The Name of the Almighty is one of the most contested things among believers today. Many claim that they have the correct pronunciation and that the other pronunciations are wrong. The majority of these pronunciations do not have any factual or linguistic support and yet the people swear by the authenticity of that pronunciation, even though it is totally incorrect. There are other pronunciations that do have “so called” evidence, but is not evidence at all.
In this article, I am going to show you why the pronunciation of “Yehovah” cannot be the correct pronunciation. I will present evidence and facts to prove this as that is what we need to go by. The true pronunciation must meet all facts and evidence and not only some. If it contradicts even one Hebrew grammatical rule, then it is false. So let us have a look to see if it is correct or not.
In this article, I am going to show you why the pronunciation of “Yehovah” cannot be the correct pronunciation. I will present evidence and facts to prove this as that is what we need to go by. The true pronunciation must meet all facts and evidence and not only some. If it contradicts even one Hebrew grammatical rule, then it is false. So let us have a look to see if it is correct or not.
The original Hebrew Tanakh existed without the Masoretic markings, which were later added in the middle ages. Because of the Pharisaical teachings and tradition that the Name of the Almighty was not to be uttered, certain vocal sounds were added to the Name to hide the true pronunciation. In order to create the vocal sounds for the written name and continuing to keep the Name "secret" and "hidden" the vocal sounds for Adonai were transplanted into the word YHWH. Later the vocal sounds for Eloah (singular form of Elohim) were used creating YeHoWaH.
Since in Modern Hebrew the Hebrew letter WAW (later called VAV) is pronounced "V" in place of its ancient pronunciation "W", YeHoWaH became YeHoVaH. This became transliterated in the original KJV English as IEHOVAH and later when the letter “J” was added to English IEHOVAH became JEHOVAH. However the J and the V in "Jehovah" are incorrect, as are the vowels E-O-A which actually come from ELOAH. In fact only one of the two letters H-H are correct.
Since in Modern Hebrew the Hebrew letter WAW (later called VAV) is pronounced "V" in place of its ancient pronunciation "W", YeHoWaH became YeHoVaH. This became transliterated in the original KJV English as IEHOVAH and later when the letter “J” was added to English IEHOVAH became JEHOVAH. However the J and the V in "Jehovah" are incorrect, as are the vowels E-O-A which actually come from ELOAH. In fact only one of the two letters H-H are correct.
Another fact is that the English transliteration YHWH or YHVH is not even100% correct and should actually keep its original Hebrew form יהוה, but for understanding purposes, we will use it here.
Another argument for why the Name should be ‘Yehovah” comes from many Jews and even very learned people, like Nehemiah Gordon and Keith Johnson (who has even written a book on this subject), who claim that the root of the Name of the Almighty is “hayah” and is explained in Exodus 3:14. Let us read. “And Elohim said to Mosheh, “I am that which I am.” (Eyeh asher eyeh) And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Yisraĕl, ‘I am has sent me to you”. Now they say that the Name is derived from “eyeh” which comes form the root “hayah” which means to exist. But is this really the root word for the Name of the Almighty? Well, ‘eyeh’ is explaining the character of the Almighty, he is the only mighty one who actually exists, which is partly in the Name of the Almighty, but is NOT the root of His Name. We refer to the Almighty as Elohim too, but is that His Name or the root of His Name? Certainly not. Let us read the very next verse, “And Elohim said further to Mosheh, “Thus you are to say to the children of Yisraĕl, ‘יהוה (YHWH) Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Avraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of Ya’aqoḇ, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations” (Exodus 3:15).
Another argument for why the Name should be ‘Yehovah” comes from many Jews and even very learned people, like Nehemiah Gordon and Keith Johnson (who has even written a book on this subject), who claim that the root of the Name of the Almighty is “hayah” and is explained in Exodus 3:14. Let us read. “And Elohim said to Mosheh, “I am that which I am.” (Eyeh asher eyeh) And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Yisraĕl, ‘I am has sent me to you”. Now they say that the Name is derived from “eyeh” which comes form the root “hayah” which means to exist. But is this really the root word for the Name of the Almighty? Well, ‘eyeh’ is explaining the character of the Almighty, he is the only mighty one who actually exists, which is partly in the Name of the Almighty, but is NOT the root of His Name. We refer to the Almighty as Elohim too, but is that His Name or the root of His Name? Certainly not. Let us read the very next verse, “And Elohim said further to Mosheh, “Thus you are to say to the children of Yisraĕl, ‘יהוה (YHWH) Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Avraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of Ya’aqoḇ, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations” (Exodus 3:15).
So why then did Elohim say ‘eyeh asher eyeh’ in the previous verse? And say “eyeh” has sent me to you? This is because the people were specifically waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled that the one who exists (eyeh) will deliver them from slavery and bring them back to the land of their fathers. So where and when was this prophecy given, and by whom?
In Genesis we see the Ya’akov spoke to Yosef telling him that Elohim will be (hayah, which is the root of eyeh) with him and bring him and bring them back to the land of their fathers. (Genesis 48:21).
So basically what the Almighty was saying when he said “eyeh asher eyeh” was two fold, firstly He was telling them that the Elohim of their forefathers has come to deliver them and take them to the land of their fathers, as the people were expecting according to the prophecy given by Ya’akov. And secondly, He was proclaiming that He is the only Mighty One who is alive and exists and that there is no one who can go against Him, and that there is no end to Him or His power. He was not saying that that was His Name, as He gave them His Name in the very next sentence.
Evidence from the Hebrew language
Another thing that should be mentioned is another piece of evidence that proves that the Name of the Almighty cannot be pronounced as Yehovah is because it is using the middle ‘waw’ as a vowel and a consonant at the same time, which is not possible or allowed in the Hebrew language. Let me explain. Keith Johnson so nicely explains that when the Name is in the beginning of other people’s name’s that it is pronounced Yeho, as in Yehochanan, or Yehoshua etc. therefore the Name of the Almighty has to start with “Yeho…”.
This information that Keith just gave actually contradicts the rest of his theory.
If we look at these names in the Hebrew, it starts with יהו (yud hey waw) and is pronounced Yeho. Now according to Keith, the first three letters of the Name of the Almighty are pronounced as “Yeho”, but what are we then left with? We are left with only the last “hey.” Now can we ever get the sound or pronunciation of “…vah” from the Hebrew letter “hey”? According to the Hebrew language, it is impossible. In order to get the “v” sound, it needs to come from the “waw”, but it then it cannot be used to get the “o” sound in “Yeho”. So the only options we are left with are, either, “Yehoah” or “Yehvah” but never “Yehovah”
The difference between prefix and suffix
Hebrew grammar teaches that in a composite word/name, the prefix, which is the beginning part of the name, always shortens its syllables. But the suffix in a composite word/name always keeps its original form and pronunciation. This is a Hebrew grammatical rule that Nehemiah Gordon knows very well and yet never quotes the entire rule in order that keep to his own theory.
Now how does this matter in the pronunciation of the Name of the Almighty? Well, if we look at the many names in Scripture where the Name of the Almighty (יהו (yud hey waw)) is used as the suffix, it is ALWAYS pronounced as “….yahu,” as in YeshaYAHU, and YirmeYAHU etc.
Hebrew grammar teaches that in a composite word/name, the prefix, which is the beginning part of the name, always shortens its syllables. But the suffix in a composite word/name always keeps its original form and pronunciation. This is a Hebrew grammatical rule that Nehemiah Gordon knows very well and yet never quotes the entire rule in order that keep to his own theory.
Now how does this matter in the pronunciation of the Name of the Almighty? Well, if we look at the many names in Scripture where the Name of the Almighty (יהו (yud hey waw)) is used as the suffix, it is ALWAYS pronounced as “….yahu,” as in YeshaYAHU, and YirmeYAHU etc.
Now according to the grammatical rule stated above, the suffix always keeps its original pronunciation, and in the case of the Name of the Almighty, we clearly see that the original pronunciation is always Yahu. Because of this simple fact, we know for certain that the pronunciation of Name of the Almighty has to start with “Yahu..” It can never be anything else.
If we want to know the truth, then we need to learn the Hebrew language. Many people follow Keith Johnson and Nehemiah Gordon for the simple reason that they do not know any better and assume that these people are teaching the truth.
To sum it up, when the Name of the Almighty is used as a suffix in a composite word/name, then it is always pronounced as “…yahu” which is the original pronunciation. But when it is used as a prefix, then the syllables shorten and then we get “Yeho…” Therefore, the Name “Yehovah” cannot be correct as it is NOT a composite word and has to, therefore, start with “Yahu..” which is the original form.
Why is there no retaliation from the Jews?
The Messiah was persecuted by the Jewish people for proclaiming the Name of the Almighty openly as the Jewish people have hidden it and banned anyone from speaking the Name of YHWH openly. Now if Nehemiah and Keith were correct, then the Jewish community would have been in such an uproar about this as it is a huge issue for them because Nehemiah lives in Israel and is well known among the communities there. But something I noticed… not even one Jew is condemning Nehemiah or Keith for there pronunciation of Yehovah as it is not the true pronunciation.
What about the Leningrad Codex
There is also “so called” evidence that the people, who subscribe to this pronunciation, use a lot to say that His Name is definitely Yehovah. It even looks like rock solid evidence, but only to those who are uneducated in the subject. So what am I talking about? There are photos of manuscripts of the Leningrad Codex, which is the text that has the Masoretic markings that is used for the Hebrew texts, which has the Name written in them with the Masoretic markings indicating the pronunciation of “Yehovah.” (I have added some of these photo’s here for you to see for yourself).
It only appears a very few times compared to the, more than 6,000 other times, where the Name is written, and there are no masoretic markings for the Name at all, and the only places that these very few (I think about twelve times or something like that), appears in only one of the books of the Tanakh. Not one of these instances appears in the Torah.
The reason the markings appear like that, is because when the Scribe was writing the copy, he would firstly vocally sound out every word before he wrote it, it was a painstaking process. When the Scribe wrote the Name in certain places, he would lose concentration and sound out the name and accidentally write it with the sounds that he spoke out (remember that they did not have erasers in those days). We know this is not the true pronunciation, as these Scribes were forbidden to speak out the true pronunciation of the Name, and therefore they spoke out the word “Yehovah” instead, which had the vocal sounds of “Eloah” but still kept the Name of YHWH secret.
So as you can see, this is not proof of the pronunciation of “Yehovah” at all, but is actually proof that it isn’t “Yehovah”
Conclusion
We can now see that all the “so called” evidence for the pronunciation of “Yehovah” is not evidence at all, but rather proves that pronunciation to be false.
We can see from the Scriptures and from the Hebrew language that the Name cannot start with “Yeho…” but must start with “Yahu…”
We can also see that the pronunciation of “Yehovah” cannot be true as it is using the “waw” as a consonant and a vowel at the same time, which is a transgression of the rules of Hebrew.
The root of the Name of the Almighty is not “hayah.” The fact of the matter is that the Name of the Almighty is a root word on its own and cannot be broken into further roots.
The Name of the Almighty is the Highest Word in the entire Hebrew language!!!
We are to follow the facts and evidences rather than people who seek a following like Keith and Nehemiah. They do have a lot to offer, but should not be considered the authority for the study of the Scriptures. If you follow them, then you deny the facts and the truth.
Shalom to all those reading here.
