To Know Almighty God’s Personal Name – Why It Matters

To Know Almighty God’s Personal Name – Why It Matters

As theologian Walter Lowrie wrote, “A man who does not know God by name does not really know him as a person.”

How true this is since people on earth worship many different gods and goddesses such as Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Athena, Allah, Krishna, Shiva, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Ashtoreth, Baal, Moleth, Baphomet, Thor; Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manat (daughter goddesses of Allah), etc. But only one God is real and the Creator of all there is and Exodus 6:3 tells his name as follows, “and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them.” [American Standard Version; ASV]. And Malachi 3:16 - 17 states, “Then they that feared Jehovah spake one with another; and Jehovah hearkened, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon his name. 17 And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, even mine own possession, in the day that I make; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” [ASV].

In fact Romans 10:13 states, “For being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” [ASV]; therefore, clearly showing the state of affairs that exist among most of earth’s inhabitants today. They have established many false religions to flatter themselves, but fail to subject themselves to the righteousness of Almighty God (YHWH). It is imperative that individuals give thought in these critical days that we begin to trust in the true God, per Isaiah 41:13 which states, “For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” [ASV]. We should be driven to worship Almighty God (YHWH) out of love and not out of fear; why, for as 1 John 4:8 shows about our Creator that he, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” [ASV].

How has the Creator’s great love for mankind been made known? 1 John 4:9 - 10 gives the answer, “Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” [ASV].

Yes, he loved mankind so much that he sent his Son, Jesus (Yeshua) Christ to earth to save all obedient mankind. As Jesus (Yeshua) Christ said at John 14:29, “Ye heard how I said to you, I go away, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father: for the Father is greater than I.” [ASV]. Also, he told one of his followers at John 20:13, “Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.” [ASV].

Obviously, it is impossible to really love someone who it is impossible to know or understand; therefore, to that end Almighty God (YHWH) has lovingly provided the Bible written by approximately 40 scribes/prophets under inspiration.

CONCLUSION:

Almighty God (YHWH) never tried to hide his name or purpose from humans, but sought to make them knowledgeable of Him. To wit, as 1 Corinthians 14:33 states, “for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,” [ASV]. He has not hidden his identity from us as brought out at John 4:22 - 24, “Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” [ASV].

In fact, His book of guidance, the Bible, had over 40 individual writers who wrote under divine inspiration/guidance putting the thoughts of Almighty God (YHWH) into the words of men much as transcribing secretaries today taking transcription and then later typing it out. In other words one real author, God (YHWH), and many scribes each of whom wrote in his own style over a period of approximately 1,600 years. All of what people call or consider inconsistencies are really not such, but most often just a problem of translation and/or understanding, i.e., lack of understanding of what the original writer writing in his own language and culture meant/said in his original writing. What is remarkable, is the writers over such a period of time all wrote in harmony when writers of today can only stay on track even over short periods of a few days and/or weeks at most. This fact of harmony over a period so great as to almost stagger the imagination.

Reference on name of Almighty God (YHWH)

Go to, http://w11.zetaboards.com/ReligiousTruths/topic/8255983/1/

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What Is Almighty God (YHWH) Personal Name?

INTRODUCTION:

Many do not know Almighty God (YHWH) personal name, and some even think his personal name is titles such as Lord, God, etc. due to failure to recognize the difference between a personal name and a title.

Yet others argue over how his personal name should be pronounced since in the original ancient Hebrew it consisted of four consonants now called the Tetragrammaton, and written in English as "YHWH." The truth of course is that arguing over how it should be pronounced is a fruitless pursuit as no one today knows how it was said in ancient times, and since it consisted of all consonants it really gives us no definitive answer with respect to how it should be pronounced. But the purpose of a personal name is to identify a particular person or being, the exact pronunciation is not the important thing; the important thing is whether it, regardless of pronunciation clearly identifies a particular person or being. In the case of "YHWH", the Tetragrammaton, it clearly identifies the Creator of all there is.

Yes some Bibles translate the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah, and others translate it as Yahweh or something similar.

The fact is, The most-and least-frequently occurring names found in the Hebrew Bible or in major English translations such as the King James Version (KJV) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
The four most popular one-word names are Yahweh (6,800 times); Elohim (2,600 times); Adonai (439 times); and El (238 times). But, Almighty God (YHWH) identified himself to Abraham at Exodus 6:3 an YHWH which many English translators in error translated as Jehovah, instead of more likely Yahweh or similar translations. Of course, it would be very unlikely that Jehovah could be the way his name was pronounced in ancient Hebrew as this language had no "J" sound.

In fact, the world's greatest living expert, Dr. Gérard Gertoux, President of the French Bible Society, has written an entire book on the subject, but does not give a definitive with respect to how it was pronounced in ancient times.

In recent years there have been a number of Sacred Name Bible Publications on the subject. So intense has this movement been that it has become almost common domain in religious education and institutions to reinsert forms of Almighty God (YHWH) personal name more in harmony with increasing understanding with regard to ancient Hebrew.

One Jewish source, Tsleeleem Shofar Qeheelah, said the following:

<<<" In Hebrew Scripture, we see that the Name Yehowah first appears in Genesis 2:4, which reads as follows: "These are the births of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that Yehowah 'Elohim made earth and heavens." Abraham, who is claimed by many religions the Hebrew, Muslim and Christian, to be their father, knew and called upon the Name. Please see Genesis 22:14; "And Abraham called the name of the place, 'Yehowah Yireh,' as it is said to this day, "On the mountain Yehowah provides." >In Exodus 3:14-15 we see that Moses was given his identification papers to go back into Egypt to bring out the nation Yisra'el. Yehowah sealed His plan with the Name when giving it to Moses so that He, Moses, could be identified as coming on behalf of Yehowah. The Yisra'elites in Egypt , although in slavery, would have known the Name. Exodus 3:14-15: And 'Elohim said to Moses, "I Am that which I Am." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Yisra'el, 'I Am has sent you." [source - Tsleeleem Shofar Qeheelah, Shofar Sounds,


Asher Intrater, in his article of April 12, 2007 called, "Yahweh or Yehovah" said,

<<<"... The root of the name YHVH in Hebrew means "to be." The letter V may well have been pronounced more like the sound W in ancient times. However, between the V or W pronunciation there is no difference in meaning, and therefore virtually no significance, in my opinion.

Biblical Hebrew was written only in consonants, as we see in the letters YHVH. Therefore, the main question of pronunciation concerns which vowel (points) to add to the consonants. The vowels can make a difference in the meaning. If we add the vowels - "e"-"o"-"a"- to the consonants, we receive the name YeHoVah...."[source - "Yahweh or Yehovah", by Asher Intrater, in his article of April 12, 2007, at http://revive-israel.org/2007/yahweh_yehovah.htm on 2/15/2008]>>>

Clearly shows the variations with respect how Almighty God (YHWH) personal name should be pronounced really have "no difference in meaning" in his opinion.

In fact, <<<" The majority of Bible versions have changed the holy Name to the titles God and Lord. You can restore it when you read the Scripture, however. In many King James Bibles, whenever you see the words LORD or LORD GOD in capital letters in the Old Testament, the Masoretic Hebrew Script has the Hebrew characters for Yahweh, hwhy.
[source - Yahweh's New Covenant Assembly, at http://www.ynca.com/Mini%20Studies/mistaken_j.htm on 02/15/2008]>>>.

MANY EXPERTS AND VERY CREDIBLE SOURCES HAVE WEIGHED IN ON THE SUBJECT:

Many very credible sources have weighed in on the subject, some of which are as follows, in brief:

The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text, A New Translation, Jewish Publication Society of America, Max Margolis editor-in-chief: At Exodus 6:3 the Hebrew Tetragrammaton appears in the English text.

The Church of God Daily Bible Study, What Is God's Name?, by Wayne Blank, at http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/20020610.htm on 02/15/2007]

American Heritage Dictionary: "Yahweh_A name for God assumed by modern scholars to be a rendering of the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton."

The Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance: "Jehovah_ the name revealed to Moses at Horeb. Its real pronunciation is approximately Yahweh."

The International Bible Encyclopedia of King James Version: "Jehovah - It is believed that the correct pronunciation of this word is 'Yahweh.'"

Davis Dictionary of the Bible: "Jehovah - The Tetragrammaton is generally believed to have been pronounced Jahweh, Yahweh..." [Source - http://www.yaim.org/missing_j.htm]

"The Jehovah's Witness' 1984 booklet, "The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever", writes on page 7 that, "The truth is, nobody knows for sure how the name of God was originally pronounced.""
[Source - http://www.logon.org/english/s/p240.html].

"The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, vol. 14, page 1065, after discussing the usual meanings given to God's name, states: "All these explanations, however, overlook the fact that in Ex 3:14 a merely folk etymology of the name, based on the qal form of the verb `to be,' is given. Grammatically, because of its vocalization, yahweh can only be a hi`phil or causative form of this verb, with the meaning `He causes to be, He brings into being.' Probably, therefore, yahweh is an abbreviated form of the longer, yahweh aser yihweh, `He brings into being whatever exists.' The name, therefore, describes the God of Israel as the Creator of the universe."

And in fact, the Son of Almighty God (YHWH), Jesus' (Yeshua's) name actually contains his Father's name according to numerous credible publications as follows:

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion: "Jesus (The Name) -Matthew's Gospel explains it as symbolic of His mission, 'For He will save His people from their sins.' This agrees with its popular meaning as 'Yahweh saves...'" p. 1886.

"In some way, various modern peoples who received the J from the Romans have lost the original sound, and have substituted something very different. We retain the former sound in our word 'hallelujah,' but we generally give the letter the disagreeable soft sound of G. Yod is the initial of the name Jesus. It is unfortunate that a name so dear and so sacred is pronounced in a manner so different from that of the original word. The latter sounded very much as if it were Yashoo-ah, and was agreeable to the ear. Our sounds of J and hard S are the most disagreeable in our language, and they are both found in our pronunciation of this short name, although they did not exist in its original," pp. 122-123.
[source - http://www.ynca.com/Mini%20Studies/mistaken_j.htm on 02/15/2008]

The Anchor Bible Dictionary: "Jesus [Gk. Iesous]. Several persons mentioned in the Bible bear this name, which is a Greek form of Joshua (Heb. Yehosua; cf. the Gk of Luke 3:29; Acts 7:45; Heb. 4:...'Jesus Christ' is a composite name made up of the personal name 'Jesus' (from the Gk Iesous, which transliterates Heb/Aram yesu(a), a late form of Hebrew yehosua, the meaning of which is 'YHWH is salvation' or 'YHWH saves/has saved')..." (III, p. 773).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature: "Import of the Name. -There can be no doubt that Jesus is the Greek form of a Hebrew name...Its original and full form is Jehoshua (Num. 13:16). By contraction it became Joshua, or Jeshua; and when transferred into Greek, by taking the termination characteristics of that language, it assumed the form Jesus" (vol. 4, pp. 873-874)..

The New International Dictionary of The Christian Church: "Jesus Christ, The Founder of Christianity bore 'Jesus' (the Greek form of Joshua or Jeshua) as His personal name; 'Christ' (Gk. Christos, 'anointed') is the title given Him by His followers..." (p.531).

The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia: "Jesus (Iesous) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew 'Joshua' (ucwhy, Yehoshua) meaning 'Jehovah is salvation.' It stands therefore in the LXX and Apoc for 'Joshua,' and in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 likewise represents the OT 'Joshua.' In Mt. 1:21 the name is commanded by the angel to be given to the son of Mary, 'for it is he that shall save his people from their sins...It is the personal name of the L-rd in the Gospels and in the Acts...'" (Vol. 3, p.1626).

Mercer Dictionary of the Bible: "Jeshua: An Aramaic form of the name Joshua, meaning 'Yahweh is salvation.' It occurs only in postexilic biblical literature, which supports the later origin of the name. Joshua, the son of Nun, is referred to in one passage as Jeshua (Neh. 8:17)" (p.444).

Newberry Reference Bible (on Matt. 1:24): "Jesus, Heb. Joshua, or Jehoshua. Compare Num. 13:8, 16, where 'Oshea,' verse 8, signifying 'Salivation,' is altered in v.16 to 'Jehoshua,' 'the Salvation of Jehovah,' or 'Jehovah the Savior.'"

Holman Bible Dictionary: "Jesus Christ: Greek form of Joshua and of title meaning 'Yahweh is salvation' and 'the anointed one' or 'Messiah.'" (p.775).

New International Dictionary of the New Testament Theology, "OT Iesous is the Gk. Form of the OT Jewish name Yesua, arrived at by transcribing the Heb. And adding an -s to the nominative to facilitate declension. Yesua (Joshua) seems to have come into general use about the time of the Babylonian exile in place of the older Yehosua. The LXX rendered both the ancient and more recent forms of the name uniformly as Iesous. Joshua the son of Nun, who according to the tradition was Moses' successor and completed his work in the occupation of the promised land by the tribes of Israel, appears under this name...It is the oldest name containing the divine name Yahweh, and means 'Yahweh is help' or 'Yahweh is salvation' (cf. the verb yasa, help save). Joshua also appears in one post-exilic passage in the Heb. OT (Neh. 8:17) as Yesua the son of Nun, and not as in the older texts, Yehosua" (Vol. 2, pp.330-331).

The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary: "The given name Jesus means 'savior,' it is the Greek equivalent of Jeshua (Heb. Yesua, from yehosua 'Yahweh saves' [=Joshua]. Christ is the title, indicating that he is the 'anointed one,' the Messiah from Hebrew masiah)." ..."Jeshua (Heb. Yesua 'Yahweh is salvation')" (p.573).

The Bible Almanac: "The name Jesus (which is identical with Joshua and means 'God is Savior') emphasizes His role as the Savior of His people (Mat. 1:21). Christ is the New Testament equivalent of Messiah, a Hebrew word meaning 'anointed one'..." (p.522).

The Classic Bible Dictionary (Jay P. Green), page 633, under Jesus: "Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew 'Joshua,' meaning 'Jehovah is salvation.' It stands therefore in the LXX and Apocrypha for 'Joshua,' and in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 likewise represents the OT Joshua."
Author Green also comments on the Greek word "Christ:" "Christ (Christos) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah, meaning anointed."
Thus we see that the Savior's name as well as the descriptive title "Messiah" have been undermined and appear in Greek in changed form. Our Savior has been stripped of His Israelite roots.

The SDA Bible Dictionary, page 565: "Jesus Christ [Gr. Iesous] (a transliteration of the Aramaic Yeshua, from the Heb. Yehoshua, 'Joshua,' meaning 'Yahweh is Salvation'), Christos (a translation of the Heb. Mashiach, 'Messiah,' meaning anointed or anointed One).] The English form 'Jesus' comes from the Latin."

In Strange Facts About the Bible, author Garrison notes on page 81: "In its English form, 'Jesus' goes back to church Latin Iesus which is a transliteration of the Greek Iesous. But in its original Hebrew form it was Y'hoshua ('Yahweh saves'), frequently abbreviated to Joshua..."

Ian Wilson's Jesus: The Evidence, says on page 66; "'Yeshua', as Jesus would actually have been addressed, means 'God saves', and is merely a shortened form of the more old fashioned 'Yehoshua ('Joshua' of the Old Testament)."

New Bible Dictionary (edited by J.D. Douglas) reads under Jesus: "The name Jesus is not strictly a title for the person who bore it. It is, however, a name with a meaning, being a Greek form of 'Joshua', i.e. 'Yahweh is salvation'. The NT writers were well aware of this meaning (Mt. 1:21). The name thus indicated the function which was ascribed to Jesus, and this later found expression in the title Saviour..." (p.584).

A Dictionary of the Bible, by James Hastings: "Jesus -the Greek form (Ihsous) of the name Joshua (ucwhy) or Jeshua. Jeshua - Yahweh is salvation or Yahweh is opulence" (pp.603-602).

New International Dictionary of the Christian Church: "Jesus Christ, The Founder of Christianity bore 'Jesus' (the Greek form of Joshua or Jeshua) as His personal name; 'Christ' (Gk. christos, 'anointed') is the title given Him by His followers..." (p. 531).

The greatest living expert on the subject of Almighty God (YHWH) personal name, Dr. Gérard Gertoux
President, Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits, said in an abstract on September 2003 about his book devoted to the subject, the following:

<<<"God's name, which one finds about 7000 times in the Bible under the form YHWH, possesses the unique and remarkable circumstance of not having been vocalized by nearly all translators. With this name being unpronounceable under its written form YHWH, some overconfident (or overzealous?) translators refused to confirm this paradox and preferred to vocalize it with an approximated form. Obviously, in every case, the proposed vocalizations were very rigorously criticized. A review of the past twenty centuries will allow us to appreciate the reasonings which favored or opposed the vocalization of God's name and to understand the origin of the controversy and the paradox of a name which can be written without being able to read it aloud.

<Before our common era.>
The first translation of the Bible, called the Septuagint, was made by Jews at the beginning of the third century before our era. However, out of superstitious respect, these translators preferred to keep the Tetragram YHWH written in Hebrew within the Greek text. There was, however, one exception: a Jewish translator who preferred to insert it under the vocalized form Iaô (Iaw), which became well known at this time because the historians Varro and Diodorus Siculus quoted it in their books (History I:94:2; Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum). In spite of these precise testimonies, the form of Iaô found limited use and was very often slandered: a paradox of magnitudes. The great prophet Jeremiah explained that the objective of the false prophets was to cause people to forget the Name (Jr 23:27), an attempt nevertheless dedicated to be defeated (Ps 44:20; 21) because God reserves his Name for his servants (Is 52:6) and naturally for those who appreciate it (Mal 3:16). Abraham, who is the father of those who have faith, took pleasure in proclaiming this Name according to Genesis 12:8 and initiated a respectable biblical custom.

Furthermore, according to the prophet Joel, it is even obligatory to proclaim this Name in order to be saved during the great and formidable day of God (Jl 2:32). According to Exodus 23:13, refusal to pronounce a god's name is a refusal to worship the god in question, so refusal to pronounce the True God's name means a refusal to worship him (Jos 23:7). In spite of these exactitudes, the translators of the Septuagint self-justified their choice not to vocalize the Name, even going so far as to modify the verses of Leviticus 24:15, transforming them into : "(Š) a man who will curse God will bring the offence, but in order to have named the name of the Lord, he would have to die absolutely, the entire assembly of Israel should stone him with stones; the alien resident as the native, in order to have named the name of the Lord, he would have to die absolutely."

Paradoxically, as noted by Philo, a Jewish philosopher of the first century, to name God was worse than to curse him (De Vita Mosis II:203-206). The Talmud points out that they had started to remove these names (Yah, Yahu) that had been stamped on jars in order to protect their holiness ('Arakin 6a; Shabbat 61b). Out of respect, the Name was to be avoided in conversation, as proven by these remarks from Jewish books written in the second century BCE: "Do not accustom into the habit of naming the Holy One" and "someone who is continually swearing and uttering the Name will not be exempt from sin" (Si 23:9,10). It was held that the privilege of pronouncing the Name was strictly reserved for use inside the Temple (Si 50:20) and that it should not be communicated to foreigners (Ws 14:21).">>>.

THE TECHNICAL WITH RESPECT "J":

One anonymous scholar said,

<<<"... Because there is no J sound in the Hebrew, the prefix "Je" does not exist in Hebrew. The combination word "Jesus" is not Greek, it's not Hebrew. In fact, it is completely without philological meaning in any language. Yet, Gabriel told Mary and Joseph that the Messiah's Name, being given from the very highest Authority in the heavens, was special. It had a specific connotation, a precise and very important MEANING. The angel said He would be given this Name because "He shall save His people from their sins." Scholars acknowledge that the name given through Gabriel was the Hebrew Yahshua. (See any good study Bible with marginal notes on Matt. 1:21 and Luke 1:31, as well as the Biblical sources listed here.) "Yahshua" means "Yahweh is salvation."
It must be noted that whenever a message was given from on high, it was to those who understood Hebrew, which is called by some the "heavenly language." Thus, when the angel told Joseph, a Jew, that the Savior would be born of Mary, a Jewess, that he was to call the baby a specific name, this name would hardly have been a Latin-Greek name such as Jesus! How His name came to us as Jesus in our English Bible such as the King James instead of Yahshua is interesting.
The Savior's true Name in Hebrew letters look like this: ucwhy. Read from right to left, as in all Semitic languages, His Name begins with a (y) (known in English Bibles as "jot," Mat. 5:18, but in the Hebrew is the yothe or yod).
Yothe carries the sound of i as in machine. This "ee" sound is then followed by an a, which is much like an "ah" sound. This diphthong is pronounced "ee-ah" or "Yah," which is the short form of the Heavenly Father's name "Yah-weh." We see it in the suffix "halleluYah" and in the names of many people of Scripture (IsaYah, JeremiYah, ObadiYah, ZechariYah, ZephaniYah, etc.).
Add the suffix "shua" (meaning "salvation") and we have Yahshua, the "Salvation of Yah."

That the language spoken was Hebrew is clear from Matthew 1:23, where the Savior is referred to as Emmanuel, a purely Hebrew word meaning "El with us," and is so transliterated for us in that passage.

You can see for yourself that the name of your Savior was Yahshua by referring to Strong's Concordance Greek Dictionary. Look up the name "Jesus" in Strong's, which shows that it first appears in Matthew 1:1, with the reference No. 2424. Turn to the Greek Dictionary in the back of Strong's (Greek, because it is in the New Testament)...">>>

<<<"Yahshua, like His contemporaries, most likely spoke Hebrew, Bivin, the director for the Jerusalem School for the Study of the Gospels, also believes that the original account of Yahshua's life was written in Hebrew, not Greek of Aramaic. In addition, he and his Jerusalem scholars agree that by considering the Evangels Hebraic, many textual difficulties are cleared up, strongly suggesting that the Evangels were first written in Hebrew.

Even Martin Luther recognized the Hebrew roots of the New Testament. He wrote in Tischreden, "Although the New Testament was written in Greek, it is full of Hebraisms and Hebrew expressions. It has therefore been aptly said that the Hebrews drink from the spring, the Greeks from the stream that flows from it, and the Latins from the downstream pool" (translated by Pinchas E. Lapide in Hebrew in the Church, p.10).

Where is the justification for changing the Savior's Name? Even in a Greek context, there is no J or J sound in the Koine or in any Greek dialect known. The Greek New Testament of the Bible provides the basis for our present Latin and English translations. Obviously the J came from another source, as Greek has no phonetic equivalent of the letter J in its 24 characters of the alphabet. Neither does Hebrew. The words judge, journal, jack, jam, jet, jog, etc., likely would all be spelled beginning with the Greek iota (English I) and would be pronounced as "ee." In English the letter j would be replaced by the letter i. We would read iudge, iournal, iack, iam, iet, iog, etc. Some orthographers would prefer that these examples begin with today's letter y instead of i.
We cannot ignore the fact that there was no letter J in ANY language until around the 15th century, and therefore must conclude that the name "Jesus" never existed before 500 years ago. Let us not forget that we read from a Hebrew Bible. It is the account of Yahweh's dealing with His people Israel. Yahweh spoke to a people who understood Hebrew. Yahweh is the Mighty One of the Hebrews. Remember also that there was no Jew before the time of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. So the Sacred Name is not Jewish.
The seeker of truth must not shy from the Hebrew roots of true Biblical faith, for we are children of Abraham, a Hebrew (Gen. 14:13). Hebrew means to "cross over," and we are to "cross over" the falsity and error of this world and join in pure worship of Yahweh and His Son Yahshua." [source - September 12, 1986 issue of The Washington Times, in an article by David Bivin]>>>.

THE RESTORATION OF ALMIGHTY GOD (YHWH) NAME MOVEMENT:

At the present time many religious groups are quite active with respect restoring Almighty God (YHWH) personal name in new Bible translations and religious writings. The first Bible translations to do so were as follows, using Exodus 6:3 as an example scripture:

And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as the Almighty *God; but by my name Jehovah I was not made known to them. (DARBY 1884 VERSION; DARBY).

and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH I was not known to them. (English Revised Version; ERV).

and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Jehovah {The Hebrew word (four Hebrew letters: HE, VAV, HE, YOD,) remained in the English text untranslated; the English word 'Jehovah' was substituted for this Hebrew word. The footnote for this Hebrew word is: "The ineffable name, read Adonai, which means the Lord."} I made Me not known to them. (1917 Jewish Publication Society Old Testament)

and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. (American Standard Version; ASV).

I appeared, therefore, unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as GOD Almighty,--although, by my name Yahweh, was I not made known to them; (Rotherham Bible of 1902; RB).

And I used to appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but as respects my name Jehovah I did not make myself known to them. (New World Translation; NWT).

Yo me aparecí a Abraham, a Isaac y a Jacob como Dios Todopoderoso; pero con mi nombre Jehovah no me di a conocer a ellos. (Spanish, 1989 Reina-Valera Actualizida; RVA89)

y me aparecí a Abraham, a Isaac y a Jacob como Dios Omnipotente, mas en mi Nombre el SEÑOR (YHWH) no me notifiqué a ellos. (1999 Segradas Escritures Version Antigua, SEV).

and I appear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; as to My name Jehovah, I have not been known to them; (Young's Literal Translation; YLT).

Now here is a foreword on one of the latest Bibles to restore the sacred name,

<<<"Sacred Name Bible, SNB, 1976, published by the Tyndale House, Cambridge, UK.

This is a revision of the Rotherham Version. Since many people have been misinformed concerning the true name of the Most High and His Son, this revised version's aim is to bring to light a clearer and deeper understanding of this wonderful Name which has been suppressed for many years. This version concerns the True Name and Titles of the Creator and His Son. The Name of the Heavenly Father or His Son is given in capital letters. The pronoun standing for the Name begins with a capital. It is not the first version to bring out the Name and the Titles of the Creator and His Son.

The Hebrew reader could see YHWH as reverently transcribed by the Hebrew copyist, but was instructed not to pronounce it. However, he could utter a less sacred name, e.g., Adonay, Elohim, and El. When LORD and GOD are printed with small capitals, they stand for the Name. Otherwise, they do not.

The Name was suppressed because of the fear that it is too holy to be pronounced. This fear sprang from interpretations of Exodus 20: 7 and Leviticus 24: 16. This version is restoring the Name because of an interpretation of Isaiah 52: 6.
The King James Version forms of paragraphing and center references are used."[source - http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/bible/versions/snb.htm, on 2/15/2008] >>>

Interestingly in this Bible, the Sacred Name Bible, John 1:1-3 was rendered as follows:

John 1: 1 - 3, "Originally was the Word, and the Word was with YAHVAH; and the Word was YAHVAH.
The same was originally with YAHVAH. All things through Him came into existence, and without Him came into existence not even one thing: that which hath come into existence." Herein, committing an error of logic and grammar in saying the Word, Jesus (Yeshua) was with his Father, Yahvah, and then saying the Word was his Father, Yahwah, which of course is not possible as you can not be with someone and be that someone also clearly showing a bad translation by Trinitarians who had to translate badly or expose their false doctrine for what it is; to wit, Almighty God (YHWH) dishonoring false pagan doctrine.

The Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, says of one group trying to restore the divine personal name, the following,

<<<" Yahweh's Restoration Ministry is a Christian religious organization based in Holts Summit, MO. Their stated goal is to return to Bible teachings that have been neglected through the centuries.
The ministry was founded in 1999 by Alan Mansager, a long-time minister in the Sacred Name Movement and a presenter on the TV program Back to the Truth, which was seen across the country in the late 1990s.
Their main beliefs include the observance of the seventh day (Saturday) Sabbath, the annual Feasts of Leviticus 23, and the necessity of using the original Hebrew and Aramaic names of Yahweh for God and Yahshua for Jesus. They reject anything connected to paganism, which they believe includes celebration of holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Instead, they observe the Holy Days mentioned in the Old Testament such as Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.[source - Yahweh's Restoration Ministry, by Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]>>>.

CONCLUSION:

Of what many consider the closest pronunciation to the tetragrammaton, the personal name of Almighty God (YHWH), the Encyclopedia Britannica says,

<<<" Yahweh - the God of the Israelites, his name being revealed to Moses as four Hebrew consonants (YHWH) called the tetragrammaton. After the Exile (6th century BC), and especially from the 3rd century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal religion through its proselytizing in the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun Elohim, meaning "god," tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai ("My Lord"), which was translated as Kyrios ("Lord") in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.

The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries biblicalscholars again began to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh."[source - the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Yes, as can be seen, Almighty God's (YHWH's) should be restored in all new Bible translations in both the Old and New Testament. However, the exact pronunciation of it in ancient times is not the important thing, the important thing is using a personal name that clearly identifies Almighty God (YHWH) personal name, and the transliteration of it in various languages can take many forums such as the following:

YHVH YHWH Yahweh Yahveh Yaveh Yaweh Jehova Jehovah Jahova Jahovah Yahova Yahovah Yahowah Jahowa Jahowah Yahavah Jahavah Yahowe Yahoweh Jahaveh Jahaweh Yahaveh Yahaweh Jahuweh Yahuweh Jahuwah Yahuwah Yahuah Yah Jah Yahu Yahoo Yaohu Jahu Yahvah Jahvah Jahve Jahveh Yahve Yahwe Yauhu Yawhu Iahu Iahou Iahoo Iahueh
Jeshua, Yeshua, Yeshuah, Yehshua, Yehshuah, Yeshouah, Y'shua, Y'shuah, Jeshu, Yeshu, Yehoshua, Yehoshuah, YHVHShua, YHVHShuah, Yhvhshua, Yhwhshua, YHWHShua, YHWHShuah, Yhvhshuah, Yhwhshuah, Yahvehshua, Yahwehshua, Yahvehshuah, Yahwehshuah, Yawhushua,Yahawshua, Jahshua, Jahshuah, Jahshuwah, Jahoshua, Jahoshuah, Jashua, Jashuah, Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Yashua, Yashuah, Yahshua, Yahshuah, Yahushua, Yahushuah, Yahuahshua, Yahuahshuah, Yahoshua, Yahoshuah, Yaohushua, Yaohushuah, Yauhushua, Iahoshua, Iahoshuah, Iahushua, Iahushuah, YAHO-hoshu-WAH [source - RESTORATION OF THE SACRED NAME, A "Bible Revelations" Presentation , http://www.revelations.org.za/NotesS-Name.htm on 02/15/2008]

Here is a very interesting item received from a French Bible scholar on God's (YHWH's) name: [and its in English]

By Gérard Gertoux
President, Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscrits
September 2003
God's name, which one finds about 7000 times in the Bible under the form YHWH, possesses the unique and remarkable circumstance of not having been vocalized by nearly all translators. With this name being unpronounceable under its written form YHWH, some overconfident (or overzealous?) translators refused to confirm this paradox and preferred to vocalize it with an approximated form. Obviously, in every case, the proposed vocalizations were very rigorously criticized. A review of the past twenty centuries will allow us to appreciate the reasonings which favored or opposed the vocalization of God's name and to understand the origin of the controversy and the paradox of a name which can be written without being able to read it aloud.
BEFORE OUR COMMON ERA
The first translation of the Bible, called the Septuagint, was made by Jews at the beginning of the third century before our era. However, out of superstitious respect, these translators preferred to keep the Tetragram YHWH written in Hebrew within the Greek text. There was, however, one exception: a Jewish translator who preferred to insert it under the vocalized form Iaô (Iaw), which became well known at this time because the historians Varro and Diodorus Siculus quoted it in their books (History I:94:2; Antiquitates Rerum Divinarum). In spite of these precise testimonies, the form of Iaô found limited use and was very often slandered: a paradox of magnitudes. The great prophet Jeremiah explained that the objective of the false prophets was to cause people to forget the Name (Jr 23:27), an attempt nevertheless dedicated to be defeated (Ps 44:20; 21) because God reserves his Name for his servants (Is 52:6) and naturally for those who appreciate it (Mal 3:16). Abraham, who is the father of those who have faith, took pleasure in proclaiming this Name according to Genesis 12:8 and initiated a respectable biblical custom.
Furthermore, according to the prophet Joel, it is even obligatory to proclaim this Name in order to be saved during the great and formidable day of God (Jl 2:32). According to Exodus 23:13, refusal to pronounce a god's name is a refusal to worship the god in question, so refusal to pronounce the True God's name means a refusal to worship him (Jos 23:7). In spite of these exactitudes, the translators of the Septuagint self-justified their choice not to vocalize the Name, even going so far as to modify the verses of Leviticus 24:15, transforming them into : "(Š) a man who will curse God will bring the offence, but in order to have named the name of the Lord, he would have to die absolutely, the entire assembly of Israel should stone him with stones; the alien resident as the native, in order to have named the name of the Lord, he would have to die absolutely."
Paradoxically, as noted by Philo, a Jewish philosopher of the first century, to name God was worse than to curse him (De Vita Mosis II:203-206). The Talmud points out that they had started to remove these names (Yah, Yahu) that had been stamped on jars in order to protect their holiness ('Arakin 6a; Shabbat 61b). Out of respect, the Name was to be avoided in conversation, as proven by these remarks from Jewish books written in the second century BCE: "Do not accustom into the habit of naming the Holy One" and "someone who is continually swearing and uttering the Name will not be exempt from sin" (Si 23:9,10). It was held that the privilege of pronouncing the Name was strictly reserved for use inside the Temple (Si 50:20) and that it should not be communicated to foreigners (Ws 14:21).
FROM FIRST TO FIFTH CENTURY
Flavius Josephus, who understood the priesthood of this time very well, made it clear that at the time the Romans attacked the Temple the Jews called upon the fear-inspiring name of God (The Jewish War V:43 . He wrote he had no right to reveal this name to his reader (Jewish Antiquities II:275); however, he did give information of primary importance on the very pronunciation he wanted to conceal. However, in his work The Jewish War V:235, he stated: "The high priest had his head dressed with a tiara of fine linen embroidered with a purple border, and surrounded by another crown in gold which had in relief the sacred letters; these ones are four vowels." This description is excellent; moreover, it completes the one found in Exodus 28:36-39. However, as we know, there are no vowels in Hebrew but only consonants.
Regrettably, instead of explaining this apparent abnormality, certain commentators (influenced by the form Yahweh) mislead the readers of Josephus by indicating in a note that this reading was IAUE. Now, it is obvious that the "sacred letters" indicated the Tetragram written in paleo-Hebrew, not Greek. Furthermore, in Hebrew these consonants, Y, W, and H, do serve as vowels; they are, in fact, called "mothers of reading" (matres lectionis). The writings of Qumrân show that in the first century Y used as a vowel served only to indicate the sounds I and É, W served only for the sounds Ô and U, and a final H served for the sound A. These equivalences may be verified in thousands of words.
Additionally, the H was used as a vowel only at the end of words, never within them. So, to read the name YHWH as four vowels would be IHUA, that is IEUA, because between two vowels the H is heard as a slight E. Eusebius quoted a writer of great antiquity (before 1200 BCE?) called Sanchuniathon who spoke about the Jews in chapter four of his work entitled Phoenician History. Philo of Byblos translated this work into Greek at the beginning of our era, and Porphyry was familiar with it. Sanchuniathon maintained that he got his information from Ieroubal the priest of IÉÜÔ (Ieuw), that is the Jerubbaal found in Judges 7:1. According to Judges 7:1, Jerubbaal was the name of Judge Gideon who was a priest of Jehovah (Jg 6:26; 8:27), probably written IÉÜÔA (Ieuwa) in Greek.
Irenaeus of Lyons believed that the word IAÔ (Iaw in Greek, [Iah] in Latin) meant "Lord" in primitive Hebrew (Against Heresies II:24:2), and he esteemed that the use of this Hebrew word IAÔ to denote the Name of the unknown Father was intended to impress gullible minds in worship of mysteries (Against Heresies I:21:3). Furthermore, the Greek concept of an anonymous god, mainly supported by Plato, being mixed in with the Hebrew concept of the God with a personal name, engendered absolutely contradictory assertions. So, Clement of Alexandria wrote in his book (Stromateon V:34:5) that the Tetragram was pronounced Iaoue while writing and then later that God was without form and nameless (StromateonV:81:6).
In the same way, Philo a Jewish philosopher of the first century had good biblical knowledge and knew that the Tetragram was the divine name pronounced inside the temple, since he related: "there was a gold plaque shaped in a ring and bearing four engraved characters of a name which had the right to hear and to pronounce in the holy place those ones whose ears and tongue have been purified by wisdom, and nobody else and absolutely nowhere else" (De Vita Mosis II:114-132). However, in the same work, paradoxically, he explains, commenting on Exodus 3:14 from the LXX translation, that God has no name of his own (De Vita Mosis I:75).
The Christian translators (of heathen origin) not understanding Hebrew exchanged the Tetragram with Lord; Marcion in 140 C.E. even modified the expression "Let your Name be sanctified" into "Let your spirit be sanctified." On the other hand, some Christians (of Jewish origin) such as Symmachus kept the Tetragram written in Hebrew inside the Greek text (in 165). Eusebius clarified that Symmachus was an Ebionite, that is a Judeo-Christian, and that he had drafted a comment on Matthew's book (Ecclesiastical History VI:17). However, the Judeo-Christians were completely rejected after 135 of our era by the "Christians" as Jewish heretics.
Since the whole of translations were made according to the Septuagint, many readers ignored the problem of the vocalization of the Name. However, Jerome, who realized the first Latin translation directly from the Hebrew text, noted in his commentary on Psalm 8:2: "The name of the Lord in Hebrew has four letters, Yod He Waw He, which is the proper name of God which some people through ignorance, write P I P I (instead of h w h y) in Greek and which can be pronounced Yaho." Augustine of Hippo wrote around 400 that "Varro was rightly writing that the Jews worship the god Jupiter" (De consensu evangelistarum I:22). His remark proves that he probably confused the name of Jupiter (Ioue) with the Hebrew name of God Iaô, or perhaps Ioua.
FROM SIXTH TO ELEVENTH CENTURY
Some oriental Christians, due to their knowledge of the Hebraic language, prevented a complete disappearance of the name. Thus, Severi of Antioch used the form IÔA (Iwa) in a series of comments in chapter eight of John's gospel (Jn 8:5 , pointing out that it was God's name in Hebrew, a name that one finds also in the front pages of a codex of 6th century (Coislinianus) to assign the Invisible or the Unspeakable. It is interesting to note that Matthew's gospel in Hebrew was found in a work dated from the 6th to the 9th centuries (Nestor's book) and was attributed to the priest Nestorius, in which God's name appears under the Hebraic shape "The Name" (Hashem) instead of the usual "Lord." In commenting on a work of Severi of Antioch, the famous scholar James of Edesse made clear around 675 in a technical comment that the copyists of the Septuagint (of his time) were divided over whether to write the divine name Adonay and keep it within the Greek text in the form P I P I (corresponding in fact to the Hebrew name YHYH as he mentioned) or to translate it as Kurios and write it in the margin of the manuscript.
These quotations are exceptional, however, because even the famous translator Albinus Alcuini specified that although God's name was written Jod He Vau Heth, it was read Lord because this name was ineffable. Things began to change when translators again made translations directly from Hebrew and not from a translation. The first was doubtless the famous Karaite Yefet ben Eli who translated the Bible into Arabic. In copies of this translation (made around 960), one finds at times the Tetragram vocalized Yahwah (or Yahuwah), a normal transcription of the Hebrew shape Yehwah of this time (or Yahowah whom one finds in some codices within Babylonian punctuation) because in Arabic there are only three sounds: â, î, and û. The shape Yahuwah was apparently understood Yah Huwa "Oh He" in Arabic because it seems so in a manuscript dated 10th century.
Some famous imams, such as Abu-l-Qâsim-al-Junayd who died in 910 and now known as Fahr ad-Din Râzî, while knowing that God had 99 beautiful names explained that the supreme name (ism-al-a'zam) of God was Yâ Huwa not Allah. A follower of al-Junayd, the Soufi Husayn ibn Mansur al-Hallâj (857-922), asserted: "Here are the words of which sense seemed ambiguous. Know that temples hold by His Yâ-Huwah and that bodies are being moved by His Yâ-Sîn. Now Hû and Sîn are two roads which end into the knowledge of the original point." Yâ-Sîn is a reference to the Sura 36 and Yâ-huwah wrote y'hwh in Arabic and makes reference to the Hebrew Tetragram. Al-Hallâj was rejected as a madman by his teacher al-Junayd and was executed in Bagdad as a heretic.
IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY
The works of two Jewish scholars marked a decisive bend in the vocalization of God's name. In order to contend with influences of philosophy, Gnosticism, mystical, and even astrological beliefs which became increasingly influential [mainly due to the third century work entitled Sepher Yetsirah (Book of Forming) which speculated on the letters of the divine names], Maimonides, a Jewish scholar and famous talmudist, put forward a whole new definition of Judaism. His reasoning centered on the Name of God, the Tetragram, which was explained in his book entitled The Guide of the Perplexed, written in 1190. There he exposed the following powerful reasoning: the God of the philosophers did not require worship only polite acknowledgement of his existence since it would be impossible to establish relations with a nameless God (Elohim).
Then he proved that the Tetragram YHWH is the personal name of God, that is to say the name distinctly read (Shem hamephorash), which is different from all the other names such as Adonay, Shadday, Elohim (which are only divine titles having an etymology) because the Tetragram has no etymology. Maimonides knew well the problem of the pronunciation since Jewish tradition stated that it had been lost. On the other hand, he also knew that some Jews believed in the almost magical influence of the letters or the precise pronunciation of divine names, but he warned his readers against such practices as being pure invention or foolishness. The remarkable aspect of his argumentation lies in the fact that he managed to avoid controversy on such a sensitive subject.
He asserted that in fact it was only true worship which had been lost and not the authentic pronunciation of the Tetragram, since this was still possible according to its letters. To support this basic idea (true worship is more important than correct pronunciation), he quoted Sotah 38a to prove that the name is the essence of God and that is the reason it should not be misused; then he quoted Zechariah 14:9 to prove the oneness of this name and also Sifre Numbers 6:23-27 to show that the priests were obliged to bless by this name only. Then, to prove that pronunciation of the Name did not pose any problem in the past and that it had no magical aspect, he quoted Qiddushin 71a, which said that this name was passed on by certain rabbis to their sons.
Also, according to Yoma 39b, this pronunciation was widely used before the priesthood of Simon the Just, so proving the insignificance of a magical concept; at this time, the Name was used for its spiritual, not supernatural, aspect. Maimonides insisted on the fact that what was necessary to find was the spirituality connected to this Name and not the exact pronunciation. In order to demonstrate this important idea of understanding the sense and not the sound conveyed by this name, he quoted a relevant example. Exodus 6:3 indicates that before Moses the Name was not known. Naturally, this refers to the exact meaning of the Name and not its pronunciation because it would be unreasonable to believe that a correct pronunciation would have suddenly been able to incite the Israelites to action unless the pronunciation had magical power, a supposition disproved by subsequent events.
It is interesting to observe that Judah Halevi, another Jewish scholar, put forward almost the same arguments in his book The Kuzari published some years before in 1140. He wrote that the main difference between the God of Abraham and the God of Aristotle was the Tetragram. He proved also that this name was the personal name of God and that it meant "He will be with you." To show once again that it was the meaning of this name which was important and not the pronunciation, he quoted Exodus 5:2 where Pharaoh asked to know the Name, not the pronunciation which he used, and the authority of this Name. He pointed out that the letters of the Tetragram have the remarkable property of being matres lectionis, that is the vowels associated with other consonants, much as the spirit is associated with the body and makes it live (Kuzari IV:1-16). Judah Halevi specified in his work that the yod (Y) served as vowel I, the waw (W) served as O, and that the he (H) and the aleph (') served as A. According to these rudimentary indications, the name YHWH could be read I-H-O-A "according to its letters" (H is never used as vowel inside words; in that exceptional case, the letter aleph is preferred). A French erudite, Antoine Fabre d'Olivet, explained that the best pronunciation of the divine Name according to its letters was Ihôah, and when he began to translate the Bible (Genesis, chapters I to X), he systematically used the name Ihôah.
The expression pronounced "according to its letters" which Maimonides used is strictly exact, only in Hebrew (vowel letters as pointed out by Judah Halevi). Joachim of Flora gave a Greek transliteration of the Tetragram I-E-U-E in his work entitled Expositio in Apocalypsim that he finished in 1195. He also used the expression "Adonay IEUE tetragramaton nomen" in another book entitled Liber Figurarum. The vocalization of the Tetragram was improved by Pope Innocent III in one of his sermons written around 1200. Indeed, he noticed that the Hebrew letters of the Tetragram Ioth, Eth, Vau (that is Y, H, W) were used as vowels and that the name IESUS had exactly the same vowels I, E, and U as the divine name. He also drew a parallel between the name written IEVE, pronounced Adonai, and the name written IHS but pronounced IESUS. These remarks on the Name concerned only a circle very restricted by medieval intellectuals.
Furthermore, Pope Innocent III (1160-1216) did not make known in the Catholic world that God's name was Ieue and not Lord; the Hebrew scholar Judah Hallevi (1075-1141) did not denounce the Jewish superstition to replace the name Ihôa by the substitute Adonay; the Soufi al-Hallâj (857-922) did not reveal in the Moslem world that Yâhuwa was the proper noun of Allah, etc.
FROM THIRTEEN TO FIFTEENTH CENTURY
From the thirteenth century, knowledge of the Hebrew language would progress considerably, involving notably the role of matres lectionis. For example, the famous scholar Roger Bacon wrote in his Hebraic grammar that in Hebrew there are six vowels "aleph, he, vav, heth, iod, ain" close to the usual Masoretic vowel-points. (The French erudite Fabre d'Olivet also explained in his Hebrew grammar the following equivalence: aleph = â, he = è, heth = é, waw = ô/ u, yod = î, aïn = wo).
Raymond Martini, a Spanish monk, excellent Hebrew scholar, and a very good connoisseur of Talmud, impressed by the arguments of Maimonides, was involved in controversy with the Jews in his book Pugio fidei in 1278 on the fact that God's name could be pronounced; he used the form Yohoua. However, in 1292, his pupil Arnauldus of Villenueva, keen on Cabal, returned to the dumb (speechless) form of IHVH. On the other hand, Porchetus de Salvaticis, an admirer of Raymond Martini, enriched his arguments and used several times the form Yohouah in his book Victoria Porcheti adversus impios Hebraeos in 1303. However, the convert Abner of Burgos used (between 1330 and 1340) the form Yehabe in his book Mostrador de Justicia. Another convert, Pablo of Burgos preferred the dumb structure YHBH (in 1390).
The first scholar who gave exactly and clearly the reasons of his choices of vocalization was cardinal Nicholas of Cusa. In 1428, he dedicated moreover his first sermon on John 1:1 in which he explained, based on rabbi Moyses's works, the various names of God (Adonai, Jah, Sabaoth, Schaddai, etc.) and the meaning of the Tetragram, which he vocalized Iehoua. In this sermon, he began to develop the idea that Jesus was the "speakable" element (the Word) of the "unspeakable (ineffable)" God. He explained in another sermon, written around 1440, that the name of Jesus means "savior," pronounced Ihesua in Hebrew, and this name "Savior" is also the Word of God. He indicated that the unspeakable name is Ihehoua in Hebrew.
In two other sermons, written in 1441, he pursued the connection between the unspeakable Greek Tetragram, spelled Iot, He, Vau, He, and the "speakable" name of Ihesus which he often wrote Ihûs. Then, in a sermon written in 1445, he explained in detail the grammatical reasons permitting a link between these two names. God's name is the Greek Tetragram which is spelled in Hebrew Ioth, He, Vau, He; these four letters serve as vowels, corresponding to I, E, O, A in Greek because in this language there is no specific vowel for the sound OU (the letter U in Greek is pronounced as the French Ü). So, in Greek, the transcription IEOUA would be more exact and would better reflect the OU sound of the Hebrew name I-e-ou-a, becoming in Latin Iehova or Ihehova, because the letter H is inaudible and the vowel U also serves as a consonant (V).
He noted finally that the Hebraic form IESUA of the name "Jesus" is distinguished from the divine name only by a holy letter "s" (shin in Hebrew) which is interpreted as the "elocution" or the Word of God, also the salvation of God. He would continue this parallel between God's name (Ieoua) and the name of Jesus (Iesoua) in yet another sermon. However, towards the end of his life, he wrote several important works (De Possest in 1460, Non Aliud in 1462, etc.), to explain the purely symbolic character of God's name which had all names and so none in particular. Contrary to his books, his sermons were not widely diffused.
In 1474, Marsilio Ficino proposed the name Hiehouahi in his book De Liber Christiana Religione XXX. Johannes Wessel Gansfort, the spiritual father of Luther, preferred, around 1480, to vocalize God's name Iohauah in his work Oratione III:3:11-12. However, once more, the influence of the Christian Cabal engendered a big mess in the vocalization of God's name under the excuse of making improvements!
For example, by 1488, Paulus de Heredia suggested in his Epistle of Secrets vocalizing the Tetragram in Yehauue because its presumed Hebraic meaning was, according to him, "He will make be" or "He will generate" (future piel of the verb to be). John Reuchlin proposed in 1494 in his De Verbo Mirifico to move closer to the Latin Tetragram IHVH towards the name of Jesus which he presumed to be written IHSVH (the link with the Greek name Iesue which he supported supposes Ieue as the vocalization of God's name). John Pico della Mirandola in his Disputianum Adversus Astrologos (in 1496) fustigated the heathens who used the name Jupiter for plagiarizing God's name (Jove father). Friend of Mirandole, Agostino Justiniani clarified in 1516 in his translation of the Psalms that the Tetragram was pronounced as Jova (or Ioua).

Part Two On the Name of the True God of Abraham

IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, this situation had become extremely vague. The translator Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples indicated in 1509 in his comments on the Psalm LXXII that the Hebrew Tetragram was pronounced as it was written, that is in Latin I-He-U-He or Ihevhe (while noticing that the Hebrew name of Jesus was Ihesvha and concluding it should have been Ihesvhe). When he published in 1514 Nicholas of Cusa's sermons, he used instead the shape Iehova, according to the original manuscripts. In 1516 in Justiniani's Bible, one could read from the shape Ioua, etc.
In order to clear up the variants of pronunciation of the Tetragram, Pietro Galatino dedicated a good part of his work entitled De Arcanis Catholice Ueritatis (Concerning Secrets of the Universal Truth), published in 1518, to explain the (Hebraic) reasons for this pronunciation. First, he quoted profusely from the book of Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, especially chapters 60-64 of the first part, as a reminder that the Tetragram is the proper name of God and that it can be pronounced according to its letters. However, he demonstrated that the pronunciation Ioua, accepted in his time, was inaccurate, and he gave the reasons why. He explained, for example, that the proper name Iuda, written hdwy (YWDH), was an abbreviation of the name Iehuda written hdwhy (YHWDH).
All Hebrew proper names beginning in YHW- [why] are moreover always vocalized Ieh-. Consequently, if the Tetragram were really pronounced Ioua, it would have been written in Hebrew hWy (YWH), which was never the case. So, because the Tetragram is written hwhy (YHWH), one should hear the letter H inside the Name. He concluded that, because this name is pronounced according to its letters, the best transcription was the form I-eh-ou-a (Iehoua) rather than the form I-ou-a used, for example, by Agostino Justiniani, a friend of Pico della Mirandola, in his polyglot translation of Psalms published in 1516. If Galatino had transcribed the Masoretic form directly, he would have obtained Yehouah and not Iehoua.
In 1526, Luther wrote in a sermon on Jeremiah 23:1-8: "This name Iehouah, Lord, belongs exclusively to the true God." He will write in 1543, with characteristic frankness: "That they [the Jews] now allege the name Iehouah to be unpronounceable, they do not know what they are talking about (...) if it can be written with pen and ink, why should it not be spoken, which is much better than being written with pen and ink? Why do they not also call it unwriteable, unreadable or unthinkable? All things considered, there is something foul."
However, when he published in 1534 his complete translation of the Bible based on the original languages, he did not use God's name that he knew well, but preferred to use the substitute HERR (Lord). Another example of this vacillating attitude is John Calvin. In most of his books and sermons, he regularly encouraged his readers not to use God's name! For example in 1555 in his comment on Deuteronomy 5:11, he condemned the use of God's name. However, a few years before, in 1535, he prefaced Olivetan's Bible which used the name Iehouah, and a few years later in 1563 when he published his comments on the five books of Moses, he systematically used the form Iehoua, including it in the biblical text, and he denounced in his comment on Exodus 6:3 the Jewish superstition which lead to replacing Iehouæ with Adonaï. The excellent Hebrew scholar Sebastian Münster used the name Iehova in his Hebraic grammar (in 1526), a name which he introduced moreover into his Latin translation of the Bible in 1534.
Tyndale was the first to introduce it in several places into his English translation in 1530. Servetus in his Trinitatis Erroribus (in 1531) strongly defended the shape Iehouah against the shape Yehauue, "He will make to be," because the name Iehouah is close to the Hebrew theophoric name Iesua (Jesus). Cardinal Giacoma de vio Cajetan used it constantly in his comments on the Pentateuch in 1531. The translator Pierre Robert Olivétan introduced it in some places of his French translation in 1535, clarifying in the foreword (Apology of the translator) that this vocalization Iehouah expressed the sound of the letter H better than Ioua. François Vatable used it in his translation in 1545. The first who systematically used the name Iehouah was certainly the German scholar Martin Bucer in his Latin translation of Psalms in 1547; then Robert Estienne used it in all the Bible in 1557, as did also the Spanish translator Casiodoro de Reina in 1569.
The shape Iehouah was widely used; however, there were some exceptions. The Italian translator Antonio Brucioli preferred the shape Ieova in 1541; the French translator Sébastien Casteillon preferred the shape Ioua in 1555, clarifying in a comment on Matthew 1:21 that if the Latin name of Jesus was Josue, this theophoric name could be improved into Iosua involving the vocalization Ioua, effectively close to Ioue (Jupiter). He restored the argument by clarifying that if the heathens had used by chance God's name, then with stronger reason, Christians had reason to do so. The translator Benito Arias Montano, afraid of favoring a name of heathen origin, preferred to use systematically the name IA in his translation of Psalms in 1574. The name Iehouah seemed to have won in part and to be necessarily characterized in the Bible; however, a large-scale attack against this vocalization was going to begin towards the end of the sixteenth century.
The first antagonist was Archbishop Gilbert Genebrard, who, in his book written in 1568 to defend the Trinity, dedicated several pages to the name in an effort to refute S. Casteillon, P. Galatin, S. Pagnin, and others. First of all, he rejected Chateillon's Ioua using Saint Augustine's explanation, via Varro, that the Jews had worshiped Ioue (Jupiter!), and, therefore, the use of Ioua was a return to paganism. In the foreword to his commentary on Psalms, he went so far as to state that the name Ioua was barbarian, fictitious, and irreligious. Concerning the writings of Clement of Alexandria ("Iaou"), Jerome ("Iaho") and Theodoret ("Iabe"), he considered these as mere variations of Ioue, and these testimonies appeared unreliable because, at the time they were written, the Jews had not pronounced the Name for several centuries. Lastly, he claimed that P. Galatin (as well as S. Pagnin), who had used the form "Iehoua," had not accounted for the theological meaning "He is" when searching for the right pronunciation.
Indeed, since the translation of the Septuagint, it was known that the definition of the divine Name was essentially "He is." Genebrard tried to confirm this definition due to his knowledge of the Hebrew language. So, since in Exodus 3:14 God calls himself "I am," (in Hebrew Ehie), one should say, when speaking about God, "He is," that is in Hebrew Iihie. Grammatically, the form Iihie was likely derived from a more archaic form Iehue, suggested in 1550 by Luigi Lippomano. Genebrard then pointed out that Abbot Joachim of Flora used this more exact form ("Ieue") in his book on the Apocalypse. Genebrard's explanation, although unable to convince, impressed many because of its intellectual approach, and, during the century that followed, Bible commentators often noted this form Iehue (or Iiheue) when using the more accepted Iehoua.
However, in spite of the masterly presentation, it remained theoretic because of lack of early proof (later, to mitigate this discrepancy, Protestant theologians re-examined the historical evidence of the first centuries). Genebrard's major contribution was to introduce the theological meaning of the Name into the search for its pronunciation, a process that provoked a profusion of new pronunciations due to the ever increasing knowledge of the Hebrew language and its history. Furthermore, Cardinal Robert Bellarmin asserted in 1578 that the form Iehoua was erroneous because it had the vowels e, o, a, of the qere Adonay (a, o, a becoming e, o, a for grammatical reasons!)
FROM SEVENTEENTH TO NINETEENTH CENTURY
Jan Drusius published in 1603 a long article dedicated to the pronunciation of the Name. His main arguments were that the Masoretic punctuation of the Tetragram could not be used as a basis for pronouncing the Name because it was a qere; so the form Iehovih, resulting from the qere elohim, would be nonsense. He thus concluded that Iehovah was also a barbarism. He repeated the same arguments as Genebrard against Ioua and then reminded his audience that according to the best grammarians of his time the expression "He is" should be pronounced Ieheve. This form is found in Johannes Merceri's Thesaurus and that of Santes Pagnino under the Hebrew form YeHeWeH (West Aramaic Peal imperfect) meaning "He will be" which is now pronounced YiHWeH.
He then theorized, using a few examples that the form Ieheve (or Iihveh) resulted from an archaic Iahave (or Iahveh), and, in conclusion, he noted that this form Iahave was identical to the Samaritan pronunciation Iave given by Theodoret. Louis Cappel dedicated almost one hundred pages to the pronunciation of the Name in one of his articles published in 1650. As well as resuming many of Drusius' arguments, he explained a few new ideas. He maintained that the first syllable was certainly Iah- because many names had lost their initial vowel, for example, Nabô had become Nebô, but he noted that the most ancient witnesses (hence the most reliable) usually used Iaô. He preferred Iahuoh to Iahave or Iahue.
However, the form Iahue eventually took over for two important reasons; first of all, it retained the first syllable Ia- as determined by the most ancient sources (it was also similar to the versions provided by Epiphanius, Theodoret, and Clement of Alexandria), and, above all, it was close to a grammatical form beginning with Ya-, meaning "He will cause to be" or "He will make exist," first suggested by Johannes Leclerc around 1700. This form would be a hypothetical imperfect hiphil, vocalized YaHaYeH, resulting from an archaic [?] YaHaWeH. The cabalistic approach was in fact more "scientific" (!) because it was based on the probable imperfect piel form YeHaWeH, meaning "He will make to be" or "He will cause to become." This very complicated explanation intended to justify the form Yahweh disconcerted some translators who had used the "simplistic" Iehoua.
Some nostalgic translators returned to a form "according to its letters," so the German translator Johann Babor used Ihoua (in 1805), the French translator Antoine Fabre d'Olivet used Ihoah (in 1823), the Latin translator Augustine Crampon used Jova (in 1856), etc.; however, the "scientific" shape Yahweh began to appear in force in the Bible towards the end of nineteenth century and competed with the "religious" shape Iehoua. For example, the agnostic translator Eugène Ledrain insisted (in 1879) on using the shape Yahweh because this name was in agreement with the meaning "He causes to be" or "He causes to become," a name which he systematically used in his translation finished in 1899. Other translators breached the barrier and used the name Yahweh as those of Emphasized Bible (187 , Rodwell (1881), Addis Documents of the Hexateuch (1893), Banks J.S (1895), Rotherdam (1897), Leidse Vertaling (1899), etc.
In front of this growing mess, the religious leaders decided to produce a qualitative translation directly from the masoretic text which would benefit most from all of the projections acquired in the study of languages. The first to initiate the banns (proclamations?) was the French Jewish translator who, by leaning on the works of the famous German grammarian Gesenius, chose systematically to return the Tetragram to Iehovah (1856). Then the Russian orthodox translator also systematically chose to render the Tetragram with Jehovah (1867), as did the American Protestant translators (1901), and finally the French Catholic translators who made the same choice (1904). This choice is surprising for two reasons. First of all, it was unanimous in spite of serious religious differences, and then it was decided in a very controversial context where Yahweh seemed to prevail.
IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY
One could have been led to believe that with the unanimous weight of religious authorities, the name Jehovah was going to be necessary, but such was not the case. To the contrary, religious authorities, and once more unanimously, utterly denied their first choice. It seems, by observing the histories of the various choices, that scientific arguments were not the only ones in play. Indeed, one can determine that the first translators who introduced the name Jehovah into the Bible were either Walden's sympathizers, such as François Vatable or Pierre Robert Olivétan, or they were anti-Trinitarian proponents, such as Michel Servetus or Sébastien Casteillon.
The first who attacked violently the name Jehovah were Catholic theologians as the archbishop Gilbert Génébrard or the cardinal Robert Bellarmin. When Walden's movement was completely absorbed by the Protestant reform, Catholic authorities started again in addressing this name Jehovah, which was this time violently attacked by Protestant theologians, as Jan Drusius or Louis Cappel. Finally, when the Watch Tower, magazine of the Jehovah's Witnesses since 1879, gradually drew attention to the use of this name, numerous translators wished to distance themselves from this movement. The descent became even more important when these students of the Bible took the Jehovah's Witnesses' name in 1931.
In the end of the twentieth century, the majority of translators have abandoned the form of Jehovah in their translations; it is a thorn to note that the shape Yahweh, which was used to eliminate it, is today considered absurd by the grammarians because all the arguments which served to support it are false. Indeed, the Greek witnesses in Iaô correspond to the Trigram YHW and not to the Tetragram YHWH as widely showed by the Elephantine letters. The dropping of the first vowel (a becoming e) cannot be invoked because this change took place in the third century before our era, and the Septuagint, which kept track of this phenomenon, did not preserve any theophoric names (without exception) beginning with Ia-. Finally, the causative shape of the verb to be, "He causes to be" or "He causes to become," invented to justify a verbal shape beginning with Yah-, has never existed and will never exist.
Furthermore, this form is trebly absurd, as the translators Pirot and Clamer point out. First of all, the metaphysical notion o***od "who is" or "who causes to be" is too much abstracted with regard to the time when it is supposed to appear (the time of Moses) and corresponds better with the philosophic thinking of the Greeks. On the other hand, the notion o***od who "will be" with his people is a very concrete idea which the Talmud often developed and is in agreement with the biblical context. Secondly, the notion o***od who "causes to be" would have to be expressed, of necessity, by the shape yehaweh (future piel in Hebrew). Finally, in Exodus 3:14, as mentioned in a note in the Jerusalem Bible, the grammatical shape used without a shadow of a doubt is a future shape qal (which one can translate by "I shall be," therefore "He will be").
It is amusing to note that the form of Yahweh, which was supported by some of the most brilliant theologians, the most competent grammarians, the most eminent Biblicists, the most prestigious dictionaries, is known finally to be inaccurate. The king Solomon, who is presented as having received God's wisdom, nonetheless never quoted the Tetragram in his famous book called Ecclesiastes but mysteriously used a rare grammatical shape yhw' for yhwh (Qo 11:3), which appears only once in all the Bible. At the height of the irony, Biblicists translate this shape into "it will be" (Bible of the King James, Darby, etc.), which is the elementary meaning of the Tetragram. The translators of the Septuagint themselves translated this shape into "He will be" (estai). Furthermore, the Hebrew vocalization of this word, kept by the Masoretes, is "Yehou[a]," which constitutes the natural vocalization of the Tetragram.

Your Friend in Christ Iris89