Yahweh?

[SheaWilson]

Also, Jesus’s name: Jesua–pronounced Yeshua–(I think that is how it is spelled) means “Jahweh with us.”

 

[DaveBj]

Jahweh means: “I Am” in Hebrew, if I am not mistaken. In the New Jerusalem Bible, which is a version I absolutely LOVE, within the Torah (Old Testament), Jahweh Sabaoth is used as the name of God, after Moses. Before that, He used El Shaddai for Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, if I remember right.

All in all, the New Jerusalem Bible, as well as the Jerusalem Bible, are Catholic versions, which means, they are truthful according to the Magisterium of the Church. All “Jahweh Sabaoth” means is “I am the Sabbath”.

Also, I think we get “Jahweh” from Hebrew translation of JHWH. That was how the name of God was written in ancient Hebrew.

language geek warning

This is a commonly held error. In fact, “I am” in Hebrew is *ehyeh, where the * stands for the glottal stop/release, which was considered a consonant in ancient Hebrew (and still is in modern Arabic). The glottal stop in that position was the marker for the 1st person singular. “Yahweh” was “he is,” and the initial letter yod was the marker for the third person masculine singular.

language geek warning off

 

[arkwright]

All in all, the New Jerusalem Bible, as well as the Jerusalem Bible, are Catholic versions, which means, they are truthful according to the Magisterium of the Church. All “Jahweh Sabaoth” means is “I am the Sabbath”.
.

Yahweh Sabaoth means Yahweh of the Hosts , or of the Armies .

 

[ChibiViolet]

It’s not so much that we Jews (even of the Catholic sort) are “sensitive” to this, as it is that we have three very good reasons for avoiding pronouncing this “Name” of God:

(a) The most obvious is that it is impossible to pronounce it, because it consists of four consonants only, without any vowels, and so any attempt at pronouncing it must of necessity be an incorrect pronunciation, and there is nothing more insulting than mispronouncing anyone’s name—do we really want to insult God?

(b) Another very good reason for not addressing God by His “Name” is the matter of simple respect: do you call your parents by their given names?

(c) Numbers 23:14-16:

וַיְדַבֵּר ה’ אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: הוֹצֵא אֶת הַמְקַלֵּל אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה, וְסָמְכוּ כָל הַשֹּׁמְעִים אֶת יְדֵיהֶם עַל רֹאשׁוֹ; וְרָגְמוּ אֹתוֹ כָּל הָעֵדָה. וְאֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תְּדַבֵּר לֵאמֹר: אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי יְקַלֵּל אֱלֹהָיו, וְנָשָׂא חֶטְאוֹ, וְנֹקֵב שֵׁם ה’ מוֹת יוּמָת, רָגוֹם יִרְגְּמוּ בוֹ כָּל הָעֵדָה, כַּגֵּר כָּאֶזְרָח, בְּנָקְבוֹ שֵׁם יוּמָת.

Adonai spoke to Mosheh and said, “Take the one who cursed outside the camp and have every one who heard him press their hands onto his head; then the entire community is to execute him. And tell the Yisraelites this: Any man who curses his Elohim commits an unforgivable sin; and anyone who speaks the Four-Lettered Name must be put to death—the entire community is to execute him—the same applies to a foreigner as to a citizen—he must die for speaking the Name.”

We have always interpreted the above to be a direct command from God as to the sacred nature of this “Name”.

So, would it be of grave matter to speak the Name Yahweh aloud?

 

[SonCatcher]

So, would it be of grave matter to speak the Name Yahweh aloud?

It is certainly a serious matter. That’s why it is (and should be) rare to use the Holy Name.

Private devotions are okay if it helps your devotion.

 

[tafan]

I own a New Jerusalem Bible and they refer to the Lord as Yahweh. Being a Catholic is it ok if i call the Lord, Yahweh in my prayers.

At the risk of being repetitive with other posts, at very bad idea IMO. Fortunately, the Church has finally gotten all of the 70s folk music hyms to drop the word in Church. It is extremely disrespectful to Jewish people to use that word aloud in any form,and I would include the idea of it being in our private prayers questionable.

I believe the idea from Jewisg tradition is written, not spoken.