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Is Jehovah God's proper name? 

This Hebrew word is an English rendering of the tetragram mation YHWH.  Its original pronunciation is unknown.  Jehovah is derived from the verb, "To be," and expresses that God is eternal,  absolute, the uncaused One.  This describes God's real essence.

How did the name Jehovah came about?

The Jews took seriously the third commandment written in,

Exod.17:15,  "Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain."  They felt that God would hold those who take his name in vain, guilty.

After the Jewish captivity from Babylon, the true pronunciation (Y.H.W.H) was lost.  The name Jehovah in the English Bibles has been refined and translated Lord, or God.

How did God's name Y.H.W.H. at first become Yahweh, then Jehovah.  The two vowels, A and E  were added to the tetragram mation "Y.H.W.H. for easier reading and pronunciation, rendering it, YaHWeH, or Yahweh.   

In the English alphabet until 1600 hundred, there was no letter "J".  The name Jehovah was written in English as,  "Yahweh."  Later, the letter "J" was introduced into our alphabet for an easier pronunciation of words. 

The W, in early English is the union of two Vs.  This V being in the form of the Roman capital letter which we call, U.  The W is properly a vowel, but does not retain that distinction today.

To conclude, Y was changed to J, and W was changed to V.  The vowels were added for pronunciation purposes, and now we have the English, Jehovah.  Later when the English Bible was published, Jehovah became Lord and God.

Concerning the Jews, when they read the Scriptures, the Jews' would make no attempt to pronounce Y.H.W.A.  because of its sacredness.  In this, the true pronunciation was lost.  Because "Yahweh," was also considered a sacred name for God, they replaced it with LORD and God.  In our English Bibles we can find the name Jehovah used seven time.

Phil LaSpino  www.seekfirstwisdom.com

No, there is no J in Hebrew, His name, close as one can get it is Yahveh, Also he has several names consisting of quite a number of Letters, None of which anyone can pronounce today

J made the hard I sound in Latin, and V made the W sound as it does German still.

The ancients haven't transliterated it wrong - we're just pronouncing it wrong.

One of his names has 216-letters in the name of God

.
I'm sorry but a viewing of the cult movie Pi (http://www.pithemovie.com/gifpage.html) does not constitute good theology.

Although I do recommend the movie.  I was entertained.

Aha, then many here actually dont know how many, or what the names of God are eh? BTW, the names are in the Bible, the Mishnah etc, but first you have to be able to read just a bit of Hebrew and throw the Greek out the window.

Just some of the names of God in the Bible, Cant make Hebrew work on the forum so am using the rendition in English, and some of it is wrong.

    *  El:
      This most fundamental form of the word "God" in Hebrew appears in the Tanakh or Hebrew bible. It is typically used in the poetic passages, and appears over 200 times in the Old Testament, mostly in Psalms and the Book of Job. (1)

    * Elohim:
      This word is a plural noun. It appears over 2,500 times in the Old Testament. It is most associated with God as "The Creator" and appears as the third word in the Hebrew text in Genesis and throughout the Hebrew bible. (2) God as the Creator, Preserver, Transcendent, Mighty and Strong. Jonah use Elohim almost exclusively. (3)

    * El Elyon:
      The Most High God. Referenced eight times in the Psalms as well as numerous times in other books of the Old Testament.

    * El Olam:
      The Everlasting God, or God Everlasting. Forever. (4)

    * El Roi:
      The God Who Sees. Hagar, in Genesis, used this name for God.

    * El Shaddai:
      The All Sufficient One, or God All Sufficient.

    * Adonai:
      Lord or Master. Used over 300 times in the Old Testament. (5)

    * Jehovah (Yahweh or abbreviated YHWH) :
      LORD (all capitals), the covenant name of God. It occurs over 6,800 times in the Old Testament. (6)

    * Jehovah-jireh:
      The LORD will Provide. In Genesis 22:14: Abraham called the name of that place "The LORD Will Provide", as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."

    * Jehovah-mekoddishkem:
      LORD whom Sanctifies. From Leviticus 20:8: You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

    * Jehovah-nissi:
      The LORD is my banner. In Exodus 17:15: Moses built an altar and named it "The LORD is My Banner;"

    * Jehovah-raah:
      The LORD is my Shepherd. From Psalm 23: The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

    * Jehovah-rapha:
      The LORD as your Healer. In Exodus 15:26: And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."

    * Jehovah-sabaoth:
      The LORD of Hosts. From Psalm 46:7: The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

    * Jehovah-shalom:
      The LORD is Peace. In Judges 6:24: Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

    * Jehovah-shammah:
      The LORD is There. From Ezekiel 48:35: "The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, 'The LORD is there.'"

    * Jehovah-tsidkenu:
      The LORD is our Righteousness. In Jeremiah 33:16: 'In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.'

    * Yesha:
      (Y'shua) "Savior" Isa. 43:3. Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew "Joshua." The latter is a contraction of Je-Hoshua. ("Christ", the anointed one is equivalent to the Hebrew Maschiah, or Messiah). (7)

    * Immanual:
      GOD with Us. From Matthew 1:23: "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US."

    * The WORD:
      The WORD is God. In John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    * Alpha and Omega:
      The Beginning and the End, The First and the Last. From Revelation 1:8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." In Revelation 21:6: 'Then He said to me, "It is done I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. "'From Revelation 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." In Revelation 2:8: "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this"

BTW, the last is wrong, its really  aleph and tov, not alpha and omega, one is Greek and the other is Hebrew

    While I was too lazy to learn Hebrew it is my understanding that Hebrew lacks consonants.

Correct, it lacks them, and thats one reason why the current rendition of Gods name is wrong. But to be frank there are many many names of God in the Bible and one of them has 216 letters in it. People today have no idea how his name is pronounced and go with a bad rendition of what they think, not what it really is.

Phil  ::clappingoverhead::  ::clappingoverhead::  ::clappingoverhead::

Yes, bring up His Name  --- between you, me and the lampost --- bec I think you have the interest...well I just erased alot ---I'm going to 'pm' you. 

:)Elaine

If we have "YHWH," it would seem that Hebrew lacks vowels.

Hebrew lacks vowels.  Consonants, it has.

Thank you all for proving my point.  I never did believe that Elohim, Yahweh, Jehovah, El, etc. represented God's proper name, but represented His titles, offices, and characteristics.  We may not know the correct pronunciation of some of these O.T. names, but we know how to pronounce His proper name today.  His name is Jesus, He is our Lord and our God.

Phil.2:10, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth."

Phil LaSpino

Correct, I missed that one ha. It is vowels that are missing

Show me that 216 letter monstrosity.

Can you read Hebrew? AND will the forum allow it to be posted? So far I havent been able to get Hebrew posted. AND I have no idea what it actually says in English.

Or if it is allowed I can post the site where ALL the names of God are. But I dont know if thats allowed either. But whatever you might believe or not they do exist

Then you have this little jewel, think anyone can pronounce it?

The 304,805 Letter Name of God
   
   

What is the "best" Hebrew Name of God? Some of the Jewish sages have said that it is revealed by reciting all 304,805 letters of the Torah in a series. That is, string together all 304,805 letters of the Torah - from the first letter of Bereshit (Bet) through the last letter of Devarim (Lamed) - and "read" this as a single "Word." There you have it!

BTW, so far I cant get Hebrew to post, dont know why.

Here it is, but not in Hebrew, just the way it is used.


The 72 Names of God - (or the 216 Letter Name of God)
   
   

The 216-Letter Name of God is really a 72-part Name, since it is a sequence of 72 triads of letters all of which are derived from permutations on Exodus 14:19-21 (which itself is composed of three verses of 72 letters each).

To create the first triad, you put together the first letter of verse 14:19, the last letter of verse 14:20, and then the first letter of 14:21. To create the next triad, you put together the second letter of 14:19, the second to last of 14:20, and the second letter of 14:21. This continues until all the letters are used up


I sure wish I could get Hebrew to post

A little.

Yes.

Copy/paste it.  That's the easiest way to get foreign fonts in here IMO.

Here's all 3 verses in the Masoretic text, vowel points removed:

ויסע מלאך האלהים ההלך לפני מחנה ישראל וילך מאחריהם ויסע עמוד הענן מפניהם ויעמד מאחריהם׃  19
20 ויבא בין מחנה מצרים ובין מחנה ישראל ויהי הענן והחשך ויאר את־הלילה ולא־קרב זה אל־זה כל־הלילה׃
21 ויט משה את־ידו על־הים ויולך יהוה את־הים ברוח קדים עזה כל־הלילה וישם את־הים לחרבה ויבקעו המים׃

Gotta say I'm not really feelin like doing all that work...this doesn't seem legit.  I wouldn't mind something being proved wrong if the Bible actually said it, but, as I thought, this is just a word game.

Nope it isnt, How did you get that Hebrew text in? I cant do it for some reason. BTW, just because Chrsitians of whatever form say it isnt so makes no difference whatever. It just shows most have no idea about what the Bible really says. Of course most use the Greek, which is nothing more than a translation just like English is. ALL from the Hebrew.

Just to see if Hebrew and my PC will let me post Hebrew


    

The Twelve Letter Name of God
   
   
   
   Sefirot
   
   

There are two forms of this Name. The first form of the twelve letter Name is simply YHVH three times: YHVH YHVH YHVH:
                                                      
   Twelve Letter Name of God    
   

This comes from the prayer liturgy: Adonai Melech, Adonai Malchah, Adonai Yimlokh L'Olam Va'ed – "YHVH is King, YHVH was King, YHVH will be King forever and ever."

A second form of the 12-letter Name consists of the initials of the twelve tribes of Israel. These are recited in reverse order according to the breastplate of the Urim and Thumim: Reuven, Shimeon, Levi, Yehudah, Issachar, Zevulon, Dan, Naftali, Gad, Asher, Yosef, and Benyamin:
   
   Twelve Letter Name of God    


Notice that there are many names of God in the Old testament???

BTW, mine wont do it, or I may not be allowed to do so. The above post had the Hebrew in it, but it simply wont post.

I don't know that we know the name of God.

What would be the point of a single entity having a name? To distinguish it from ..... what, exactly?

No one does, they just think they do. As I have said there is no J in Hebrew and it is a mis-translation of the word. God does have a name though. Many names to be correct. We happen to be in the area that is pure guesswork. No one in the Gentile community that is. The Jewish Rabbis know it but will not pronounce it as it is considered way too Holy to say, They dont even connect the letters as if erased would be a no no.  Thye simply call God HaShem, meaning the name without having to actually say it. The next time it is pronounced will be when a new Temple is built and the Levites are there, also in the works as we speak, both to be exact. The Y-H-V-H must not be connected in their view, nor should anyone say it except once a year at the Temple by the high Priest. So to be honest we as Gentiles are in a guess/hope mode. In error any way we try to do it.

Yeah, I've heard that, but I don't know if I believe that YHWH is God's name, rather than another title or descriptor.