YHWH vs.

YHVH
There is an ongoing debate on the name of God and how to pronounce it. To this day
many Christians and Christian scholars all believe God’s name is YaHWeH based on
the four-letter Tetragrammaton, YHWH. This belief is not from Jewish sources but
non-Jewish sources including pagan. I was taught and instructed that the closes we
can come to knowing the name of God was by pronouncing it as Yahweh. It is
believed the Jews did not know the name nor did they pronounce it during the time of
Yeshua-Jesus or after. Even the name “Jehovah,” based on the four letters YHVH, is
believed to be a name that was used only by Christians during the 16th Century. In
Wikipedia, we find this explanation,

“The earliest available Latin text to use a vocalization similar to Jehovah dates from
the 13th century….The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon suggested that the
pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520 when it was introduced by Galatinus,
who defended its use. ‘Jehovah’ was popularized in the English-speaking world
by William Tyndale and other pioneer English Protestant translations such as
the Geneva Bible and the King James Version. It is still used in some translations,
such as the New World Translation, the American Standard Version, and Young’s
Literal Translation, but it does not appear in most mainstream English translations,
as the terms “Lord” or “LORD“: used instead, generally indicating that the
corresponding Hebrew is Yahweh or YHWH. ”

The name “Jehovah” is a translation of the Hebrew, Yehovah. So why did the name
“Jehovah” get used if Yahweh is the correct understanding of God’s name?
Was Jehovah or Yehovah an invention by Christians like Galatinus? Was the
name Jehovah unknown until 1520? And what is the correct Hebrew letter, the “w”
for Waw or the “v” for Vav? I will show the evidence and Jewish sources that most
scholars have never looked at and will set the record straight. The vast majority of
Western scholars have never looked at the Jewish sources because they assume the
Jews did not and do not know the name of God. Instead, they have relied on Christian
and pagan sources to conclude that Yahweh is the closes if not the correct way to
pronounce the name of God.

NOTE: Let me say for the record that even though we can not know for certain the
name of God 100% I do believe we can know with almost complete certainty, 99.9%,
how the Jews pronounced the name and even preserved it through passing on by
tradition. We do not have an ancient tape recorder of Moses or the prophets saying the
name, but we can see how the Jews read and pronounced the name of God with the
vowel points in the Hebrew Bible. I will also show unseen and untranslated Hebrew
documents explaining how the name should be pronounced and how it was hidden
from the population.
WAW or VAV?
Before I begin dealing with the name of God I must first demonstrate and show that
the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet was and is a Vav while the Waw comes from
Arabic influence. This is important because the name Yehovah is a “v” sound and not
with a “w” sound. Even though the majority of Western scholarship believe the
opposite namely that the “w” sound or “waw” is the correct and ancient sixth letter of
the Hebrew alphabet and the “v” sound or Vav is based on Yiddish/German influence.
What does the evidence show regarding both letters?

It is a known scholarly fact that Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic are very similar
Semitic Languages. The modern Hebrew “v” sound is equivalent to the Arabic “w”
sound in words used in both languages. But how do we know how ancient Hebrew
was pronounced? Scholars in the 18th and 20th century went around the world
documenting the Hebrew language that was preserved in Jewish communities. All the
Hebrew letters were accounted for in pronunciation except for one letter, the sixth
letter Vav. According to the Hebrew Encyclopedia, the Jews that preserved the Vav
and “v” sound were European Jews, Kurdish Jews, Syrian Jews, Egyptian Jews,
Persian Jews, Moroccan Jews and Algerian Jews. The Jews who kept the Waw and
“w” sound were the Yemenite Jews and Baghdadi Jews. There were three who kept
both sounds and letters. The Libyan Jews, Tunisian Jew, and the Atlas Jews. These
were Arabic speaking Jews, but when they read from the Torah, they read it using the
Vav or “v” sound. Most of the Jewish communities listed under, keeping the Vav,
spoke Arabic as their daily language with the “w” sound, but in their reading of the
Torah, they read it with a “v” sound for Vav. Why would they do this if Waw is the
correct sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet?

A Rabbi named Benzion HaKohen wrote a book in 1981 called S’fat Emet (True
Language). He believed that the sixth letter in the ancient Hebrew alphabet was a
“waw” with a “w” sound. On page 51 of his book, he wrote something very
interesting though.

“The letter Vav is pronounced by all the Jews of Ashkenaz (Central and Eastern
Europe) as well as all the Sephardim in Europe and the Italian [Jews] like [the
English letter] V. So too is its pronunciation by the Sephardim in the lands of the East
who do not speak Arabic such as Turkey and Persia. However, the Jews in the Arabic
speaking lands are divided, a large portion of them always pronounce it like [the
English letter] W and the Arabic Waw, such as the Jews of Yemen and Babylon. And
the rest of the lands [with Arabic speaking Jews]…pronounce some of the Vavs as V
others as W, namely, a Vav with a dagesh or a Vav that is part of the root such as
David, Mitzvah (commandment) they pronounce as a V. However, connective Vav
(and) such as chamishah We-esrim (five and twenty), Yitgadal We-yitkadash (may he
be magnified and sanctified), We-al Ha-Chasidim (and concerning the righteous),
We-al Sh’erit (and concerning the remnant) the Vav is [pronounced] like W…”

This simply means that when the Jews who use both Waw and Vav, namely Libyan
Jews, Tunisian Jews, Atlas Mt Jews [Samaritans too], they use one for the prefix
“and” as “w” sound and the “v” sound when the letter is part of the root of a word
like David. They do not say Dawid when reading the name but say David with a “v”
sound. We can see the Arabic influence starting to take over in these four Jewish
communities who use both in Torah readings.

Another strong piece of evidence comes from the Academy of the Hebrew
Languages in Jerusalem. Here are some of the top Hebrew scholars in the world who,
when needed, will invent a modern Hebrew word from an ancient Hebrew word. They
confirm that the Arabic language influenced the Jewish communities that preserved
the Waw and the ones that preserved both Waw and Vav.

If we look at the possible differences between Hebrew and Arabic, we find a Rabbi
named Judah Ibn Kuraish in the 10th Century who said in his R’sallah, page 25,
“There is no difference between [Arabic] and Hebrew except…” The Rabbi then
listed six letters that are pronounced differently in Arabic and Hebrew and Vav is not
one of them. Rabbi Judah was an Arabic speaker as well. This does show that Arabic
speaking Jews did pronounce the Vav as a “w” sound. But as the Academy of the
Hebrew Language in Jerusalem stated, Arabic did influence the Jewish Arabic
speaking communities.

We need to remember that in Hebrew we do have a “v” sound in the form of the
Hebrew letter “Bet.” The Bet with a dagesh (a dot in the letter) in it is pronounced
with a “b” sound while without the dagesh (no dot in the letter) it is pronounced Vet
as a “v” sound. Every Hebrew scholar agrees with this Hebrew letter being both a “b”
and “v” sound. So nobody should ever say that Hebrew does not have a “v” sound
because that is simply not true with the Hebrew letter Bet. The soft form of the
Hebrew letter Bet is with a “v” sound. For example, the name Jacob in Hebrew is Ya’
kov with a soft Bet “v” sound at the end.

For me, I believe the strongest evidence comes from the Hebrew Bible itself. In the
book of Ezekiel, there is a Hebrew word for “back.” The Hebrew word is “gav.” It is
spelled with the Hebrew letter “Bet” (soft Bet “v” sound) and the with the Hebrew
letter “Vav.” We see this homonym in Ezekiel 23:35 and in Ezekiel 43:13. In Ezekiel
23 we see the Hebrew “gav” with the Hebrew “Vav,” and in Ezekiel 43 we see the
Hebrew soft “Bet” with a “v” sound. Both verses can be seen in the Aleppo Codex.
This would not work if the sixth Hebrew letter were a Waw or “w” sound. Another
verse in the Aleppo Hebrew Bible comes from 1Kings 14:9, and Nehemiah 9:26
(Leningrad Codex).

Another Jewish source for the “Vav” comes from the Mishnah, Israel around 200 CE.
There is a city mentioned called “Yavneh, ” and it is spelled with both a soft Bet “v”
sound and the Hebrew letter Vav “v” sound. You can see both of these spellings in the
Mishnah, RH 4:2 (MS.Kaufmann A50 76v) and in the Mishnah, Avot 4:4
(MS.Kaufmann A50 171v). This can also be seen in the Mishnah for the Hebrew
word Avazim or geese in English. It is spelled with both the soft Bet “v” sound and the
Vav “v” sound.

Lastly, there are Liturgical Hebrew Poems by Elazar Kalir and Yanai in the 6th
Century in Israel who wrote using the soft Bet “v” sound and the Vav “v” sound in
their prayer poems. This would not work if the Vav were a “w” sound. Hebrew was a
spoken language all the way up the 10th Century as attested by Rabbi Eli Ben Judah
the Nazirite in Tiberias who said he use to listen to the speech of the simple people
and of the masses (in Hebrew) and investigating the language expressed in speech. He
did this with his Hebrew Bible to see if there were any contradictions in the rules of
Hebrew being spoken. In the Hebrew poem by Kalir, we can see the example being
used with the Hebrew word Levi (Levite) with a Vav and the Hebrew
word Navi (prophet) with a soft Bet “v” sound. Again, This could not work in Hebrew
poetry with a Waw or “w” sound. The other poet Yanai in Israel used the Hebrew
Y’chaveh (tell) with Ye’aveh (swell) using the Vav “v” sound and the soft Bet “v”
sound. This can be seen at Cambridge University Taylor-Schechter H 17-4. More
examples can be given by these poets, but you get the point.

Now, there was a Jew named Ibn Ezra from the 12th century who did not agree with
Kalir’s poem and his use of the soft Bet “v” sound with the Vav “v” sound. Ezra in his
Commentary on Ecclesiastes 5 says that Kalir’s use of Levi and Navi are
impoverished and meager for connecting the two in his rhymes. Now we must
understand the Ezra was an Arabic speaking Jew who did not understand the rhymes
of Kalir because Ezra used Waw and not Vav in his poetry.

Conclusion
The majority of evidence for the Vav goes back to the all non-Arabic speaking Jewish
communities (20 century), most Arabic speaking Jewish communities (20 century).
The Hebrew Bible in the book of Ezekiel, 1Kings, and Nehemiah. The Mishnah (3rd
century). The Jewish poets of Elazar Kalir and Yanai (6th century). While the Waw
evidence comes from some of the Arabic speaking Jewish communities listed above
(20th century). Ibn Ezra (12th century). Sa’adiah Gaon (10 century) and Judah Ibn
Kureish (10th century). There is no evidence for the Waw going back beyond the
Arabic language in any Jewish sources. The evidence for the Vav goes back to the
Hebrew Bible as listed above in connection with the Hebrew soft Bet “v” sound. We
can safely say that the Vav, for YHVH, was used in ancient Hebrew instead of the
Waw, for YHWH, based on the evidence cited while the Waw being used in ancient
Hebrew, as believed, comes from Arabic influence.

THE ORIGIN OF “YAHWEH”

According to the vast majority of Western Hebrew scholars, the origin of the name of
Yahweh comes from the preservation of the name from Samaritans. The scholars
believe that the Jews stopped using the name before the 1st century CE and only the
Samaritans preserved the pronunciation. Again, let us see what Wikipedia has to say.

“In his Hebrew Dictionary, Gesenius supports “Yahweh” (which would have been
pronounced [jahwe], with the final letter being silent) because of the Samaritan
pronunciation Ιαβε reported by Theodoret, and that the theophoric
name prefixes YHW [jeho] and YH [jo] can be explained by the form “Yahweh””

It is interesting to note that Theodoret, who lived in the 5th century, was not familiar
with the Hebrew language. When working on translations, he relied on the Syriac, the
Greek, and the Septuagint. It is not clear how Theodoret heard and translated the name
used by the Samaritans, namely the Greek word Ιαβε. There are over 30 Greek names
used for God, and only one of them can be traced back to a Jewish source in the DSS
(Dead Sea Scrolls). It is not Ιαβε. What scholars have done is look at non-Jewish
sources to determine the name of God. Such sources are Christian Greek, Pagan
Greek, Samaritan Greek, Gnostic Coptic and Akkadian. From the 33 Greek names, the
scholars picked one, Ιαβε, to identify the name of God, Yahweh, with the help of
Theodoret who was not familiar with Hebrew.

The very first person to use the name Yahweh was a Christian named Gilbert
Genebrard in 1599 in his Chronographiae page 77. Gilbert relied on Theodoret’s
Greek Ιαβε to translate back to Hebrew as Yahweh from the Latin form Iove. This is
how the name Yahweh came into existence. But did the Samaritans speak and
preserve the name of God? The evidence will surprise you.
One of the earliest records of the Samaritans and the name of God comes from
Josephus, Antiquities Book 12 Chapter 5 Section 5. In this section of the book, we
read the following,

(257) “When the Samaritans saw the Jews under these sufferings, they no longer
confessed that they were of their kindred; nor that the temple on Mount Gerizzim
belonged to Almighty God. This was according to their nature, as we have already
shown. And they now said that they were a colony of Medes and Persians: and indeed
they were a colony of theirs. (258) So they sent ambassadors to Antiochus, and an
epistle, whose contents are these:—“To king Antiochus the god, Epiphanes, a
memorial from the Sidonians, who live at Shechem. (259) Our forefathers, upon
certain frequent plagues, and as following a certain ancient superstition, had a custom
of observing that day which by the Jews is called the Sabbath. And when they had
erected a temple at the mountain called Gerizzim, though, without a name
(ἀνώνυμον anonumon), they offered upon it the proper sacrifices. (260) Now, upon
the just treatment of these wicked Jews those that manage their affairs, supposing that
we were of kin to them, and practiced as they do, make us liable to the same
accusations, although we are originally Sidonians, as is evident from the public
records. (261) We, therefore, beseech thee, our benefactor and savior, to give order to
Apollonius, the governor of this part of the country, and to Nicanor, the procurator of
thy affairs, to give us no disturbance, nor to lay to our charge what the Jews are
accused of, since we are aliens from their nation and from their customs; but let our
temple which at present hath no name (ἀνώνυμον anonumon) at all, be named
the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius (Διὸς Ἑλληνίου Dios Helleniou). If this were once
done, we should be no longer disturbed but should be more intent on our own
occupation with quietness, and so bring in a greater revenue to thee.”
The Samaritans were not Jews but were Gentiles and foreigners. They had adopted the
way of the Jews when they were brought into the land and were enemies of the Jews,
Ezra chapter 4 and 2Kings 17. Now, if you notice what Josephus says about the
Samaritans in the highlighted parts, you will see that they did not pronounce the name
of God but had a Temple on Mount Gerizzim without a name, anonumon in Greek.
And when they saw the Jews being persecuted by the Romans they sent a letter to the
governor saying they were aliens from their nation and their customs. Then the
Samaritans go on and say, “…let our temple which at present hath no name
(ἀνώνυμον anonumon) at all, be named the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius (Διὸς
Ἑλληνίου Dios Helleniou)” Did you catch that? Their current Temple has no name,
and they want the Roman God Jupiter Hellenius to be its name. Before this, the
Samaritans referred to God as Shema in Aramaic which means “The Name.” But what
does Jupiter have to do with the name Yahweh? If we go back to Gesenius regarding
the name Yahweh, we continue to read something amazing.
“To give my own opinion, I suppose this word [Yahweh] to be one of the most remote
antiquity, perhaps of the same origin as Jovis, Jupiter, and transferred from the
Egyptians to the Hebrews.” Gesenius’ Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon Old Testament
Scriptures, translated by Tragelles, 1857, page 337.

The Samaritans did speak the name of the Greek God Jupiter. According to Latin
scholars, the name Jupiter/Iuppiter is a compound of Iou=God and pater=father or
more literally, “Father Yahweh/god.” So is it possible that the Samaritans, who
worshipped the Roman God Jupiter, also used the Greek Ιαβε and the Latin
form Iove for which we get the name, Yahweh? And is this what Theodoret was
reading when he read the name from the Greek, Ιαβε? The evidence seems to point to
this explanation and Gesenius seems to agree. The example below shows how to
pronounce the Latin “Iove” for Yahweh.

The “I” is pronounced as a double “EE” sound as in the word sheep.

The “O” is pronounced as an “AH” sound as in the word father.
The “V” is pronounced as a “W” as in the word whale.
The “E” is pronounced as “EH” as in the word pet.

There is a coin from Shechem (Nablus), showing the Roman period Samaritan
Temple to Jupiter Hellenius (the Greek Jupiter) at the top of Mount Gerizim. This
pagan Temple was dedicated to Jupiter during the time of the Maccabee wars,
destroyed by one of the Maccabee kings, and then rebuilt by emperor Hadrian. This is
the same Hadrian who ordered the Jews not to speak the name of Yehovah and also
built a temple to Jupiter on the Temple Mount. Hadrian wanted the Jews to honor
Father Ιαβε (Iove/Yahweh), better known today as Jupiter.

THE NAME IN JEWISH SOURCES

“The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon suggested that the pronunciation Jehovah was
unknown until 1520 when it was introduced by Galatinus, who defended its use.”
(Wikipedia)

The above quotation is a true statement. I have that Lexicon of BDB and have
checked for myself and have noted its accuracy on page 218 in BDB. All the major
Western Hebrew scholars agree with BDB about Galatinus and the pronunciation of
Jehovah or Yehovah in Hebrew. But was the name unknown until 1520 CE and its
pronunciation? What did Galatinus have to say regarding the name Jehovah?

“‘…these four letters…if they are read as punctuated…(as you yourself well know)
they make Iehova.’ However the Jews did not dare to pronounce it as it was written,
but put worth in its place Adonai, which is the same thing as Lord.” (Galatinus, De
Arcanis Catholicae, Veritatis 1518, folio 48b)

This was written to a German scholar named Reuchlin who had a Hebrew copy of the
Old Testament with the complete vowels under the Hebrew letters “YHVH” for the
pronunciation of Yehovah. You can see this in the Hebrew manuscript Codex
Reuchlinianus, Joshua 21:1. Well, it is true that Galatinus is the earliest Christian
source to use the name Jehovah, he did not invent the name because he states clearly
that it was well known from the Hebrew texts as “Yehovah” when writing to
Reuchlin. The belief that Jehovah is a Christain invention is still held and taught
today. A well-known scholar, Robert J. Wilkinson, made this comment in his
book, Tetragrammaton: Western Christians and the Hebrew Name of God on page 46
about the name Jehovah as being “…the distinctly Christian ‘Jehovah.'” and that NO
Jews ever believed it was “Jehovah/Yehovah.” Was and is this true? Did no Jew ever
believe and say that the name of God was Jehovah/Yehovah? Are there Jewish or
Rabbinical sources that say clearly that the name of God is Yehovah? Let us check
those sources and see if Dr.Wilkinson is correct.

ADONAI NOTE: There is a belief that that the name Yehovah in Hebrew has the
vowel pointing of the title “Adonai.” (The vowel pointings are the dots and dashes
underneath and above the Hebrew letters.) This is referred to as a Hybrid form in
Hebrew. There are over 200 places in the Hebrew manuscripts that have the complete
vowels for the pronunciation of “Yehovah.” The majority of the other times there is a
single vowel missing which makes it impossible to pronounce. But, the vowel
pointings for Yehovah are not always the same as the vowel pointings for Adonai.
There are only a few cases of this type of hybrid form. With the vowel pointing
of Adonai, the name would be pronounced Yahovah and not Yehovah. Scholars call
this an impossible hybrid form of Hebrew with the Adonai vowels. For an example of
a hybrid form in Hebrew, you can look at Jeremiah 42:6 in the Aleppo manuscript and
see the Hebrew word “anu” for “we,” and in the margin of the text it says to read it as
“anachnu.” The vowels for anachnu are in the shorter word of anu. We see this type
of language slang in English with words like can’t for can not or wouldn’t for would
not. This type of change in words is called colloquialism. So in Hebrew, we can see
the more formal word in the margin without vowels and then see in the more informal
word in the text by seeing the vowel points that are supposed to be in the formal. So
the reader would know that the informal word in the text should be read the formal
way that is in the margin. We see this type of hybrid form again in 2Kings 18:27 were
we read two Hebrew curse words being used in the text and in the margin we see the
replacement words being used instead. Those replacement words don’t have vowel
points because they are inserted into the words in the text to read. This again tells the
reader not to read the curse words in the text but to read the replacement words in the
margin.

So with the word, Yehovah, scholars believe that the vowels for Adonai are the ones
in the name Yehovah in Hebrew making it Yahovah. The problem with this view is
that we do not find the same vowels in Yehovah as we do in Adonai. In fact, we only
find that type of impossible hybrid form in a few cases (see the Hebrew manuscript in
the Russian Library, EVR II B3). The majority of the time the word Yehovah has a
different vowel in the first Hebrew letter than Adonai. The scholars’ view does not
make sense at this point because if the scribe wanted to put the vowels for Adonai,
they would have put them there just like the other hybrid examples above. Nothing
was stopping the scribe from doing this type of hybrid form with Yehovah. This
simply means that the scribes knew that the vowels for Yehovah were the actual
vowels for YHVH in pronouncing his name and not the vowels for Adonai, which they
could have easily put in the hybrid form to make it Yahovah. There is no evidence for
a hybrid form of Yehovah from Adonai within the Hebrew texts.

Back to Jewish Sources

One Jewish source that is normally overlooked is found in the Talmud regarding the
transmission of the name of God once every seven years. This source is not
considered among Western scholars because they do not believe the Talmud to be
accurate. The Talmud states that the Sages transmit the four-letter name of God to
their disciples once in a seven-year period, (Babylonia Talmud, Kidushin 71a, Rabbi
Bar Bar Chanah, 250-300 CE.) Other Rabbis would disagree with Rabbi Chanah and
say the name was transmitted not once but twice in a seven-year period. This
discussion in the Talmud does show that during the 3rd to the 4th century the name of
God was being spoken and taught by the Rabbis to their disciples. But there is another
Jewish source 1000 years later that confirms the Talmud. There was a book written in
1225, in Hebrew, and was finally published in 2004. The book was called, Book of the
Divine Name by Eleazar Roke’ach or Worms. This manuscript was kept a secret by
Rabbis before being published for the public to see in a book form. This Rabbi,
Eleazar Roke’ach, explains how he received the name of God and how he transmitted
to his disciples.

“Y”Y (Yehovah) is the unique honorable and terrifying name…it may only be
transmitted to the modest…It may only be transmitted over water…Before the Rabbi
teaches his disciple, they must wash in water and immerse in 40 se’ah [of water],
donning white clothes. They must fast on the day they learn it, standing in water up to
their ankles. The Rabbi will then open his mouth in awe and say, ‘Blessed are you
Y”Y (Yehovah), our God, king of the universe. Y”Y (Yehovah) God of Israel, you are
one, and your name is one. You commanded us to hide your great name, for your
name is terrifying. Blessed are you Y”Y (Yehovah), and blessed is your glorious name
forever, the honorable and terrifying name, Y”Y (Yehovah) our God. …Blessed are
you Y”Y (Yehovah) who reveals his secret to those who fear him. The Rabbi and his
disciple shall place their eyes upon the water and say, ‘…The sound of Y”Y (Yehovah)
upon the water.'(Psalm 29:3)…”

The quote above has never been translated into English before until it was discovered
by a Hebrew scholar, Nehemiah Gordon. He translated and posted the key parts to this
quote to show that there was a tradition of transmitting the name of God down
throughout the centuries. This tradition was also confirmed by another Hebrew
scholar named Joseph Dan in his book, History of Jewish Mysticism and
Esotericism, vol.6 page 561.

Another piece of rare evidence for speaking the name comes from an original
autograph manuscript that has never been copied, translated or published. It was
written by Joseph Ibn Tzayach in the 15th century and discovered and partly
translated by Nehemiah Gordon. It reads as follows,

“Question #43: A certain sage has been uttering the name according to its letters, and
a certain Rabbi rebuked him for this. But [the sage] was stubborn in his actions.”

This question to a Rabbi declares that a sage was speaking the name of God and was
rebuked by a Rabbi for it but would not stop. The very name of God was well known
throughout the centuries. The name was not only transmitted to disciples but was also
spoken by Rabbis and even when rebuked by other Rabbis for doing so. But what was
the actual name that was being spoken? Do the Rabbis tell us how the name was
spoken?

THE NAME “YEHOVAH” IN JEWISH SOURCES

As we have just discovered, there were Rabbis who kept the name of God hidden by
transmitting the name YHVH only to their disciples through a water ceremony. But
the question now remains is what is the actual name of “YHVH” with vowels? Did
the Rabbis believe the name to be Yehovah? Believe it or not, there were 16 Rabbis
who did believe that the name of the Almighty was and is Yehovah! These Rabbis are
dated from 1300 to the 1800s. We just read earlier from Western scholars that no Jews
believed the name of God was Yehovah but that it was Yahweh. And that “Yehovah”
was a Christian name for God. So let us see if this was true from Rabbinic sources.

The first source comes from the Tikunei Zohar, c.1300 regarding the secret of the
vowels and where they are hidden.

“The secret of the vowels of YHVH, and the secret of the word ‘only in your fathers
did YHVH set his love (chashak)‘ (Deuteronomy 10:15) is ‘because he has set
his love (chashak) upon Me, therefore will I deliver him…[because he has known my
name]’ (Psalm 91:14)”

The first thing we need to understand is that the vowels were a secret. The Jews did
not go around yelling the name of using the name in a conversation like we do today.
The secret vowels are hidden in a word in Deuteronomy 10:15 and in Psalm 91:14.
Only in Hebrew will you understand and see the secret he is referring to in the verses.
The common word in both verses is the Hebrew word chashak for love. Now, the
normal Hebrew word for love is ahavah. The Hebrew chashak has a meaning of a
burning or a longing type of love while ahavah has more of a meaning of respectful
manner in treating someone well. But what does chashak have to do with the secret
vowels of YHVH?

The Zohar turned the Hebrew word for love, chashak, into an acronym. That acronym
being for the vowels Cholam, Sheva, and Kamatz. The very names of the three
vowels found in the name YHVH which allows the name to be pronounced as
Yehovah! The Zohar confirms the Hebrew manuscripts that contain all three vowels
in the name YHVH and not the vowels for Adonai as we discussed earlier.

The next Rabbi to tell us how the name should be pronounced is Rabbi Menachem
Tziyoni in the 14th century. In his commentary book on Exodus 3:15 he states the
following,

“There is also a secret here received by tradition in the vowels of ‘this is my

name forever (le’olam), for they are the vowels of the Great Name.” (New York,
Jewish Theological Seminary, MS.1030, folio 46a)

Again, you will only see this secret of the vowels in Hebrew. What are the vowels that
Menachem is referring to in the passage? Remeber, this is the passage where God
reveals his name to Moses. The word forever in Hebrew, le‘olam, has the very same
vowels mentioned. The vowels of the Great Name are Cholam, Sheva,
and Kamatz! Again, the very same vowels mentioned in the Zohar for Yehovah. The
Great Name Rabbi Menachem is referring to is Yehovah! We have two separate and
independent witnesses for this understanding of the vowels for YHVH. Then,
Menachem goes on to say,

“It’s mnemonic is ‘Who in Heaven (Shachak) can measure up to You…’ (Psalm

89:6[7])”

The word for “Heaven,” Shachak, in the passage, is not the more common word in
Hebrew, as in the Hebrew word Shamayim for Heaven. And what is Shachak? It is
representing the vowels for YHVH, namely Cholam, Sheva, and kamatz. Again,
turning the Hebrew letters YHVH into Yehovah. And finally, Menachem finishes
with another strong statement.

“‘I will guard the testimony of your mouth, [referring to Le’olam, YHVH]’ (Psalm
119:88[89]) What is ‘the testimony of your mouth’? The palate is the cholam, the
teeth are the sheva, and the tongue is the opening, which is the kamatz…thus far the
words of the man who revealed the secret to me.”

The secret of the vowels was hidden in Hebrew words that contained them. The
Hebrew words like le’olam, shachak, and chashak. These are not the vowels for
Adonai and are not the vowels to pronounce Yahweh. These are the vowels for
Yehovah. There should be no doubt that Rabbi Menachem believed and taught in
secret the vowels for YHVH as he received them. You can also see the manuscript
about how he received it in secret in Munich, Bayerische StaatBibliothek, HSS
Cod.Hebr. 76-fol.56a-55a.

The next Rabbi we can look at is named Shabbethai Sofer (the scribe) who was the
greatest grammarian in the 17th century who collected and corrected the Hebrew
prayer books. He wrote a letter to another Rabbi on September 14, 1608, where he
states the following,

“Is it not known…the saying of the sages [referring to the Babylonian Talmud,
Pesachim 50a] ‘In This World, it is written YH[VH] and read Ado[nai]. In the World
to Come, it will be written YH[VH] and read YH[VH].’…And behold, when it is read
as YH[VH], in the World to Come then its vowels will be Shach“ak. (Sheva , Cholam,
and Kamatz)

Once again we read the very same vowels being used to pronounce the name of
YHVH as Yehovah. There can be little doubt about this usage of the vowels Sheva,
Cholam, and Kamatz for YHVH. Now, the famous Rabbi who Shabbethai Sofer was
writing to, namely Rabbi Meir Mahar”am of Lublin 1608, gave a response to
Shabbethai. This response is historical regarding the vowels and the name of YHVH.

“Know, my beloved, how extremely difficult it is to put things like this in writing and
even more so a letter sent about from place to place…[concerning] the vowels of the
Tetragrammaton, which are Sheva Cholam Kamatz…I found in the words of my
grandfather…our teacher Rabbi Asher [Lemel], head of the Beth Den of Krakow…he
wrote a holy book…called Emek Ha Brachah, but because of its immense holiness, it
was never printed…that it not be used by those who are not worthy.”

At this point, Rabbi Meir Maha”am quotes his grandfather, Asher of Krakow and
says,

“This is what it says in chapter 34: …[concerning] the Tetragrammaton…its vowels

received from Sinai are Sheva Cholam Kamatz…”
This is a quote from a lost book that has yet to be found. Once again it confirms the
exact vowels for the Tetragrammaton, YHVH. The name should be pronounced as
Yehovah. Now, at the end of this letter Rabbi Meir Maha”am makes a request. He
states the following,

“I have one request, that you hide this letter in a pure and holy place and not allow it
to be passed around here and there…”

Obviously, his disciples did not keep his wishes. After he died, he disciples collected
all his writings and put it out as one of his responses collection. These Hebrew letters
and all the others listed here can be viewed in Hebrew in a database that has collected
them. In moving forward to a more modern Rabbi, we come to Rabbi Samuel David
Luzzatto (Shad’ al) of 1834. This Rabbi was aware of the many different names for
YHVH including Gesenius belief of the name Yahweh. The Rabbi writes,

“Many have researched how this name was read…and what its original vowels
were…it seems to me that the vowels with which it is vocalized in most places [YHVH
with the vowels Sheva Cholam Kamatz] are the original vowels…The kamatz of
Yah[The first two letter, YH] changes to Sheva when the word elongated.”

Rabbi Luzzatto is confirming once again the secret that was kept regarding the real
vowels behind the name of YHVH, Yehovah. He knew Gesenius’s beliefs and
others who were trying to figure out the correct way to pronounce the name of God.
He even corrects the basics of Hebrew grammar regarding the shorter version of
YHVH, YH with Kamatz, and how it changes to its true form, the Sheva, when it is
elongated. Some examples are as follows.

Short-Gadol Long-Gedolim
Short-Katan Long-Ketanim
Short-Yah Long-Yehovah

This is basic Hebrew grammar that the Rabbi is explaining regarding the shorter
version of the name Yah and how the vowel changes when elongated. So Yah
becomes Yehovah. And yet another more modern Rabbi named Jacob Bachrach in
1890 also explained the true vowels against the vowels of Adonai as some Western
scholars have and still believe. He writes,

“If the vowels in the Tetragrammaton were indeed the vowels of Adonai, precision
would have required putting a Chataf-Patach under the Yod for the Aleph of
Adonai…the vowels Sheva, Cholam, Kamatz specifically belong to the Unique Name
alone. There is not a single vowel here that comes from or remains from, a reference
to the title Adonai, or even hints at it. With these vowels, the priests in the Temple
used to call on the Unique Name the way it is written …These vowels…are
its own vowelsintended for the Kohanim in the Temple to call [on the name]…The
way [The Name] is written, with its letters and vowels Sheva Cholam Kamatz,
are eternal, for if there was a Temple standing today…even now the Kohanim would
be calling on it the way it is written, with its letters and these vowels, and so too the
High Priest ten times on Yom Kippur…According to the rulings that have come down
to us, there is no prohibition from the Torah to speak the Name the way it is written.
However, the custom not to pronounce the Name the way it is written is very
old…thus…it is not right to [pronounce the Name], but there is no prohibition from
the Torah…”

Once again we read the true vowels that belong to YHVH and how the vowels of
Adonai were not considered in Hebrew or part of the grammar in Hebrew. There are a
total of 16 Rabbis who confirm the name of YHVH as Yehovah and not Yahweh. 14
of the Rabbinic sources are written in Hebrew and have never been translated or
viewed before by Western scholars. This explains the misunderstanding to try and
dismiss the name Jehovah or Yehovah as being a Christian name for God. This is far
from the truth as we have seen and read.

CONCLUSION
The sources I have provided have been verified by viewing the digital photos
displayed by Nehemiah Gordon who brought all this to light concerning the Jewish
sources for the name Yehovah. I feel it is my duty as a Biblical Scholar and believer
in Yeshua-Jesus, who is my Jewish Messiah, to share these findings. I hope that the
true name of God be brought to light and into the world so that we may glorify his
holy and mighty name, Yehovah forever, amen and amen.

“They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my
people’; and they will say, ‘Yehovah is my God…And Yehovah will be king over all
the earth. On that day Yehovah will be one and his name one.” Zech.13:9, 14:9