The Name of God and the Messiah By Marcos Brodsky Editor The Name of God There have been many confusing spellings and pronunciations of the name of God, but there is evidence from Hebrew and the Holy Scriptures for the oldest traditional pronunciation. The name of God is spelled in the Hebrew as YHVH. This has traditionally been written as Jehovah (Yehovah) in the King James Version and in older English versions of the Holy Scriptures in agreement with the vowel points of the Masoretes (Jewish scribes). Even more common in these versions, is the substitution of "the LORD" for God's name. This is accordance with the Jewish practice of saying Adonai (Lord), out of respect, instead of pronouncing His name. During the common era it has been thought by many, that the vowel points simply point to the word "Adonai" since those for Adonai are similar (but not identical). This "theory" has been encouraged by Rabbinic scholars to discourage anyone from misusing the Name in a vain or unworthy manner. The recent tendency in much of the gentile church has been to pronounce His name according to its Greek transliteration as Yahweh, but this pronunciation is neither the correct Hebrew, nor is it justified by the Holy Scriptures. The only time the Name is pronounced "Yah" is in its shortest abbreviated form. This abbreviation is taken from the first and last letters of YehovaH making Y-H or YH in Hebrew similar to G-d in English often written as GD in early English manuscripts. This form of "Yah" is usually found in the end of names containing the abbreviation of the name of God, such as Elijah (Eli-YAH-u), Zephaniah (Ts'phani-YAH), and other scriptural names ending in "jah" or "iah". The name Yehovah, pronounced Y'hoVAH in Hebrew, is derived from the verb HYH, meaning "to exist, to be". This meaning for His name is first revealed in scripture to Mosheh (Moses) in Sh'mot (Exodus) 3:14 where God says, "ehyeh asher ehyeh" which is translated "I am that I am", or better, "I shall be what I shall be". The meaning of His name indicates that He is the self-determining God who exists above all that there is (unlike the false-gods of the Egyptians). In the name Yehovah are the verbs YHY (y'hi) meaning "He will be", HVH (hoveh) meaning "He is being", and HYH (hayah) meaning "He was". In the very next verse He tells Mosheh to say that "Yehovah God of their fathers, the God of Avraham, Yitschak (Isaac), and Ya`akov (Jacob) has sent me to you: this is my name forever" thus linking this meaning to His name - Yehovah. This pronunciation is further confirmed from the many names in scripture which include the first part of God's name, using the longer abbreviation of the beginning of His name Jeho or Yeho (pronounced y'ho). Examples are: Joshua (Y'ho-SHU-a) meaning "Yehovah is salvation", Jehosaphat (Y'ho-sha-PHAWT) meaning "Yehovah judges", Jonathan (Y'ho-na-TAWN) meaning "Yehovah has given", and sixteen other names in the Holy Scriptures. In all these names, the first part of God's name is pronounced just as it is in the Masoretic text of the Holy Scripture and not as Ado-shua, Ado-shaphat, Ado-natan nor as Yah-shua, Yah-shaphat or Yah-natan. And the correct pronunciation of these names (with Y'ho as the beginning) is how they are pronounced in the land of Israel today. Another misunderstanding is that the Name was first revealed to Mosheh (Moses). In the Torah we see that the name, Yehovah, was known to Adam and Chava (Eve). In B'rey-sheet (Genesis) we see that the book was put together by Mosheh from books passed down to him from the patriarchs. In Genesis 5:1a we see the post-script to Adam's record "This is the book of the generations (records) of Adam". (For more on the patriarchal records found in Genesis, see The Genesis Record by Henry M. Morris.) In this record we not only see the Name mentioned throughout the text, but in Genesis 4:1 the scriptures say that Chava "conceived, and bare Caiyeen (Cain), and SAID, 'I have gotten a man from the LORD'"(KJV). In the Hebrew the word "from" is not there, and "the LORD" is "YHVH". So it actually reads that Chava said "I have gotten a man, Yehovah", showing that she not only pronounced the Name, but also believed the Messiah promised in Genesis 3:15 was God himself, and had already come as her firstborn. Of course she soon realized that Caiyeen wasn't the Messiah, and her children were all the seed of Adam. Then in Genesis 4:26 the text clearly states "then began men to CALL upon the name of the LORD."(KJV) Again in the Hebrew "the LORD" is actually YHVH, so either Adam and Mosheh are liars, and this is not the word of God, or the Name was known from the days of Adam. The name is quoted as spoken several more times in B'reysheet by the faithful including Abraham (Gen.12:8) and Sarah (Gen.16:5). One of the reasons some are confused about this, ADONAI's rhetorical question to Mosheh in Sh'mot (Exodus) 6:3, "by the name Yehovah was I not known to them?" This has been taken as a statement instead of a question by those unfamiliar with the records of B'reysheet, because there are no question marks in the ancient Hebrew of the Masoretic text (and unfortunately the KJV Bible did not add them either). In this way ADONAI was referring back to all the references of His name in the records of their ancestors with which at least the tribe of Levi was still familiar. The Name of the Messiah The name of Yeshua, pronounced Yey-SHOO-ah, is spelled Jeshua in many English versions of the Holy Scriptures and in the King James "Old Testament". This name is significant in that it is the name of the High Priest during the days of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. This High Priest is also called Y'hoshua (Joshua) in the book of Haggai where he and Zerubbabel (Prince of Judah / ancester of Messiah Yeshua) are blessed by God. In Zechariah, the High Priest Yeshua is also called Y'hoshua, and is seen in a vision by the prophet where the Angel of Yehovah gives him details about Messiah the "Branch". Then later Zechariah is commanded to make crowns of silver and gold and place them on the head of Yeshua, and prophecy of the "Branch" and how He will rule as King and High Priest in a future Temple. This High priest is known as Yeshua (Jeshua in KJV) throughout the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and II Chronicles. It is thought that he is crowned symbolically and prophetically of the future Messiah, at least in part, because he has the same name that the Messiah would have - Yeshua. The name Yeshua is not just a shortening of the name Y'hoshua, but it is the masculine form of the Hebrew word Y'shuAH, meaning "salvation". This is because Yeshua IS Salvation as indicated in the book of Mattatiyahu (Matt. 1:21). This is probably the reason that the High Priest, Yeshua, was called Y'hoshua by ADONAI when He addressed him in Haggai and Zechariah. For "Yehovah is Salvation", and Messiah Yeshua is "salvation", but the High Priest of Zerubabbel's time was not "salvation" himself, being just a man. The mispronunciation of the Messiah's name as "YAHshua" is neither correct Hebrew, nor is it used by those fluent in Hebrew. I hope this teaching will be accepted in the spirit of love and concern that I have for those who wish to glorify His name. I believe that we should be careful about how we pronounce the name of our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. His name should not be taken lightly, nor purposely mispronounced, for this is disrespect. However, the LORD will judge the heart and mercifully forgive our mistakes. Those of us who love ADONAI our God need to show it by walking in obedience to His word, and in reverence of His name.