The Proper Name of the CREATOR

Part 1: Introduction

 

By Ken Burns

The subject of the proper name of the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth is one of the most important and exciting topics in the Bible. Your investment of time in studying this section carefully will be well worth every moment.

The CREATOR’s Proper Name Is Important to Him!

When you want to get to know someone, one of the first things you usually want to know is his or her name. And peoples’ names tend to be very important to them. The Bible indicates in many ways that the proper name of the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth is very important to Him also.

The CREATOR’s Proper Name is Yahweh

In the Bible, the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth specifically tells us His proper name many times. That name in the Hebrew Old Testament is represented by four Hebrew letters-Yod-Heh-Waw-Heh (or YHWH)--and these four letters are sometimes called the tetragrammaton (“four-letter writing”).

The four Hebrew letters YHWH (Yahweh) occur 6,824 times in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible according to the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (<http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.html>); i.e., 6,519 times as Yehovah (Strong's #3068) and 305 times as Yehovih (Strong's #3069).

Appendix 32 of The Companion Bible (http://www.therain.org/appendixes/app32.html) also notes 134 places in the Hebrew Old Testament where the Sopherim--Hebrew for "counters" or "scribes"--changed YHWH (Yahweh) to adonai ("Lord"). YHWH (Yahweh) occurs 6,828 times in the Hebrew Old Testament from which the NIV was translated [The Hebrew-English Concordance to the Old Testament (HECOT, p. 630)]. In fact, YHWH is one of the 35 most frequently occurring terms in the Hebrew Old Testament!

As to the pronunciation of the four Hebrew letters YHWH, Kenneth L. Barker states:

And the Encyclopaedia Britannica adds:

As to the meaning of the Creator’s proper name YHWH, “Yahweh,” Exodus chapter three provides important information:

The best known modern Bibles [such as the NIV, NASV, and the Revised Standard Version (RSV)] all differ from the KJV and agree with each other in their translation of the Hebrew words underlying “I AM THAT I AM” in Exodus 3:14:

The NIV and RSV also offer alternative translations in their footnotes relating to verse 14:

And the NIV and NASV provide information concerning the relationship between the term “I AM” which occurs three times in verse 14 and the term “the LORD” [YHWH] in verse 15:

In the chapter titled “YHWH Sabaoth” quoted earlier, Barker points out the importance of Exodus chapter 3 relative to the meaning of “Yahweh”:

Scott Grant, in his article “Being Involved” which is posted on the Internet [<http://www.pbc.org/dp/grant/exodus/exo003.html>], states:

And the New English Translation’s discussion of Exod. 3:14 in note 47 states:

The meaning of the CREATOR's holy name Yahweh has been frequently discussed in scholarly literature through the years. If the reader would like to pursue this matter further, here are several additional sources for consideration: (1) “Yahweh,” Encyclopædia Britannica Article (<http://www.britannica.com>); (2) “Jehovah (Yahweh),” Catholic Encyclopedia (<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/>); and (3)  our Appendix 1, The CREATOR's Proper Name is Yahweh!

Here are some key verses in which the CREATOR’s proper name Yahweh occurs:

The KJV translates “there he invoked” as “called there on the name of” in verse 33 because the Hebrew Old Testament contains the word shem, “name.”

Appendix 1

The CREATOR’s Proper Name is Yahweh!

We will now go into considerable detail about the proper name of the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth, Yahweh. Please review this material carefully, as it will answer many questions you may have had about the GOD, the CREATOR.

The CREATOR’s Proper Name Is Yahweh

In the main body of this work, we presented statements by scholars indicating that the proper name of the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth is YHWH, Yahweh. Here are several more:

The CREATOR’s Name Is Not “God”

Perhaps you are like many people who have been taught or believe that “God” is God’s name, so to speak. The word “God”--as used in the KJV (and in the NIV) in reference to the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth--is really a title. This can be seen clearly from verses such as the following:

The Hebrew word translated “God” in Genesis 1:1 and in the verses immediately above is elohim, Strong’s number 430 (pronounced “el-o-heem'”). This plural Hebrew noun occurs 2,606 times in the Hebrew Old Testament text from which the KJV was translated [BLB, (www.blueletterbible.org)], and 2,600 times in that from which the NIV was translated (HECOT, p. 98). Elohim is translated as the singular English word “God”--as a plural of majesty or a plural intensive with a singular meaning--more than 2,300 times in both the KJV and the NIV, beginning with Genesis 1:1. And it is by far the word most commonly translated “God” in the Old Testament.

The New Bible Dictionary explains the Hebrew word elohim as follows:

And Barker states in The NIV: The Making of a Contemporary Translation:

(For more information on the occurrences and meaning of the Hebrew word elohim, see BDB, p. 43.)

The CREATOR’s Name Is Not “the Lord”

Since the CREATOR’s name is actually Yahweh, why did the KJV and many modern versions (such as the NIV and the NASV) translate YHWH as “(the) LORD” in Isa. 42:8 and nearly all other places?

To understand how the more familiar terms “[the] Lord” and “Jehovah” came to be substituted for the CREATOR’s name, Yahweh, we begin with the discussion of “Yahweh” in the Preface to the NIV:

The Hebrew word adonai-Strong’s number 136 (pronounced “ad-o-noy'”)-means “lord” (BDB, pp. 10, 11). It occurs 442 times in the Hebrew Old Testament underlying the NIV (HECOT, p. 29); and the NIV always translates it as some form of “lord” (i.e., “the Lord,” “Lord,” and “the Lord’s”), except where it is translated “Sovereign,” as explained in the NIV Preface quoted above. Adonai is translated as some form of “lord” in 433 of the 434 places where it occurs in the Hebrew Old Testament underlying the KJV. (It is translated “God” once in the KJV.)

You may have already anticipated the problem which the NIV, and other modern translations--including the NASV and the Revised Standard Version (RSV)--caused for themselves by choosing not to translate YHWH as the proper name “Yahweh.” When YHWH is used with adonai, the NIV (and other translations which took its tack) had to change the translation (and meaning) of adonai to “Sovereign” (or something else) in order to avoid an awkward translation like “Lord Lord.” We can see this clearly in the first two occurrences of adonai in the Hebrew Old Testament (where, in both cases, it is used together with YHWH).

To see the appropriate solution to this “dilemma” (which the NIV and other translations caused for themselves), we now turn to the Introduction of the Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament [previously published as The NIV Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament (NIVIHEOT)]:

The New Jerusalem Bible (NJB) translation illustrates how the use of God’s name, Yahweh, in the English translation accurately and clearly sets forth the truth.

          "Lord Yahweh," Abram replied, "What use are your gifts, as I am going on my way childless? . . .

Here is how the KJV translates adonai in these two verses:

The KJV uses the “device” here of translating YHWH as “GOD” in small capitals when it follows adonai (“lord”) in the Hebrew Old Testament. This is certainly no better than the NIV’s “device,” as YHWH also does not mean “God,” the English word normally used to translate the Hebrew word elohim in the Old Testament.

The CREATOR's name is not “the Lord.” It is Yahweh!

The CREATOR’s Name Is Not “Jehovah”

Before “Yahweh” became commonly accepted among modern biblical scholars as the best representation in English of the Hebrew word YHWH, several older translations and versions chose to translate it as “Jehovah.” Included in this group were the Darby Translation (DT, 1890), the Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible (YLT, 1898),  and the American Standard Version (ASV, 1901). These versions have recently become readily accessible through the Internet at sites such as “The Bible Gateway” (<http://bible.gospelcom.net/> and the “Blue Letter Bible” (BLB),  (<http://www.blueletterbible.org/>)]. We again look at Isa. 42:8:

The Internet version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica  (<http://www.britannica.com/>), in its article on “Yahweh,” explains how the word “Jehovah” came into being as a translation of YHWH:

The KJV translated YHWH as “LORD” with small capitals in more than 6,500 of its 6,519 occurrences in the Hebrew Old Testament [BLB (http://www.blueletterbible.org/)]. In four of the remaining occurrences, YHWH was translated “GOD.” However, in four other instances--Exod. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; and Isa. 26:4--the KJV translated YHWH, Yahweh,  as “Jehovah.” And YHWH, used in conjunction with another Hebrew word, is translated as a compound name including “Jehovah” three times in the KJV: Gen. 22:14; Exod. 17:15; and Jud. 6:24. We will now briefly examine each of the seven places where YHWH, Yahweh, is translated as a form of “Jehovah” in the KJV.

The first of the four places where “Jehovah” stands by itself in the KJV is in Book of Exodus.

In verse two, the KJV translated YHWH as “the LORD” according to its normal pattern. However, in verse three, where God (elohim) specifically speaks of “my name,” YHWH is translated as “Jehovah.” The words “the name of” in the first part of verse three are in italics in the KJV to indicate that there were no corresponding Hebrew words in the Hebrew Old Testament text underlying the KJV. Thus Exod. 6:3 is not saying that “God Almighty”--el shaddai in Hebrew--is a name of the CREATOR. It is saying that the CREATOR's name is YHWH, Yahweh.

The second occurrence of “Jehovah” standing by itself in the KJV occurs in the Book of Psalms.

Here again we see that the CREATOR’s name is YHWH, Yahweh.

The last two places where “Jehovah” stands by itself in the KJV are both in the Book of Isaiah.

Strangely, in Isa. 26:4 above, YHWH is translated as “the LORD” in the first part of the verse and as “Jehovah” in the second part of the verse. YH (Yah)--Strong’s number 3050--is translated as “the Lord” in Isa. 12:2 and in Isa. 26:4 (the second “the Lord”). It is a shortened form of Yahweh (BDB, p. 219). The two separate words--Yah and Yahweh--are distinguished in Rotherham's Emphasized Bible (EB) as follows:

In each of the four verses above, the KJV broke with its normal pattern of translating YHWH as “the LORD,” but without real justification or explanation.

Genesis chapter 22 contains one of the three places where the KJV translates YHWH as “Jehovah,” when it occurs in conjunction with another Hebrew word, to form a compound name. (These compound names are sometimes known as the “Jehovah titles.” See, for example, The Companion Bible, Appendix 4: “The Divine Names and Titles.”)

The Hebrew verb ra’ah, “to see” [Strong’s number 7200 (pronounced “raw-ah'”)], is simply transliterated in English as “jireh” in the first part of the verse above, and tacked onto the end of “Jehovah” to form “Jehovahjireh.” In the second part of the verse, ra’ah is translated “it shall be seen.” Earlier in the same chapter, ra’ah is translated “will provide” in verse 8: “. . . God [elohim] will provide [ra’ah] himself a lamb for a burnt offering: . . .” The JB reflects this sense of ra’ah as “to provide” in its translation of verse 14:

Once the verb ra’ah is translated as a form of “provide” in its three occurrences in verses 8 and 14, one can begin to see the exciting parallel between this record and God’s later providing of His Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrificial offering:

Exodus chapter 17 contains the second place where the KJV translates YHWH as “Jehovah,” when it occurs in conjunction with another Hebrew word, to form a compound name.

Here, the Hebrew noun nes [Strong’s number 5251 (pronounced “nace”)] is transliterated in English as “nissi” and added onto the end of “Jehovah” to form “Jehovahnissi.” Meanings of nes  include “something lifted up, standard,  signal, signal pole, ensign, banner, sign, sail” (Blue Letter Bible). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB) states that nes in this verse has the meaning of a “standard, as rallying-point, . . . [i.e.,] my standard” (emphasis in the original). Thus, the meaning  of YHWH combined with nes in verse 17 above is “Yahweh my banner” or “Yahweh my standard.” The Schocken Bible, Volume 1, The Five Books of Moses (SB)--which uses “YHWH” in place of “Yahweh”--translates verse 17 as follows:

Judges chapter 6 contains the final place where the KJV translates YHWH as “Jehovah,” when it occurs in conjunction with another Hebrew word, to form a compound name.

The Hebrew noun shalom [Strong’s number 7965 (pronounced “shaw-lome'”)] is transliterated in English as “shalom” and added onto the end of “Jehovah” to form “Jehovahshalom.” Meanings of the shalom include “completeness, soundness, welfare, peace” (BDB). Shalom is usually translated “peace” in the KJV, and BDB indicates that it has that meaning in verse 24 (pp. 1022-23). Thus, the meaning of YHWH combined with shalom in verse 24 above is “Yahweh is (or perhaps “gives” or “sends”) peace.” The JB translates the verse as follows:

Thus we can see that the CREATOR’s name, Yahweh, could easily have been used in the seven unusual places where the KJV translated YHWH as “Jehovah.”

What about the So-called “Names of God?”

After this extended discussion of the CREATOR’s proper name, Yahweh, you may be wondering: “But I thought God had many names in the Bible.” Indeed, such books as The Names of GOD in Holy Scripture by Andrew Jukes (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1967) and Names of God by Nathan Stone (Chicago: Moody Press, 1944) would certainly lead one to believe that the Creator of the heavens and the earth had many names. Books with titles such as those just mentioned notwithstanding, scholars almost universally acknowledge that the CREATOR has only one proper name in the Old Testament--YHWH, Yahweh:

Yahweh is the personal, proper name of the CREATOR of the heavens and the earth!

The CREATOR’s Name in the New Testament

We have seen that the CREATOR’s proper name, Yahweh, occurs more than 6,800 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. But what about in the New Testament? A great place to start this discussion is by looking at the interesting word "Alleluia" used four times in the Book of Revelation.

The English word “Alleluia” used in the four verses quoted above [Greek allelouia (Strong’s number 239)] is translated “Hallelujah” in the NIV, the NASV, and the RSV. Strong’s Concordance states that allelouia is of Hebrew origin and etymologically derives from the Hebrew verb halal, “to praise” [pronounced “haw-lal'” (Strong’s number 1984)], and from Yah (Strong’s number 3050), the shortened form or contraction for Yahweh. In other words, the Greek word allelouia means “Praise [ye] Yah(weh).” For example, look at the following verse from Ps. 104:

The Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament translates the clause “Praise ye the LORD” in verse 35 as “Praise Yahweh.”

In addition to "Alleluia," there are many Hebrew personal names in the New Testament which include "Yah," the contraction or shortened form of Yahweh (including the well-known names "Matthew" and "John"). Some of these personal names will be discussed in more detail in a future article.

Another aspect of studying the use of the CREATOR’s name in the New Testament is to look at verses from the Old Testament that are quoted in the New Testament. For example:

The second occurrence of the English word “Lord” in the verse quoted above is the translation of the Hebrew word adon--Strong’s number 113 (pronounced “aw-done'”)--and means “lord” or “master,” and is usually so translated in the KJV and other English versions such as the NIV. Now compare Psalm 110:1 with this verse from the Gospel of Luke:

Even though the KJV put the first “LORD” in small capitals (which in the Old Testament would indicate that it was the Hebrew word YHWH, Yahweh), both occurrences of “Lord” in the verse 42 above are translations of the Greek word kurios--Strong’s number 2962 (pronounced “koo'-ree-os”). According to Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible, kurios means “lord, sir, master,” and it is usually translated as “lord” in the KJV.

You can probably already see the problem that arises in trying to track the CREATOR’s proper name through the New Testament. The Hebrew Old Testament consistently uses YHWH, Yahweh, for the CREATOR’s proper name and etymologically unrelated words for “lord” [including adon and adonai (which comes from adon)]. The Greek New Testament, however, uses kurios--the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew words adon and adonai--to represent both the CREATOR’s proper name Yahweh and the Hebrew word for “lord,” adon(ai).

The historical and other reasons why the CREATOR’s proper name, YAHWEH, does not occur in any publicly known manuscripts of the Greek New Testament are beyond the scope of this present discussion. In other articles in "The Proper Name of the CREATOR" series, I will present additional information on the proper name of the CREATOR in the Bible. For now, learning as much as you can about the use of the CREATOR’s proper name throughout the Bible will make for a very rewarding study.

In GOD's love,

Ken Burns

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