The stem of the name Yahweh ( Yah- ) remains widely accepted but disagreements continue on the ending ( -weh ). This pronunciation and spelling, as with many religious and scholarly issues, remains the subject of ongoing debate Encycl. Britannica, 15th edition, 1994, passim.
Also, the forms Yehoh', Yoh, Yah, and Ya'hu, found in the Hebrew spelling of the names of Jehoshaphat, Joshaphat, Shephatiah, and others, can all be derived from Yahweh.
The Hebrew scholar Wilhelm Gesenius [10] had suggested that the Hebrew punctuation , which is transliterated into English as "Yahweh", might more accurately represent the actual pronunciation of God's name than the Biblical Hebrew punctuation "", from which the English name Jehovah has been derived.Wilhelm Gesenius is noted for being one of the greatest Hebrew and biblical scholars [11] . His proposal to read YHWH as "" (see image to the right) was based in large part on various Greek transcriptions, such as , dating from the first centuries AD, but also on the forms of theophoric names.
Bible Encyclopedias, lexicons, and grammars, declare the Tetragrammaton should have been transliterated Yahweh. Other sources include the Seventh Day Adventist Commentary Vol. 1, p511, under Exodus 3:15; Herbert Armstrong, the New Morality, pp. 128 129; David Neufeld, Review and Herald, December 15, 1971, page11; A New Translation of the Bible, pp 20 21 (Harper and Row 1954) and J.D Douglas; New Bible Dictionary, (Wm B Eerdmans Pub Co. (1962), p9 as concluded: Strictly speaking Yahweh is the only Name of God.
Among other possibilities, it would be a suitable name for a storm deity, perhaps representing the fall of rain, the casting down of lightning, etc Encyclopedia Britannia, 1911 Biblical passages attributed by textual scholars to the priestly source expressly declare that the name Yahweh ( YHWH ) was unknown to the biblical patriarchs , and the episode of the burning bush in the Elohist text suggests that Moses and the Israelites had not known the deity under that name before, if they had previously worshipped him at all. The divergent Yahwist account, which suggests that Yahweh had always been worshipped, is thought to be due to the Kenite element in the Kingdom of Judah.
Based on damaged writing at Elba, dated to the reign of Ebrum, it has been proposed by Mark Smith Smith, Mark S. (2001) "The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel's Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts" (Oxford: Oxford University Press) that Yah was the original name of Yam , and that this Yah must be another form of Ea , the Babylonian version of Enki, with which Yam has several similarities. Jean Bottero and other archaeologists have consequently supported the view that Yahweh derives from this Yah , and ultimately from Enki Bottero, Jean (2004) "Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia" (University Of Chicago Press) ISBN 0-226-06718-1 Cohn, Norman.
Bruce demonstrates that the words commonly used today in Christianity are pagan Greek words and substitutes; this includes words such as "Christ", "Lord", and "God" (The English "Jesus" is not the same as "Iesous" in Greek). For this reason, a few groups such as the Assemblies of Yahweh and the Jehovah's Witnesses have maintained that they are restoring the purity of worship - by using the sacred Names and Hebrew titles. On the other hand, Christianity still generally regards the sacred Name as a minor issue while observant Jews believe it is respectful not to speak the Name at all Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/name.htm.
Source: Wikipedia > Yahweh
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