Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on August 9, 2015

The name of God in Judaism used most often in the Hebrew Bible is (YHWH), also known as the Tetragrammaton. Elohim (God, singular and plural form, depending on the context), and Adonai (master), are regarded by rabbinic Judaism not as names, but as epithets or titles reflecting different aspects of God. Elohim is the aspect of justice, and Adonai the aspect of mercy.[1]

The name of God in Judaism used most often in the Hebrew Bible is the four-letter name (YHWH), also known as the Tetragrammaton (Greek for "four letters"). The Tetragrammaton appears 6,828 times in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia edition of the Hebrew Masoretic Text. It first appears at Genesis 2:4 and is usually translated as the LORD in many English language Bibles, although Jehovah or Yahweh are employed in others.

The Hebrew letters are (right to left) Yodh, He, Waw and He (). It is written as YHWH, YHVH, or JHVH in English, depending on the transliteration convention that is used. YHWH is thought to be an archaic third person singular imperfect of the verb "to be" (meaning, therefore, "He is"). This interpretation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14 where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person ("I am").

The name ceased to be pronounced in Second Temple Judaism, by the 3rd century BCE.[2]Rabbinical Judaism teaches that the name is forbidden to be uttered except by the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) in the inner sanctum (Kodesh ha-Kadoshim, or Holy of Holies) of the Temple on Yom Kippur. Throughout the service, the High Priest pronounced the name YHWH (or Yehowah) "just as it is written"[3] in each blessing he made. When the people standing in the Temple courtyard heard the name they prostrated themselves flat on the floor.

Passages such as: "And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, YHWH [be] with you. And they answered him, YHWH bless thee." (Ruth 2:4), indicates the name was still being pronounced at the time of the redaction of the Hebrew Bible in the 6th or 5th century BCE. The prohibition against verbalizing the name did not apply to the forms of the name within theophoric names (the prefixes yeho-, yo-, and the suffixes -yahu, -yah) and their pronunciation remains in use.

There is nothing in the Torah to prohibit the saying of the name,[4] but modern Jews never pronounce YHWH, instead, Jews say Adonai ("Lord"). The Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917, in online versions, uses YHWH once at Exodus 6:3.

Ehyeh asher ehyeh (Hebrew: ) is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God's name (Exodus 3:14). The King James version of the Bible translates the Hebrew as "I Am that I Am" and uses it as a proper name for God. The Aramaic Targum Onkelos leaves the phrase untranslated and is so quoted in the Talmud (B. B. 73a.[clarification needed])

Ehyeh is the first-person singular imperfect form of hayah, "to be". Ehyeh is usually translated "I will be", since the imperfect tense in Hebrew denotes actions that are not yet completed (e.g. Exodus 3:12, "Certainly I will be [ehyeh] with thee.").[5] Asher is an ambiguous pronoun which can mean, depending on context, "that", "who", "which", or "where".[5]

Although Ehyeh asher ehyeh is generally rendered in English "I am that I am", better renderings might be "I will be what I will be" or "I will be who I will be", or "I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be" or even "I will be because I will be".[6] Other renderings include: Leeser, I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE; Rotherham, "I Will Become whatsoever I please." Greek, Ego eimi ho on ( ), "I am The Being" in the Septuagint,[7] and Philo,[8][9] and Revelation[10] or, "I am The Existing One"; Lat., ego sum qui sum, "I am Who I am."[11]

"Jah" appears often in theophoric names, such as Elijah, Adonijah, or Hallelujah. Found in the King James Version of the Bible at Psalm 68:4.

Continued here:
Names of God in Judaism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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