Appendix I: YHWH — The Name of God in the Bible
In Exodus 3:14, when Moses asks God His name, God responds with "I AM WHO I AM" (יהֶהְאֶ שרֶׁאֲ יהֶהְאֶ, 'ehyeh 'ăšer 'ehyeh). This name was then shortened to the four letter title YHWH (יהוה, yod-he-waw-he). It reveals God's self-existence, eternality, and unchanging nature.
The academic name for this term is the Tetragramaton. This word is from Greek and Latin and means made of "four" (tetra) "letters" (grammaton).
We have records of this name being used in this form as far back as the 12th century B.C. using ancient Hebrew scripts (see picture).
In the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament, this name appears over 6,800 times. The exact pronunciation of YHWH is uncertain, as the original Hebrew text only contained consonants, and the vowels were passed down orally through traditions. Additionally, due to the Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the divine name out of reverence, they would often write or say the word “Adonai” or "Lord" in its place.
In the 6th to 10th centuries AD, the Masoretes, a group of Jewish scribes who faithfully copped Old Testament texts, added vowels to the Hebrew text of the Bible. For the Tetragramaton, it is believed that they might have used the vowels from the word "Adonai" (Lord) with the consonants of YHWH. In Hebrew this reads, והָיהְ. Notice the dots bellow the consonants. These are the vowel markings added by the Masoretes. This combination initially was pronounced "Jehovah". This spelling/pronunciation gained general popularity in some English translations, such as the American Standard Version (1901) and the New World Translation (used by Jehovah's Witnesses). This is a way to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, but it is not the only right way as claimed by Jehovah's Witnesses.
A more likely way to pronounce the Tetragramaton, YHWH, is "Yahweh." Scholars have proposed that this can be derived from the Hebrew verb "hayah," meaning "to be." This proposal suggests that the name, "Yahweh," emphasizes God's self-existence and His role as the source of all being as is clear from the source verse of Exodus 3:14. Additionally, many of the earliest Christian writers and ancient Greek transcriptions appear to use a similar pronunciation using the Greek letters ΙΑꞶ pronounced "yah-oh" or "ee-ah-oh" in place of YHWH ( היהו(. Given the evidence, we believe that the pronunciation of "Yahweh" is more likely the correct pronunciation. However, this is not an article of faith worth dividing with fellow Christians over. Most English translations, such as the King James Version (KJV), the New International Version (NIV), the English Standard Version (ESV) translate the Tetragrammaton YHWH as "LORD" (in all capital letters). This practice is based on the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, in which later versions used the Greek word "Kyrios" (Lord) in place of the Tetragrammaton, as well the Jewish tradition of using "Adonai" (Lord) when reading the Tetragramaton.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words "el" and "Adonai" are also used to refer to God. "El" is a general term for God or deity and is often combined with other words to form descriptive names for God, such as "El Shaddai" (God Almighty) or "El Elyon" (God Most High). In English translations, "El" is typically rendered as "God."
"Adonai" is another Hebrew word for Lord or Master, emphasizing God's sovereignty and authority. In English Bibles, when "Adonai" refers to God, it is usually translated as "Lord" (with a capital "L" and lowercase "ord"). However, when "Adonai" is used in combination with YHWH (for example Adonai-YHWH), it is translated as "Lord GOD" or "Lord LORD".
In the New Testament, the Greek words "Kyrios" (κύριος, meaning Lord) and "Theos" (θεός, meaning God) are both used to refer to God. "Kyrios" is used in various ways, sometimes referring to God the Father, Jesus Christ, or human masters or rulers. When referring to God or Jesus, "Kyrios" is typically translated as "Lord" (with a capital "L"). When "Kyrios" is referring to human masters or rulers, it is translated as "lord" (all lower case). "Theos" is the general Greek word for God and is consistently translated as "God" (most often with upper case "G") in English Bibles.
Filipino translations vary in their use of the Tetragrammaton. Some translate it Ginoo / Panginoon, some Yahweh / Jehovah. Some translations use ALL CAPS, similar to "LORD" in English Bibles. but some only capitalize the first letter. For the “el / Elohim” and “Adonai”, this is usually usually translated as Dios / Ginoo / Panginoon. In the New Testament the Greek “Kurios” is usually translated Ginoo / Panginoon while “Theos” is translated to “Dios." Check your translation and see how it is done.
A note on the use of the word "Allah" in translations for languages that are for cultures that are primarily Muslim. There is major debate in the Bible translation community regarding this. The word "Allah" in Arabic is "al" (the) - "ilah" (god). "Ilah" is believed to believed to potentially be the equivalent of the Hebrew "El" (god). In pre-Islamic times the word "Allah" was often used by Arabs for the moon-god. However, there is evidence that a number of preIslamic Jews and Christians used the word "Allah" for YHWH / Kuirios. It then appears that the author of the Quran co-opted that word to refer to the monotheistic god that he was preaching. However, if the story of the revelation of the Quran as told by Muhamad is a true story (the historical accuracy of the life of Muhamad is highly debatable), then as Christians, we know that the revelation given to Muhammad was definitely not from the Angel Gabriel but actually from Satan. Thus, the Quran is a revelation given from Satan. Therefore, as it is a revelation of Satan, we must be very careful in using terms and ideas from the Quran when preaching the Gospel. Thus, at DMI we take the following position:
In Arabic speaking nations, the word "Allah" has a long linguistic use of the equivalent of "God" and not just specifically the false god of the Quran. Therefore, in Arabic speaking areas, the word "Allah" can legitimately used for the God of the Bible. However, this issue is much more complicated in cultures that are majority Muslim, but do not speak Arabic. In those cultures, the word "Allah" can be more specifically linked to the false god revealed by Satan in the Quran.
Therefore, if a Christian uses the word "Allah" then this may unfortunately bring to mind primarily the concept of the false god of the Quran leading to confusion. These cultures may have other words that more naturally refer to God in general without the baggage of Satanic influence of the Quran. Christians should be careful to think through carefully how to refer to God in these cultures. The use of Yahweh / Jehova, or its transliteration, or thier generic word for god might often be proper and glorifying of the true God without use of a term that in that culture is only linked to the Satanic revelation in the Quran.
This is similar to the English word "God". This word's origin is unknown, however most is likely a generic word for "the one invoked" or "the one sacrificed to". This was used in Germanic and Anglo-Saxon cultures (ancestors of the English language) as a generic term for the idea of a deity that would be called on or sacrificed to. The word originally could be made in feminine, neutral, or masculine forms. When these cultures were converted to Christianity, the word only would be used in the masculine form and primarily was used to refer to the true God of the Bible.
The Germanic and Anglo-Saxon cultures had names for thier supreme god just like such as "Wooden / Odin" or "Saxnôt". Those names did not refer to a deity in general, but a specific person with a specific personality. Therefore, when those cultures converted to Christianity, they rejected those words as the name of God and used the generic word "got / god" (pronounced "hod"). This can be clearly seen in the Old Saxon Baptismal Vow dated before the 9th century AD, which reads as such:
1. Q - Do you forsake [the] Devil?
A- I forsake [the] devil.
2. Q - And all idolatry?
A - And I forsake all idolatry.
3. Q - And all the devil's works?
A - And I forsake all the Devil's works and promises, [named] Thunaer, and Woden, and Seaxnot and all those devils who are their followers.
4. Q - Do you believe/trust in God (Saxon: "god") the Almighty Father?
A - I believe/trust in God the Almighty Father.
5. Do you believe/trust in Christ, God's (Saxon: godes) son?
A - I believe/trust in Christ, God's son.
6. Q - Do you believe/trust in the Holy Ghost?
A - I believe/trust in the Holy Ghost.
Here you can see the rejection by Christians of the names and personalities of the false gods revealed by the devil to thier culture and its replacement with the true triune God of the Bible using the generic term "god".
Similar to the names of the supreme gods of the various Germanic and Anglo-Saxon peoples rejected by Christians, in non-Arabic speaking cultures, the word "Allah" can function primarily as a proper name for the specific person and personality of the false god of the Quran. Just as all Christians would never use "Odin" as an equivalent for YHWH we must be careful not to replace the name of God given to us by God that represents the personality of God with a name that functions primarily to refer to a personality given in a revelation of Satan. Lastly, even though for a mature Christian this issue may not appear to be very problematic, in the spirit of Romans Ch 14, we should be sensitive to confusion that could be brought about to a young Christian of Muslim background (CMB) in thier understanding of the true God when the name of a false god and personality revealed by Satan is used.