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Tetragrammaton

For other uses, see Tetragrammaton (disambiguation).
"YHWH" redirects here. For the historic Iron Age deity, see Yahweh. For the modern Jewish conception of God, see God in Judaism and God in Abrahamic religions. For the episode of the drama series Person of Interest, see YHWH (Person of Interest).

The Tetragrammaton in Phoenician (12th century BCE to 150 BCE), Paleo-Hebrew (10th century BCE to 135 CE), and square Hebrew (3rd century BCE to present) scripts

The Tetragrammaton[note 1] is the four-letter Hebrew theonym יהוה‎ (transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are yodh, he, waw, and he.[1] The name may be derived from a verb that means "to be", "to exist", "to cause to become", or "to come to pass".[2] While there is no consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, the form Yahweh is now accepted almost universally among Biblical and Semitic linguistics scholars,[note 2] though the vocalization Jehovah continues to have wide usage.[3][4][5]

The books of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible except Esther, Ecclesiastes, and (with a possible instance of יה‎ in verse 8:6) the Song of Songs contain this Hebrew name.[4] Observant Jews and those who follow Talmudic Jewish traditions do not pronounce יהוה‎ nor do they read aloud proposed transcription forms such as Yahweh or Yehovah; instead they replace it with a different term, whether in addressing or referring to the God of Israel. Common substitutions in Hebrew are אֲדֹנָי‎ (Adonai, lit. transl. "My Lords", pluralis majestatis taken as singular) or אֱלֹהִים‎ (Elohim, literally "gods" but treated as singular when meaning "God") in prayer, or הַשֵּׁם‎ (HaShem, "The Name") in everyday speech.


Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ The word "tetragrammaton" originates from tetra "four" + γράμμα gramma (gen. grammatos) "letter" "Online Etymology Dictionary". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  2. ^ Kitz, Anne Marie (2019). "The Verb *yahway". Journal of Biblical Literature. 138 (1): 39–62. doi:10.15699/jbl.1381.2019.508716.
  3. ^ Botterweck, G. Johannes; Ringgren, Helmer, eds. (1986). Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Vol. 5. Translated by Green, David E. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 500. ISBN 0-8028-2329-7. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TEOC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Valentin, Benjamin (2015). Theological Cartographies: Mapping the Encounter with God, Humanity, and Christ. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-61164-553-8.

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