Yhwh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Tetragrammaton (disambiguation). "YHWH" redirects here. For discussion of the Yahweh of ancient Semitic religion, see Yahweh.
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (September 2011)
The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the sacredHebrew name of God – YHWH.
The term tetragrammaton (from Greek τετραγράμματον, meaning "[a word] having four letters")[1] refers to the Hebrew written form of YHWH (Hebrew: Israel which is used in the Hebrew Bible and elsewhere. This written Hebrew name is generally regarded as having been pronounced as Yahweh by modern scholars, though many variant pronunciations have been proposed. At some point a taboo on saying the name aloud developed in Judaism, and rather than pronounce the written name, other titles were substituted, including "Lord" (in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kyrios). ), one of the names of the God of
Contents
[hide]
1 Primary evidence: occurrences in texts o 1.1 Hebrew Bible 1.1.1 Frequency of use in scripture o 1.2 Dead Sea scrolls Hebrew and Aramaic texts o 1.3 Representation in Hellenistic Jewish texts o 1.4 In the Kabbalah and Chassidut o 1.5 Magical papyri o 1.6 Aramaic papyri o 1.7 Mesopotamian texts 1.7.1 19th-century scholarship 1.7.2 Modern scholarship 2 Etymology and meaning of YHWH 3 Pronunciation: the question of which vowels o 3.1 Theophoric names o 3.2 Using consonants as semi-vowels (v/w) o 3.3 Yahweh or Jahweh o 3.4 Examining the vowel points of and o 3.5 Kethib and Qere and Qere perpetuum o 3.6 Jehovah o 3.7 = Yahweh o 3.8 The Leningrad Codex of 1008–1010 o 3.9 The vocalizations of and are not identical o 3.10 Josephus's description of vowels o 3.11 Conclusions 4 Usage - conventions and prohibitions on speaking the name o 4.1 Speaking the name in ancient Israel o