Tetragram Mystery Revealed

Tetragram Mystery Revealed

How to pronounce God’s name, the tetragram revelation. Finally, the answer to the tetragram name YHWH, the name of our almighty Father! In just a few verses God reveals not only the tetragram but its origin. We begin our focus in Exodus where Moses asks God His name,

"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 WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’." Exodus 3:13-14

God says His name is ‘I AM’. The word is written as אֶֽהְיֶה. Hebrew reads from right to left so the four Hebrew letters you see above as HYHE are read in the reversed order, EHYH, and the pronunciation given is ‘êyê (eh-yeh). Biblical Hebrew only has two verb tenses, imperfect and perfect. This is the first person singular imperfect. The imperfect means the action is not complete. When a verb is in the imperfect, extra letters are added to the front of the word to designate the subject like ‘I’, ‘you’, and ‘he’. The root word ‘am’ or ‘exist”, spelled הָיָה (HYH), has a given pronunciation of ‘haw-yaw’. To complete this imperfect tense the letter ‘Aleph’ אֶֽ (represented as E) was added to the front of the verb as a prefix meaning ‘I’.

This imperfect tense includes past, present, and future. All of these were implied when God said, ‘I am’. A correct translation would be, ‘I am, I was, and I am to come”. After Exodus 3:14, the tetragram is formed in the very next verse, Exodus 3:15, where God changes the verb form from ‘I am’ to ‘He is’ by reversing the syllables,

"Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD 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.’" Exodus 3:15 (underlined/italicized is for the purpose of teaching)

The word written in that verse as ‘LORD’ in all caps (capitol letters) is what the bible writes every time the tetragram “YHWH” is found in the biblical text.

Look at the relationship in these two given names.

First H-YH (root word ‘AM’) Exodus 3:14

Second YH-H (root word reversed, compare to YH-WH) Exodus 3:15

Now add in the missing ‘Aleph’ to the root from the first, and the missing ‘W’ from the root of the second,

EH-YH ‘E’ represents the Hebrew letter ‘Aleph’

YH-WH ‘W’ represents the Hebrew letter ‘Vav’

Do you see it? The ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Vav’ are one and the same. And because the letter ‘Aleph’ is a place holder for vowels, we know that these both represent vowels, in fact they represent the same vowel.

For now, let’s look at the pronoun change

EH-YH The ‘Aleph’ (E) is a known pronoun meaning ‘I’

YH-WH The ‘Yud’ (Y) is a known pronoun meaning ‘he’

Why does God change it from first person to 3rd person? Here is a simplified version of this conversation in Exodus 3:14-15 to help you understand.

“Tell them I sent you. When you speak to them say ‘He’ sent me.”

Moses needs to understand that God’s name is a statement of being, not a fixed name. If Moses were to go to the Israelites and proclaim the ‘I’ form then Moses would be referring to himself and claiming to be their God. It was imperative that Moses referred to God as a separate person but still convey the statement of being which God describes Himself as.

This 3rd person singular form tetragram with present, past, and future tenses all being conveyed at the same time can be seen in the New Testament,

"John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from HIM WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne" Revelation 1:4

If you have ever wondered why this was said, now you know! 'Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come' is the very meaning of YHWH. We see this again when YHWH Himself gives more explanation to the meaning of the tetragram,

"‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, the Almighty.’" Revelation 1:8

In the Old Testament, the tetragram letters ‘YHWH’ were read by the Hebrews who understood this verb tense and its three meanings. In the continuation called the New Testament, we see that God and His disciples gave His tetragram name in translation so the Gentiles could also understand. God also expands on the translation by saying He is the beginning and the end, thereby giving context to the tetragram and its meaning.

So how are YHWH and EHYH pronounced? We only need to find one or the other because they both have the same sounds but in reverse.

Starting with the ‘YH’, we find that this is a stand-alone short form of YHWH that is found 49 times in the bible. Only once is it translated and written as “YAH” instead of “LORD” (in the NKJV) and “JAH” (in the KJV) in Psalm 68:4 below,

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, and rejoice before Him” Psalm 68:4

‘YH’ is Strong’s H3050 and the given pronunciation is ‘Yaw’. Its pronunciation has been preserved in the word ‘HalleluYAH’ (examples Revelation 19:1, Psalms 104:35) meaning ‘Praise YHWH’. It is not pronounced “Ya” as in “yak” but “Yaw” as in “yawn”.

So we have one of the parts to both names.

YHWH (YawH WH) and EHYH (EH YawH)

The root word ‘haw yaw’ (HYH) confirms that this pronunciation is correct, and we can insert the ‘haw’ part of the names also,

YHWH (YawH W Haw) and EHYH (E Haw YawH)

Now we need that mysterious vowel sound. The ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Vav’ make the same vowel sound, but which one? Although the ‘Aleph’ can represent any of the vowel sounds, the ‘Vav’ has only two vowel sounds. It can be the ‘o’ as in ‘note’ or the ‘oo’ as in ‘root’. This excludes the present day use of the ‘E’ sound that is accepted conventionally.

Thankfully, both sounds have been preserved in related biblical Hebrew names. Although the name YHWH wasn’t spoken, many Hebrew names with YHWH’s name embedded in them have been preserved in speech.

Here are some examples,

“So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” Exodus 17:13

The Hebrew name translated to “Joshua” is Strong’s H3091 “Yehoshua”, transliterated yᵊhôšûaʿ, pronounced yeh-ho-shoo'-ah.

(The “yeh” part doesn’t have an ‘e’ vowel, it is instead like an apostrophe meaning there is a lack of vowel there, “Y’hoshua”. When you say it, there is a natural ‘e’ sound as you pronounce the ‘y’.)

Note: ‘Yehoshua’ means “YHWH is salvation”. This is most likely the original Hebrew name of Jesus.

In that name we have both the ‘o’ and the ‘oo’ sound, however, the ‘o’ comes immediately after YH. There are many similar names in the bible that use an ‘o’ sound such as:

Jehoash, Jehoiachin, Jehoiada, Jehoiakim, Jehoiarib, Jehonadab, Jehonathan, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, Jehosheba, Jehozabad, and Jehozadak. And there are some very important names in the bible that also use the ‘o’ sound like Job, Noah, Obed, and John (Yohanan). However, there are also less desirable names like Moab

And…there are also names with the ‘oo’ sound, such as:

Judah (Yehuda), Jehu, Jehubbah, Jehucal, Jehud, Jehudijah.

The ‘u’ ending is a remnant of the Babylonian language. The ‘u’ ending was given to masculine singular nouns. Originally the ending was ‘um’, but eventually the ‘m’ was dropped. Moses spelled YHWH without an ‘m’ so we know it was not part of His Name. Many Babylonian names ended in ‘u’. Looking back at my previous post we can see that all the Babylonian month names ended in ‘u’: Nisanu, Ayaru, Simanu, Duʾuzu, Abu, Ululu, Tashritu, Arakhsamna, Kislimu, Tebetu, Shabatu, and Adaru. So although those Hebrew names were comprised of ‘YH’ and ‘u’, the ‘u’ is just a masculine singular designation.

However, the first use of the ‘YH’ and ‘o’ or ‘u’ combination that I could find was the name Judah. The Hebrew name is Yehuda. Abraham was from Babylon so even though Hebrew developed as a Babylonian dialect, the basic structure was still there. As a result, when Leah named Judah, she combined YHWH’s name with the word for ‘praise’. YHWH was shortened to YH, then the masculine singular designation ‘u’ was added, and then the end of yawdah (praise) was added, creating Y’hudah, which should be translated as ‘praise YHWH’. (Note: This is very fitting, as all who follow YHWH became known as ‘Jews’ which comes from this name ‘Judah’ because we all praise YHWH, and technically that includes all Christians who truly follow YHWH)

Over time, the ‘u’ seems to have changed to an ‘o’ sound. Both Sumerian and Akkadian, of which the Babylonian language came from, do not have an ‘o’ vowel sound, only a ‘u’. The answer is clear, although the ‘o’ sound is indicated, the ‘o’ sound was previously the ‘u’ sound and this ‘u’ sound completes His name. Inserting the ‘u’ sound, the two names become,

YHWH (YawH u Haw ) and EHYH (u Haw YawH)

To break down the transformation visually, it looks like this,

EHYH = EH YH = E + H+ YH = vowel + H root + YH root = u + haw + yawh

YHWH = YH WH = YH + W + H = YH root + vowel + H root = yawh + u + haw

There are no hard consonants in God’s name, it is pronounced like a breath. In fact, His name is the sound of breathing. You would say ‘YHWH’ like a whisper, ‘YawHooHaw’, with the ‘h’ sounds not pronounced individually but running through the syllables as one continuous ‘Yawhooahhhh’, like an exhalation. You could see it as ‘Yaw’ being the soft inhalation, and hooahhhh as being the exhalation. And in reverse, the breath is still a breath. HooahhhhYawhhhh.

“After the earthquake came a fire, but YHWH was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave….” 1Kings 19:12-13

His name is a gentle whisper, He is the breath of life and His name reflects this, His name is a long soft breath. You could describe Him as the one who breathes, the life. He gave that breath, that life, to us when He breathed into Adam. In fact, the very sound of breathing testifies to His name.

When God gave His breath to Adam, making Adam alive, God's gift of breath was memorialized as His name YHWH, as Adam would call Him. This is why the verb is ‘to be/exist’. Every time we take a breath, we are testifying to the one who gave us life by proclaiming His name. Even an atheist cannot help but proclaim God's name, for each human on average breathes about 20,000 times a day!

In fact, when Adam named Eve, he used the same verb because she would pass this breath/life to her children,

"And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all the living." Genesis 3:20

Adam used the root of the form ‘YHWH’, ‘HWH’, but hardened the first letter from a Hebrew letter Hey, to the Hebrew letter Chet. This letter is an ‘H’ sound but instead of a soft easy sound, it is like the ‘ch’ in the name of the composer Bach. It’s like a choking sound in the back of the throat, compare from His ‘H-WH’ (H-ooah) to her ‘CH-WH’ (Ch-ooah). Although scholars are advocating a consonant ‘v’ sound (the ‘Vav’ consonant form) for HWH equalling EVE, this is incorrect as this was also a vowel ‘u’ sound, her name was Chooah.

Adam understood that Eve would pass the breath of God to her children. Some scholars believe the letter Chet’s original meaning was 'to separate' (paleo Hebrew letter chet resembles a wall), and if you add the meaning of breath as is given in her name, it demonstrates how the breath passes from the mother to the infant, a separation occurs. The mother does the breathing for both of them, then the infant separates from both the body and the breath, then there is a brief moment where there is no breath, and then the infant starts breathing. The sound of YHWH has the breath flowing easily. With CHWH, the breath starts with difficulty, strikingly similar to how the first breath starts for an infant as they choke on fluid during there first breaths. This is a great demonstration of how the biblical names can have many depths of meaning when looking at the possible meanings of the original representations which became letters.

So how did the ‘u’ sound become a ‘v’ sound? This is easily explained if you look at the name Noah where the ‘o’ is also the letter ‘vav’. When you transition from ‘o’ to ‘a’, you create a ‘w’ sound, ‘Nowah’. This is the consonant sound that became associated with the ‘vav’. Over time the ‘w’ transitioned to a ‘v’, as they are very similar in the mechanics of moving the mouth to pronounce the sound. Some languages still have not developed a ‘v’ sound, so when people of those languages try to pronounce an English word like ‘vegetable’ they say ‘wegetable’.

God’s beautiful name is a whispered breath, but why did our Creator’s name disappear from the spoken language?

The Hebrews decided that saying God’s name was too risky. They were so afraid of violating the third commandment that they deleted the entire present tense of ‘To Be’ from their language. Here is the 3rd commandment,

"Thou shalt not take the name of the YHWH thy God in vain; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Exodus 20:7

The Hebrews decided that the form ‘I AM’ was too dangerous to keep in the spoken language considering the commandment and the wrath of God, so a decision was made to remove it permanently from their language. No Hebrew would ever dare to say the sacred words ‘I AM’ given in Exodus 3:14. To this very day, the present tense of the verb ‘to be’ is missing in Hebrew. This is why it was such a powerful statement when Christ said ‘I AM’,

"‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!’ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds." John 8:58-59

That shocking statement was considered so blasphemous that they attempted to stone Him to death because He was claiming to be God.

At the end, when they came to arrest Jesus, they all knew of the constant miracles He had performed, the amazing insights He had taught (none of their biblical experts could challenge Him), and that He was known to be the prophesied Messiah. They knew He had great power. He could raise the dead, heal all manner of wounds and conditions, and cast out demons with a word. One could understand why they were so nervous attempting to arrest Him, and then once again He uses the sacred name for which was absolutely forbidden to say, and in doing so He powerfully proclaimed once again that He was God. Their reaction says it all,

"When Jesus said, ‘I AM he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground." John 18:6

Imagine the terror of the crowd, the thoughts that may have been going through their heads, ‘Am I arresting the Son of God?’, ‘Is He going to curse me?’, ‘Is He going to call fire down from heaven?’, ‘Am I going to die?’ They were clearly terrified and thought they were about to be struck down by God.

YHWH is the Living God, the breath of all life, and His name proclaims it, and we proclaim it with every breath, twice given life.

"And YHWH God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Genesis 2:7

"And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" John 20:22

So there you have it. The mystery of the tetragram is revealed, YHWH, the breath of life.

And regarding the Jewish man-made rule of never saying YHWH’s name, this is one of their many rules that do a disservice to God. By deleting His name, you never give Him the glory He deserves. Using a generic ‘God’ or ‘LORD’ or the Jewish ‘Hashem’ (meaning ‘The Name’) is very vague and leads others to think that many other false religions worship the same god, but they don’t. There is only one true God, and He gave us true instructions. He is the God revealed to the Hebrews, and He has a name.

David called Him by YHWH in the Psalms he sung which were made for us to sing as well. The commandment is to make sure we are not using His name in a common way but giving reverence and honor and glory, as He deserves. And no, you cannot claim breathing is using His name in vain, every breath testifies and glorifies our creator, YHWH! So do not delete His name from your vocabulary, but include it in your reading of the bible so there is no question as to which God did these things, say it out loud when you praise Him so that every one knows who the only living true God is, let all the glory go to our great King, YHWH!

“Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation SAY CONTINUALLY, ‘YHWH be magnified!’” Psalm 40:16