THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NAME OF THE ALMIGHTY
“Who has gone up to Heaven and has come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in His garments? Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son's name? Surely you know.”
These words from Proverbs 30:4 give a clear indication of the importance of knowing the Name of the Almighty (and the Name of his Son). This verse clearly suggests: Surely we should know his Name! Surely we should call Him by his Name and not just by manmade titles and nicknames. Surely we should not use names for our Creator which were previously (or are still) used by heathen nations to call upon their so‑called mighty ones and idols. Surely, if our heavenly Father had revealed his true Name, He wanted you and me to call on that Name ‑ in the same manner that Abraham, Moshe (Moses), and the Messiah Himself did.
Although the majority of Bible‑believers will acknowledge the importance of the Name of the Almighty, very few of these will use this Name to address the One they honour as their almighty Creator. Many will agree that the Almighty must have a Name but few are prepared to use this revealed Name consistently. Why is this? Is it because the Name is too “holy” to pronounce ‑ as the Jews have maintained for centuries? This cannot be the true reason. Countless scholars have successfully proven that the notion that the Name of the Almighty should be regarded as “ineffable” (unspeakable; unutterable) is just one of those many manmade traditions of Judaism against which our Saviour issued very specific warnings, for example in Matt 15:9: “But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men”.
The objection one sometimes hears is that the true Name of the Almighty had been lost due to a number of factors and therefore today we cannot be sure what His Name is. Is this really true? No, it is not. Because of the immense age of a language like Hebrew and the many influences on any language over a long period of time, it is possible that the exact pronunciation of certain words may not be hundred percent the same today as 3000 or 4000 years ago, but the amazing fact is that the Name of the Almighty has remained perfectly in tact all these years! I believe that the almighty Father Himself has protected and preserved his own mighty Name so that even in these crucial final days in the history of mankind people will be able to stand up and (once again) truly call upon His Name!
What is the true Name of the Almighty? Is it “Lord”, “God”, “Here” or “Herr”? No, it is none of these. It is a name that makes its appearance in the original Hebrew text of the Old Testament almost 7000 times, but has completely been omitted from the majority of the translations of the Old Testament, available today! It is the same Name that was revealed to Moshe (Moses) when the Almighty explained the meaning of His Name with the words “I am that I am”, adding that these words referred to the very Name by which He wanted to be remembered from generation to generation (Exod 3:14‑15). Looking at these two verses in the majority of the modern translations of the Bible will not reveal the true Name of the Almighty. It is a tragic fact that the majority of translations have succeeded in bringing the Name of the Almighty to nought ‑ the exact matter that is being warned against in the third commandment.
Now, notice how modern translations have obscured the true meaning of the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exod 20:7, KJV). The Hebrew word translated here with the words “in vain” conveys the meaning of “to falsify, to nullify, to ruin, to destroy, to lie, to bring to nothingness, to bring to emptiness, to bring to worthlessness”. This Name, then, should not be falsified or destroyed. People should not spread lies concerning this Name. And above all, this Name should not be brought to nothingness and worthlessness. But almost all translators have rejected and transgressed this commandment in the very verse where this commandment
is given. How have they done this? By falsifying the Name of the Almighty, replacing it with the “name” LORD. LORD is not the Name of the Almighty and it never was. Writing the word in complete capital letters doesn’t change a thing ‑ it is still not His name.
The word “Lord” is much closer in meaning to the word “Baal” than it is to the Name of the Almighty. If this comes as a shock, please consult a dictionary for the meaning of the word “Baal” ‑ it is simply translated as “lord” or “master” or “owner”. Our English word “Lord” could be regarded as a translation of “Baal” but most definitely not of the Name of the Almighty. In any rate, a name should not be translated from one language to another, it should be transliterated ‑ that is: every single letter in the original language should be replaced by the corresponding letter or letters in the new language.
Amazingly, “Lord” is neither a translation, nor a transliteration of the Name of the Almighty. It is simply a replacement for the true Name of our heavenly Father and therefore a severe case of bringing the Name above all names to nothingness and worthlessness. There is, of course, a historical reason for this replacement. We have already referred to the “ineffable name” doctrine. The motive behind this doctrine was quite noble: it was an effort to “protect” the Name of the Almighty ‑ not only in speaking, but also in writing. In the early stages of the Common Era a group of Jewish scholars, known as the Masoretes, came together to edit the Hebrew text of what we know today as the Old Testament. Out of reverence for the Name of the Almighty they decided to add the vowel points of “adonai” (the Hebrew word for “lord” or “master”) to the Name that would quite literally make the Name “unutterable” and force the reader to “read” it as “adonai”. There is widespread consensus among scholars that this is how the tradition of replacing the true Name of the Almighty with “adonai” or “Lord” or “Herr” or “Here” has started.
Let us submit the question once again: What is (and has always been) the true Name of our heavenly Father? The Name above all other names, the Name revealed to Moshe on the mountain, the Name that was called upon by Abraham (Gen 13:4); by Yitschaq (Isaac ‑ Gen 26:25) and by Ya’acob (Jacob ‑ Gen 32:9), the Name by which the Almighty desires to be remembered from generation to generation, is the Name “Yahweh”. In the original Hebrew text this Name was written (like all other Hebrew words) without vowels, using the four Hebrew consonants corresponding to our Y ‑ H ‑ W ‑ H (these four letters are usually referred to as the “Tetragrammaton”). Because the Masoretes purposely added the (wrong) vowels (those of the word “adonai”) to the Tetragrammaton, some groups have mistakenly believed that the correct pronunciation of the Name of the Almighty is “Jehovah”. This word, however, is definitely not correct, not only because it is a mix‑up between the original consonants and the vowels of “adonai” but also because there is no “J” sound (as in “James” and “jet”) in Hebrew. In fact, there was no “J” sound in any language, up to about 500 years ago.
The question arises: If there were no vowels in the original text and the Masoretes (at a later stage) inserted the wrong vowels, how do we know what is the correct way of pronouncing the Name of the Almighty? We know this by looking at other words (and names) in which the Name of the Almighty was used. The most well known example of a word in this category is the word “Halleluyah” which means “praise (Heb: ‘hallelu’) Yahweh”. The shorter form “Yah” is considered to be a poetic form of the word Yahweh and is used 47 times in the Old Testament. There is no doubt that the correct pronunciation for this word is “Hallelu‑Yah” and not “Hallelu‑Yeh” ‑ therefore we know that the first part of our Father’s Name is “Yah”. The form “Yah” is also found as a suffix to many proper names like Chizqiyah (Hezekiah), Zekaryah (Zachariah) and Yoshiyah (Josiah). In some Scriptures, these names are rendered as Chizqiyahu, Zekaryahu and Yoshiyahu. In these cases the “Yahu” suffix is used instead of the shorter form “Yah” due to the fact that the next letter after the “H” in the Tetragrammaton, the letter “W”, is added. In Hebrew a “W” may be pronounced as a “W” or a “U”, depending on its position within a particular word.
In the Encyclopedia Judaica it is confirmed that there has always been at least a small group of people who knew the correct (pronunciation of the) Name of the Almighty: "The true pronunciation of the name YHWH was never lost. Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced Yahweh.” Further confirmation comes from The New Schaff‑Herzog Religious Encyclopedia: “The pronunciation Yahweh of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton need no longer be based primarily on traditions preserved in late patristic sources. Both the vocalization yahwe and yahu (a shortened form used chiefly in personal names) are now confirmed by a variety of ancient New Eastern inscriptional materials from the first and second millennia B.C.E.” In the Oxford Bible the same conclusion is drawn: "Christian writers between A.D. 150 and A. D. 450 have Yaouai... in Greek characters, and early magical texts have Yhbyh (Yahveh) in Aramaic characters, all pointing to Yahweh as the original pronunciation.” Along the same lines it is stated in The Jewish Encyclopedia: “The fact may also be mentioned that in Samaritan poetry YHWH rimes with words similar in ending to Yahweh, and Theodoret and Epiphanius state that the Samaritans pronounced the name “Iave”. (When this Greek word “Iave” is transliterated into English, it resembles our word Yahweh , pronounced as Yahwheh or Yahway ).
It is sometimes argued that the Name the Almighty revealed to Moses in Exod 3:13‑15 was “I am that I am” and not “Yahweh”. As stated already, it is difficult to establish the true meaning of these verses if one has to rely on a modern translation of the Bible. Let us have a closer look at these verses, retaining the words “Elohim” and “Yahweh” as in the original text: “And Moshe said unto Elohim, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Yisrael, and shall say unto them, The Elohim of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And Elohim said unto Moshe, I AM THAT I AM, and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Yisrael, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And Elohim said moreover unto Moshe, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Yisrael: Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Yitschaq (Isaac), and the Elohim of Ya’acob (Jacob), hath sent me unto you: this [is] my name for ever, and this [is] my memorial unto all generations.”
Moshe wanted Elohim to tell him (Moshe) what his (Elohim’s) real name was so that he could refer to this name when going back to the children of Yisrael in Mitsrayim (Egypt). In reply to this question Moshe received a twofold answer: (1) The first part of the answer contained the designation “I am (that I am)”; (2) The second part contained the Name “Yahweh”. What we need to realize, however, is that both parts of the answer are references to the (one) Name of Yahweh. The words ”I am that I am” is a duplication of the Hebrew word “ehyeh” which means “I am” or “I exist” or “I am alive”. The root form of this word is “hayah”. Now, the root form of “Yahweh” is also “hayah” and basically the word “Yahweh” also means “the one who IS (alive) and will always BE (alive)”. The main difference between “ehyeh” and “Yahweh” is that “ehyeh” is in the form of the First Person Singular and can therefore only be used by some‑one speaking about himself. “Yahweh” is in the form of the Third Person Singular and is therefore the form to be used by people speaking to Him or about Him. When the Almighty was making his own name known to Moshe, He could use the words “I am”. But when He was telling Moshe by which Name He was to be known among his people, He used the word Yahweh – “this is (his) Name for ever, and this is (his) memorial unto all generations.”
For what reason did I choose to retain the title “Elohim” in the above verses? First of all, it is important to notice that “Elohim” is not a name of the Almighty. If “Elohim” were his Name, why would He have taken the trouble of revealing his Name “Yahweh” to Moshe, stating that this Name (Yahweh, not Elohim) was his memorial (Name) unto all generations? Elohim is an established Hebrew noun that simply means “mighty ones” and is often used as a very appropriate title for the Almighty. Why do I refrain from using the title “God”, contrary to the widely accepted practice in almost all modern Bible translations? Because the Scriptures clearly reveal that it is most inappropriate for true believers to rely or fall back upon items, practices, and even words taken from paganism and idol worship. It is especially inappropriate to apply these items, practices or words to the only One who is truly worthy of our undivided devotion. Not only is it inappropriate – numerous Scriptures underline the fact that Yahweh Himself will remove the names of false elohim or false mighty ones out of the mouths of his people (see Exod 23:13; Josh 23:7; Ps 16:4; Hos 2:17; Zech 13:2).
It will be hard for many people to accept what is being stated here. How do we know that “God” is the name of a false mighty one? A little bit of dictionary investigation will reveal the fact that “God” is not simply a translation of the Hebrew word “Elohim”. Elohim means “mighty ones” and was used as a title for the Creator long before other nations (speaking other languages) took up the same word and applied it to their so‑called mighty ones. “God”, on the other hand, is not an “innocent” word at all. Apart from the fact that people from almost all the different religions in the world today refer to their objects of worship as “God” or “Gods”, the word “god” itself has its roots firmly in paganism. People using the word today may be totally unaware of this, but the word “God” originally was the name of a pagan idol, also known as “Godan”, “Gad”, “Goda”, “Gott”, “Guth” and “Gud”. The basic meaning of the word from which these names were derived, is believed by some to be “ghodh” which means “unity, especially sexual unity or mating or copulation”. One source for this information is the Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, Vol 1, by Julius Pokorny. Alexander Hislop, in his momentous book, The Two Babilons, shows that “Gad” at some stage was connected to the “sun‑divinity”. The Oxford English Dictionary says "god" derives from the Dutch god, stemming from the Old High German, gott. It sprang from the Gothic guth, going back to the Teutonic gudo, which stems from two Aryan roots – one meaning “to invoke”, the other “to pour” in the sense of a molten image.
Even though we may not be one hundred percent certain as to the primary connotations of the original word, it is quite clear that “god” is a word polluted with idolatry. Do we really want to address the true and only Elohim with a title like this? “But I don’t speak Hebrew, I speak English” some would say. One writer has put it this way: “English is a melting pot language that borrows extensively from many languages.” As a matter of fact, according to this writer, in the statement "I speak English, so I do not use the Hebrew name", only one word, the word “not” is from English origin. The rest of the words are all borrowed from foreign languages. Even the word “English” is from German descent! When it comes to the language we use as an expression of our reverence for the Almighty, the choice we have to make is obvious. It is much better to borrow words from a language like Hebrew that are pure and trusted, than to defile our devotion with words (and names) that we thought were simply “English” but in reality had been derived not only from foreign languages but also foreign worship and foreign deities.
In conclusion, let us take a last look at some of the Scriptures underlining the extreme importance of the true Name of our one and only Elohim, Yahweh the Almighty.
Psa 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.
Psa 135:13 Your name, Yahweh, endures forever; Your renown, Yahweh, throughout all generations.
Isa 42:8 I am Yahweh, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images.
Hos 12:5 Even Yahweh, the Elohim of hosts; Yahweh is his memorial name!
Joe 2:32 It will happen that whoever will call on the name of Yahweh shall be saved (Quoted in Acts 2:42, and again in Rom 10:13).