Pronunciation of YHWH from Y’hudah?

The Name of the Almighty is the Name above all names. There is so much might and power in His Name. The Name of the Almighty is so set apart that the Torah makes it very clear that anyone who profanes His Name, or brings it to naught, will not go unpunished. But there are many people who do such things by proclaiming a false pronunciation of His Name and teaching others to follow their false teachings.

These people who do so are self professed “experts” and yet, they do not have any Hebrew grammar or linguistic knowledge at all. Neither do these people take any historic evidence into consideration, but proclaim their personal opinions so loudly and claim that it is factual. I have seen article on the internet and even youtube videos of such people blurting out their opinions as if they were fact. None of these ‘so-called experts’ are Jews (Yehudim) or people who actually understand the Hebrew language. Only people who do not have any knowledge of the Hebrew language falls for these false teachings.

These so-called experts make a very large claim that the Name of the Almighty is “YaHuWaH” or something similar to that. They also claim that this pronunciation comes from the name of the fourth son of “Ya’akov” who’s name is Y’hudah. These are totally false claims and this article will prove them to be false by looking at the actual facts and Scriptural evidence.

These people claim that the Name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) is the key to the correct pronunciation as it has the same letters as יהוה (YHWH) and in the same order too, only with a ‘dalet’ between the ‘waw’ and the last ‘hey’. Then it is said that because of this, when the ‘dalet’ falls away, then it would be pronounced “Yahuah” instead of Yahudah”. However, there are many errors to this theory:

In order to understand the name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) we need to go to the Scriptures and find out what it means. Then we have to see what the root of the word is and see if it is the same root as for the Name of the Almighty. Once we know these things, we will then be able to see why we cannot deduce the pronunciation of the Name of the Almighty from it. Let us now have a look at where the name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) originates from:

“And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I praise  יהוה (YHWH)”יהוה  Z£@ D£C]@ (odeh et YHWH). So she called his name Yehuḏah. And she ceased bearing” (Gen 29:35). This is the key to what the name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) means and how it is formed.

Now if you go do a little research, You will notice that the root of ‘odeh’ (which is Imperfect tense, first person, singular) is ‘yadah’ and that you will also find that the root of the name of Yehudah is ידה (yadah). Now the word ידה (yadah) means, “to throw, cast…. I. to confess openly and freely…. II. To give thanks, to praise.  “Yad” is Hebrew for ‘hand’, where as “yadah” is an action (verb), what the hand is doing. Here it is praising.

The name יהוּדה (Y’hudah) is a combination of the words “yadah” and “YHWH” or rather “Yahu”, which gives us theoretically, “Yahu-dah” but, when two words are joined, to create a compound word/name, the prefix shortens its syllables which then gives us the correct pronunciation as Y’hudah or Yehudah. This is always the case and we do not need the Massoretic markings to know this, as it was so from the time of giving the name by Leah in Gen 29:35.

You can also see that the “….ah” at the end of the name “Y’hudAH” comes from the root word “yadah” and NOT from the Name of the Almighty. It is therefore 100% incorrect to claim that the Almighty’s Name ends with “….ah” or is pronounced as “YAHUWAH” by using the name of יהוּדה (Y’hudah) to prove it.

One cannot just add or remove letters from a Hebrew word to make it another word or pronunciation. This violates the language of the Almighty and brings His Name to naught, which is breaking the Third Commandment.

One very simple thing that should be very obvious is that the 'dalet' is the vocal sound holder of "a." So if you are going to remove the 'dalet' then you also have to remove the 'a' sound as there is no letter there that can hold it.

So once again, we can clearly see that only the people who do not have a working knowledge of the Hebrew language are the ones who try use the name of Y'hudah as proof of the name of the Almighty. The fact is that it is not possible to do so and anyone who claims that it is, is either a liar or just ignorant of the Hebrew language.

Some more proof

Another proof as to why the Name of the Almighty cannot be written as “YAHUWAH” is the actual Hebrew language. Let me explain.

In all the names of people that end with (יהו) “yud hey waw,” the pronunciation is always “….yahu”. Now according to Hebrew grammar rules, the suffix (end part of a word) in a conjunction word (two words/names joined together to create a single word/name) always keeps its original form and pronunciation.

The letter (ו) “waw” can either be used as a consonant or as a vowel. In the case of a consonant, it is pronounced as “v” whereas when it is used as a vowel, it can be pronounced as either “o” or “u”. It can never be used as a consonant and a vowel at the same time. So the pronunciation of “Yahuw” from (יהו) is impossible, because that form and pronunciation is using the “waw” as a consonant and a vowel at the same time. Anyone teaching this form and pronunciation is a false teacher.

So we know that (יהו) is pronounced as “Yahu” (unless it is used as a prefix in a conjunction word). Now all we are left with in the Name of the Almighty is the last letter, which is a (ה) “hey”. Now ask yourself, can you ever get the pronunciation of “wah” from a (ה) “hey”? No, it is also impossible.

Although it is possible in the Hebrew language to have the pronunciation of “Yahuah” (without the ‘w’), that pronunciation does not meet any historical findings or evidence at all.  Once again, the people proclaiming this pronunciation are NOT experts at all and do not consider any facts or evidence or even Scripture.

Are you going to listen to and follow someone who does not have any Hebrew knowledge, or are you going to search for the Truth and follow that?