YHWH, YOD-HEY-VAH, JEHOVAH, JESUS CHRIST, and LORD

In my research I am learning the critical importance of names. The ultimate name is Jesus Christ as He is our salvation. It has become increasingly amazing to me of how His Name is so important in the world. As  Latter-day Saints we are blessed to know so much more. For example, Jesus Christ as a pre-mortal was in the beginning with Adam and the Father. His gospel is eternal. Very few people in the world fully understand that. Christians believe the gospel of Jesus Christ only came in the Meridian of Time, Jews believe the Savior has not come yet, the Muslims believe only that Jesus was a good prophet. The Old Testament if full of Jesus as Jehovah, but very few understand this. What a blessing to know and love the Savior Jesus Christ as a Spirit and as one among us in the flesh, and as the Savior of the World.

Think of this scripture, “will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.” Rev. 2:17. In D&C 130″11, the Lord explains that new name saying,  “And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.” What a promise, what insight to the importance of a name or a new name.

Think of the words “I Am” as you are reading this blog:

“And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.” Exodus 3:14

Let me explain a thought I have had. As Christ said, “I am THAT I am”, think of Him speaking to you those words and Him pointing as He says “THAT, I am.” (He is assuming you know which THAT he truly is). Meaning THAT (Him Pointing his finger somewhere else) person who was promised, or THAT person who IS, or THAT person who died for you, etc. He is not simply saying what Popeye said, I am that I am, the Lord is saying, I AM, (referring to Himself) THAT (pointing to somewhere else and assuming you know what He means) I AM!. This is hard to explain but call me if you want to understand better what I am trying to say about the significance to the name I AM.

In Nephi’s words we feel the magnitude of the sacred relationship that Nephi shared with Jehovah, the Great I Am, whose name is vital in our understanding of Him. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “To the Lord’s covenant people, names—particularly proper names—have always been very important. Adam and Eve themselves bore names that suggested their roles here in mortality (see Moses 1:34; 4:26) and, when important covenants were made, men like Abram and Jacob took on new names that signaled a new life as well as a new identity. (See Gen. 17:5; 32:28). Because of this reverence for titles and the meanings they conveyed, the name Jehovah, sometimes transliterated as Yahweh, was virtually unspoken among that people. This was the unutterable name of Deity, that power by which oaths were sealed, battles won, miracles witnessed. Traditionally, he was identified only through a tetragrammaton, four Hebrew letters variously represented in our alphabet as IHVH, JHVH, JHWH, YHVH, YHWH…

Repentance and faith, service and compassion—now is always the right time for these. The past is to be learned from, not lived in, and the future is to be planned for, not paralyzed by. God has declared himself in the present tense. I am the Great I AM.

The prescribed method for coming to knowledge (and subsequent freedom) is to “give diligent heed to the words of eternal life” (D&C 84:43), yet many of us spend precious little time with those words.” Whom Say Ye That I Am? Jeffrey R. Holland Ensign Sept. 1974.

Written in Paleo-Hebrew and used from 1000 BC – 400 AD,   represents the name “Jehovah”, or the tetragrammaton. All throughout the Old Testament, the word ‘LORD’ (all small caps), replaced the sacred name “Yahweh” as described above. “I Am” in Hebrew is “Yahweh” and “Adonai” is the Hebrew word for LORD. 

A Baptist Explanation

“Throughout the Old Testament, we often find the name of our God written in different forms. Sometimes He is referred to as LORD, expressed in all capital letters, and other times He is called Lord, with both upper and lower cases used.

This difference of form is common in most English translations of the Bible, and it originated as an attempt to identify between the different Hebrew words used when addressing God.

In Exodus 3:13-15, God reveals His covenant name as יהוה, the Hebrew verb for “to be,” expressing the absolute and ultimate nature of God. This word is transliterated into English characters as YHWH, which is the tetragrammaton, or combination of four letters without vowels used to represent the name of God.

This name was written without vowels to avoid misusing God’s sacred name and to preserve its nature. In order for readers to phonetically interpret God’s Hebrew name, scribes took vowels from the word adonai, meaning “lord” or “master.” This transformed YHWH into Yahweh.

When we see LORD written in all caps, this a reference to Yahweh, the name for God’s true and complete “to be” nature, both sovereign and divine. This word expresses God in His fullness, Lord and Creator. This is the closest rendering to the original Hebrew Old Testament.

The term adonai continued to be used in an attempt to address God in relational terms, and this word evolved into Jehovah. Both names are used to express the lordship of God. This word literally means “my Lord,” and it represents God in His role as master in the context of His relationship to man. When you see Lord in lower case, it is referring to this name of God. It is a representation of an aspect of God, yet it is not a word representing the fullness and completion of God, or Yahweh. There are seven times where the King James Version uses Jehovah for Yahweh instead of LORD. Almost all essential literal translations have correctly abandoned the use of Jehovah.” LORD & Lord: What’s the Difference? By First Orlando Baptist Church 

“The Tetragrammaton (/ˌtɛtrəˈɡræmətɒn/ or Tetragram, from Greek τετραγράμματον, meaning “[consisting of] four letters”), is the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה, the name of the biblical God of Israel. The four letters, read from right to left, are yodh, he, waw and he. While there is no consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, “the form Yahweh is now accepted almost universally”. Wikipedia 

Cleon Skousen

“Here is an interesting note about the name Nephi. “Nephi; This is also an Egyptian name, usually given as Knephi, and transliterated into Hebrew as Nebi. It means “prophet” or one who speaks with God. The great Osiris, one of the Egyptian gods, was called Nephi or Knephi and the city in his honor was n-ph (vowels always had to be supplied). It is the city we know today as Memphis, located across the Nile from Cairo, but it is referred to by its original name of Noph (a variant of Nephi) in the writings of Hosea, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.” Treasures from the Book of Mormon by W. Cleon Skousen.

More Hugh Nibley

“The evidences for Jesus Christ as the Pale Prophet” are to be found in many legends and traditions among the native races, throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Why were the apparent teachings of Christ already familiar to North American Aboriginals before their first contact with modern Europeans in the 16th Century? For Native Americans, their God of the four Winds may have been another name for Jesus Christ. He was also known as The Healer, East Star Man, The Dawn Star, The Pale One, Chee-zoos, Waicomah, Wakana Tanka, Yowa, Yod Hey Vah, Yahud, Ye-Sos, etc. Henceforth, the bearded white visitor could have been none other that Jesus Christ of the Christian books namely the Stick of Judah and the Stick of Joseph (Ezekiel 37:16).” Wayne May and Joshua M. Bennett in Ancient American Magazine issue #36 page no. 36

YAHWEH, YHWH, JEHOVAH, JESUS CHRIST, LORD, Author: Seely, David R.

“The Godhead consists of three separate and distinct beings: the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (D&C 130:22; A of F 1). While some Christians do not equate Jesus Christ and Jehovah in their theologies, biblical passages indicate that relationship, and latter-day scriptures often refer to Jesus Christ, the Son, as Jehovah (e.g., D&C 110:3-4; Moro. 10:34).

The name Jehovah is an anglicized rendering of the tetragrammaton YHWH, a proper noun in biblical Hebrew that identifies God. Following a Jewish tradition that avoided pronouncing God’s name, translators of the King James Version rendered almost all occurrences of YHWH as “Lord.” Latter-day Saints view many other occurrences of “Lord” as references to Jehovah, both in the New Testament and in LDS scripture.

Since his premortal life, Jesus Christ has functioned as the constant associate of the Father working under his direction. In 1916 the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued a doctrinal statement on the relationship between the Father and the Son: “Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; …and since that period in His resurrected state” (MFP 5:31-32). Throughout scripture, several roles of Jehovah-Jesus Christ are specifically identified.

CREATOR. Jehovah as Creator is attested throughout the Old Testament (e.g., Ps. 24:1-2). Speaking to Moses, God said, “Worlds without number have I created; …and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten” (Moses 1:33). John and others acknowledged Jesus as the Word, the Creator: “In the beginning was the Word; …all things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made” (John 1:1-3, 14; cf. Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16). Similarly, the Book of Mormon teaches, “The Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men…. And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning” (Mosiah 3:5-8;

LAWGIVER. To Moses, Jehovah identified himself by the title “I AM THAT I AM”-a variation on the verbal root of YHWH (Ex. 3:14). This title was claimed by Jesus in mortality: “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58; cf. John 4:26). After his resurrection, Jesus told hearers in the Americas, “Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law” (3 Ne. 15:5; cf. Matt. 5:17).

REDEEMER, DELIVERER, AND ADVOCATE. Jehovah delivered the children of Israel from Egypt. Paul taught that this same being would redeem mankind from sin and death (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-4). This point is made clear in the Book of Mormon: “The God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt,…yea, the God of Abraham…yieldeth himself…as a man, into the hands of wicked men…to be crucified” (1 Ne. 19:10; cf.2 Ne. 9:1-26; Mosiah 13:33-35). When the Savior appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836, “his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying: I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:3-4).

JUDGE. The Book of Mormon prophet Moroni₂ drew attention to “the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge” (Moro. 10:34), reaffirming what the Psalmist and others had said (e.g., Ps. 9:7-8; Isa. 33:22). Jesus Christ proclaimed that he was the judge: “For the Father…hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22, 27; cf. Acts 10:42).

IN HIS NAME. In the beginning, men began “to call upon the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:25, 26; cf. Moses 5:8;6:4). In Moses’s time Jehovah instructed the priests to “put my name upon the children of Israel” (Num. 6:27; cf. Deut. 28:10). Before the coming of Christ, Book of Mormon people took upon themselves his name (Mosiah 5:8-12; Alma 34:38; see Jesus Christ, Taking the Name of, upon Oneself). In all dispensations, the name of Christ is the only name “whereby salvation can come unto the children of men” (Isa. 43:3, 11; Mosiah 3:17;Acts 4:12; cf. Moses 5:7-

Divine names and titles, especially in the Bible, are occasionally ambiguous. The distinction between the Father and the Son is sometimes unclear. For example, the Hebrew term elohim-a title usually applied to the Father by Latter-day Saints-often refers to Jehovah in the Bible (e.g., Isa. 12:2). Furthermore, people prayed to Jehovah as if he were the Father. In some cases, ambiguity may be due to the transmission of the text; in others, it may be explained by divine investiture wherein Christ is given the authority of the Father: “Thus the Father placed His name upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father’s name; and so far as power, authority, and Godship are concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father” (MFP 5:32). https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Jehovah,_Jesus_Christ Bibliography Talmage, James E. JC, pp. 32-41. DAVID R. SEELY Encyclopedia of Mormonism

Yahweh Is the Sweetest Name I  God gave himself the name Yahweh. No man gave him this name. It is God’s chosen personal name. He loves to be known by this name. It is used over 5,000 times in the Old Testament. It is almost always translated by Lᴏʀᴅ (small caps). But it is not a title. It is a personal name, like James or Elizabeth.

You know the name Yahweh best from its shortened form Yah at the end of Hallelujah, which means “praise Yahweh.” I love to think about this when I sing. When I sing, “Hallelujah,” I love to really mean, “No! I don’t praise you Bel, orNebo, or Molech, or Rimmon, or Dagon, or Chemosh. I turn from you with disdain to Yah! I praise Yah. Hallelu Yah!”

God announced his name to Moses in Exodus 3:15. God said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers. . . . This is my name forever.”

He preceded this announcement with two other statements so the meaning would be clear. He said, “I am who I am” (verse 14a). And he said, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you’” (verse 14b).

The Hebrew name Yahweh is connected to the Hebrew verb “I am.” So Yahweh is most fundamentally the One-Who-Is. “I am who I am” is the most foundational meaning of Yahweh. It means: My am-ness comes from my am-ness. My being from my being. My existence from my existence.

There are vast personal and covenantal implications of this. But this is foundational. No beginning. No ending. No dependence. He simply is, always was, and always will be. He communicates all of this with a personal name. To be sure, he has titles, and he has attributes. But this is a personal name. He packs the weightiest truth about himself into a personal name. Infinite greatness and personal knowability are in the name Yahweh.

Then in the fullness of time, Yahweh came into the world to seek and save the lost. The angel said to Joseph, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus is an English transliteration of the Greek Iesoun. And this in turn is a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Joshua. And Joshua is a combination of Yah and “salvation” or “save”. It means “Yahweh saves.”

So Jesus means “Yahweh saves.” Jesus is Yahweh with a human nature coming to save his people from sin.

Paul confirms this in Philippians 2:11. He says of the risen Jesus, “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That is a quote from Isaiah 45:23 where Yahweh is the one to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. Paul is saying that, in the end, the whole world will acknowledge that Jesus is in fact Yahweh incarnate.

So you don’t have to choose between singing, “Jesus is the sweetest name I know,” and, “Yahweh is the sweetest name I know.” Indeed you dare not choose.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/yahweh-is-the-sweetest-name-i-know

“Unfortunately, the King James Version leaves this very obscure because the translators rendered the Hebrew tetragrammaton (Jod He Vav He) representing Jehovah (Yahweh) to read LORD. Consequently, one can read Genesis without recognizing that references to Jehovah (Jesus Christ) are on almost every page.” By George A. Horton, Jr. Jan 1986 Ensign

Seven names of God The seven names of God that, once written, cannot be erased because of their holiness are the Tetragrammaton, El, Elohim, Eloah, Elohai, El Shaddai, and Tzevaot.

In the Hebrew Bible, the name is written as יהוה (YHWH), as biblical Hebrew was written with consonants only. The original pronunciation of YHWH was lost many centuries ago, but the available evidence indicates that it was in all likelihood Yahweh, meaning approximately “he causes to be” or “he creates”.^[7]

By early post-biblical times, the name Yahweh had ceased to be pronounced aloud, except once a year by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies; on all other occasions it was replaced by Adonai, meaning “my Lord”. ^[6] S

• YHWH-Yireh (Adonai-jireh) — “The LORD Will Provide” (Genesis 22:13–14)
• YHWH-Rapha — “The LORD that Healeth” (Exodus 15:26)
• YHWH-Niss”i (Adonai-Nissi) — “The LORD Our Banner” (Exodus 17:8–15)
• YHWH-Shalom — “The LORD Our Peace” (Judges 6:24)
• YHWH-Ro’i — “The LORD My Shepherd”
• YHWH-Tsidkenu — “The LORD Our Righteousness”^[29] (Jeremiah 23:6)
• YHWH-Shammah (Adonai-shammah) — “The LORD Is Present” (Ezekiel 48:35)

YAH or YAHU

http://www.revelations.org.za/NotesS-Name.htm

The ‘Personal’ Name of the ‘God of Israel’ by which He anciently revealed Himself to Moses ( 6:2).  ‘YAH’ is spelt in original Hebrew, with the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet – the ‘yood’, smallest letter in the alphabet, represented by the inverted comma ( ‘ ). YAHU also has the meaning of  ‘He is YAH’

Obscure Preservation of the Sacred Name ‘YAHU’

Hebrew personal names have meanings, and many such personal names have throughout time, been linked to the Sacred Name YAHU.  In this obscure way, the Sacred Name YAHU has been preserved for modern times, notwithstanding the fact that it has been almost totally removed from most Bible Translations.  

This Name, through recent archeological discoveries in Israel, has been found to be part of more Hebrew words and names than were formerly known. There is an untold number of usages in the Tanach (‘Old Testament’) where this form of the Sacred Name is used as a conjunction in Biblical names.  Some of the more common examples of these are:

EliYahu (‘Elijah’)
YeremiYahu (‘Jeremiah’)
YeshiYahu (‘Isaiah’)
YahuShafat (‘Josephat’)
NetanYahu (also the name of former Israeli Prime Minister)
YahuNatan (‘Jonethan’)
and of course, the Messianic Salvation Name YAHU’SHUAH (‘Yeshuah’)                                                                                            

In each of the examples above, the meanings of these names refer to the Name of the Most High, eg. YAHU is Strength, my God is YAHU, etc 

Similarly, the Tribe of Judah, the progeny of which to this day, still represents the original Hebraic Faith instituted by Moses according to the Divine Mandate which was handed to him personally by YAHU, God of Israel, some 4000 years ago.  All the disasters of Time failed to wipe out the Tribe of Judah, which today is known as ‘the Jews’ –  in Hebrew: Yahudim. The Tribe of Judah, in Hebrew is’Yahuda’, a Jew is ‘Yahudi’. While no specific Hebrew meaning is attached to this term in the modern usage, we do find the following meanings as applied to obscure Bible characters with similar names: 

‘YahuAdah’ (YAH unveils) 1 Chron. 8:36 
‘YahuYadah’ (YAH knows) 2 Samuel 8:18, etc

Can it be that sinister powers have erased the linkage with the ‘guardians of His Oracles’ (the Jews) to the Name of YAHU? –  Rom 3:2  – they,  who have been His Testimony to the world all these centuries?

Strange also how, in the modern Hebrew dictionary,  three words appear in successive order:

Yehudah – with its derivations referring to Jews
YHVH – the Sacred Name, and
Y’SHUAH (abbreviated form for YAHU’SHUAH) – the Messiah’s Name.

THE TETRAGRAMMATON

The Sacred Name appears in the Hebrew Scriptures as four Hebrew letters Yud,  hey, vav, hey, which is closest represented by the letters YHVH.  This format is  known as the Tetragrammaton.  According to Jewish tradition it is regarded as ‘not to be uttered’ in order never to profane it in any way.  In Judaism it is therefore pronounced as ‘Adonai’, meaning ‘Lord’. Notwithstanding this prohibition, the Sacred Name is acknowledged in its usage as part of the names of many Biblical characters, as referred to above – and as any Bible concordance or reference book will provide.

Because of these prohibitions, translations of the original Hebrew scrolls have, throughout the ages, replaced the Tetragrammaton with ‘the LORD’ (in capital letters) and the Sacred Name, in so doing, became ‘lost’ for many centuries.

Since the sixties, there has been a movement in modern theology and especially amongst sincere Bible students throughout the world, to restore the newly ‘rediscovered’ Sacred Hebrew Name.  Sacred Name publications which chose to restore the Sacred Name in the almost 7000 instances in the Bible, appeared one after the other and the ‘Sacred Name Movement’, towards the nineties and the turn of the millennium, became a flood which today literally engulfs the world…

Although there is no firm consensus on the actual pronouncement or spelling of the TetragrammatonYHVH,  there are several representations or transliterations in use by theologians and Bible students.  Some of the more popular forms are YAHVEH, YAHWEH and Jehovah. A comprehensive list of the various usages that abound, are presented further down on this page.

For the purposes of this Web Site and out of respect for the Sacredness and sanctification of the Name, we will print the Tetragammaton form YHVH throughout the studies of this Web Site and leave the reader free to either substitute it or pronounce it in the way they find comfortable.

The mystery attached to the Name of the Almighty, is related to the verb ‘to be’ ( I am, I was, I will be) which is the Hebrew verb ‘Hoveh’  (the ‘v’ pronounced as in ‘victory’),  meaning “to be”, in the present tense.  YHVH therefore, means: “YAH Hoveh”, which means  “YAH is …” (YAH being His abbreviated (actual ?) name as reflected in Psalm 68:4 in some translations.

It is therefore quite possible that the correct rendering of the SH’MAH (the Greatest Commandment – Deut 6:4) should therefore read:

This is how it appears in the Hebrew Scrolls: 

Source:  http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/links.htm

In modern Hebrew grammar this matter is so serious and important, that the verb ‘to be’ (‘I am’) is not used in the present tense at all!  An Israeli will therefore state in Hebrew:  “I teacher … I clever”, omitting the verb ‘to be’ (I am) in the present tense.  Usage of the Hebrew verb ‘HOVEH’ (I am) would imply referring to oneself as being the Almighty!  This gives reason for serious contemplation.  The Almighty “is” everything good, without question. The human being, being exactly the opposite, is so easily inclined to self exaltation and self praise (often hidden under a false pretence of humility, love, care, etc.). The use of “I” and “I am” in the vocabulary of the proud and arrogant individual is a popular practice. The indwelling Spirit of the Almighty in the heart and soul of the believer, changes this selfish, haughty, deceiving attitude to an attitude of genuine humility, recreated in His Image, as the Almighty requires of us to possess. Volumes could be written on this subject. http://www.revelations.org.za/NotesS-Name.htm

יהוה   YHWH   Yahweh
The four letter tetragrammaton (Greek, ‘four letters’) is the ‘true’ name of the God of the Hebrew scriptures. It never appears complete in written form; only the four consonant letters, YHVH(Hebrew, Yod Heh Vau Heh, read right to left), or in the Latin version, IHVH. 

Another intriguing example of chiasmus occurs in Helaman 6:10 [Hel. 6:10]. Here, the chiastic turning point rests on an equivalence between the word Lord and the royal name Zedekiah. But those words are only equivalent for readers who are aware that the term Lord probably stands (as it does in the King James Bible) for the divine name Jehovah or Yahweh, and that the -iah element in Zedekiah is the first portion of that same divine name. Also this chiasm works better in Hebrew than in English, which is an important and remarkable clue to the original language of the Book of Mormon.  Mounting Evidence for the Book of Mormon By Daniel C. Peterson

I know I have given you a lot of information. I love to research and study on my own and one thing leads to another. I like sharing what I find with you. Although all links and ideas are not necessarily correct all I want you to rely only on is the scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and on the Spirit which contains all truth. May the Lord bless you for reading and studying. As Moroni says, “you may know the truth of all things.”

For more information read my blog on Nephi and Noph here!