God Almighty said in Exodus 20:7 (KJV) "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain."
In the reverent attempt to make sure no one ever breaks this vital commandment, the Jewish rabbis decided thousands of years ago not to ever pronounce God's Sacred Name which in Hebrew is spelled YHVH. In place of His Name, they decided to say "Adonai" or "HaShem" ("The Name" in Hebrew). May God bless them for so carefully and reverently obeying His command. Jewish people still follow this custom today. Bible translators do also. They replace God's Name with "LORD" in all capital letters (as in the verse above). In fact, the adherence to this Rabbinical rule has been so complete that the correct pronunciation of the Almighty's Awesome, Sacred Name has been lost. No one today knows for sure how it was pronounced.
We wonder, is that what the Creator of the Universe had in mind? Does He really never want to hear His Name on our lips, if spoken with great reverence and awe? He put His Name in the Bible almost 7000 times. David, "a man after God's own heart," wrote this Sacred, Hebrew Name almost 800 times in the Psalms, most likely also pronouncing it when he recited, prayed, or sang those psalms to YHVH. It is a beautiful blessing just to see the Hebrew Sacred Name throughout the Scriptures-a feast for our eyes and souls and spirits. Maybe someday we will also have the blessing to know how to proclaim His Name aloud in power, sing His Name lovingly in praise, and call upon His Sacred Name sincerely in supplication. However, since HaShem allowed the sound of His Name to be lost, perhaps He wants it spoken only in private truly reverently. Two most likely pronunciations put forth by Hebrew scholars are: "Yehovah" or "Yahoveh." It is not pronounced "Jehovah" because there is no "j" sound in Hebrew. It is not "Yahweh" because there is no "w" sound in Hebrew. (Although some say that in ancient Hebrew, there was a sound somewhere between a "w" and a "v".) May ADONAI Himself reveal, if He wills, how to say---in secret prayer and worship time---with all respect, honor, and reverence---His Most Holy, powerful Name.
There is so much deep meaning and beauty in the Sacred Name, YHVH. There is the meaning of existing, of breath, and of past, present, and future. And when you look at the meanings of the individual Hebrew letters of YHVH, there is something very astounding. Hebrew letters were originally pictographs, each one having a meaning. The Hebrew "Y" has the underlying meaning of "hand," the background meaning of the "H" is "window" or "behold." The "V" was originally a picture of tent peg or a nail. Put this together, and it says "hand, behold, nail, behold." Since the Hebrew grammar is often backwards from English, we can turn that around to say: "Behold the hand, behold the nail." Doesn't that just give you revelation chills of awe? May the LORD keep on revealing to us more and more about His Sacred Hebrew Name. Find out something similarly astounding about our Messiah and Savior's Sacred Hebrew Name, Yeshua, in this Bible and on Olive Press Publisher's website. You will be so amazed.
This Bible uses the King James Version with only these changes: "Messiah" replaces "Christ" and "salvation" has the Hebrew letters beside it.
