The Holy Name of God

[Lena S]

Hello everybody,
I am new on this forum and have a question regarding the TETRAGRAM: YHWH/Jehova/Jahve

Is it possible that it was originally pronounced: YaHaWaH…? (The last letter H is numb like in ”Sarah”.)

With this pronunciation the following parts are contained in the Name:

Yah = the short sacred Name of God
Yahah = the root form of…
Havah = to breathe (Strong 1933)
Av = short for abba, Father
Ahava = love

If this is correct, Gods Name reflects the qualities Tim has given Him in his lectures:
”Holy Selfexisting God Father of love”

In His love,
Lena

[Timothy]

Lena,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not well versed in Hebrew, so my opinion probably isn’t worth much. The term “Tetragrammaton” simply means “four letters.” Those letters are yodh, he, waw, and he (YHWH or possibly YHVH depending on pronunciation preferences). Hebrew scholars tend to favor the idea that YHWH was derived from the statement in Exod. 3:14 “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”‘” (NASB).

But I do not think even the best Hebrew scholars can prove the exact source of those 4 letters. Also, what vowel sounds may have originally been between the four consonants is impossible to know. Such information would be needed in order to reconstruct the meaning the way you have done. In any case, it is recognized by most that the statement in Exod. 3:14 means something like “the self-existing one.” This implies that He is the prime cause of all that exists as well as needing nothing external to Himself. If YHVH has a deeper or fuller meaning beyond that I cannot determine with my very limited knowledge of Hebrew.

We know that “God is love” from John’s books. And we know also that the hidden “name” of God that Jesus declared to His disciples was not YHWH but “Father” (John 17:6,26). So both of those concepts are biblical, but I do not think we can know whether they are somehow hidden in the name YHWH.

Regarding the word “abba” meaning “father” I believe that is Aramaic (aleph-bet-aleph) derived from the Hebrew aleph-bet. It is not aleph-waw so I do not think “father” should be inferred.

[Roman]

Hi Lena,
Tim’s right (who’s surprised? ). In Hebrew,’dadי is אב, and ‘father’ is אבא.
Also, ‘love’ is אהבה. (Remembering to read right to left) in both words the ב is the Hebrew letter ‘bet’, and it is sometimes pronounced like our “b” and sometimes like our “v”, but is a different letter to the ‘waw’ (or ‘vav’) in the Tetragrammaton יהוה (the 3rd letter from the right, which in classical Hebrew looks more like ך )
But, I do like your thinking, and it’s so intriguing to explore God’s name, right?! It’s strange that we haven’t been left with the definitive pronunciation of יהוה. Maybe He wants to surprise us when Jesus (Yeshua?) returns 🙂
Roman

[Author]

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