Which is more accurate as God's name, Yahweh (YHWH) or Jehovah?

Question

Sing to God! Sing praises to His name.
Exalt Him who rides on the clouds —
His name is Yahweh —and rejoice before Him.
Psalm 68:4 (HCSB, Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Sing unto God, sing praises to His name!
Extol Him that rideth upon the heavens
by His name Jehovah;
and rejoice before Him.
Psalm 68:4 (KJ21, 21st Century King James Version)

Answer 1

Both "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" seek to pronounce "the Tetragrammaton", which is the four-Hebrew-letter expression used in the bible (and elsewhere) to express the Divine Name of Almighty God (the Father). The four Hebrew characters are generally transliterated as "YHWH" (that is, each Hebrew character is directly replaced by a seemingly corresponding character in another character set such as Roman which English uses).

So, it certainly SEEMS that Yahweh (which undeniably includes Y, H, W, and H) would more accurately pronounce the Tetragrammaton as it was pronounced by the ancient Hebrews. However, there is an enormous "but"...

Other common Hebrew names actually include the divine name WITHIN them, giving hints as to its original pronunciation. Increasingly, scholars are leaning toward a pronunciation similar to the three-syllable "Yehowah" rather than two-syllable "Yahweh".

If "Yehowah" is close to the correct pronunciation, then it becomes a much more subjective answer about whether "Yehowah" is more similar to "Jehovah" or "Yahweh". Many or most English speakers are likely to embrace the pronunciation which their predecessors embraced at least four hundred years ago.

"Jehovah".

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/na/

Answer 2

If you are speaking English, then Jehovah
If your are speaking Hebrew, the Yahweh.

I get a big kick out of those who like to quote Ex. 3:14, and ignore Ex 3:15.

14 At this God said to Moses: “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.” And he added: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to YOU.’” 15 Then God said once more to Moses:

“This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to YOU.’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation.

Actually 'I am' is a poor translation of the the Hebrew.

Forms of the divine name in different languages, indicating international acceptance of the form Jehovah

Awabakal - Yehóa
Bugotu - Jihova
Cantonese - Yehwowah
Danish - Jehova
Dutch - Jehovah
Efik - Jehovah
English - Jehovah
Fijian - Jiova
Finnish - Jehova
French - Jéhovah
Futuna - Ihova
German - Jehova
Hungarian - Jehova
Igbo - Jehova
Italian - Geova
Japanese - Ehoba
Maori - Ihowa
Motu - Iehova
Mwala-Malu - Jihova
Narrinyeri - Jehovah
Nembe - Jihova
Petats - Jihouva
Polish - Jehowa
Portuguese - Jeová
Romanian - Iehova
Samoan - Ieova
Sotho - Jehova
Spanish - Jehová
Swahili - Yehova
Swedish - Jehova
Tahitian - Iehova
Tagalog - Jehova
Tongan - Jihova
Venda - Yehova
Xhosa - uYehova
Yoruba - Jehofah
Zulu - uJehova

edit to browneyegirl

Jehovah is from the German.

The german 'J' sounds like the hebrew 'Y'
and the german 'V' sounds like the hebrew 'W'

The english bible comes by way of Germany.

That is why we also have Jesus, Jeremiah, Jehu, etc.

There is also much support that YHWH should be three syllables and not two. In this way Jehovah may be closer to being more accurate.

Answer 3

The name Jehovah did not come into existence until the 19th century. However, Jewish and Christian scholars are both in agreement that the correct word is Yahweh.

The YHWH is an abbreviation. After the Babylonian captivity the Hebrew people were not allowed to use the name as they felt it caused them to have too much familiarity with God and was one of the reasons they fell away from God. That is when the party of Pharisees began. They wanted to purify the Hebrew people. All the Old Testament manuscripts extant today date after the Babylonian captivity.

Answer 4

Well, Jehovah is the anglicized variation of the Hebrew tetagramaton... YHWH. That is the way it looks within the old manuscripts. Ancient hebrew was once written with out vowels. All anybody can do is have a pleasant wager. The major factor is that God does have a reputation, Jehovah. To the poster who stated God has no title: Respectfully, if he does not then why might Jesus coach us to hope, within the Model Prayer, Halloed be thy NAME. (Matthew 6:nine) Why might the scriptures speak about his motive to take out a individuals for his NAME... Why might Jesus say he made his father's NAME appear (John 17:6)

Answer 5

You have received some good answers. I would like to add my 2 cents worth, also.

The Creator gave himself a name which - as close as we can know - is YHWH in the English language. (The vowels are no longer known.) I'm not a linguistics scholar, so there's a lot that I don't know, but I do know that Yahweh sounds more accurate or "closer" to YHWH than "Jehovah" does. JHVH, as I understand, is Latinized. The J in Latin is pronounced like an English Y so when JHVH was written in Latin (the language of the Catholic Church for centuries), it still sounded like YHWH. But God didn't give himself a Latin name, he gave himself a Hebrew name.

So I think Yahweh is more accurate, but I tend to "go along with the crowd" and use Jehovah because it's used more. Both of them may be "wrong" but they identify our God and Father.

Answer 6

Jehovah, or Yaweh, is claimed by many to be the actual Name of God. Unfortunately, this is not entirely true; while it is representative of God's Name, it is not His actual name. Nowhere in the original manuscripts of Old Testament will you find the actual name, Jehovah, Yehovah, or Yahweh. What you will find is a grouping of four Hebrew consonants, which are equivalent to YHVH, JHVH, or YHWH in the English language. This grouping is called by Bible Scholars, "the tetragrammaton." This set of four letters was used by the Hebrew people to signify the incommunicable Name of God. Wherever it appears in the original manuscripts, it refers only to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, in other words, the God of Israel. It was considered by the Hebrew people to be representative of the sacred, holy, name of GOD. Again, it was never used to represent anyone other than, the self existent, eternal, GOD.

Answer 7

The answer is absolutely YHWH. The name Jehovah is a combination of the consonants YHWH and the vowel markings for Adonai (The Lord) which was used in place of YHWH in the Masoretic texts when "The Name" came to be considered too sacred to utter. To be exact and without intending disrespect, the word Jehovah is a bastardization of YHWH. So, if historical accuracy is important to you - and it should be - stick with YHWH. Shalom!

Answer 8

They are the same. YHWH is called the tetragrammaton, a Hebrew replacement for a word for God. Jehovah (JHVH) is just a Latinization of the Hebrew letters. As Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, we gained many western Latin influences; such as sacramentum, testamentum, etc., etc., et. al.

Ath

Answer 9

The word in Hebrew is spelled yud hey vaf hey and would be pronounced closer to 'Yehovah' in English orthography, but it is not _the_ name of G-d, rather it means 'I am what I will be'. The origin of the word as an appellation of the deity comes from the reply to Moses asking "What should I tell the elders of Israel you are called?" In that context, the reply makes good sense: "Tell them I am what I will be."
One speaks of the attributes of (our concept of) a suppreme being, rather than a name, e.g. 'the merciful', 'the creator'...

Answer 10

Both are exceptable names, and as close as it can be translated. People do know that God is the one being refered to which ever one is used.