CHAPTER 2 – THE PRONUNCIATION

One of the reasons the translators usually give for using a

substitute instead of God’s name, is that no one knows for sure
how to pronounce it. The pronunciation of God’s name has been
a controversial matter for some time; scholars have different
views of the pronunciation. Most prefer the pronunciation
YAHWEH, and indeed, this vocalization has the support of most of
the scholars. Others argue for such possibilities as YEHOAH,
YAHUWEH or YAHUEH, YAHUWAH or YAHUVAH, YAHVAH, or
YAHWAH, etc.
As you can see from these various forms of the name, there is
disagreement as to whether the third letter of God's name should
be represented as a "V" or a "W," and the proper vowels are also
in dispute. Bible translator and expert in the Hebrew and Aramaic
languages Professor James Tabor notes:
Frankly, much of this confusion results because of a lack of
knowledge of basic Hebrew grammar, as well as the history
and development of modern Hebrew. However, even among
those who do understand the technical problems involved
there is often basic disagreement.
If one understands that the four Hebrew letters (Yod He Vav
He) represent four vowels, rather than four consonants, then
the Name is best represented by the four sounds I-A-U-E or
ee-ah-oo-eh. If you pronounce these quickly you will get the
combined sound in English. This appears to agree with
Josephus, with the Greek transliterations. It would be written
in English as YAHUEH, not strictly YAHWEH, which is the
consonantal form. The problem with this proposal is the
question of the meaning. These four sounds appear to mean
nothing in Hebrew, and they lose their connection with the
verb hayah, "to be," upon which the Divine Name appears to
be based. Hebrew names are believed to carry meaning, how
much more the case with the very Name of God!
The combination YE-HO-AH makes better grammatical sense.
In Hebrew "YE" represents the future or imperfect of the verb
"to be," "HO" represents the present, while "AH" represents
the past. In other words, this form of the Name would have
 specific meaning and not be merely a repetition of vowel
sounds. Quite literally YEHOAH means "shall/is/was. . ."
YAH would then be the contracted, or shortened form, of this
full Name, taking the first and last sounds together. 1
In Biblical Hebrew, it is not acceptable for two vowels to
stand beside each other,2 therefore the consonantal sound of W
has to be pronounced, and YEHOAH becomes YEHOWAH. G.W.
Buchanan has the following to say about the vowel points and the
number of syllables of the name.
There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the Jews
during the first or second temple [period] pronounced YHWH
as Yahweh. But [the] Samaritans had a pronunciation which
was not far from Yahweh. When the element YAH occurs in
proper names, it is at the end of the name. Looking at proper
names in the Tanach, it seems that the first two syllables of
YHWH was YAHO or YEHO. It is true that the Masoretic
pointing of YHWH is based on the vowels of a substitute, but
we must remember that the real pronunciation of YHWH was
lost when the Masoretes did their work. Thus they did not
necessarily use vowels which were different from the original
pronunciation (which they did not know), but they used the
vowels from the substitute word. Their use of the vowels
YE:H, or occasionally YE:HO at the beginning does not rule
out that YE:HO was used in the original pronunciation. In
short: The evidence points to a pronunciation during the
second temple [period] which is closer to the three syllabic
YAHOWA/YEHOWA than to the two-syllabic YAHWEH. 3
The Vowel Points
In Hebrew orthography, niqqud or nikkud is a system of
diacritical signs used to represent vowels or distinguish between
alternative pronunciations of letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

1
Restoring Abrahamic Faith, Genesis 2000, Charlotte, NC. 28256. 1993, p. 11
2
“Should it be regarded as a vowel indicator, it would mean that two vowels
would stand next to each other, which is unacceptable in B[iblical H[ebrew].”
(Cf. §7.1/2.) Van der Merwe, C., Naudé, J., Kroeze, J., Van der Merwe, C.,
Naudé, J., & Kroeze, J. (1997). A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar
(electronic ed.) (30). Oak Harbor
3
G. W. Buchanan (Some Unfinished Business With the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Revue de Qumran, 13:49-52 (1988)).
These signs are often referred to as vowel points. Several systems
for representing Hebrew vowels were developed in the Early
Middle Ages. The most widespread system, and the only one still
used to a significant degree today, was created by the Masoretes
of Tiberias in the second half of the first millennium in the Land
of Israel. Hebrew Text written with niqqud is called ktiv
menuqad.
Many of the names and places in the Bible that are very
familiar to us, are the result of applying these vowel points to the
consonantal Hebrew Text. For example, The word “Israel”
without vowel points would be spelled ‫( ישראל‬YSR’L). However,
the word we know today needs vowels, and when we add the
vowel points we get ‫( יִ ְשׂ ָר ֵאל‬yirl). Before vowel points were
added to the Hebrew texts of the Bible sometime after the 6th or
7th century C.E., the LXX has also provided an interpretation of
the pronunciation of these Hebrew words. In the LXX we find
Ισραηλ (Israel) for ‫( ישראל‬YSR’L). Therefore, the vowels found
in the LXX predate the vowel points of the Masoretes by hundreds
of years. nevertheless, they are not always the same.
However, the issue at hand is whether the vowel points that
we find associated with the Tetragrammaton are the vowel points
of Adonay and Elohim. One of the problems is that the
Tetragrammaton is pointed with a number of different vowel
points. The prevailing argument is that in the majority of
occurrences, YHWH is pointed with the vowels of Adonay. This
idea is usually presented as fact with little to no explanation of
the data. For example, the fact that there is a difference between
the first vowel “a” for Adonay and “e” for Yehowah is rarely
explained. If the Tetragrammaton had the exact vowel points of
o ] it would appear as ‫( יֲהׂוָה‬Yahowah) in the text, but it
Adonay yn"da
does not. Before we answer some of these questions, we will first
look at the different ways in which the Tetragrammaton is
pointed. In the following table, (BHS) stands for Biblia Hebraica
Stuttgartensia and ½ stands for the Ben Hayyim Hebrew texts
used in older Bible such as the King James Version.
Hebrew Transliteration BHS ½ Reference

‫י ְהוָה‬ YeHWaH 5658 Judges 16:28

‫י ְהוִה‬ YeHWiH 271 Ezekiel 24:24

‫י ְהֹוָה‬ YeHoWaH 44 6518 Genesis 3:14

‫י ְהֹוִה‬ YeHoWiH 31 1 Kings 2:26

‫י ֱהוִה‬ YeHWiH 2 Genesis 15:2

‫י ֱהֹוִה‬ YeHoWiH 1 305 Judges 16:28

6007 6823

The following are the remaining 820 forms from BHS

‫וַיהוָה‬ WaYHWaH 99 Genesis 13:14

‫וַיהֺוָה‬ WaYHoWaH 1 Genesis 18:17

‫לַיהוָה‬ LaYHWaH 572 Genesis 4:3

‫לַיהֹוָה‬ LaYHoWaH 4 Leviticus 23:34

‫ַלי ְהוָה‬ LaYeHWaH 1 Deut. 32:6

‫ַבּיהוָה‬ BaYHWaH 92 Genesis 15:6

‫בַיהוָה‬ BaYHWaH 12 Numbers 21:7

‫ַ ּביהֺוָה‬ BaYHoWaH 1 Jeremiah 3:23

‫מֵיהוָה‬ MeYHWaH 4 1 Kings 21:3

‫ֵמיְהוָה‬ MeYeHWaH 20 Genesis 18:14

‫כַּיהוָה‬ KaYHWaH 4 Exodus 8:10

‫וּ ֵמי ְהוָה‬ UMeYeHWaH 4 Proverbs 16:1

‫הַיהוָה‬ HaYHWaH 1 Jeremiah 8:19

 ‫שׁיֲהוָה‬
ֶ SeYaHWaH 1 Psalms 144:15

‫וּבַיהוָה‬ UBaYHWaH 2 Psalms 26:1

‫ְולַיהוָה‬ WeLaYHWaH 2 Proverbs 21:31

As you can see, the Tetragrammaton is never pointed with the

exact vowels of Adonay. There is only one occurrence where the
Name has a hataf patach under the yod in the compound form in
Psalm 144:15 (‫שׁי ֲהוָה‬
ֶ ), but it is still not the exact vowels of
Adonay since the holam is missing. Actually, the Leningrad
Codex deviates even more then the Ben Hayyim text, by not
using the holam in the majority of occurrences. That leaves the
Leningrad Codex with only one matching vowel from Adonay,
the kamatz. How can this proposal be maintained when only one
out of the three vowels of Adonay are used in the Leningrad
Codex? Nehemia Gordon agrees that there are discrepancies here.
The argument concerning the name is that YHVH has the
consonants of the name but the vowels of Adonai and this is
presented as fact in every introduction to Biblical Hebrew
and every scholarly discussion of the name. There are two
problems with this scholarly consensus. The first is that in all
the other instances of Qere-Ketiv,4 the word which is read
differently than the way it is written is marked by a circle in
the biblical manuscripts. The circle refers the reader to a
marginal note that says "read it such and such". So in the
instance of the name we would expect there to be a circle
over the word YHVH with a marginal note instructing us
"read it Adonai" But no such note exists! YHVH appears
6828 times in the Hebrew text of Scripture but it is never
identified as a Qere-Ketiv by either a scribal circle or a

4
Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, ("[what is] read") and ketiv,
or ketib, kethib, kethibh, kethiv, ("[what is] written"), refer to a small number
of differences between what is written in the consonantal text of the Hebrew
Bible, as preserved by scribal tradition, and what is read. In such situations,
the Qere is the technical orthographic device used to indicate the
pronunciation of the words in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible
(Tanakh), while the Ketiv indicates their original written form, as inherited
from tradition.
 marginal note. In response to this scholars insist that YHVH
is a so-called Qere Perpetuum. They claim that when a word
is always read differently than the way it is written the scribal
note is omitted. Now it is true that in such instances that the
scribal note is sometimes left out. But in the other instances
of Qere Perpetuum the scribal note appears sometimes and is
omitted other times for brevity. Yet nowhere in Scripture is
there an instance of Qere Perpetuum in which the word
written one way but read another way always lacks a scribal
note. If we were to apply the Qere Perpetuum rule to YHVH
it would be unique in this class of Qere-Ketiv since it never
has a scribal note saying "read it Adonai", not once in the
6828 times the word appears.
The second problem with the claim that YHVH has the
vowels of Adonai is quite simply that it does not! The vowels
of Adonai are A-O-A (hataf patach - cholam - kamats). In
contrast, the name YHVH is written with the vowels e---A
(sheva - no vowel - kamats). Now in every other instance of
Qere-Ketiv, the Ketiv, written in the body of Scripture, has
precisely the vowels of the Qere, while the Qere itself is
written without vowels in the margin of the biblical
manuscript. But the vowels of YHVH are clearly different
from the vowels of Adonai! YHVH is written YeHVaH but
with the vowels of Adonai it should have been Yahovah. 5
The following example shows how the vowel points differ
between the Tetragrammaton and Adonay. The English
transliteration of YeHoWaH is preserved only 44 times in the
Leningrad Codex of 1008-1010 C.E. However, in the later Ben
Hayyim texts which the Old Testament portion of the KJV and
other reformation Bibles are based on, YHWH is pointed as
YeHoWaH in the majority of cases that it appears in the Hebrew
text (approx. 6500 times). Most occurrences in the Leningrad
Codex are pointed as YeHWaH. Do not confuse this spelling with
the name Yahweh, they are not the same spelling.

5
The Pronunciation of the Name by Nehemia Gordon
 VOWEL POINT COMPARISON6

Y ‫י‬ Yod ` ‫א‬ Aleph

e ְ Simple Sheva a ֲ Hatef Patach

H ‫ה‬ Heh D ‫ד‬ Daleth

o ֺ Holem o ֺ Holem

W ‫ו‬ Waw N ‫נ‬ Nun

a ָ Kamatz a ָ Kamatz

H ‫ה‬ Heh Y ‫י‬ Yod

Notice that the first vowel in each word is different. This

difference is usually explained by the rules of Hebrew
morphology and phonetics. It is said that the Hebrew word
Adonay, uses hataf-patach (a) because of the glottal nature of
aleph. Since yod is not a glottal consonant, it uses the vowel
sheva (e) required by phonetic rules.
It was stated in §4.2/4(i) that a deviation from the customary
change is predictable with the gutturals (‫א‬, ‫ה‬, ‫ ח‬and ‫)ע‬. One of
the characteristics of the gutturals is that they may not be
vocalized with the audible šewâ. Instead of the audible šewa
the gutturals are vocalized with ḥāṭēp vowels.7
It seems odd that the Masoretes would be concerned about
applying proper phonetic rules to a word that was not to be
pronounced, but recognized visually to prevent its pronunciation?
If applying the vowels of Adonay to YHWH is intended to get the
readers attention visually, then it seems that leaving the original
hataf-patach where it allegedly did not belong, would have been
more effective for a visual sign. It is also noteworthy that most

6
This chart is using the full pointed Tetragrammaton of YeHoWaH, as found
in the Ben Hayyim text. B19A pointing of YeHWaH deviates even farther.
7
Van der Merwe, C., Naudé, J., Kroeze, J., Van der Merwe, C., Naudé, J., &
Kroeze, J. (1997). A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar (electronic ed.)
(31). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Hebrew names that begin with YH (‫ )י ְה‬also use a sheva under the
Yod. Therefore, not only did the Masoretes employ proper
vocalization rules, which seems unnecessary for a word that was
never to be vocalized, the two vowels have different
pronunciations according to Hebrew grammar.
There are three other vowel-sounds which are at a midway
point between the sheva and the short vowels a, e and o. They
are represented by a combination of the sign for sheva and the
signs for these short vowels.8
Interestingly, while the Masoretes placed the vowel hatef-
segol under the yod of YHWH only 3 times in the Leningrad
Codex, in the Ben Hayyim Hebrew text of 1525 C.E., the
Masoretes placed the vowel hatef-segol under the yod of YHWH
305 times. It would appear as if there is no problem in placing a
compound sheva under the yod in YHWH, if the Masoretes had
wanted to do so.
The actual pointing of the name YHWH in the Leningrad
manuscript is YeHWaH in the majority of cases. Clearly
YeHWaH does not have the vowels of Adonay. But are these the
actual vowels of the divine name? The first thing we notice about
the vowels of YeHWaH is that the vowel following the first he ‫ה‬
is missing. A fundamental rule of the Hebrew language is that a
consonant in the middle of a word must be followed by either a
vowel or a silent sheva. This means that by the rules of the
Hebrew language the first he ‫ ה‬in YHWH must have some vowel.
So why is this vowel missing?
Perhaps this omission was intended to signify to a Hebrew
reader that when he came across a word with missing vowels,
that this was a word that was not to be read. It is possible that the
scribes omitted the vowel in the first he ‫ ה‬of YeHWaH to prevent
the readers from reading the name out loud, but to use a
substitute word such as Adonay or Elohim. Therefore, it would be
the missing vowel that the reader recognized as the visual clue to
use an alternate word. When YHWH stood alone, either Adonay or

8
Martin, J. D. (1993). Davidson's introductory Hebrew grammar. Includes
index. (27th ed.) (18). London: T&T Clark.
Elohim could be used, but when it is juxtaposed to the word
Adonay, YHWH is pointed with the vowels YeHWiH to inform the
reader not to use Adonay here, but Elohim by inserting the "i"
(chiriq) in Yehwih, since reading it Adonay would result in
reading Adonay twice in a row.
Therefore, are the vowels we find in YeHWaH correct? It
seems likely, since 29 out of the 31 names that begin with YH
(‫ )י ְה‬also use a sheva under the Yod, and nearly all names ending
in H (‫ )אָה‬have a kamatz on the second last consonant. Obviously
the divine name does not necessarily need to follow the vowel
points of standard biblical names, however, the sheva and kamatz
found in YHWH do follow the standard vocalization in nearly all
names that begin with YH (‫ )י ְה‬and names that end in H (‫)אָה‬. But
what is the missing middle vowel in Yehwah? It appears that the
scribes actually forgot to omit the vowel on the H in a number of
instances, producing such readings as ‫( י ְהֹוָה‬Yehowah) 44 times
and ‫( י ְהֹוִה‬Yehowih) 31 times. It appears that the missing vowel
was "o" (holam). This would imply that the Masoretic scribes
knew the name to be Yehowah and concealed its pronunciation
by omitting the "o" in the majority of cases in the Leningrad
codex. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the pronunciation
of the name was most likely still known during the production of
the Leningrad Codex. “The members of the Babylonian academy
probably knew the pronunciation as late as 1000 C. E.” (Blau, l.c.
pp. 132 et seq., 138 et seq.).9
Two or Three Syllables
The original form of the divine name was almost certainly
three syllables, not two. G. W. Buchanan points out that there
was only one group in antiquity to pronounce the divine name
similar to the form, "Yahweh." Moreover, this is only because
Theodoret (fifth-century C.E. Antiochene theologian) claimed
that the Samaritans pronounced the divine name as IABE. We
should keep in mind that the Samaritans not only rejected Jesus
Christ, they further rejected the entire Old Testament, except for
the Pentateuch or Torah. Indeed, the Samaritan religion not only
9
Jewish Encyclopedia, 2002, heading Tetragrammaton.
rejected Joshua through Malachi from the Tanach, their religion
remained rooted in pagan syncretism.
However, Buchanan states, "All other examples [from
antiquity] maintain the middle vowel." Clement of Alexandria,
whose lead Theodoret followed, argued that the Tetragrammaton
had the same consonants as the verb "to be," so it therefore meant
"the One who caused things to be." However, he did not
pronounce the word according to any form of that verb. Firpo W.
Carr further explains:
…God not only states his name, but interprets its meaning: 'I
AM THAT I AM.' "I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL
PROVE TO BE.' 'HE CAUSES TO BECOME.' 'Tell the sons of
Israel, "Jehovah the God of your forefathers has sent me to
you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto
all generations."
The Name is unmistakably a verb form, in the causative form,
signifying 'causing' or 'causing to be.' It is self-evidently in
the imperfect state, not meaning defective state, but on-going
state, not finished in action or intent or purpose or
accomplishment -- always forward-moving. 10
Buchanan says, “While Clement did not have access to the
Dead Sea Scrolls or the Aramaic Papyri, he nonetheless spelled
the Tetragrammaton in Greek employing the central vowel that
has been omitted when determining that the proper name was
‘Yahweh’!”
Buchanan also points out that "the name 'Yahweh' does not
even sound Semitic," and he produces examples from Exodus 15
with "Yahweh" and "YEHOWAH" in the same sentences. Those
with "YEHOWAH" sound "smooth and poetic," while those with
"Yahweh" "sound rough and unrythmical." Buchanan concludes
by saying:
The accumulated data points heavily in the direction of a
three syllabic word, whose middle syllable was ho or hu. The
first two syllables were Yahu or Yaho that were sometimes
abbreviated to Yo. For poetry, liturgy, and some other
reasons, the name Yah was also used. Only from Theodoret's

10
Search for the Sacred Name by Firpo W. Carr, p. 42
 Greek spelling of the Samaritan use of the term is there any
basis for the pronunciation 'Yahweh' or 'Jahveh.' This is
hardly enough to overpower all of the other exhibits. 11
Laird Harris, in "The Pronunciation of the Tetragram" in The
Law and the Prophets: Old Testament Studies Prepared in Honor
of Oswald Thompson Allis, believes that the form "Yahweh" is an
"incorrect hybrid form with an early w and a late -eh." Harris
himself believes (see page 224) that "the syllable division ya ho
wi hu is the most likely," and that if the divine name were a noun
form it "would have ended up as JAHOWEH, a form accidently
similar but remarkably like the hybrid form JEHOVAH!" Christian
Ginsburg wrote in the 19th century that:
There are, however, a number of compound names in the
Bible into the composition of which three out of the four
letters of the Incommunicable Name have entered. Moreover,
these letters which begin the names in question are actually
pointed "JEHO," as [in] the Tetragrammaton itself and hence
in a pause at the reading of the first part of the name it
sounded as if the reader was pronouncing the Ineffable
Name.12
He then goes on to admit that the Hebrew names with Divine
meaning were deliberately shortened so as not to pronounce the
Divine name. YEHOWAH has seven letters in it. If we go by what
Ginsburg mentions above, we already have most of the name
(YEHO) with only three letters to identify. The next letter "W" is
the "W" in YHWH, and the last two letters (AH) join with Y to
make the name YAH, which commonly occurs in the Bible. So we
have YE-HO-WAH.
What Judean Names Tell Us
Following the principle of contracting words in the Hebrew
language, the two center consonants (hay and vav) and the
vowels (sheva and holem) are dropped, making the word
pronounced YAH. This is the shortest contracted form of the Holy
name and is set forth in the Bible as the complete holy name. The

11
Some Unfinished Business With the Dead Sea Scrolls, p. 419
12
Introduction To the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible, p.
369
Hebrew letters, Hay and vav are versatile letters and as such are
dropped as necessary for combining, or contracting words. "Sing
to God, sing praises to His name; extol him who rides on the
clouds, by His name YAH, and rejoice before Him" (Psalm 68:4,
NKJV).
This contracted form of the divine name, YAH, is spoken in
almost every language known to man, and is pronounced
precisely as it is in Hebrew in the great inspired praise,
Halleluyah. This term is inaccurately translated "Praise ye the
LORD" by the English translators. (See Psalm 146 through 150)
YAH is written with the consonants YH in Hebrew and with the
vowel point "a" between these two consonants. The vowel and
the consonants are taken from the Tetragrammaton, and this
indicates a vowel "a" in it. Therefore, the result is either Y-aH-
W-H or Y-H-W-aH, depending on which of the H's is taken from
the Tetragrammaton. Can we tell which of these it actually is?
The Israelites used to combine names with an abbreviation of
God's name when they named their children. These names are
called theophoric names and they have been preserved along with
their vowel pointing. There are mainly two kinds of theophoric
names in the Bible. One kind begins with the three first
consonants of the Tetragrammaton, YHV-, and the second kind
ends with the short form -YAH or -YAHU (Yahu is contraction of
the expression Yah hu' - which means "Yah himself").

LXX
SN BHS13 Trans.

3059 ‫הוֹא ָחז‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ yehôz Ιωαχας

3060 ‫הוֹאשׁ‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ yehôš Ιωας
3075 ‫יְ הוֹזָ ָבד‬ yehôz Ιωζαβαδ
3076 ‫הוֹחנָ ן‬
ָ ְ‫י‬ yehônn Ιωαναν
3077 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ָדע‬ yehôy Ιωδαε

13
Baker, W. (2003, c2002). The complete word study dictionary : Old
Testament (421). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
 3078 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ִכין‬ yehôyiyn Ιωακιμ
3079 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ִקים‬ yehôyqiym Ιωακιμ
3080 ‫הוֹיָריב‬ִ ְ‫י‬ yehôyriy Ιωαριμ
3082 ‫יְ הוֹנָ ָדב‬ yehôn Ιωναδαβ
3083 ‫יְ הוֹנָ ָתן‬ yehônn Ιωναθαν
3084 ‫הוֹסף‬ֵ ְ‫י‬ yehôsp Ιωσηφ
3085 ‫הוֹע ָדּה‬ ַ ְ‫י‬ yehôaddh Ιωιαδα
3086 ‫הוֹע ָדּן‬
ַ ְ‫י‬ yehôaddn Ιωαδιν
3087 ‫הוֹצ ָדק‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ yehôq Ιωσεδεκ
3088 ‫הוֹרם‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ yehôrm Ιωραμ
3089 ‫הוֹשׁ ַבע‬ ֶ ְ‫י‬ yehôšea Ιωσαβεε
3090 ‫הוֹשׁ ְב ַעת‬ ַ ְ‫י‬ yehôšaa Ιωσαβεθ
3091 ‫הוֹשׁוּע‬
ַ ְ‫י‬ yehôšûa Ἰησου̂ν
3092 ‫הוֹשׁ ָפט‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ yehôšp Ιωσαφατ

These are the 19 theophoric names that begin with the three
first consonants of the Tetragrammaton. Based on the
information from the above list of names, there appears to be an
inconsistency with the prevailing view. If these names are
prefixed with a contracted form of the divine name and the
vowels of YHWH are from Adonay, Why are the first two vowels
in all 19 names and the first two vowels in YeHoWaH the same?
Either these names have incorrect vowel points also, or
YeHoWaH has the correct ones. The last vowel “a” Kamatz also
appears to be correct based on the fact that names ending in H
appear to almost always have kamatz on the consonant before H.
These names were sometimes shortened to create new names,
and this resulted in Yoiakim, Yonathan, etc. Firpo W. Carr says
the following on the subject:
 There are nineteen names in the Bible that begin with 'Yeho-'
or 'Jeho-', and there appears to be little argument over the 'e'
and 'o' vowels used here. It is whether the Divine Name
contains but two syllables or three that controversy is stirred.
Does the Name end in two consonants, WH? Or is there a
vowel between the W and the H, making a third syllable? 14
Examples of theophoric names that end with the short form -
YAH are as follows: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Zachariah,
Elijah, Zedeciah, Jeconiah, to name just a few. (The iah and jah
are simply the Holy name, YAH, spelled differently). From the
time King David popularized this contracted form of the Holy
name YEHOWAH, it was used to name many of the prophets and
kings of Israel. Carr goes on to explain how he resolved the issue
of whether there should be a vowel between the W and the H to
make a third syllable.
. . .in analyzing the overwhelming, consistent majority of
vowel points the pronunciation was indicated as Yehovah, or
Yehowah.
The evidence must appear from resolving the spelling of the
last syllable, the '-wah.' Well, if there are Bible names
beginning with the first two syllables of the Divine Name,
and I had come up with 19, what about names ending with the
last syllable of the Name?
By use of concordances I came up with many besides the
Sacred Name. For example, the names Al-vah, Ch-vah,
Hode-vah, Iv-vah, and Pu-vah are a few I encountered. What
is significant about these names?
To find out I tried what no one apparently had tried before. I
took the computer and devised a reverse Hebrew-English
dictionary. That is, I set the computer up to spell names
backwards.
It was, in other words, instructed to search out all words
containing a 'w' at the end with an 'h' as its next consonant. So
in starting out at the end and spelling backwards to the
beginning, what would the computer come up with?

14
Search for the Sacred Name, Scholar Technological Institute, Hawthorne,
CA 1993, page 174
 First of all, what it did not come up with: it did not come up
with a single word ending with the two final consonants, vh,
stuck together with no vowel in between.
What it did come up with was this: In every instance of the
many root words in Hebrew that end with the consonants WH
there was an 'A' between them. The '-vah' was as consistent at
the end of human or place names as the 'Yeho' was at the
beginning of human or place names. If 'Yeho-' makes up the
first two syllables of God's Name, then '-WAH' makes up the
last syllable of god's name. 15
When we compare the names that begin with the first three
consonants of the Tetragrammaton (YHW), we see that all the
names are vocalized YeHo-. In Hebrew the consonant W may be
used to represent the vowel sound o ("o" as in hole), and this is
indicated by placing a dot above the consonant W. Usually, the
consonantal sound is not pronounced when it represents a vowel
(an exception to this is if this results in two vowels standing
beside each other − which is NOT grammatically correct).
Therefore, theophoric names indicate that the Tetragrammaton
is to be vocalized Ye-H-oW-aH. Since theophoric names don't
indicate a vowel "a" in the first half of the Tetragrammaton, this
means that the -aH in the short form Yah (iah or jah, as noted
above) has to be in the last part of the Tetragrammaton. The
names ending in iah or jah prove this. When we combine these
two pieces of information, it gives us the following result − Ye-
H-o-aH. Since two vowels cannot stand next to each other, the
consonantal sound of “W” has to be pronounced. The result,
therefore, is Ye-H-oW-aH.
One thing that is common in all the names that begin with the
first consonants of the divine name is that the vowel "o" is
included − both in the primary form (i.e. Yehonathan) and in the
shortened form (Yonathan). This indicates to us that the name
most likely does not have two syllables. For example, Yahve,
which has only two syllables, cannot have the vowel "o".

15
Search for the Sacred Name by Firpo W. Carr, pps. 175-176
 Since the name, YAH, is the beginning and the ending − the
first and the last letters − of the Holy Name (YEHOWAH), it is
complete, so nothing can be added to it to make it any more
complete. As noted above, this short form of the Name was used
many times as a suffix to a verb to name special people such as
prophets, kings and priests.
Notes Richard Davis:
The fully expanded form, YEHOWAH, was used to describe a
function such as Yehovah-Nissi (YEHOWAH (is) my banner);
Yehovah-Tsidkenu (YEHOWAH (is) our righteousness);
Yehovah-Shalom (YEHOWAH (is) peace), etc. Either the
shortest form, YAH, or the expanded form, YEHOWAH, is
recognized as the complete holy name. 16
Judging by the available evidence at hand, it seems quite clear
that the correct pronunciation of the divine name represented by
the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, is simply YEHOWAH, and not
"Yahweh" that so many today amongst the "Holy Names" sects
insist upon using. One such sect, in Texas, has now even
discarded the name "Yahweh," and instead simply refers to God
as "Ha Shem," meaning, "The Name" − just as many Orthodox
and Conservative Jews do, also, today, because they are fearful of
misusing the divine name.
The Evidence of Josephus
The 1st century Judean historian, Flavius Josephus, knew well
how the divine name was to be pronounced (this can be seen in
his work Antiquities of the Jews), but he didn't want to reveal it.
However, he gave us some clues in his work The Wars of the
Jews. In volume 5, chapter 5 − which is a description of the
Temple in Jerusalem − he wrote the following: "A mitre also of
fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue
ribbon, about which there was another golden crown, in which
was engraven the sacred name [of God]: it consists of four
vowels."

16
The Great Holy Name, page 6
 Since there were no vowels in the Hebrew alphabet at this
time, what did Josephus mean by this? Some people, influenced
by the erroneous form Yahweh, do not even bother to probe any
deeper but claim that Josephus was presumably thinking of the
Greek vowels IAUE. But, in contradiction to this, these "secret
letters" − that were undoubtedly the Tetragrammaton − were
written in Paleo-Hebrew and NOT Greek − something Josephus
knew. So what, then, did Josephus mean?
Before the Hebrew vowel pointing was invented, the Judeans
used some of their consonants as vowels, to indicate vowel
sounds. These letters are called "vowel letters" or, in Latin,
matres lectionis ("mothers of reading"). There were four
consonants that could indicate a vowel − 'aleph, vav, yod, and the
letter hay (he') if it is the last letter of a word.
In a Hebrew text that has vowel points there are rules of
grammar that do not allow a yod that begins a Hebrew word to be
used as a vowel letter − but Josephus' teaching that the Name
"consists of four vowels" was valid for a time before Hebrew text
had vowel points. This is why Josephus could call the letters
YHVH "vowels." The letters Y, H and V were regarded as vowels.
So how will the Name sound if we switch the letters with the
vowels of matres lectionis?
Findings at Qumran in Israel show us that in the first century
the letter Y was often used as the vowel sound I (ee as in seek); V
was equivalent to O (o as in hole) or U (oo as in mood); and H at
the end of a word was pronounced A (a as in father). Originally
this letter doubled as a consonant, with an “h” sound, or as the
vowel sound “eh”. When the Greeks adopted this letter it became
the “epsilon” with an “eh” sound. When these letters were used
as vowels, their consonantal sound was usually not pronounced,
unless this results in two vowels standing next to each other,
something that is not allowed in Hebrew grammar.
With this in mind, let us try this manner of reading with a
name we already know the pronunciation of. Let's use the name
YHWDH, which is written almost the same way as the divine
name. If we write the vowels as they are to be pronounced, Y-H-
W-D-H turns into I-H-U-D-A. This is in agreement with the
pronunciation we already know − "YeHuDaH" (the English
"Judah").
When we use this manner of reading with the divine name
YHWH, we can do it the same way. Y-H-W-H turns into I-H-U-A or
I-H-O-A. This brings us closer to "Yehowah" and further away
from "Yahweh." (The fact that the divine name is written without
a mappiq shows that the last H should be pronounced A).

Hebrew hd"Why> hw"hoy>

Transliteration YHWDH YHWH
Phonetic Transliteration IHUDA IHOA
Phonetic Pronunciation ee-eh-uw-d-ah ee-eh-ow-ah
Pron. using vowel points YeHuDaH YeHoWaH
Agnlisized Pronunciation Jehudah Jehovah

When we read the vowel letters, we see that YHWH has pretty
much the same pronunciation as YHWDH (YeHuDaH), the
difference being that the letter D is not in it. If we, as an
experiment, were to remove the D, we would get YeHuaH. But,
since in written Hebrew there is an invariable rule that two
vowels can't stand next to each other, there has to be a consonant
between u and a. The consonantal sound of W shall therefore also
be pronounced, and we get the pronunciation YeHuWaH.
Incidentally, when we take the D from YHWDH hd"Why> we get ‫י ְהוָּה‬
YeHuaH. Now if we convert the shuruq vowel back to a
consonant, we get ‫ י ְהוָה‬YeHWaH, the exact pointing of the
Tetragrammaton as found in the Leningrad Codex over 5600
times. Although, again with a missing vowel in the middle.
If we choose to read matres lectionis as Josephus did, we get
the pronunciation IHOA or IHUA. The form "Yahweh" doesn't
explain the vowel "o". This plainly shows us that the form
"Yahveh/Yahweh" cannot even be close to the original form!
The Egyptian Evidence
The oldest archaeological testimony where you can see the
divine name is from about the 14th century B.C.E. In the Amun-
temple in Soleb (Sudan) can be found sculptures from the time of
Amenhotep III. These sculptures date from circa 1382-1344 B.C.
On one sculpture is an Egyptian hieroglyph with the divine name,
this being the oldest archaeological occurrence of the divine
name.

Transcription of the hieroglyph:

t3 i3-sw-w-y-h-w3-w (Shneider's transcription)

ta sha-su-w-y-eh-ua-w (conventional vocalization)

The text is easy to decipher, it sounds "ta' sha'suw yehua'w",

which means in English "land of the Bedouins those of Yehua." It
was common practice to name lands after the names of the gods,
for example in Genesis 47:11 we read about "the land of
Rameses."
We know little about the vowels of ancient Egyptian words,
but for foreign words (like Yhw3); Egyptians used a form of
matres lectionis. In this system the vowel letters were like this: 3
= a, w = u, y = i. Mr. Gertoux points to the Merneptah stele,
dated 13th century B.C., where the name "Israel" is transcribed in
hieroglyphs Yysri3l as "Yisrial." Gertoux draws the valid
conclusion that Yhw3 can technically be read as YEHUA'.
Writes Professor Jean Leclant, "It is evident that the name on
the name-ring in Soleb that we discuss corresponds to the
'tetragram' of the god of the Bible YHWH." He adds: "The name
of God appears here in the first place as the name of a place." In a
footnote he explains that place-names often are derived from the
names of gods. 17
What the Experts Say
Writes Paul Drach in De l'harmonie entre l'eglise et la
synagogue ("Of the Harmony Between the Church and the
Synagogue," 1842) − "Yehova, which was in agreement with the
beginning of all the theophoric names, was the authentic
pronunciation..."
Won W. Lee, professor at Calvin College, states: "The
tetragrammaton, YHWH, is therefore read I-eH-U-A (Iehoua), the
equivalent of "YeHoWah" in Masoretic punctuation. This means
that the name is to be pronounced as it is written, or according to
its letters" (Religious Studies Review, Volume 29, Number 3, July
2003, page 285).
"That mystic name which is called the Tetragrammaton, by
which alone they who had access to the Holy of Holies [in the
Temple in Jerusalem] were protected, is pronounced JEHOVAH
(Iehovah), which means, Who is, and Who shall be" (Nicetas,
Bishop of Heraclea, 2nd Century A.D. From The Catena on the
Pentateuch, published in Latin by Francis Zephyrus, p. 146).
Expounds Gilles C.H. Nullens, "The Jewish scholars known as
Masoretes introduced a system of vowels and accents. . . In this
way the Tetragrammaton became Ye-Ho-Vah and later on, in
Western languages, Jehovah..." (The Biblical Background).

17
Jean Leclant, Le "Tetragramme" a l'epoque d'Amenophis III, in Near
Eastern Studies dedicated to H.I.H. Prince Takahito Mikasa on the Occasion
of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, pages 215-219, 1991, Wiesbaden
 Skilton, Fisher and Sloat, editors of The Law and the
Prophets, state, "The form Yahweh is thus an incorrect hybrid
with an early 'w' and a late 'eh'."
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament has this to
say: "Actually, there is a problem with the pronunciation Yahweh.
It is a strange combination of old and late elements."
Gerard Gertoux makes this observation − "Non-superstitious
Jewish translators always favoured the name Jehovah in their
translations of the Bible. On the other hand one can note that
there is NO Jewish translation of the Bible with Yahweh"
(Hebrew scholar and specialist of the Tetragram; president of the
Association Biblique de Recherche d'Anciens Manuscripts).

TABLE SHOWING SOME OF THESE JEWISH TRANSLATIONS:

DIVINE
NAME OF VERSION PUBLISHED
TONGUE NAME
(JEWISH) IN:
RENDERED
Immanuel Tremellius Latin 1579 JEHOVA

Baruch Spinoza Latin 1670 JEHOVA

Samuel Cahen French 1836 IEHOVAH

Alexander Harkavy English 1936 JEHOVAH

Joseph Magil English 1910 JEHOVAH

Rabbi L. Golschmidt German 1921 YEHOVAH

Notes George Wesley Buchanan:

When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it
was "Yah" or "Yo." When it was pronounced in three
syllables it would have been "Yahowah" or "Yahoowah." If it
was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been
"Yaho," but even this spelling may have been pronounced
with three syllables, including the final aspirant, because
Hebrew had no vowel points in Biblical times. 18
Notice what the Encyclopedia Britannica (1943) has to say:
18
Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 1995
 It was formerly held that Yah and similar forms were
abbreviations of Yahweh. The arguments, however, against
this view are overwhelming: (1) the short forms show that ya
was the essential syllable, although on this theory it would be
merely a prefix; (2) the inscriptions and papyri, as well as
proper names, show that Yh or Yhw, not Yahweh, was the
extra-biblical form; (3) it is priori improbable that a name
held so sacred as Yahweh would be commonly abbreviated;
(4) no other Semitic race ever shortened the names of its
gods; (5) the endeavor to assign an abstract meaning to a
divine name bears the impress of a later period of theological
reflection. It has, therefore, been suggested, as Greek
speculation shows, that Yahweh comes from an original
Yahw, afterwards vocalized Yahu, either by adding a
questionable ending -ay become -eh (Grimme) or an -h like
the Arabic vocative -ah (Lukyn Williams and Burkitt) or else
by assimilation to yihyeh, "he is" (van Hoonacker) (Volume
12, page 996).
The first book printed in the American colonies was a
collection of psalms in verse form known as The Bay Psalm
Book. In it "the Name appears more than 200 times, while
appearing only once in the King James Version (Psalm 83:18). In
this remarkable book the Sacred Name is spelled 'Iehovah' in
ALL instances save one, where it is spelled Jehovah" (Firpo W.
Carr, Search for the Sacred Name, pps. 97-98).
Dr. Max Reisel writes that "vocalization of the
Tetragrammaton must originally have been YeHuaH or YaHuaH"
(The Mysterious Name of Y.H.W.H., Page 74).
Professor Gerard Gertoux refers in his book to what
Maimonides (a Jewish scholar and famous Talmudist of the 12th
century A.D.) has written, and says: "This name YHWH is read
without difficulty because it is pronounced as it is written, or
according to its letters as the Talmud says." He then displays a
long study in the pronunciation of names, and draws the
conclusion that the divine name is pronounced "I-Eh-oU-Ah". He
even writes: "The name Yahweh (which is barbarism) has only
been created to battle with the true name Jehovah" (The Name of
God...its Story).
 It is important to understand this point of truth: It is not wrong
for us to use the name of God. Names are important in God's
eyes, and He put in man the desire to identify people and things
by means of names. Would it be consistent for the Creator of all
things to leave Himself nameless? However, we should not abuse
this knowledge, or begin to take God's name for granted. Nor
should we use it "in vain," or to no good use or purpose (Exodus
20:7).
A "name" expresses the character, qualities, and intrinsic
nature of a person or individual. God's Name tell us just who and
what He is, and define for us His very character and nature. It is,
therefore, very important that we should know them, and use
them. God's name represents who and what he is – not a magical
"potion" to perform magical "tricks." Notes The Illustrated Bible
Dictionary:
"A study of the word 'name' in the O[ld] T[estament] reveals
how much it means in Hebrew. The name is no mere label, but is
significant of the real personality of him to whom it belongs"
(Vol. 1, p. 572).
The Name of the Messiah
Dr. James Tabor Comments:
The Hebrew name for Jesus is YEHOSHUA, or the shortened
form YESHUA, NOT Yahshua, as so many mistakenly think.
The form Yahshua is impossible in Hebrew and ignores
completely the second syllable, represented by the letter
"vav." This [YESHUA] is a very common name in Hebrew. I
have several Jewish friends with this name, and there is no
doubt about how to write or pronounce it whatsoever. It is
built from the Divine Name YEHOAH. The first two syllables,
YEHO, are common in many Biblical names (Jehoshaphat,
Jehoiakim). These three letters or syllables in Hebrew simply
cannot be represented by YAH. YAH in Hebrew is Yod He,
while the letters of the Sacred Name, reflected in such
compounds, are Yod He Vav. The Vav must have its
 common vowel sound in this form, it cannot be silent or
ignored. 19
Writes Richard Davis in The Great Holy Name:
The Holy Name, Yehovah, was combined with the Hebrew
root word Yasha, which means "to make safe." Yasha was
then changed from active to passive by adding a vowel
sheruq, (a vav with a dot in the center with vowel sound of oo
as in pool) between the second and third root letters. (The
combining function also removed the y (or yod) and its
supporting vowel from the word Yasha.) Thus, Yehovahshua,
which interpreted is "saved by Yehovah. 20
The next contraction is Yehovahshua, leaving Yehoshua.
Yehoshua is the Hebrew name that Moses gave to his
assistant Oshea (same as Hoshea), son of Nun in Numbers
13:16. It is spelled Jehoshua in the King James Version there
in Numbers 13:16. And it is the same Hebrew word translated
Joshua every other place in the Old Testament. And the
evidence of Hebrews 4:8 shows it to be the same word
written as Jesus throughout the New Testament. (Remember
there is no j in the Hebrew language, as explained earlier).
Hoshea, son of Nun, was already named "Deliverer," but not
necessarily from GOD. Moses pre-empted the name of
Yehovah's [first-born] son, Yehoshua, and gave it to the man
who was to be his successor, and who was to lead Israel into
the promised land.
One more contraction is made to this name, Yehoshua.
(Removing the h, and its supporting vowel o, we have
Yeshua).
Since the sheva under the yod is pronounced with a very short
sound, some omit the e and use an apostrophe, and write the
name Y'shua. These are the forms used by most Jewish
people who have come to know their Messiah, and realize
that the Greek Iesous Christos written in English as Jesus
Christ is merely a renaming of Yehoshua (Yeshua, Y'shua) of

19
Restoring Abrahamic Faith. Genesis 2000, Charlotte, NC 28256, p. 12 ftn.
20
Note Strong's Concordance, Hebrew Dictionary Numbers 3091, 3068 and
3467
 Nazareth, whom the record shows to be the [first-born] Son
of the living God" (pages 9-10).
This being the case, the fact that the Messiah's name
YEHOSHUA is derived from the divine name YEHOVAH, it clearly
shows that YAHWEH (or any of its variations) could not be the
correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton!
The Greek Form of the Name
There have been a number of Greek forms used in ancient
times. Diodorus Siculus is said to have used the form Ἰαῶ (Iao);
Irenaeus reports that the Gnostics formed a compound Ἰαωθ
(Iaoth) with the last syllable of Sabaoth. He also reports that the
Valentinian heretics use Ἰαῶ (Iao); Clement of Alexandria writes
Ἰαοὺ (Iaou), Origen uses Iao; Porphyry, Ἰευώ (Ieuo); Epiphanius
(d. 404), who was born in Palestine and spent a considerable part
of his life there, gives Ia and Iabe (one codex Iaue); Theodoret
(d. c. 457) writes Ἰάω (Iao); he also reports that the Samaritans
say Ἰαβέ (Iabe), Ἰαβαι (Iabai).
It is hard to tell if any of these forms represent a true
pronunciation of the divine name from the Hebrew Scriptures.
We will conduct an experiment to try to reconstruct the Greek
form of the name from the LXX. By using transliterated names
from the LXX, we will attempt to find the proper letters for
YHWH. Also, the LXX is our best choice for reconstructing the
name as it was translated by Jews and they would have been
more familiar with the Hebrew language and the names in their
biblical texts.
First, we will see how the LXX transliterated theophoric names
that begin with Yeho. The following are some of the Hebrew
theophoric names along with their Hebrew transliteration and the
Greek transliteration found in the LXX. SN in the first column
refers to Strong’s Number for the Hebrew word.
 SN BHS21 Trans. LXX
3059 ‫הוֹא ָחז‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ e
y hôz Ιωαχας
3060 ‫הוֹאשׁ‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ e
y hôš Ιωας
3075 ‫יְ הוֹזָ ָבד‬ yehôz Ιωζαβαδ
3076 ‫הוֹחנָ ן‬
ָ ְ‫י‬ e
y hônn Ιωαναν
3077 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ָדע‬ yehôy Ιωδαε
3078 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ִכין‬ e
y hôyiyn Ιωακιμ
3079 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ִקים‬ yehôyqiym Ιωακιμ
3080 ‫יְ הוֹיָ ִריב‬ e
y hôyriy Ιωαριμ
3081 ‫הוּכל‬
ַ ְ‫י‬ yehûal Ιωαχαλ
3082 ‫יְ הוֹנָ ָדב‬ e
y hôn Ιωναδαβ
3083 ‫יְ הוֹנָ ָתן‬ yehônn Ιωναθαν
3084 ‫הוֹסף‬ ֵ ְ‫י‬ y hôspe
Ιωσηφ
3085 ‫הוֹע ָדּה‬ ַ ְ‫י‬ yehôaddh Ιωιαδα
3086 ‫הוֹע ָדּן‬ ַ ְ‫י‬ e
y hôaddn Ιωαδιν
3087 ‫הוֹצ ָדק‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ yehôq Ιωσεδεκ
3088 ‫הוֹרם‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ y hôrm e
Ιωραμ
3089 ‫הוֹשׁ ַבע‬ ֶ ְ‫י‬ yehôšea Ιωσαβεε
3090 ‫הוֹשׁ ְב ַעת‬ ַ ְ‫י‬ e
y hôšaa Ιωσαβεθ
3092 ‫הוֹשׁ ָפט‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ e
y hôšp Ιωσαφατ

The LXX has transliterated ‫( יְ הוֹ‬YeHo) as Ιω in every name

listed above. It appears that the LXX has dropped the (eH) of
YeHo and transliterated only the Y and the W of YHW. Using
this method, these are the letters that the LXX has provided for
the divine name.

21
Baker, W. (2003, c2002). The complete word study dictionary : Old
Testament (421). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
 Y H W H
Ι − ω −

NAMES THAT BEGIN WITH YEHU.

SN BHS Trans. LXX
3061 ‫יְ הוּד‬ yehû Ιουδα
3062 ‫הוּדי‬
ַ ְ‫י‬ e
y hûay Ιουδαίους
3063 ‫הוּדה‬ ָ ְ‫י‬ e
y hûh Ιουδας
3064 ‫הוּדי‬
ִ ְ‫י‬ yehûiy Ιουδα
3065 ‫הוּדי‬ִ ְ‫י‬ e
y hûiy Ιουδιν
3067 ‫הוּדית‬ ִ ְ‫י‬ yehûiy Ιουδιν

Again we see the same situation, the (eH) of YeHu has been
omitted and only the Y and W have been transliterated as ιου in
Greek. Note that it is not two different Hebrew letters that are
being transliterated as ου, this is a diphthong. A diphthong is two
vowels which combine to produce a single distinct sound, acting
as a single unit. Therefore, the two Greek letters ου are the
transliteration of the single Hebrew letter W.

Y H W H
Ι − ου −

NAMES THAT END IN YAH AND YAHU.

SN BHS Trans. LXX
29 ‫ֲא ִביָּ ה‬ a
iyyh Abia
138 ‫ֲאד ֹנִ יָּ הוּ‬ a
 niyyhû Adwniou
138 ‫ֲאד ֹנִ יָּ ה‬ a
 niyyah Adwniaj
274 ‫ֲא ַחזְ יָ ה‬ a
azyh Ocoziaj
452 ‫ֵא ִליָּ הוּ‬ liyyhû Hliou
452 ‫ֵא ִליָּ ה‬ liyyh Hlian
 3470 ‫ְי ַשׁ ְעיָ הוּ‬ yešayhû Hsaiou
3414 ‫יִ ְר ְמיָ הוּ‬ yirmeyhû Ieremiou
3414 ‫יִ ְר ְמיָ ה‬ yirm yh e
Iermia
5818 ‫ֻעזִּ יָּ הוּ‬ uzziyyhû Oziou
5818 ‫ֻעזִּ יָּ ה‬ uzziyyh Ozia

YaHu at the end of a name is treated just like YeHu at the

beginning of a name. The (aH) is omitted from YaHu and only
the Y and W are transliterated from YHWH.

Y H W H
ι − ου −

Names ending in YaH, are transliterated as ια. As stated

earlier in this chapter, the name YaH appears to be formed from
the first and last letters of the divine name YH, therefore the
transliteration of Ια represents the first and last letter.

Y H W H
Ι − − α

The fact that the final H is represented by and A, is also

supported by many Hebrew names ending in H that are
transliterated into Greek as an A.

BHS Trans. LXX

‫יִ ְר ְמיָ ה‬ yirm yh e
Iermia
‫ֻעזִּ יָּ ה‬ uzziyyh Ozia
‫ֲא ִביָּ ה‬ a
iyyh Abia
‫הוֹע ָדּה‬
ַ ְ‫י‬ e
y hôaddh Ιωιαδα

If this is true, then the form Ια is a contraction of the complete

divine name, and nothing can be added. Then what about forms
such as Ιαω? This may either be a sort of compound name with
Ια + part of another name, i.e. Ιαωθ from Ιασαβαωθ ωθ,
ωθ or it may
simply be a transliteration of the first 3 letters of the divine name
YHW where an α has been used for the H. Since the H in Hebrew
is usually omitted in Greek names, we can not be sure the α
sound is an accurate phonetic transliteration.
The use of IAO as a Greek transliteration of YHO, already a
biblical theophoric prefix or suffix that appeared throughout
the Hellenic world, soon became part of the syncretistic
world of magic among the polytheists along with its cognates
IAO SABAOTH, etc. It is reflective of the Greek inability to
aspirate and, thus, to this day, Greek Jews cannot articulate
the “heh” or “et.” 22
What we observe so far is that the first letter Y in YHWH is
always transliterated as Ι in Greek. The second letter H seems to
be omitted in theophoric names. The W is either transliterated as
ω in YeHo or ου in YaHu. And the final H is transliterated as an
α. Combining this information we get Ι−ωα or Ι−ουα for a Greek
transliteration of YHWH, but with a missing letter. If the LXX
translators had transliterated the divine name based on the way
they transliterated other names, especially theophoric names, we
should have found forms such as Ιωα or Ιουα.

Hebrew Trans. Greek

‫יְ הוֹ‬ e
Y ho Ι−ω−
‫יְ הוּ‬ Yehu Ι−ου−
‫יָ הוּ‬ Yahu Ι−ου−
‫יָ ה‬ Yah Ι−−α
‫יְ הֹוָ ה‬ YHWH Ι−ωα
‫יְ הֹוָ ה‬ YHWH Ι−ουα

22
Neusner, J., Neusner, J., Avery-Peck, A. J., Green, W. S., & Museum of
Jewish Heritage (New York, N. Y. (2000). The encyclopedia of Judaism.
"Published in collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York."
(4:1765). Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2001.
 It appears that we have a corresponding letter in Greek for
each letter of the divine name except for the second letter H.
Apparently there were issues with transliterating the Hebrew H in
the middle of a word. This is true because the Greek language
does not have a letter that corresponds to the letter h.
It will be noticed that there is no sign for the letter h in the
Greek alphabet. The want of such a sign is made up by the
marks called breathings, one of which is written over every
vowel or diphthong that begins a word. The rough breathing ̔
(turned like the opening comma in inverted commas) is
sounded like our letter h, ὁ is pronounced “ho,” ἁ is
pronounced “ha.” The smooth breathing ̓ indicates that the
vowel is to be sounded without the rough h sound. If the word
begins with a diphthong, the breathing is placed over the
second vowel, and not over the first—οὗτος not ὁ͂υτος. ρ at
the beginning of a word generally has a rough breathing.23
In tracing the history of the Greek alphabet, we find that the
Greek letter ε comes from the Hebrew letter ‫( ה‬he), which is the
letter used in the divine name. Therefore, a corresponding letter
for letter transliteration of the divine name into Greek would be
ΙΕΥΕ or Ιευε. However, a phonetic transliteration, which is what
forms like Ιαω are, and what we are discussing here, will use
different Greek letters then a corresponding letter for letter
transliteration. Therefore, a brief history of the h sound in Greek
will help explain its lack of use in the LXX.
The Phoenician alphabet used the letter, Heth for the h sound.
The Greeks originally borrowed this letter to represent the h
sound in the Greek language, they called it Heta. This Greek
letter which was transmitted to Italy, and eventually gave rise to
Latin H. The dialects of Ionia (south-eastern Asia Minor) and
Crete, however, were psilotic. Which means everything in those
dialects was psili (smooth breathing), there were no rough
breathings, meaning, there were no H’s. Those dialects had
dropped the h sound early. Heta eventually became the long
vowel e, and they dropped the H from the name and called it 'eta.

23
Nunn, H. P. V., & Nunn, H. P. V. (2003). The elements of New Testament
Greek (5). Bellingham, WA.
 Other regional variants of the Greek alphabet (epichoric
alphabets), in dialects that still preserved the sound h, employed
various glyph shapes for consonantal Heta side by side with the
new vocalic Eta for some time. One of them was a tack-like
shape ˫, looking like the left half of an H. This system was first
used in the southern Italian colonies of Heracleia and Tarentum.
When Greek orthography was codified by grammarians in the
Hellenistic era, they used a diacritic symbol derived from this
half-H shape to signal the presence of h, and added as its
counterpart a reverse-shaped diacritic to denote absence of h.
These symbols were the origin of the rough breathing and smooth
breathing diacritics that became part of classical Greek
orthography. Because of the nature of Classical Greek
phonology, the breathing ended up restricted to the beginnings of
words, though occasionally Heta did appear elsewhere in a word.
Therefore, since the h sound in Greek was transferred over
time from an actual Greek letter to a diacritic mark used only at
the beginning of words, there was no corresponding phonetic
sound for the H in the middle of theophoric names. This
oversight of the Greek language may have given the translators of
the LXX a method to prevent the true pronunciation of the first
part of the divine name included within theophoric names.
Therefore, many that could only read the Greek of the LXX would
only know names such as Ιωαναν (Ioanan), and not the true
theophoric name yehohanan which contains the first part of the
divine name.
However, there is one theophoric name that does not follow
the usual transliteration method. The name Ihsou/j used for
Joshua in the LXX and Jesus in the NT, appears to be the only
theophoric name that begins with the letters Ιη instead of Ιω.
Given that the name Jesus is usually associated with the name
Joshua, the typical transliteration method of the LXX for the
Hebrew name ‫הוֹשׁוּע‬
ַ ְ‫ י‬does not even come close to Ihsou/j. All
other names in M that begin with ‫( יְ הוֹ‬YeHo) are transliterated in
the LXX as Ιω. Therefore a strict transliteration of ‫הוֹשׁוּע‬
ַ ְ‫ י‬in the
LXX should have been something like Ιωσους. Although, it is
not, Yehoshua is transliterated as Ihsou/j. Since this is a
theophoric name, and it does not use ω or ου for the W, the η
must represent the eH in YeHo.

Y H W H
Ι η − −

If this is correct, then the divine name may be phonetically

transliterated into Greek as Ιηωα or Ιηουα, but with an h or eh
sound for η. The sounds would be something like ee-eh-ow-ah or
ee-eh-oo-ah.

Greek Reconstruction
Leningrad Codex

Ben Hayyim text

Phonetic Trans.

Square-Hebrew
Phonetic Pron.

Transliteration

Latin Writings
Paleo-Hebrew

4Q LXXLevb

English

ee I ‫י‬ y Y Y Y Ι Ι I J

eh H ‫ה‬ h H e
H e
H α η eh eh

oo U ‫ו‬ o W W o
W ω ου ou ov

ah A ‫ה‬ h H a
H a
H α a ah