The Creator's Name
breadYahweh, Yahveh, God, Jehovah, Sacred Name, Yahwist, Holy Name, God's name,
Memorial Name, tetragrammaton, Hebrew name
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Isa 42:8 “I
am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My
praise to carved images.”
I’m sorry. “the LORD” is not a
name. It is a title. For reasons we will examine later most English
Bibles replace the name that is in the Hebrew text with this title. Fortunately not all bibles do this. The Emphasized Bible is one that does not.
“I, am Yahweh, [Hebr. hwhy]
that,
is my Name,––And, my glory, to another, will I not give, Nor, my praise, to
images.” (Emphasized Bible (EB), by J.B.Rotherham,
see also, Ex 15:3, Jer 33:2,
Amos 5:8, 9:6, Isa 47:4)
" Therefore, behold me! causing
them to know, by this stroke, I will cause them to know my hand, and my
might,––That they may know, that, my name, is, Yahweh!”( Jer 16:21, EB)
Although it is not clear in many Bibles the God of
the Hebrew Scriptures has a name. God or
Lord, the titles typically used to refer to the Creator are not the only way He
was referenced in the original Hebrew Scriptures. Actually most of the time a title is not used
at all, but the name. Of almost 10,000
references to the Creator in the Hebrew Scriptures almost 7000 are made using
His name, typically transliterated Yahweh in
English. In Hebrew it is written, hwhy, (YHVH being the rough
English equivalent. Hebrew reads right
to left). These characters are referred
to as the Tetragrammaton. Considering
the above scriptures it seems evident He intended His name to be known.
Consider as well that many Hebrew names and words
include this name of the Creator in abbreviated form. Yo, as in Yowceph (Joseph, meaning: Yahweh has added Gen 30:24). Yah, as in Eliyah
(Elijah: Yahweh is God). Hallelujah, is
praise you Yah. So use of the
name in one form or another was pervasive in Hebrew speech. Even a nick name, an abbreviation, is used in
scripture and is easily visible in many translations.
Ps 68:4 “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol
Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH , And rejoice before Him.”
Abusing
His Name
It seems apparent that the Creator was quite
comfortable with people knowing His name and using it. Unfortunately, with use can come abuse. He instructs
us "You shall not take the name of Yahweh(the LORD) your God in vain, for Yahweh (the LORD)
will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Ex
20:7) The Hebrew (shawv) behind ‘vain’ means: emptiness, vanity, falsehood. The Emphasized Bible
interprets this as connecting His name with falsehood. For instance, it was evidently not uncommon
to swear by ones’ God that something was true or would be done (Gen 24:3, Josh
2:12). A similar command was included
later in the Law reinforcing that aspect of the command in Exodus 20.
Lev 19:12 "Nor
swear by my name, falsely,––And so profane the name of thy God: I, am Yahweh.” (EB)
Evidently swearing truthfully by Yahweh was allowed
with the Law. He did not appreciate
being connected with falsehood even indirectly.
Of course, Jesus/Yeshua (another identity issue) taught that swearing by
anything really had its source from Satan and should not be done (Mat
5:33-37). It simply was not
necessary. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a
surprise that the original instruction in Exodus 20:7 may have intended more
than just a separation from direct falsehood.
Paul accused Jews of causing the name of God to be
blasphemed by gentiles because of the Jews transgression of the Law (Rom
2:23-24). He also instructed that wives
obey their husbands so the husbands don’t blaspheme or denigrate the Creators
instruction (Titus 2:5). Messiah also
condemned following the teachings of men in place of the instruction of the
Father as vain worship (Mat 15:9). It
stands to reason that one who teaches these doctrines of men claiming they are
of the Father are using His name, His authority, to promote falsehoods. Any conduct unrepresentative of the Creator
by someone who claims to represent the Creator is taking His name in vain. That is the thought behind Proverbs 30:9
where Solomon equates stealing to taking the name in vain. If we say we follow Christ, but don’t live to
His standard we bring reproach on Him and the Father. We have attributed our actions to Him
falsely.
Some also use the title God or some form of it or
the name of Jesus as an expletive. This can be similar to an oath or it might
just be a filler or exclamation.
Certainly there is no serious desire for divine involvement by people
who reference Him this way. The speaker
usually just has a thoughtless habit of making a reference to one of the
deities. Certainly this trivializes the
sometimes critical times when we do need to call for divine intervention. It is certainly not showing respect, but
trivializing. As such it could be taken
as using the name in vain, emptiness.
There is no uplifting purpose for it.
In scripture ‘Yahweh’ is described as a name, not
some other description. Except for the
fact that He is somewhat unique in that He created us, we should reasonably
expect that His name would be used like any other name. Like our parents, who also created us, He is
deserving of respect, even more so. His
name is holy, as is everything else about Him.
Since He doesn’t tell us otherwise, having special
rules when referring to Him by name as opposed to referring to Him by some
other designation smacks of superstition and the occult, where magic words
bring special reactions from the spirit world.
Fear of abuse is evidently why the name fell into
disuse. The Jews evidently started
avoiding His name after they returned from Babylon. By New Testament times the practice was
fairly well entrenched. To this day His
name is avoided in Jewish synagogues in favor of Adonai
(Lord) or Ha Shem (the name).
Fear
of Abuse
The Jews are so careful about the name that even the
material on which it is written is considered holy. When the document becomes old or unusable it
is not thrown away, but must be handled according to a prescribed way. Geniza’s are
basically closets where Jewish documents on which His name was written are
stored until someone goes through the trouble of destroying them. ‘a "geniza" is a
repository for worn documents that bear the name of God and therefore according
to Jewish halakhah must be disposed of in a prescribed
way’. (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/divinity/rt/dss/abstracts/ddcr/
).
Some have postulated that the Jews originally
maintained the Hebrew Tetragrammaton in their Greek writings. This is seen in a Greek fragment of a
Septuagint translation found in Egypt (Biblical Archaeology Review 3/78 Vol IV #1 PP 13-14).
There is also a Hebrew document written in square Aramaic script found
in Qumran where hwhy is written in the
older Paleo-Hebrew characters. Evidently in some cases the Name is preserved
in gold letters. Certainly this shows a
deep respect for the Name. Is this what Yahweh
intended?
What purpose is accomplished by using an old style
of Hebrew script for the Name in a newer and otherwise equivalent Hebrew
document? Would it change the
pronunciation? Would it change the meaning?
Would it change the reference from one Creator to some other? There doesn’t seem to be anyone saying it
would. In that case one must regard this
practice as superstition or at least partially unfounded paranoia. There is no instruction in the Scriptures
that indicates Yahweh’s name is to be handled any different than any other name
except that it is assumed some will abuse it and even take the authority of the
Creator Himself for their own unrighteous purpose.
This influence rubbed off on the entire Jewish
community in New Testament times. Quotes
from the Hebrew Scriptures with the name ‘Yahweh’ are not quoted as written,
but with the name replaced with a title.
Mat 4:4 “But
He answered and said, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’" This
is a reference to Deuteronomy 8:3.
Deu
8:3 " So he humbled thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna which thou hadst
not known, neither had thy fathers, known,––that he might lead thee to consider
that, not on bread alone, shall the son of earth live, but, on whatsoever cometh from the bidding of
Yahweh, shall the son of earth live.” (EB)
The name was in the original Hebrew text, but a substitution
was made in the quote. This shouldn’t be a big surprise. There are a number of indications that the
Apostles were not entirely free of Jewish tradition.
Peter tells us: "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go
to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man
common or unclean." (Acts 10:28)
John 4:9 ‘Then
the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You,
being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans.’
Gal 2:11 “Now
when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to
be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the
Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those
who were of the circumcision.”
It was Jewish tradition to avoid gentiles. There is nothing in the Law that requires
this. In fact the instruction of the Law
requires Israel to be careful for the gentiles that were among them. (Ex 22:21, Lev 19:34).
What
is the point?
Jer
23:26 "How long will this be in the heart of the
prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own
heart, 27 who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone
tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal”.
It is interesting that ‘baal’
actually means ‘lord’. So here Yahweh
equates those who tried to turn people from Yahweh’s way to a false way, with
their fathers who exchanged His name, Yahweh, for Lord. And what stands in the place of Yahweh’s name
in our Bibles…’the Lord’. This obviously
didn’t please our Creator then, why would we think it appropriate now?
When Jews read the Hebrew scriptures
they typically read Yahweh as Adonai, which is Hebrew for
Lord. Undoubtedly that is why ‘the Lord’
is substituted in our English Bibles.
Those who try to make people forget His name have struck again.
While this is certainly a problem, it doesn’t seem
to be nearly the problem that turning people from His ways is. In saying “who try to make My people forget My name”,
He does not seem to be focused on the pronunciation of His name. He is concerned about those who “prophesy lies in My
name” as if from Him (vs 25, 26) and “prophets of the deceit” (vs 26). Yahweh wants
His message spoken as delivered: “let him
speak My word faithfully” (vs
28). Not replaced with another message
so that the truth is lost or rather stolen: “who steal My words every
one from his neighbor” (vs 30). The end result is that they: “cause My people to
err by their lies” (vs 32).
Why
is He concerned about His name?
Ex 3:15 "Moreover
God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The
LORD [Yahweh] God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.
This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to
all generations.’"”
Yahweh considers His name as a fitting sign and
affirmation to the human race of who He is. What does His name show us that
using a title would not? Titles, by
their nature are usually somewhat formal. They do not engender a close intimate
relationship. We call our friends by
their name, not by title, because they are our friends. People whom we address by title we typically
don’t know very well. Our Creator does
not intend to be a distant and unapproachable potentate who wishes to remain
aloof and unknowable. To the contrary,
He is approachable and wishes an intimate first name relationship with those
who recognize His position in the grand scheme of things and conduct their life
accordingly.
II Chron 16:9 "For the eyes of the LORD (Yahweh) run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose
heart is loyal to Him..."
Jas 2:23 “And
the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.” This is referencing II Chron
20:7 "… Abraham Your friend forever”
Ex 34:5 “And
Yahweh descended in the cloud, and took his station with him, there,––and
proclaimed himself by the name Yahweh. 6
So Yahweh passed before him, and proclaimed,––Yahweh, Yahweh, A GOD of
compassion, and favour,––Slow to anger, and abundant
in lovingkindness and faithfulness: 7 Keeping lovingkindness
to a thousand generations, Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin,
Though he leave not, utterly unpunished, Visiting the iniquity of fathers Upon
sons, And upon sons’ sons, Unto a third and unto a fourth generation.” (EB)
Ex 25:8 "And
let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among
them.”
Deu
4:7 "For what great nation is there
which hath gods nigh unto it,––like Yahweh our God, whensoever
we have cried out unto him.” (EB)
Jer
23:23 "Am I a God near at
hand," says (Yahweh) the LORD,
"And not a God afar off?”
Mat 15:32 ‘Now
Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the
multitude, because they have now continued with Me
three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry,
lest they faint on the way."’
Heb 4:15 “For
we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was
in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
The memorial that could be established through the
use of the Creators name would be a testimony to His closeness and
approachableness. He has a committed
desire to share life with us as our friend.
He is not a regent in an ivory tower who cares little about the
peasants. English speakers have largely
been robbed of the concept of the personal relationship He hoped to communicate
with this memorial, His name.
What’s
important?
Although some have tried to hide His name and the
implication that Yahweh is real and personable and within reach, others seem to
think that any time one refers to Yahweh one should use His name. While His name is obviously important to Him,
walking in His ways are even more so.
Mat 7:21 "Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing exactly what
Yeshua said in place of ‘Lord’. He undoubtedly spoke Hebrew or Aramaic.
The text generally considered the best representation of what He said is
Greek. Even if it were Hebrew He could have still used Yahweh’s name and
it could have been recorded as Adonai because of Jewish tradition. It could
be that Yeshua even deferred to that tradition. Actually it seems that He did.
While Messiah was on earth the Jews among whom He
lived had already established the tradition of avoiding the use of the Father’s
name. This is why the kingdom of God is often described as the kingdom of
heaven in the New Testament. It’s the same thing, but for people of that time
it avoided the use of the name. Consider that Yeshua and later His disciples
and apostles were frequently in contact with participants and leaders from the
religious community that supported avoidance of the name. It was His custom to
be at the synagogue for the Sabbath. Yet we read of no definitive contention
about that matter. Paul also typically sought out the local synagogue on the
Sabbath when he went about evangelizing. He would typically be allowed to speak.
There is never any discussion about the use of the Father’s name. Neither
is there any instruction to newly converted Jews or gentiles to disregard the tradition
and use the Hebrew names. Neither are non Hebrew speaking converts told to use the
Hebrew names. The vast majority of Paul’s converts were from Greek speaking areas.
The Father’s name was not an issue.
Mat 7:22 "Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’"
Messiah didn’t dispute that these people had done
things in His name. He rejected them because of their conduct. They did not
uphold the standards of their Creator.
In any case, just because one addresses our Creator
respectfully doesn’t guarantee acceptance. One must conduct Himself in a
way that is properly representative of the Creator.
Even those who address Him respectfully and appropriately are contrasted
with those who do His will. Properly
addressing is not foremost in His mind when it comes to doing His will. If it were of great importance it seems
Yeshua would have said ‘but he who also does the rest of the will’ or “but he
who does all the will’ or ‘but he who does the whole will’ of the Father. In fact, it is how one conducts one’s life
rather than the name or title one uses to address the Savior or the Father
that will be the basis for acceptance into His kingdom.
Calling
on the Name
The concept of calling on the name of Yahweh is
found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.
Some think that if one calls on ‘the name’ of the Creator they should
absolutely use His name. In fact, to call on the
name of Yahweh is to seek Him to walk in His ways to come under His protection
and authority. It is not automatically
an exhortation to verbalize His name. Certainly it should be no surprise that
His name would be used.
Prov
1:27 “When your terror comes like a storm, And your
destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon
you. 28 Then they will call on me, but
I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but
they will not find me. 29 Because
they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of
the LORD, 30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke."
Calling on His name is equivalent, parallel, to
seeking Him diligently. Not diligently
seeking the ways of Yahweh, not fearing Him and ignoring His advice is what one
does when one does not call on Him.
Calling on Him involves diligent seeking, great respect for Him and His
advice, but this can’t be done at the last minute. The pronunciation of the name is not
mentioned one way or the other.
1Pet 1:17 “And
if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each
one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear”
Calling on the Father or calling on His name
requires we conduct ourselves in respect of the time when He will examine our
work, what we have done, our conduct.
Part of that is respect for His name, but there are many other aspects
of our conduct that are more important.
The mouthing of His name is not singled out as a key component of
respect for Him any more than time appropriate mouthing of our parents’ names
or anyone else.
Lev 22:31 "So
then ye shall observe my commandments, and do them,––I, am Yahweh. 32 So shall ye not profane my holy name, So shall I be hallowed in the midst of the sons of
Israel,––I, am Yahweh, who am hallowing you.” (EB)
Just like calling on Him does not necessarily
require mouthing His name, even so profaning His name is not primarily
mispronouncing it or neglecting its use.
He does not specifically tell us how He wants it pronounced, but He tells
us many other things about how to honor Him.
Of course, observing the commandments is foremost. By observing His commandments we
automatically avoid profaning His name, indeed we hallow it.
We have the Hebrew spelling of His name, but the
original Hebrew spelling did not include the vowel sounds. Actually there is a significant amount of disagreement
as to how the name should be pronounced.
Some have speculated this is thanks to disinformation that came from
Judaism.
When scripture is specific about
the pronunciation of names it typically tells us to ‘call his/her name’ a
certain way (Gen 16:11, 17:15). To call the name of someone is different than
calling on the name. Calling the name is making the sounds
necessary to identify who in being referenced.
To call on the name involves
a deeper purpose, a request for protection and support, a reliance on the
authority or power of Yahweh. Yahweh
expects those who call on His name to support His cause and live by His
standards.
Ac 19:13 “Then
some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name
of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise
you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."
They called the name, but evidently didn’t call on
the name in their lives by the conduct expected. That was insufficient and resulted in these Jews
being beaten up.
Names
have Meaning
The meaning of names seems to be important to
Yahweh. It is frequently noted what a
particular name means in scripture. Cephas, for instance, is evidently of Aramaic origin
meaning a stone. The name Peter (Petros) is Greek meaning a stone. The Gospel of John and Galatians use both
when referring to Peter. We assume when
Peter received that name he received Cephas (Mrk 3:16), since it is highly unlikely Yeshua and the
disciples spoke Greek to one another.
However, assuming Cephas wrote the two general
epistles named for Peter, he called himself by the Greek name Petros or the translators translated the meaning rather
than transliterating the sound of the name.
Evidently to those people, maintaining the meaning was more important
than reproducing the original sound.
This isn’t really a big surprise given the frequent reference to the
meaning of names in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The meaning of place names was also important. Most name meanings are lost in another
language because the names are now typically transliterated rather than
translated.
Personally, this author tries to duplicate the
original sounds of a name. I want to
pronounce it just like the persons mother did.
This is because I normally look on a name as a label simply to identify
someone, as do most people in the US. That doesn’t seem to be the
main goal of ancient Israel or the Creator in scripture. The meaning of the name is much more
important in the historical record of scripture. Otherwise there would be no reason to change
someone’s name. Yahweh frequently renamed
people to make their name reflect their role in His plans. Of course Abram and Jacob are well known
examples. Messiah is evidently going to
receive a new name at the establishing of His kingdom on earth (Rev 3:12). It will likely reflect a new role He played
or will play. Apparently many saints
will receive a new name as well (Rev 2:17, Isa 62:2). It seems apparent then that the exact
pronunciation of a name is not paramount, but understanding who the person is:
his qualities, his function in the grand scheme of the Creator.
The new names given Bible characters were built of
common words in the language. In order
to know the meaning of many common English names we must consult name books
that tell us what a name meant when it had a common meaning. It seems that from the Creator’s perspective
these books are pointless. He uses names
that are understood in the contemporary spoken language. If one must look up a name to understand the
meaning the name really doesn’t convey a meaning. It doesn’t convey a message or the function a
person plays in His grand scheme.
Most Bible students know the meaning of Abraham’s
name. Jacob is probably not so well
known. English speakers don’t typically
pronounce these two names exactly the way a native Hebrew speaker would. However, if we understand their stories and
their place with Yahweh, that is the main thing. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Creator
might translate the Hebrew names into something English speakers would
understand if He were speaking English.
‘Yahweh’ has a Hebrew meaning something like
‘existing one’. Making the sound
‘Yahweh’ does not bring to mind the thought of ‘existing one’ to the average
English speaker. Translating the name
would be much more in line with Yahweh’s approach than replacing the name with
an arbitrary title. Unfortunately, that
is not what was done with the scriptures and we are the poorer for it.
The name English speakers typically use to refer to
our Savior is Jesus. This is largely due to the King James Bible. Mat 1:21
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for
He will save His people from their sins." Unfortunately this statement really
makes no sense because His name is transliterated instead of translated. It
would make sense if the name had been translated from the Hebrew; “you shall
call His name Salvation, for He will save His people from their sins.” This
would be in line with the practice of the Creator and would tell us instantaneously
the function of Jesus in our lives. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and we
are poorer for it.
Some assert that the Creator's name is Jehovah. In fact this is a corruption of the original
Hebrew name Yahweh. It was formed
originally by merging the original Hebrew letters YHVH with the vowels of Adonai meaning ‘lord’.
The general understanding is that ‘Jehovah’ was manufactured around 1100
AD/CE. The Y is represented with a J
because at the time J was pronounced like we now pronounce Y. German still does this. When the pronunciation of J changed for
English speakers, the pronunciation of Jehovah changed with it. So Jehovah isn’t very close to the Hebrew
pronunciation of hwhy and the word carries
no meaning similar to ‘existing one’ in the English language. It is though an arbitrary name some feel
appropriate for the Creator.
It is interesting that when Moses asked how he
should identify the Creator to the leaders of Israel Yahweh focused first on
the word ‘hayah’, which is an imperfect form of the Hebrew verb ‘to be’.
Ex 3:13-14, “Then
Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say
to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What
is His name?’ what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I AM
[hayah] WHO
I AM [hayah]."
And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM [hayah] has sent me to you.’"
This is a somewhat famous quote, but the English
probably falls short of the real meaning.
Probably ‘I am going to be who I am going to be’ would be a closer
translation. Remember this is the
imperfect tense. The action is not 100%
complete. The message that could be
extracted from this is that we can’t put Yahweh in any particular box. Knowing someone’s name often was considered
as giving power over that individual in ancient cultures. In fact knowing
His name does not impart a
complete picture of who He is. The name
He chose to be known to Hebrew speakers is, in the same way, a brief summary
representation of His qualities and place in the grand scheme of things. It is not a complete explanation.
Luke 10:22 "All
things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no
one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the
Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
John 17:3 "And
this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."
The Jews knew His name, but they didn’t know
Him. The important thing is knowing what makes Him tick, what is important to Him,
how He looks at things and how He would conduct Himself in this world. When our eyes are opened to this we can
follow that example. We can be in His
image.
John 10:27 "My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
Different strokes for different folks
The Creator scrambled the languages. Certainly He realized we would attach
different labels to a thing because of our different languages. He also has a plan to clean up languages in
the future. "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, That they all
may call on the name of (Yahweh) the
LORD, To serve Him with one accord.” (Zep 3:9)
Ultimately Yahweh will have us all on the same
page. Paul certainly knew that was not
the case in his day. He arranged his
approach so as to fit in with those he was trying to reach. There are enough barriers without forcing
secondary issues into the mix.
I Cor 9:19 “For though I am free from all men, I have made
myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became
as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the
law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without
law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward
Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as
weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”
It really doesn’t matter what language we
speak. Yeshua probably spoke Hebrew or Aramaic most
of the time, but His words come to us primarily through Greek. Certainly there are advantages to understanding
the scriptures in their original language, whatever that language happens to
be. However, what is
important are the thoughts and concepts that we learn that enable us to walk in
the light as He is in the light. Knowing
and or using His name does not make us a better
person. If it did we would have specific instruction of this in the Law of God
or from Yeshua. Yahweh is not limited to
Hebrew. Yahweh’s ways are of paramount
importance and can be taught in any language.
Isa 28:11 “For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this
people.”
He will use whatever language is necessary to communicate with His
people. They probably won’t heed His
warning, but He is not limited to Hebrew.
He likely understands that our language may contain some words that were
originally connected with offensive things.
He will take care of that in due time.
In any case it seems that those who will be drawn close to Him will know
Him by name.
Zech 13:9 “And I will bring the third into the fire,
and will smelt them as one smelteth silver, and will
try them, as one trieth gold,––It, will call upon my
name, and, I, will answer it, and will say, My people, it is! and, it, will say, Yahweh, is my God!" (EB)
Ps 91:14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I
will set him on high, because he has known My name.”
Perhaps using the name ‘Yahweh’ would be a step in
the direction of cleaning up the language, but using it does not convey the
intended meaning to an English speaker.
It is apparent, the meaning of ‘Yahweh’ is more important than the
sounds used as a label. If we are going
to start virtually from ground zero to change a firmly entrenched custom of the
English language perhaps we should consider what English meaning His name
should convey. This author would vote
for Eternal. It would likely be unique,
so it may not seem like a name, but then neither does Father of Nations, i.e.
Abraham. It is certainly appropriate
that His name be unique. Eternal has at
least some similar meaning to ‘existing one’.
It seems apparent Yahweh is not pleased that His name
is largely unknown to many who seek Him.
English speakers have been robbed of the opportunity to better
understand the close relationship He wants to have with us. Although ‘Yahweh’ to an English speaker does
not carry the meaning He intended we understand at least it is what He chose to
use with ancient Israel. Just the use of
a name, even Jehovah, can help to create the feeling of the memorial He
intended. It is no sin to use the words
of the English language to communicate in a normal English way to other English
speakers. If we have the opportunity to
better communicate the full intention of our Creator so much the better. Of foremost importance is to seek to think like
He does and conduct ourselves in an honest, transparent, humble and patient way
towards our fellow man.
Peripheral
Issues
Ex 6:2-3 “And
God spake unto Moses,––and said unto him, I, am
Yahweh: [hwhy]
3
I appeared, therefore, unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as GOD
Almighty,––although, by my name Yahweh[hwhy] , was I not made known to them;”(EB)
Based on this scripture it appears that before
Moses, the Creator did not use His name.
Even Abraham did not know it.
However, Eve is quoted as referring to Yahweh by name (Gen 4:1). Lamech also is
quoted as using His name (Gen 5:28-29), as is Noah (Gen 9:26). Of course Abraham is also quoted as using His
name (Gen 14:22). So what is Exodus
6:2-3 trying to say?
It is possible that the translation of Exodus 6:3
above is what was intended by the author.
In this case likely all the quotes from Eve, Noah etc. were not exact
quotes, but were retrofitted with His name.
However, some suggest that this verse could easily be made into a
question rather than a statement and change the entire thrust of the verse.
Ex 6:2-3 “And
God spake unto Moses,––and said unto him, I, am
Yahweh: [hwhy]
3
I appeared, therefore, unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as GOD
Almighty,––yes, by my name Yahweh[hwhy] , was I not made known to them?”(EB
with minor changes)
In context this does fit. It reinforces that the
Creator had a close relationship with the patriarchs. This is exactly the
point verse 4 seems to want to highlight. However, questions in Hebrew are
fairly easy to recognize. They contain words such as who, what, where, etc.
or else the Hebrew letter "h"(hay)
appears attached to the first word in the phrase.
Even without punctuation, Hebrew clearly distinguishes between a statement
and a question. None of those question indicators are present in this verse.
Neither does the Septuagint text indicate a question. So, while this
modification may seem plausible, based on the standards of written Hebrew this
verse is not a question. Apparently, the patriarchs did not know the Creator’s
name, Yahweh. If that is indeed the case, how important could it be for
anyone to exclusively use that name?
The
English word ‘God’
There are some that have asserted that the English
word ‘god’ is actually of pagan origin used to identify ancient Teutonic
gods. It should therefore not be used in
reference to the Creator.
It could be
that our Old English ancestors may have used a similar reference to their gods
as was handed down to us. However, the
meaning this word carries today does not bring to mind ancient Teutonic
gods. Actually those who study etymology
do not support the understanding that ‘god’ directly came from ancient Teutonic
gods. They are not really sure how the
word got to us, but they suspect a more general origin. Both the Oxford and Webster dictionaries
connect this word most closely to a meaning of ‘invoked one’.
The English Bible, particularly the King James
Version is credited by many with bringing together a number of different
dialects of Old English to form the basis for what has become modern
English. It is perfectly apparent who
God is, as opposed to ‘god’, based on the King James Bible. God is the Creator of heaven and earth. The one who spoke the command, “Let there be
light!” and the universe began to be. It
really doesn’t matter how the language got to that point. The word ‘God’ in the modern English language
primarily refers to the creator of the heavens and earth, the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. If one wants to speak
English and be understood by all native English speakers and sound like a
normal English speaker, the primary way to do that when referring to the
Creator is to use the label ‘God’. There
may be reasons to use other terms, but English is what it is. It is not what it may have been at some time
in the distant past.