say for a fact that the Christian "Yahweh" is a fabrication.

Answer 4

YHVH, add vowels as you see fit.

There are no "J"s in the Hebrew alphabet.


GOD’S NAME

The Massorah has a rubric calling attention to these first 4 acrostics. This locks in the name of God according to Hebrew and Biblical scholars. The name also being spelled backwards for Divine reasons, a subject for another time.

Est.1:20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
( shall give to their husbands honour both to great and small ) Hebrew ( Hi Vekal Hannashim Yittenu ) HVHY

Est.5:4 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
( let the king and Haman come this day ) Hebrew ( Yabo Hammelek Vehaman Hayyom ) YHVH

Est.5:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
( this availeth me nothing ) Hebrew ( zeH eynennV shoveH leY ) HVHY

Est.7:7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
( that there was evil determined against him ) Hebrew ( kY kalethaH elayV haraaH ) YHVH

Also a 5th acrostic of “ I am”, ( I am that I am ) Hebrew ( ehyeh asher ehyeh ) Exo.3:14
Est.7:5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
( Who is he, and where is he ) Hebrew ( huE zeH veeY zeH ) EHYH “I am”

The Massorah has a special rubric calling attention this acroustic.
Psa.96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Hebrew ( Yismehu Hashshamayim Vethagel Haarez ) YHVH

Answer 5

Also in certain faiths they don't believe in saying God. So look whom your looking to for the answer, they may not know. Yet when and if they say "Praise Jah!" it means Praise Jehovah!

The correct pronunciation is Yah-wee or Jehovah in English language. There are many versions of the bible (translation and most point to these 2 pronunciations)

Answer 6

The Hebrew name “Yehowah” (or “Yahweh”) does seem to approximately pronounce the divine name. Just as the Hebrew name “Yeshua” (or “Yehoshua”) is translated into “Jesus” in English, the Hebrew name “Yahweh” is translated into “Jehovah” in English.

It is true that the Almighty did not say, "Listen, thousands of years from now when a new language called English comes along, they can pronounce my name as 'Jehovah' and that's fine."

Instead, like with any and every personal name, different languages TRANSLATE personal names to fit their lingual tendencies. George becomes "Hor-hey" in Spanish or "Gay-org" in German and no one gets upset.

It's not exactly wrong to call the Almighty by the impersonal "God", just as it's not wrong to call one's offspring "Child". If we want a familiar and close relationship, however, it makes sense to use the personal name of someone we love. The Scriptures encourage us to use God's personal name.

The important thing is to use God’s personal name in whatever language you speak, rather than insisting upon the impersonal! The name “Yahweh” is certainly preferable to the non-name “God” or “Lord”, especially if you speak Hebrew. If you speak English, feel free to use the name "Jehovah".

(Psalms 83:18) That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth

(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/na/
http://watchtower.org/e/20040122/
http://watchtower.org/e/19990208/article_03.htm

Answer 7

First of all, "Biblical Scholars" and "Watchtower" are contradictions in terms.

But the truth is, nobody knows but the Aaronic Priesthood...and that knowledge has been long since lost.

There are no documents or tradition that indicates what the proper vowel sounds were in the pronunciation of YHWH

Answer 8

Nobody knows. We don't even know for sure if the "w" was pronounced like a "w" or like a "v" or if it had been both at different times (or perhaps different dialects). We don't know, and in the absence of a tape recorder, we probably never will.

Answer 9

You drew a reference from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society? The JW's? Then try not to be biased by a very biased organization. Yahweh, Jehovah, Elohim, I AM, Jesus Christ, Isa, Yeshua. Whichever you pronounce, do you think He'd refuse to answer if you picked the wrong one when you prayed?

Answer 10

Well it's obvious that we don't know the "exact" pronunciation of his real name. However I'm quite sure we will know at some point in the new world

Answer 11

Well, I know what his name is because it is in my King James Bible. At Psalms 83;18 his name is Jehovah
That bible is correct