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God's Name

The document discusses the Tetragrammaton, which is the four letters that comprise God's name in Hebrew - YHWH. This name was considered unutterable by Jews out of reverence. When Moses asked God for his name, God replied with this name. The name would have been pronounced as "Yahweh" but was avoided by substituting "Adonai". Only the high priest could speak the name in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur while making atonement. The name pictographically refers to "Behold the hand, behold the nail", pointing to Jesus's crucifixion.

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49 views

God's Name

The document discusses the Tetragrammaton, which is the four letters that comprise God's name in Hebrew - YHWH. This name was considered unutterable by Jews out of reverence. When Moses asked God for his name, God replied with this name. The name would have been pronounced as "Yahweh" but was avoided by substituting "Adonai". Only the high priest could speak the name in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur while making atonement. The name pictographically refers to "Behold the hand, behold the nail", pointing to Jesus's crucifixion.

Uploaded by

fire_born
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Tetragrammaton

Kenneth L. Broom

When God called Moses (who's name means 'draw out', as in rescue) at the
burning bush, Moses asked His name to which God replied YHWH (Exodus 3:15-
16) – the self existent One, or Eternal One. (This is the name used from Genesis
2:4)

This is called the Tetragrammaton, which means 'the four letters'. It is to the
Jews the unutterable name. Very ancient Hebrew did not have vowel markings
at all and oral tradition taught what vowels to insert with appropriate
consonants. But after the giving of the Ten commandments, so as not to take the
Lord's name in vain, God's personal, or 'memorial' name remained unutterable.

Later, the Jews inserted the vowels of the Hebrew word Adonai which means
Lord to produce the name that we pronounce as 'Jehovah' so as not to defile
God's name by uttering it, but this is a mis-transliteration.

So what of God's name, the name that Adam knew?

hwhy modern Hebrew text.

There was only one man who could utter God's name, and that could be done
only once a year. That man was the High Priest, and that once a year was on the
day of atonement, or Yom Kippur. The High Priest would speak the name of God
as He entered the Most Holy place in the Tabernacle, as He sprinkled the blood of
the offering onto the Ark of the Covenant to make atonement for the sins of all
of Israel.

The Written Hebrew language in the time of Moses was very different to modern
day Hebrew. The text of the ancients was of a pictographic nature. So God's
name would look like this:

‫יהוה‬ ancient Hebrew text

simplified, it looks like this:

EF EI
‫ י‬is the letter Yud, which means hand or arm
‫ ה‬is the letter Hey, which means Look!, or Behold!
‫ ו‬is the letter Vav, which means, nail, or peg
Are you getting the picture yet?
So once a year when the High Priest went into the Most Holy of Holies to offer
the sacrifice before God to make atonement for the sins of God's people, he
uttered what he knew of how to pronounce God's name; and as he sprinkled the
blood and spoke, he was saying:

Behold the hand, behold the nail


‫י ה ו ה‬ (Hebrew is read right to left)

Roughly 1470 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, God gave His
personal name, the four letters that would be uttered once a year on
the day of atonement as the blood was sprinkled in the Most Holy
place as a symbol of what our Lord Jesus Christ would do in the
heavens with His own sprinkled blood after being sacrificed on the
cross. Behold the hand, behold the nail!

After His trial and after being beaten and whipped to within an inch
of His life, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God was presented again before
the Jews by Pontius Pilate as he spoke these words:

Behold the man!

After the resurrection, some of the disciples having seen Jesus Christ alive
reported to the others, but Thomas said to them,

"Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the
place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." (John
20:25)

Then when Jesus came to them, He said this to Thomas,

"Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and
put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing." (John 20:27)

Behold the hand, behold the nail!

Thomas response: "My Lord and my God!"

Incidentally, the ancient Hebrew letter which means 'a sign', or 'covenant' is the
letter Tav which looks like this:

‫ת‬
Somebody Praise the name of Jesus Christ!!!!!!!

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