יהוה (Yahweh) — The Name of God
Etymology
The Tetragrammaton (YHVH) is the specific, four-letter proper name of God in the Hebrew Bible. While the exact original pronunciation is a subject of scholarly debate due to the lack of vowel markings in ancient Hebrew, it is widely reconstructed as Yahweh. Linguistically, the most accepted theory is that the name is a causative form (Hif'il) of the root ה-י-ה (h-y-h), meaning "to be." In this context, the name would mean "He who brings into existence" or "The Creator."
During the First Temple period, the name appears to have been used freely in daily life, as evidenced by the Lachish letters where it features in standard greetings. However, during the Babylonian exile or early Second Temple period, the interpretation of the Third Commandment ("Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain") shifted toward a total prohibition of its pronunciation. By the time of the Mishnah, it could only be uttered by the High Priest in the Temple on Yom Kippur and by priests during the Priestly Blessing.
After the destruction of the Second Temple, the oral tradition of the name's pronunciation was lost. In Jewish practice, the name is never spoken as written; instead, the word Adonai (My Lord) is used in prayer, or Hashem (The Name) in secular conversation. In writing, it is frequently abbreviated to ה׳ or יי to avoid the prohibition against erasing the sacred name, which requires any document containing it to be placed in a Genizah rather than discarded.
Key Quotes
"לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת שֵׁם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לַשָּׁוְא" — Exodus 20:7
"ה׳ ישמיע לך שמועות שלום" — Lachish Letter 2, 6th Century BCE
"וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל מֹשֶׁה אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה" — Exodus 3:14
Timeline
- 10th-6th Century BCE (First Temple): The name is used freely in speech and correspondence.
- 6th-4th Century BCE (Exile/Second Temple): The prohibition on pronouncing the name begins to take hold.
- 200 CE (Mishnah): Codification of the rule that the name may only be spoken in the Temple.
- 70 CE: Destruction of the Temple leads to the eventual loss of the oral tradition of pronunciation.
- 10th Century CE: Tiberian Masoretes vocalize the Bible but use the vowels of Adonai for the Tetragrammaton (the Kere-Ketiv).
Related Words
- אדוני (Adonai) — My Lord; the liturgical replacement for the name.
- השם (Hashem) — The Name; the common secular replacement.
- אהיה (Ehyeh) — "I will be"; the related verb form used in God's self-identification.
- גניזה (Genizah) — A storage area for sacred documents that cannot be destroyed.