How do we know that the Hebrew YHWH was pronounced Yahweh?

Question

That is, how did they come up with the pronunciation Yahweh when the original vowels were changed deliberatly to render it unpronounceable? And how certain can we be that this is the correct pronunciation?

This has been something on my mind a LONG time, I've tried researching it, but I've never found enough definitive info to satisfy me, or a straightforward explaination of the whole thing.

Thanks for any info, and God bless!

It is probably not pronounced Yahovah. This was a mistake made by a translator who saw the Hebrew vowel points on YHWH and didn't realize that they were deliberatly altered to render it inpronounceable. It is also where we get the modern name Jehovah, which is a complete butcher-job on the pronunciation of God's name, something I steer away from.

The Hebrew word used for I AM in the Old Testament was not Yahweh, but ehyeh. He said "Ehyeh asher ehyeh!" which means "I AM who I AM!" when He spoke to Moses, then told him to tell the people that I AM (ehyeh) sent him.

I have never found a Biblical link between YHWH and Ehyeh, but that doesn't mean there isn't a grammatical link that I can't identify, since I have very very minimal knowledge of Hebrew.

Answer 1

There is still debate over the pronunciation of the name YHWH. As the name itself does not survive written with a pronunciation, the best scholars can do is look at words derived from the original. It is from that that they get the pronunciation Yahweh.

One things that scholars have shown is that it is NOT Jehovah. The word results from the Jews practice of inserting letters from the word "Lord" ( or "Adonias") in YHWH to remind people to speak the world "Lord" instead of "YHWH".

Plus, it is the "Occum's Razor" idea - the simpliest answer is usually the right one. That is the simpliest word you can create from YHWH.

But there is no definitive answer to the question.

Answer 2

there are no original vowels given-it is still written without vowels, and the name was not to be pronounced, even the scribes marking pen was never used again after writting the name.

and may i say this is what part of the issue is in my peoples-promised to "He will be despised and rejected of men, and lay down his life for our sins." Isaiah 53 once the name of the Messiah was lifted up in the name of YHWH, and this is how i had to answer one who claims to be Jewish and believe in the messiah and YHWH too=You are a precious person truely loved by the Messiah of Israel
The point is the gentile that come to the Jewish Messiah is not required to study and practice Judaism laws-one of which if you carry money one the Sabbath you are as a Jewish person to be stoned to death along with wood or lighting a fire too.
I am a Jew, and I can tell you you didnt convert to Judaism nor were you ever a follower of the Messiah which is what Christian means be a person Jew or gentile born, you simply were and are part of religions-if you go in a garage that doesnt make you a car.

If you dont believe Moses and Isaiah you are following a religion that was made up when the Temple was destroyed because there was no blood atonement commanded by God through Moses.

Leviticus 17:11 The life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.
reading from the Hebrew or the orthodox Mazoretic text=
Isaiah gave the fulfillment of this in the Mighty God that was to be the son given the child born and the prince of peace Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Says he would be exaulted but first marred more than any man and lay down his life despised and rejected to make atonement for our sins.

Yet you are a person and just as important to the Messiah as anyone else, that is why he says he knocks on your heart door to come in, forgive sin and be your friend

as promised from the coming new coventant to know God personally Jeremiah 31:31 and following

strange how someone would ask a question say nothing bad and be accused of anti semitism, yet when others claim to follow Moses and Isaiah and reject their words-that is maybe even a bigger problem.

Shalom in the Sar Shalom the prince of peace, David the sweet pea who truely cares about you and is praying for you too.---for this answer I got 0-6 votes as promised that the Messiah of YHWH would be rejected

have a great day and great question too

Answer 3

An educated guess. The vowels weren't changed as there really aren't written vowels in Hebrew, like what we have in English. The vowel points for the word/name Adonai was placed above the Tetragrammaton so that a person would read LORD instead of saying YHVH out loud. Jews feel it is blasphemy to say his name out loud and write it down on anything that could be destroyed. So, instead of YHVH in our Old Test, we have LORD and LORD GOD (which is why they are in all capital letters... to show something was changed). But as for the pronunciation, I've seen about 4 different ones, but most rely on the Yahweh pronunciation, thinking it to be the closest according to the Biblical Hebrew.

Answer 4

We DON'T know the pronunciation, and should give up trying to say something that is not supposed to be said.

Only a few priests knew the pronunciation of this Name, and only the high priest ever pronounced it, and then only once a year, in the Holy of Holies. It is holy, and is absolutely cheapened by attempts to pronounce it.

I can only speak for Orthodox Jews, but we just don't say it. When we pray, we say the Hebrew word for "Lord", and in casual conversation we don't even say that. We say "Hashem" instead, which means "The Name". We protect G-d's name because of its holiness--

So the JW's have it way wrong, and so do the people who use the pronunciation you mentioned.

Answer 5

How the word was pronounced is not certain, because an aversion to uttering it developed; it is a sacred name. Later Jews therefore replaced it with 'Adonai' (lord), though this is misleading, as the substitution does not reflect that YHWH is a specific name. The incorrect 'Jehovah' arose when medieval Christians inserted the vowels from 'Adonai' between the consonants YHWH.

Answer 6

Hi Link,

If you think about what really does it matter.
God is God whether it's YHWH or Yahweh or I AM.
If you mispronounce HIS name it's not going to condemn you to hell. HE knows if you are calling on HIM either way. Other religions call God by other names and also spell it different.

Take Care!

Answer 7

We don't and that pronunciation is not how the word would be pronounced anyway.

Bottom line is, that the correct pronunciation was and is known only to a few. For everyone and at every time, the word should not be pronounced or even attempted to be pronounced.

Answer 8

It is not the correct pronunciation. It was chjanged so that people would not take the ineffable name of God in vain

Answer 9

You have just run into a classic problem. Since the Jews knew his name and it inspired fear to miss use it, it was eventually lost. (Satan's doing)
The closest we can come to it IS Jehovah. The translations world wide come to the same conclusion. Below is our study site that will help you further IF you choose to use it,
If interested why not contact your local Kingdom Hall and study with us?

Answer 10

It's a good estimation based on Hebrew.