Is Jehovah the most accurate pronunciation of Gods name?

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Question. How many syllables does the name have. Is it 2 3 or 4?

Is it Yahweh 2
Is it Jehovah 3

Is it something else 4?
 
Darryl_B said:
Question. How many syllables does the name have. Is it 2 3 or 4?

Is it Yahweh 2
Is it Jehovah 3

Is it something else 4?
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Hi,

No one living today knows how to pronounce God’s name: It is really neither Yahweh nor Jehovah, so no one knows how many syllables it has.

Most Jewish people would either call him Adonai meaning “Lord”, or refer to him as HaShem meaning “The Name”.

Here’s a really good website that might help:
hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YHVH/yhvh.html
 
porthos11 said:
“Jehovah” comes from a mistaken reading of the Masoretic vowel points (the vowel points of the word “adonai”) placed around the tetragramaton. The points were not placed to be pronounced, but as a reminder to the reader to pronounce the word “Adonai” (Lord) whenever the divine name come across during readings.

If one were to take the Masoretic rendition, the word would approximate “yahovah” or “yahowah” but that’s an extremely unlikely pronounciation considering the Maroretes’ motivation of vowel point selection. The definite pronounciation is now lost to us due to the non-use by the Jews, but “Yah-weh” is the most likely approximation.
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This^^^.
People who must use vowels inserted them to make it “easier” to pronounce. :rolleyes:
Interestingly, I remember when we were told not to sing the name Yahweh at Mass anymore.
 
Simca said:
Hi,

No one living today knows how to pronounce God’s name: It is really neither Yahweh nor Jehovah, so no one knows how many syllables it has.
]
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**The Lemba tribe of south-east Africa still pronounces the tetragram. But one has to listen carefully as it only occurs once in the documentary. (Sorry, don’t have the link.)
Also the remnant of the Samaritans has retained a pronunciation. **
 
jeffrey_erwin said:
**The Lemba tribe of south-east Africa still pronounces the tetragram. But one has to listen carefully as it only occurs once in the documentary. (Sorry, don’t have the link.)
Also the remnant of the Samaritans has retained a pronunciation. **
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Thanks for the info! I’ll check it out 🙂

I’ve always read in several commentaries that the true pronunciation has been lost in antiquity, as it says in this site jewishroots.net/library/messianic/sacred-name-yhvh.html
In all our preserved Hebrew texts today, the Sacred Name still appears as Hebrew YHVH With Vowels its true pronunciation lost to antiquity.
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interesting
 
ComplineSanFran said:
The name of God is written Yud, Hey, Vav, Hey. When translators put in vowels where there are not supposed to be vowels, they guessed that it might come out sounding like ‘Jehovah.’

Most scholars agree that it should be ‘Yahweh.’

But it’s all guesswork.
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And bear in mind that the two h’s are not clues as to how to pronounce the vowels, as they are seen in English. They are parts of the root word from which the Tetragrammaton is derived, and therefore should be pronounced – YaH-VeH, “a” as in “father,” “e” as in “wet.” Not “Yaaa-way”.
 
pianistclare said:
This^^^.
People who must use vowels inserted them to make it “easier” to pronounce. :rolleyes:
Interestingly, I remember when we were told not to sing the name Yahweh at Mass anymore.
Click to expand...
Generally true, but not in the case of the Tetragrammaton. The Masoretes did place vowel points, but they were the vowel points of the word adonai, to serve as a reminder to the reader in synagogue to not pronounce the sacred Name, but rather to substitute “adonai” instead. The vowel points were not meant to be a pronounciation guide for the Name, as they are in every other word in pointed Hebrew.
 
porthos11 said:
“Jehovah” comes from a mistaken reading of the Masoretic vowel points (the vowel points of the word “adonai”) placed around the tetragramaton. The points were not placed to be pronounced, but as a reminder to the reader to pronounce the word “Adonai” (Lord) whenever the divine name come across during readings.

If one were to take the Masoretic rendition, the word would approximate “yahovah” or “yahowah” but that’s an extremely unlikely pronounciation considering the Maroretes’ motivation of vowel point selection. The definite pronounciation is now lost to us due to the non-use by the Jews, but “Yah-weh” is the most likely approximation.
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I prefer I air ou ah. (Four syllables). I am sure the Jewish are laughing at the English for the hideous rendition of “Yahweh”. Who on earth came up with that? it is linguistically embarrassing.
 
excaliber said:
Jehovah’s witnesses say that Jehovah is the most accurate way of pronouncing Gods name…and that it is very important to use this pronunciation in worship.
Is this true?
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Hello excaliber,
There is also the possibility that God really doesn't have a name. Back then names signified something about the individual. In many cases individuals were given a new name at some point in there life such as Abram being called Abraham. My personal interpretation of the burning bush incident is that when Moses asked God for his name he was really asking what are you. The reply "I am that I am" meant that you would never be able to comprehend what I am. Don't even try. When the people ask just tell them that I am.
 
superwimp said:
Hello excaliber,
Code: 
   There is also the possibility that God really doesn't have a name.  Back then names signified something about the individual.  In many cases individuals were given a new name at some point in there life such as Abram being called Abraham.  My personal interpretation of the burning bush incident is that when Moses asked God for his name he was really asking what are you.  The reply "I am that I am" meant that you would never be able to comprehend what I am.  Don't even try.  When the people ask just tell them that I am.
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That interpretation is supported by the fact that from a grammatical point of view, JHWH can actually be translated as “He is.”

I have always thought that the original French Jerusalem Bible handled this issue extremely well – where the Hebrew has JHWH, and where Hebrew speakers read “Adonai,” and where the English translation has “LORD,” the French has “l’Eternel.”
 
excaliber said:
Jehovah’s witnesses say that Jehovah is the most accurate way of pronouncing Gods name…and that it is very important to use this pronunciation in worship.
Is this true?
Click to expand...
“I Am that I Am” Is the most accurate pronunciation.
 
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