Bible Gem 1947 – Is the Name Above Every Name “YHWH”?

. . . and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God.

Phil 2:11

The seven names before us as suggested by the commentators as the options for “The Name Above Every Name”

1. Kurios
2. The Lord Jesus Christ
3. Adonai ✔
4. Ha Shem
5. YHWH <–
6. LORD
7. The Name for both God and Jesus

You will need to read this Gem in conjunction with Gem 1945 where I investigated Adonai, which is the vocalisation of YHWH.

Where does YHWH come from?

But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM¹. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM² has sent me to you.”

God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh³, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.

Exodus 3:13-15

We need to investigate the footnotes on Exodus 3:14 and 15

• 1. I AM that I AM
• 2. I AM
• 3. YAHWEH

I AM That / Which I AM

 אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה (’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh)

Asher is a relative pronoun which can be translated as which or that or who or what.

I AM which I AM ; I AM that I AM ; I AM who I AM ; I AM what I AM

The derivation of I AM and YAHWEH come from the verb to be in Hebrew. The first person singular, I am is both a state of being and a name. Much like I am the God who exists and always has. Just think of the statement.

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!”

John 8:58

I am that I am can be turned into a more extensive paradigm

Do you see how this matches the statement in Hebrews?

Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

God is the same, ever consistent unchanging God.

אֶהְיֶה (‘Ehyeh) I AM

When Moses asked God who shall I say sent me, God told him to go to Pharaoh and tell them “I AM that I AM sent me”. Moses responded with something like, how can I say that, what sort of name is that? God responded with, Tell them “I AM” sent you, the Great I AM has sent you. The One who has ever existed sent you.

יהוה  Yahweh

By the next verse (Exodus 3:15) God turns the verbal form of His name into a noun, but the noun mirrors the form of the third person singular form of the verb to be, however the vowels have been matched to a noun. YAWEH is the supposed vocalisation of the noun which comes from the initial phrase the vowels of which we suppose were uttered and of which God said “This is My eternal Name, My Name to remember for all generations.” But which the Jews would no longer take on their lips and would substitute with Adonai.

The Radicals of YHWH are supposedly consonants but when you look carefully at them they are all semi vowels. These letters are not uttered with a point of articulation. Put simply you don’t block off the air passage at any particular point of the mouth. Y H W are all in between consonants (approximants). They are also able to be uttered without any vocalised vowel sound like YAWE or YAHWEH. If we breathe in the first syllable and breathe out the last syllable without intentionally adding a vowel sound we hear YA WE. Now breathe in the first syllable intentionally adding the vowel [a] and breathe out the second syllable intentionally adding the vowel [e] and you hear YAHWEH. if you add the configuration of the tongue and lips of the [y] and the [w] it becomes very clear. Ruach in Hebrew is the word for Spirit as in the Holy Spirit, but Ruach is also the Hebrew word for “breath” and “wind“. Ruach is your breath and the breath of this planet (i.e.) wind.

Did you try it? If you are stil in doubt let Richard Rohr convince you.

All of this leads John the Apostle to include a series of I Am sayings which are strange in that they have no complement, seemingly the simple present indicative use of the verb to be I am has no ending. The I am is left hanging. Oh many translations add [he] in order to make sense in English. But in the original text there is no [he]. That is why many translations supply the [he] but bracket it, indicating it is not present in the original text but supplied to complete the sentence grammatically. Yet it doesn’t need to be added. John was using I AM in a Hebrew way not worrying about what translators would do “to complete the sentence”. The sentence doesn’t need completing.

This is why I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not trust that I am [who I say I am], you will die in your sins.”

John 8:24

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!”

John 8:58

They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said unto them, I am [he]. And Judas also, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

When therefore he said unto them, I am [he], they went backward, and fell to the ground.

John 18:5-6

And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek.

John 19:19-20

Click on the link to Gem 112 in order to gain the full impact of this verse.

I am sure you will agree with me, we have to keep YHWH in our final list of contenders for the Name above every name.

YHWH is the Name behind the name Adonai.

Ian Vail

YHWH is an unmentionable name for any God-respecting Jew to say because it is too holy and is substituted with . . . The Name, He who comes in the Name of the Lord, Adonai.

Ian Vail

YHWH has been made unsayable in print by adding the three vowels for Adonai to the two closed syllables of Yahweh.

Ian Vail

YHWH was spelled out in the first letters of each word written above Jesus’ head on the cross as a mnemonic.

Ian Vail

YAHWEH is our first and last breath.

Ian Vail