What is the Name of God?

 

Short answer:

God revealed His Name to Moses from a burning bush at Horeb, the “mountain of God” in the wilderness of Midian. “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). (“I AM THAT I AM” is not the Name of God; it is the “interpretation, definition, explanation, translation, or meaning” of His sacred Name.)  “I AM” is an abbreviation

The actual Name of God is written in Hebrew with four consonants (Y-H-W-H) called the “Tetragrammaton’” (“Four-Lettered Name”). Spelled with only two Hebrew letters (Y-H), the abbreviation is God’s Two-Lettered Name.

However, we read in the Bible that Eve, other men during Adam’s lifetime, and Abraham, who all lived hundreds and thousands of years before the birth of Moses, called upon the Name of God. Apparently, they knew a different, earlier Name of God.

Recently, Bible scholars have found another Name of God, spelled with only three letters (“Y-H-W”). This third form of God’s Name, which is proven in the Bible, was discovered in the papyri of a 5^th century B.C. Jewish colony from the Elephantine Island in Egypt.  

Detailed explanation:

God’s Name

God wants His people to know His personal Name. “Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I” (Isaiah 52:6).

God’s Name is in Hebrew, and for that reason He will ultimately restore the original language. “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:9).

“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one” (Zechariah 14:9).

No need to know God’s Name? Many people say it is not necessary to learn and call on the name of God, because, whatever term we use, God will know that it is He to whom we are addressing our prayers. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

 

Names have meanings.

In Biblical times, the name given to a newborn child, or even a new one to an adult, was usually about the conditions surrounding the child’s birth or a prophecy that foretold the mission, destiny, character, or events that would mark the life of that person.

Adam. The first man was called Adam, because he was formed from the ground (adamah), which has a generally ruddy or reddish color (adam). “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

Abraham. God changed the name of Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”) after God promised he would be the “father of many nations.” “Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee (Genesis 17:5).

Isaac. God told Abraham to name his son Isaac, because he and his wife Sarah laughed when the LORD told them they were going to have a child in their old age. “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?” (Genesis 17:17). “And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:5-6). Isaac means “laughter” in Hebrew.

Israel. Isaac’s son, Jacob (“supplanter”/“following in the heels of another”), was renamed Israel by the angel he wrestled with all night. “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). In Hebrew, Israel means “having power with God”.

Needless to say, if the names of these Biblical characters are significant, the significance of the Creator’s Name is inestimably far greater. A very important reason why God wants us to call on His personal Name is for us not to confuse Him with false gods. “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8).

 

Sound waves and frequencies.

Jewish sages taught that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet all have their individual sounds, numerical values, and symbolisms. Letters are sounded through vibrations made with the vocal chords, lips, tongue, teeth, throat, nasal cavity, lungs. Sound travels in waves, with varying wavelengths and frequencies. Thus, every letter and every word made up of a certain combination of letters have their own unique vibrations. So, too, names, which are also words.

Every name therefore is one of a kind. The Name of God, with its own unique set of wavelengths and frequencies, is the one that resonates in perfect harmony with His Being. When He revealed His Name, He gave men, as it were, His direct line. He taught men how to precisely tune in to His personal frequency – much like how we communicate with someone on the phone or social media. When we use a common word or a different name to call on God, we are tuning in to a different frequency and, thus, could be communicating with an entity that is entirely different from the one true God.

 

“Book of Life”.

If you do not value the Name of God, He may not value yours, either. God has a special book wherein your very own name may be written. “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name” (Malachi 3:16).

That “book of remembrance” is called the “Book of Life” in the New Testament. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12). If your name is written in the Book of Life, a place is reserved for you for an endless holiday in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The bookings, though, are not confirmed; they can be canceled by the Resort Owner. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels” (Revelation 3:5).  

If your name is erased from the Book of Life, you can look forward to a sure future of nothing but fries and toast. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). See how important names can be?

 

Christ taught God’s Name.

"I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word… And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:6,26). Thus Christ taught God’s sacred Name, but only to His disciples. It must be revered: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name..." (Matthew 6:9).

 

Blessings of God’s Name

God promises to come to  the aid those who will know and call on His Name. “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8). He will not ignore faithful believers who come to Him for help. “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee” (Psalm 9:10).

Calling on God’s true Name is comparable to being enclosed by the thick walls of an impregnable fortress. “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverb 18:10).

Honor, long life, salvation. God promises to answer and grant protection, honor, long life, and salvation to those who will call on His true Name. “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16).

His Name can save the faithful, even from the brink of death. “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 116:3-9).

End-time survival. Come the end-time wars and disasters prophesied in the Bible, God’s Name will save the faithful from destruction. “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call” (Joel 2:32).

Even if mankind is decimated, those who will call on His Name will survive. “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:8-9).

Sadly, not included are the multitudes who do not know or neglect to call on God’s Name. “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate” (Jeremiah 10:25).  

 

“The LORD” is His Name?

Several passages in Scripture appear to proclaim the Name of God. “Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD” (Jeremiah 16:21; cf. Isaiah 42:8).

The prophet declared: “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name” (Amos 5:8).

The Israelites invoked God’s Name in praise and worship: “Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD – that you alone are the Most High over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18, NIV). However, “the LORD”, like “God”, is obviously not a name, it is a title.

Revealed to Moses. God spoke to Moses from a burning bush at Horeb, the “mountain of God” in the wilderness of Midian in the Sinai about 1492 B.C., 39 years after he escaped from Egypt. God commanded him to bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Moses was at first hesitant, unsure of who was speaking to him. "And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

“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. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Exodus 3:13-15).

Meaning of the Name. However, “I AM THAT I AM” (Eheyeh Asher Eheyeh in the Hebrew original) is not God’s actual Name, but as Sacred Name advocate B. Earl Allen clarifies: “It is the interpretation, definition, explanation, translation, or meaning of the sacred name.” To this, Smith’s Bible Dictionary agrees: “This passage is intended to indicate the etymology of (God’s Name), as understood by the Hebrews…” The real Name of God has its own unique, distinct spelling and pronunciation in Hebrew.

The Tetragrammaton.  Three verses later, “God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them” (Exodus 6:2-3, NIV).

In this verse, the sacred Name of God is expressed as “the LORD”, substituted for the actual Name in the original Hebrew text. However, The Encyclopaedia Judaica (Vol. 7, p. 680) helpfully informs us that “The personal name of the God of Israel is written in the Hebrew Bible with the four consonants YHWH and is referred to as the ‘Tetragrammaton’…”

The Greek word Tetragrammaton means four (tetra) lettered (grammaton), referring to God’s Name spelled yod (Y / J), hey (H / E), waw (W / F), hey (H / E) – all consonants, because in ancient times the Hebrew alphabet did not have a system to indicate vowels. The reader had to mentally supply the missing vowels as he read, much as today when we see “Mr” we pronounce it as “Mister,” “Bldg” as “building,” “Ltd” as “limited,” etc. (Sacred Name advocate Brian E. Allen shows the presumed vowels of the Tetragrammaton at his website “Indian Sabbath Trail.”)

Utterance forbidden. Later, though, in the 5^th century B.C. Jewish priests prohibited the pronunciation of God’s Name, citing a number of seemingly valid reasons for forbidding the utterance of God’s Name by ordinary people.

Third commandment. The prohibition against saying the Name of God carelessly is embodied in the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

The Jewish Encyclopaedia notes that “the Rabbis forbade the utterance of the Tetragrammaton to guard against desecration of the Sacred Name.” Some passages in Scripture were reinterpreted to ensure that the people would avoid uttering the sacred Name of God.

“To be concealed.” Exodus 3:15a reads: “And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever...” According to Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, “The word forever is represented in the original by l’olam; but the Rabbis... by the change of a single letter, made l’olam, forever, read as if it had been written l’alam, which means to be concealed, and hence the passage was translated ‘this is my name to be concealed,’ instead of ‘this is my name forever’.”

“Death for uttering.” Leviticus 24:16 declares: “And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death” (NKJV).  In the original Hebrew text, “the word nokeb, here translated to blaspheme, also means to pronounce distinctly, to call by name.” It could be and was thus retranslated as "'whosoever shall pronounce the name (YHWH) shall suffer death” (Mackey’s Revised Encylopedia of Freemasonry).

“The LORD” substituted. When the Jews stopped uttering the sacred Name (YHWH), they started using the Hebrew term Adonai (“the LORD”) as a substitute. From the 3^rd century B.C. onward, when a Jewish reader came across the sacred Name YHWH in the Scriptures, he pronounced it as Adonai. Then, from the Second Temple period, according to researcher Choon-Leong Seow (“The Ineffable Name of Israel’s God,” Glossary, Bible Review, December 1991, p. 49), it became a custom among the Jews to say the Greek word Kyrios (which also means “Lord”) whenever they encountered the Creator’s name (YHWH) in the Holy Writings.

“LORD”, “LORD”, and “Lord”. English translations of the Bible render YHWH as “LORD” (all big capitals) or “Lord” (small capitals), and Adonai as “Lord” (upper and lower case letters). In cases where Adonai YHWH (“Lord YHWH”) appears, the combination is written as “Lord God” (Adonai Elohim), not as “Lord LORD” (Adonai Adonai).

Note the distinctions in the following verses: “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1). “Behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts…” (Isaiah 10:33). Hence, each time we see “Lord” and “God” spelled with capital letters in the Biblical text, it means the original Name of God (YHWH) has been replaced. 

 

Presumed names.

The concealment of the true sound of the sacred Name of God has resulted in a great cloud of doubt and uncertainty over its actual pronunciation. It has led theologians to suggest various versions.

“Jehovah”? In the King James Version (KJV) Bible of 1611, one presumed Name of God is spelled out clearly. “And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them” (Exodus 6:2-3).

There was opposition against this form of the Name from the very first time it was used. Joseph Rotherham, editor of The Emphasized Bible, said. “The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but it was contested by Le Mercier, J. Drusius, and L. Capellus, as against grammatical and historical propriety.” Rotherham pointedly stated that the presumed Name of God is “erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah…”

The Jewish Encyclopedia notes: “This name (of God) is commonly represented in modern translations by the form ‘Jehovah,’ which, however, is a philological impossibility…”

The Encyclopaedia Britannica sums it up: “The pronunciation ‘Jehovah’ is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants Yhwh (Jhvh) with the vowels of ‘adhonay,’ ‘Lord,’ which the Jews in reading the Scriptures substituted for the sacred name…”

“Yahweh”? Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, states: “The name YHWH is often reconstructed as Yahweh, based on a range of circumstantial historical and linguistic evidence. Most scholars do not view it as an ‘accurate’ reconstruction in an absolute sense, but as the best possible guess.” The Aid to Bible Understanding explains that “there is by no means unanimity among scholars on the subject (of the form ‘Yahweh’), some favoring yet other pronunciations.”

An early Church Father, Clement of Alexandria, taught Christians: ‘The mystic name which is called the tetragrammaton… is pronounced Iaoue (Yahweh), which means, ‘Who is, and who shall be.’” However, while the name “Yahweh” has the same spelling (Y-H-W-H), different meanings are given. One often cited definition is “He who causes to become.”

The correct rendering of the Name of God should have both the original textual spelling and the original Scriptural meaning, “I AM THAT I AM”.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica has it on record: “Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19^th and 20^th centuries biblical scholars again began to use the form Yahweh…” Wikipedia notes, however, that “neither ‘Jehovah’ or ‘Yahweh’ is recognized in Judaism…”   

 

God’s “Nickname.”

When God told Moses His Name, He mentioned a short form. “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).

“I AM”, obviously, is an abbreviation of “I AM THAT I AM.” So, if “I AM THAT I AM” stands for YHWH (the Tetragrammaton or Four-Lettered Name), “I AM” very possibly stands for YH, the first two letters of God’s sacred Name.

Spelled out in a psalm. In the Psalms, we find the short form of God’s Name with a vowel. "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him" (Psalm 68:4, KJV).

From this one precious verse we learn that “JAH” is also a Name of God! But how is “JAH” pronounced? Is it "Djah," as English-speakers would articulate it? "Hah," as Spanish language users would enunciate it? Or "Yah," as Germanic peoples would vocalize it?

Yah”. The New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance explains that “’Jah,’ OT:3050 Yah, is a contraction of OT:3068 (YHWH)…” The Jewish Encyclopedia concurs: “The name Yah (yod-hey / EJ) is composed of the first letters of Yhwh.”  The Encyclopedia Judaica says the pronunciation "is confirmed, at least for the vowel of the first syllable of the name, by the shorter form Yah, which is sometimes used in poetry...”

Hallelu-Jah! The Bible reference Insight on the Scriptures (1988, Vol. I, p. 7) agrees and tells us that “Hebrew scholars… point out that the abbreviated form of the name is Yah (Jah in the Latinized form), as at Psalm 89:8 and in the expression Hallelu-Yah (meaning ‘Praise Jah, you people!’), (Psalm 104:35; 150:1, 6).” So “JAH” is sounded “YAH” as in “Hallelujah” (Psalm 19:1,3,4,6, NIV; Greek “Alleluia” in NKJV). But how come “J” is used instead of “Y”?  

“Y” sound. There was no letter “Y” in medieval English. “I” was used as the substitute for yod (“Y”), the 10^th letter in the Hebrew alphabet. “I” had the same consonantal sound of “Y” (as in “year”). The 1560 Geneva Bible has “Iah” in Psalm 68:4. Other examples are “Iesus” (Jesus) and “iudge” (judge) in the 1611 King James Version. Similarly spelled were “Ierusalem,” “Iudah,” “Ieremiah,” which should have been “Yerusalem,” “Yudah,” “Yeremiah.”

Ornamental “tail.” In the late Middle Ages, when two “I’s” were written together, scribes often added a tail to the second “I”. In the 1600s, it was the “I” at the beginning of a word that was written with a tail. The elongated form (“J”) was at first used simply as an ornamental device.

Youngest letter. By 1632, the development of the dictionary by Dutch printers demanded consistent spellings for listing entries alphabetically. “I” became a standard vowel, while “J” was designated as a consonant permanently. “J” was positioned after the older letter “I” in the alphabet, with the lower case “j” retaining the dot over it, similar to the older small letter “i”. Thus, “J” became the youngest letter of the alphabet.

Abbreviated Name spoken? In the Gospel of John, we read: “Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him…” (John 8:57-59b). The New Testament text was written in Greek, but Christ must have uttered the short form of the Name in Hebrew, Yah (“I AM”), because the Jews perceived that He was claiming to be God Himself and started picking up stones to stone Him to death – the scriptural punishment for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16).

Theoporic names. Many Hebrew names are “theoporic” (bearing the Name of God), with the Two-Lettered Name (“YH”) as suffix (spelled “-iah”). The better known examples are: Jeremiah (“exalted by Yah”), Zechariah (“remembered by Yah”), Zephaniah (“hidden or treasured by Yah”), Nehemiah (“consoled by Yah”), Zedekiah (“just or righteous is Yah). In cases where an “i” comes before Yah, it is “-jah” – as in Elijah (“my God is Yah”), Adonijah (“my Lord is Yah”), Ahijah (“my brother is Yah”). The suffix may have been in use even before the time of Moses, as we see in Moriah (“seen of Yah”).

 

A pre-Mosaic Name.

When Eve gave birth to Cain, she referred to God as “the LORD”. “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Genesis 4:1). As we have seen, the term “the LORD” has been placed as a substitute in all Bible verses where the Name of God had been written.

After Adam’s grandson Enos by his son Seth was born, men began to invoke the Name of God. “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:25-26).

Abraham, who lived some 500 years before God revealed His Four-Lettered Name (YHWH) to Moses, also called on the Name of God. “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD” (Genesis 12:7-8).

A different, earlier Name. Adam and Eve, Seth, Enos, Abraham, and the other early men lived thousands, or at least hundreds, of years before the birth of Moses, to whom God revealed the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) for the first time. Apparently, they knew a different, earlier Name of God. What could that Name be?

Alternative theoporic suffix. We have seen that many Hebrew theoporic names have the suffix -iah or –jah, which is the Two-Lettered Name of God (YH/”Yah”). The Encyclopaedia Judaica, however, informs us that the suffix has two forms: “…the -yahu or -yah that serves as the final syllable in many Hebrew names.” The alternative suffix is “-yahu”. The Jewish Encyclopedia confirms this, stating that the suffix is “Yahu (yod-hey-waw / FEJ) or Yah (yod-hey / EJ) in the second part of such names” (Hebrew letters are written and read right-to-left). Researcher Choon-Leong Seow illustrates: “In the final position it appears as -yahu (-iahu) or -yah (-iah) as in the alternate spellings for ‘Azariah,’ Azaryahu and Azaryah.” Along this line, in the Hebrew Scriptures the name Elijah, except on four or five occasions, is always spelled “Eliyahu”, with a waw (u / F) at the end.

Two kingdoms, two suffixes.  Shortly after King Solomon died around 975 B.C., the monarchy under his son Rehoboam broke up into two – the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel in the north and the two-tribe kingdom of Judah in the south. The split led to a distinction between the suffix of theoporic names in the north and that in the south. Biblical Archaelogy Review editor Hershel Shanks stated in the magazine’s May-June 1994 issue: “-yahu (was) the common suffix in Judah... (in the northern kingdom of Israel the suffix was yah).” Sacred Name researcher P. Kyle McCarter in the May-June 1996 issue of the magazine (p. 26) added: “The expected form of the divine name… when it appears as the final part of a Judahite personal name in this period (late 7^th to the early 6^th centuries B.C.), is yhw, pronounced yahu (long a and u)…”

 

Three-Lettered Name.

Bible scholars have found that Yahu is more than just a suffix; it is actually another Name of God, spelled with only three letters (YHW) of the Tetragrammaton! This third form became known to “scholars after the discovery of the independent form YHW in the Egyptian papyri of the 5^th century B.C. from the Elephantine archives…” According to The New 20^th Century Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (2^nd edition, p. 886); the form YHW was used by the Jews in the Elephantine Island in Egypt. Last Day Ministries of Texas concludes: “There was evidently a Temple built to YHW in Elephantine, Egypt. Many documents from this place show that the sacred name was written YHW (Yahu)...” (undated tract).

Both a suffix and a prefix. Unlike the Two-Lettered Name “Yah” (YH), which was used mostly as a suffix, the Three-Lettered Name “Yahu” (YHW) was used both as a suffix and a prefix.

Yahu- to Yeho- (Jeho-). The Century Cyclopedia (p. 75) tells us that YHW (Yahu), when used as a prefix, “…according to the Masoretes it must be read Yeho when it forms part of a proper name.” For instance, Yahushua became Yehoshua (Jehoshua). Yeho- to Yo- (Jo-). Yeho-, though, through syncope or contraction was further shortened to Y’ho-, before becoming Yo- (Jo-). Author Garrison (Strange Facts About The Bible, p. 81) says that the short form of Yehoshua (Jehoshua), “in its original Hebrew form it was Y’hoshua… frequently abbreviated to Joshua.” Let us illustrate this in the theoporic name Netanyahu, which means “given by (netan) Yahu” (Nethaniah -- 2 Chronicles 17:8, Jeremiah 36:14, etc.). When the sacred suffix is transposed to be the prefix, the name becomes Yahu-netan (“Yahu gave”), but is spelled Yeho-natan. In the course of time Yehonatan was shortened to Y’honatan, then Yonatan. And, when the new letter “J” became part of the English alphabet, Yonatan became “Jonathan.” Below are some other examples of how Biblical names were transformed.

 

How “Yahu-” Became “Jo-” in Theoporic Names

Names with Yahu last*	Isaiah/ Yeshayahu	Hananiah/ Chananyahu	Elijah/ Eliyahu
Meaning	Salvation (is) Yahu	Gracious (has been) Yahu	My God (is) Yahu
Same names,  Yahu first	Yahushua	Yahuchanan	Yahuel
Meaning	Yahu (is) salvation	Yahu (has been) gracious	Yahu (is) God
First ‘a’ to ‘e,’ ‘u’ to ‘o’	Yehoshua	Yehochanan	Yehoel
‘e’ lost through syncope	Y’hoshua	Y’hochanan	Y’hoel
‘h’ dropped over time	Yoshua	Yohanan	Yoel
I used for Y, Middle Ages	Iosua	Iohann, Iohn	Ioel
New letter J replaced I	Joshua	John	Joel

* English Biblical forms before Hebrew pronunciations

 

Old Testament proof

Proof that Yahu was God's first and original Name that ancient men knew in pre-Mosaic times can be found in the Old Testament – in the name of Moses's own mother. “And the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister (Numbers 26:59).

Moses’s mother was Jochebed, a granddaughter of Jacob (Israel) by his son Levi. She married her brother Kohath’s son Amram, who became Moses’s father (Exodus 6:16-18, 20). Jochebed lived around 3,600 years ago in Egypt during the period of Israelite slavery. Jochebed means “YHW is glory” – chebed coming from the Hebrew root-word kabed, meaning “splendor, glory, honor”. The initial letter “J” in her name was anciently a “Y,” so Jochebed used to be Yochebed. Even earlier, it was Y’hochebed, from Yehochebed. And, long before that, its original form was Yahuchebed. Since Jochebed was born and given her particular theoporic name by her parents before the Creator revealed the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) to Moses, her future son, that leaves us with but one conclusion: The sacred Name of God that the ancient men knew before the time of Moses was Yahu (YHW).

“According to Albright (Assyrian Cuneiform scholar) and others the most ancient form of the sacred name (outside of Scripture) is ‘Yahu’. YHW or YHU are indicated by the same letters in Hebrew.” Researcher James Montgomery, in the Journal of Biblical Literature (1944), put the matter to rest: “The earliest form of the Name was doubtless Yahu.”

The meaning of “Yahu”. If the Four-Lettered Name YHWH means “I AM THAT I AM” and the Two-Lettered Name YH stands for “I AM”, what does the Three-Lettered Name YHW signify? There are several Biblical names that similarly end in “-hu”, other than those ending in –yahu. Let us examine several examples:

1) Abihu, a son of Aaron, Moses’s brother (Exodus 6:23, etc.). Abihu in Hebrew means “My father (Abi) (is) He (huw).”

2) Elihu, David’s eldest brother, et al. (1 Chronicles 27:18, etc.). Elihu means “My God (Eli) (is) He (huw).”

3) Jehu, a prophet of Israel, et al. (1 Kings 16:12, etc.). Jehu stands for “YaH (is) He (huw).”

(Note that in all three names the last letter “w” was lost. Huw [“he”] is written hu in modern Hebrew.)

Based on the examples above, it follows that Yahu means “I AM (Yah) HE (huw).” “Yahu” is a compound word made up of “Yah” (I AM) and “huw” (he, that, who, etc.). The original sacred Hebrew wording “Yah huw” is never used in ordinary speech. In everyday conversations, “I am he” is spoken as “Ani hu.”

 “Yah huw” to “Yahu”. Gesenius Hebrew Grammar explains how Yah huw became Yahu: “Assimilation usually takes place when one consonant which closes a syllable passes over into another beginning the next syllable and forms with it a strengthened letter.” In other words, if the last consonant of a preceding syllable is the same as the first consonant of the next syllable, the two identical consonants are written as just one letter.

Accordingly, the two words Yah and huw together formed Yahhuw, which became Yahuw as a result of assimilation and was further simplified to Yahu.

 

Yah	huw	=	Yahhuw	=	Yahuw	=	Yahu
“I AM”	“HE”	=					“I AM HE”

 

Alluded to by God.

God Himself alluded to His Three-Lettered Name on several instances: “See now that I, even I, am he…” (Deuteronomy 32:39).

 “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he” (Isaiah 41:4).

“Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last” (Isaiah 48:12; also 43:10, 13, 25; 46:4; 51:12).

 

New Testament Proof.

“Yahu” appears to have been spoken by Christ. “Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Then -- when He said to them, "I am He,"-- they drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:3-6, NKJV).

Why did Judas and the band of men fall to the ground? We see why in Temple worship practices: “The High Priest spoke the name of God on the Day of Atonement in his recitation of Lev. xvi. 30 during the confessions of sins; and when the priests and the people in the great hall heard him utter the ‘Shem ha-Meforash (the Distinguished Name),’ they prostrated themselves and glorified God.”

Translator H. Danby corroborates this from the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish legal traditions. “And when the priests and the people which stood in the Temple Court heard the Expressed Name come forth from the mouth of the High Priest, they used to kneel and bow themselves and fall down on their faces and say, ‘Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever!’ (Yoma 6:2).”

Many people have the impression that the men arresting Christ fell backward. On the contrary, they fell forward on their faces in an act of worship! They were from the Temple, and, as our references relate, they customarily fell to the ground on their faces whenever they heard the Name of God. Apparently, when Christ said “I am He,” He used the sacred phrase Yah huw – the Three-Lettered Name YHW (Yahu).

Lost from the Scriptures. Why is the form Yahu not found in the Bible? Holy Name advocate Brian Allen wrote that “When the Jews were carried into Babylon in 606 B.C.E. many of the personal names had the element ‘yahu’…” Researcher Ziony Zevit, though, said that when the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity 70 years later, the suffix had changed from -yahu to -yah (Matres Lectionis in Ancient Hebrew Epigraphs, 1980, p. 25).

“An examination of the chronological distribution of the suffix in Judean inscriptions indicates that -yhw is characteristically pre-Exilic, and -yh post-Exilic… Japhet points out that in Ezra-Nehemiah all names with this element are written -yh with one exception” Zevit summed up.

After Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians, the Jews began returning to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the Temple under a decree King Cyrus of Persia issued in 538 B.C. By the time of the returning Jewish leaders Ezra and Nehemiah, the use of -yahu as a suffix in Hebrew theoporic names had mostly ceased.

About 2,000 years later, in Europe, even the rare names which had the suffix -yahu in the Hebrew text, such as Eliyahu, were transcribed by Bible translators with the more familiar -iah and -jah suffixes.

 

The Three “Lost” Names of God

Spelling	Pronunciation	Meaning	Notes
Y-H ( E J )	“YaH”	“I AM”	As in Isaiah or Hallelujah
Y-H-W ( F E J )	“YaHU”	“I AM HE”	As in Eliyahu or Netanyahu
Y-H-W-H ( E F E J )	(God’s most sacred Name)	“I AM THAT I AM”	(Ineffable, never spoken aloud)

 

According to The Encyclopaedia Judaica (Volume 7, p. 680): “The prohibition against the pronunciation of the name of God applies only to the Tetragrammaton.” We are free to say God’s two other Names aloud.

HalleluYahu!

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Excerpted from the booklet The Lost Names of God and the book The Deep Things of God by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and/or Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.

Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated.