The nations shall know that I am . . . יְהוָֹה Yehovah
Ezekiel 39:7
And My holy name I make known in the midst of My people Israel, And pollute not My holy name any more, And known I have the nations that I, Yehovah, the Holy One, am in Israel.
YEHEZQĔL (EZEKIEL) 39:7
“And I shall make My set-apart Name known in the midst of My people Yisra’ĕl, and not let My set-apart Name be profaned any more. And the nations shall know that I am יהוה, the Set-apart One in Yisra’ĕl.
יהוה = YHVH. How do we pronounce it in order to obey God’s command to use His name?
Evidence:
Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, called the “tetragrammaton” (4-letters) are the Hebrew consonants written in the ancient manuscripts but vowel sounds must be included to pronounce any word. Ancient Hebrew does not contain vowels; only consonants. Vowels (vowel sound markings) were added much later. What are those vowels?
Options include:
Yehovah
Yehowah-not a vowel difference but a consonant sound difference, (that’s a whole other discussion)
Yehuah
Yahuah
Yahweh
Some think the vowels for “Adonai” were substituted and inserted into the tetragrammaton but obviously, a short a, long o and long i (or short a again depending on how you pronounce “Adonai”) are not the vowels for any common pronunciation of His name.
Galatanus, a Christian author in 1518, introduced the pronunciation as “Yehovah.” He knew that Jewish sources encountering the tetragrammaton read it as “Adonai” but also knew that was a substitution for speaking the name and not a substitution for the vowels. (There was a ban in speaking the name so a substitution was made.)
The vowels for Adonai as a possibility for the pronunciation of YHVH is a myth that keeps getting repeated but not based on any evidence from history.
Genebrard, another Christian author in 1699, introduced the pronunciation as “Yahweh.” He based this on an early church father named Theodorus of Cyrus 450CE who wrote that the Jews didn’t pronounce the name but the Samaritans pronounce it as “Yahweh.” Genebrard decided that the name of God should mean “creator.” Based on theology (his beliefs) he decided the pronunciation is “Yahveh” (or Yahweh in English) simply because of Theodorus as well as it fit his own desire to call God the creator. Yahveh means “he that causes to be” which does mean God creates. However, notice this is not an unbiased look at evidence in ancient sources. It is almost more of a biased opinion that went looking for validation and found it in an early church father’s writings.
This pronunciation has become scholarly consensus for some reason. Interestingly, there is not a single Bible manuscript, textual evidence, ancient or medieval or Jewish source that has “Yahveh (Yahweh) as the optional pronunciation by the vowels offered as possibilities.
Hayah (He was) Hoveh (He is) Yihyeh (He will be) is the explanation in Hebrew that makes up the name of God in Ex 3:14-15. Nineteen (19) ancient sources say the vowels are sheva, holam, kamatz (short e, long o, short a as in ah sound) which makes the pronunciation Yehovah’ with an accent on the third syllable. Some of these rabbinical sources say the vowels are the same as the word “forever.” That Hebrew word is “leolam” included in Ex 3:15 “..this is My name forever.” While this could also be a theological argument like Genebrard, it is not based on a more modern Christian source but instead, based on ancient Jewish scholarship of the Hebrew language.
The vowels of “leolam” are sheva, holam, kamatz (e,o,a). As well, we have over 1000 ancient manuscripts that have the vowel markings as sheva, holam, kamatz, or pronounced “Yehovah’.”
The first of the scriptures in which the four Hebrew consonants YHVH (יהוה) appear with all three vowels (e,o,a) in the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, is Genesis 3:14
The Leningrad Codex (Latin: Codex Leningradensis, the "LeningradBook") is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew, using the Masoretic Text and Tiberian vocalization. According to its colophon, it was made in Cairo in 1008 CE
Having examined the scholars who disagree over the past several years, listening to their arguments for and against certain pronunciations, my own personal opinion is that all of the theophoric names (names that include God’s name that make it a phrase) in the Bible that had no ban on how to pronounce their names and therefore pronunciation is not questionable, begin with the prefix “Yeho.” Yehoshua means “[God’s name] is salvation.” Yehoshophat mean “[God’s name] judges” or “is judge.” Yehochanon means “[God’s name] is gracious” and so on and so forth. All scholars know this and agree; there is no dispute over their vowel sounds.
Without a degree in the Hebrew language, as just a regular person who reads the Bible, I ask myself, who is the theo (god) in those names that makes their name a theophoric name to begin with? It is the “Yeho” part of their name and there should not be any disagreement over this at all. Yet when writing to these same disagreeing scholars to ask that very same question, “who is the theo (god) in those theophoric names?,” I get no response.
Alas, that piece of preserved evidence we can all read in the Bible would just be too easy, now wouldn’t it? It doesn't require a PhD. It doesn't require travel and intense searches in basement archives. It doesn't demand alphabet soup attached to well known Hebrew teachers. It simply takes the information of the vowel sounds that all scholars agree on with regard to the theophoric names and uses simple logic and reasoning. Isn’t "easy" exactly what was promised to us? (“My yoke is easy, my burden is light,” Matt 11:30.)
What an incredible blessing that our Elohim has preserved His name and how to pronounce it for us in order that we might obey His instructions to use it. And He did it in a way that ALL scholars could agree on if they would just give up their agendas.