Use of “Yahweh”

This topic is one that I have been interested in for quite some time now. I knew that every time the Bible uses “LORD” in all caps that what was written in Hebrew was something different from the Hebrew word for lord. But, I really didn’t care to look into it much more than that. That is until I started reading verses where it didn’t make sense. In these verses “LORD” or “the LORD” was written, but it doesn’t make sense. Let me give you some examples of verses that confused me. “The LORD is a warrior, the LORD is His name” (Exodus 15:3), or again “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8 (also look up: Psalm 68:4, Jeremiah 33:2, Exodus 6:3, Amos 5:8 and 9:6, Hosea 12:5, and many more)). What is wrong with all of these verses?

I don’t know about you, but I am seeing a lot of non-names being used for God’s name. LORD or lord is a title. It is not a name. God is a title, not a name. Father is a title, not a name. Are these all true things about our God? Absolutely. That said, saying that God’s name is “the LORD” as opposed to His name as it is written—Yahweh—(that is the English transliteration of the Hebrew word יהוה) is equivalent to saying that my name is Author and not Logan. Am I an Author? Yes. However, my name is Logan. I would prefer to be called by my name rather than a title. Though titles aren’t without value. There is a time and a place for them.

Let me ask you this: Does it make any sense to say “The Author is a warrior, the Author is his name?” Not really. It makes sense to say, “Logan is a warrior, Logan is his name.” So if we follow that, we would see that that verse best fits when it is “Yahweh is a warrior, Yahweh is His name.” Now you might be saying, “That’s all well and good, but why does it matter?” Well, that is what I want to show you.

It is widely understood among Christians that when Scripture talks about something on a regular basis, it means that it is important. Knowing that, if we take away all of the pronouns, and filler words such as “the,” we can see the most used words in Scripture that have meaning in and of themselves. What word do you think comes out on top? If you guessed “Yahweh,” you would be correct. Yahweh is used in Scripture nearly 7000 times. This number doesn’t even include uses of Yahweh within names like Elijah or Jeremiah. This is followed by the second most common word “God” which is used almost 4500 times (that is including the New Testament uses). So, Yahweh is used about 2500 times more than “God.” That tells me—and it should tell you—that God’s name is one of the most important things in Scripture, if not the most important thing. I know, I know, that is a very bold statement. That said, I think it is true. One of the biggest problems we have today is that names mean something different than they did in ancient Hebrew. Names nowadays are just personal titles, but in ancient Hebrew, a name means so much more. It is a description of the very nature of the person whose name it is. That means that God’s name, Yahweh, is a description of His very nature.

If Yahweh is a description of God’s nature then we need to understand what it means. At its very base, Yahweh is built on the verb “to be.” People think that “I am” is the proper translation, but that is only part of it. In Exodus 3:13-15 Moses was given “אהיה אשר אהיה” or “ehyeh aser ehyeh” (I AM WHO/THAT I AM) as God’s name, but God then backs it up with “Yahweh, the God of your fathers,” and “This is my name forever.” “Ehyeh” means “I am,” but “Yahweh” means something more than that base meaning. It is really hard to pin down the exact meaning of “Yahweh,” but here are some things that it means: One who is, who causes, who acts, and any number of similar words. So, God simply “is,” and because of this, He is ultimate reality. He causes all things to be. He acts.

A common and valid question that comes up on this topic is this: “If God wants us to call Him ‘Yahweh,’ why isn’t that in the New Testament? Obviously, this is just an Old Testament thing.” It is indeed accurate to say that Yahweh isn’t used in the New Testament (although one can make a very persuasive argument about the use of “alleluia” (it means “praise Yahweh”) in Revelation as being a use of His name). That said, do you remember what I said about names in ancient Hebrew? Names had meaning. Jesus was given a name directly from God. Matthew 1:21 says, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus is the English version of the Greek form of the Hebrew word for Joshua (that is slightly convoluted is it not?), and Joshua means “Yahweh saves,” or “Yahweh is salvation.” So, within Jesus’ name, we see Yahweh and a description of the very nature of Jesus and Yahweh. Jesus is Yahweh, and He is salvation. Jesus is a part of the Trinity that is called Yahweh, and everyone who knew Hebrew would have recognized the significance of His name in regard to His nature. I think the reason why the New Testament focuses on the Father and the Son, and equates them both to the word “lord,” is to make sure that the audience understands that the Father and the Son are one. I would argue that “Yahweh” refers to the entire Trinity, not just the Father. Jesus is Yahweh, the Father is Yahweh, and the Holy Spirit is Yahweh, but they are individual Persons within that name. So when Jesus prayed, it was directly to the Father, and not to Yahweh for Jesus is also Yahweh, and Jesus never prays to Himself. He is in perfect submission to the Father.

There is a lot of not knowing in the New Testament about Yahweh. For example, we cannot say for certain that Yahweh was not used by Jesus, especially when He read from Scripture (He read from Isaiah in a passage that has Yahweh in it). What we do know is that Yahweh is never written in the New Testament. Since the New Testament is mute on this, let’s look at the Old Testament to see why we should still use Yahweh.

There are several verses in Scripture that warn and command us to not make any changes to God’s Word. Deuteronomy 4:2 says, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” Did you notice something? I sure did. In the exact same sentence that we are commanded to not add or subtract from what is in Scripture, we see both an addition and a subtraction. One word is subtracted and two words are added. It should read, “But keep the commands of Yahweh your God.” Deuteronomy 12:32 is another spot with the same command though without the use of Yahweh. We see the same thing in Proverbs 30:5-6 which says, “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”

The only reasons that are given by biblical scholars for not using Yahweh are tradition, and that we aren’t 100% sure that Yahweh is the exact pronunciation. The latter argument doesn’t make much sense because most scholars agree that Yahweh is probably the most accurate translation. But think of this: Even if it is slightly incorrect, is it not still better to at least try to speak His actual name? Also, if we follow the logic of the pronunciation needing to be correct, we couldn’t use the name “Jesus” either. Since there is no “J” in Hebrew, the correct pronunciation of “Jesus” is “Yeshua.”

The first argument has a lot more backing. The Jews began changing “Yahweh” to “Adonai” (which means “lord”) in the intertestamental period, so about 200-400 BC. Since then, the tradition of substituting other words for God’s name has held strong. The Jew’s reasoning is that God’s name is too holy to be spoken. Their reasoning came directly from the third commandment in Exodus 20. God said, “You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, for Yahweh will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” The word “misuse” in Hebrew actually means “vain, to make worthless, empty.” The ancient Hebrews were afraid of using “Yahweh” too much, or at inappropriate times, so they chose to never use the name. What is interesting is that by not using “Yahweh,” God’s name was forgotten, and thus made worthless. They did the very thing they were trying to avoid. They made God’s name have no value. God’s name can be made worthless in two ways. The first is using it at the wrong times or without reverence, and the second is not using it at all.  

Now, we have already looked into the problem of adding or subtracting from scripture, but Jesus Himself talked about following the traditions of man over God. Mark 7:6-8 says,

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.

Mark 7:6-8

Jesus warns us not to hold on to human traditions over the commands of God. God has declared that His name is Yahweh, and it will be forever and to all generations to come. Yet the tradition of men has changed God’s very name to “the LORD.” This is not OK. I don’t know about you, but I choose the commands of God over the traditions of man. I will use Yahweh when I speak of our God, for that is His Name.

The Lexham English Bible is a wonderful way of seeing the Old Testament as it was meant to be seen.  It has “Yahweh” instead of “the LORD” in all the places that it should. I love reading the Old Testament in this version because of this. Though, I typically use the ESV and just substitute “Yahweh” any time I see the small caps.

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at ljandersonbooks@outlook.com and I will do my best to answer them. To keep up to date on my blogs and other writing projects, follow me on Facebook or Twitter.