the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
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"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." - II Chronicles 7:14 |
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Shalom believers of the One Holy One of Israel,
J** wrote:
> Again, for those who missed it the first time around, my position is that
> any reasonable attempt will suffice until we are given a pure language,
> because anything we utter aloud (or even write) is corrupt anyway. If you
> are asking how I pronounce YHWH, the answer is "Yahweh." But I am not too
> adamant about this, and I am willing to be corrected as more is revealed.
> For now that is the Name I call on, in obedience to the commandments. In
> making a sincere, reasonable attempt, it is the best I can do.
Shalom,
Personally I do not believe "that any reasonable attempt will suffice" on the name of our CREATOR. I acknowledge that anyone "making a sincere, reasonable attempt, it is the best is that can be done." That is the best that we all can do, in anything we set our hand to. However, personally I will not take a stab in the dark on pronouncing His Holy name. I personally would rather use its translated meaning than some transliterated sound that most agree has been lost, and personally that is the best that I can do.
In the Holy Scriptures our CREATOR tells us to call upon His name 
or 
(yod-he-vav-he) (YHWH) and to "LET HIS NAME BE ON OUR LIPS and in our minds and hearts" (Ps. 91:14). So what has humankind done? Just the opposite, no one even knows how many vowels go with the four consonants of the Name, much less which ones and how it should be pronounced. The basic meaning of the four constants are the "Ever Living One" or simply "ETERNAL" and that is as close to the original, in my opinion, as we can get.
The following is a quote from Unger's Dictionary. Now I realize the article is about "Jehovah" but what it states about that name is also true about any other pronunciation:
"Jehovah (je-ho'va) Heb. YHWH, (LXX usually "ho Kurios"), the name of "God" most frequently used in the Hebrew Scriptures; but commonly represented-- we cannot say rendered-- in the Auth. Ver. by "Lord." The true pronunciation of this name, by which "God" was known to the Hebrews, has been entirely lost by the Jews. The Jews themselves scrupulously avoiding every mention of it, and substituting in its stead one or more points in how it may happen to be written, usually the name Adonai. They continued to write YHWH but read Adonai, where "God" is called "My Lord Jehovah" (Heb. Adonai YHWH)."My original point was that, I personally do not believe we know how to correctly pronounce the name at this time and will not until the Messiah and Prophet are here to tell us. That statement seems to be supported by Scripture.
"For thus saith ETERNAL CREATOR, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, saith ETERNAL, that My people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith ETERNAL; and My name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore, My people shall know My name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am He that doth speak: behold, it is I" (Isa. 52:4-6 KJV).
The New International Version gives a different rendering of those few verses that are easier to understand than the archaic King James.
"For this is what the Sovereign ETERNAL says: "At first My people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them. And now what do I have here?" declares ETERNAL. For My people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock, declares ETERNAL. And all day long My name is constantly blasphemed. Therefore, My people WILL know My name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I" (Isa. 52:4 NIV).
An interesting note to those who proclaim one name or another for YHWH. ETERNAL states that "in that day" (the Time of Jacob's Trouble) then His people would know His name. That indicates that, prior to that time, Israel will NOT know how to pronounce His name. Personally I would rather not try to utter a pronunciation that has been deliberately lost and run the risk of blaspheming His great name.
I am not here to set policy for you to observe. I do not have, nor want, the authority to do that. However, I am here to tell you that our CREATOR is one and we must follow His Commandments and Statutes as He alone is the Holy One of Israel. In addition I will tell you that, the Abrahamic Hebrew Faith is found totally in the Holy Scriptures with out any additional books or traditions needed. I also believe that the Scriptures are plain and simple to understand with out some man, or group of men, trying to tell you what they mean. Having said that, I must add that, the Holy Scriptures do not cover every aspect of life in detail. Many things are written so as to leave us wondering what we should do about some particular issue. This is where we are left with "making a sincere, reasonable attempt, as the best we can do." However, the Holy Scriptures do cover every aspect needed for Salvation.
Examples of some of these things are how to pronounce His name, the position we should assume while praying, whether a woman should have her head covered, and when or how to shave or not shave. What the Scriptures mean to me then, is an issue between my CREATOR and me. What Scriptures mean to you is not between you and me, but between you and your CREATOR.
If we have disagreements, and there are some, why not let us agree to disagree on them until the Messiah and the Prophet are here and show us the "Real Truth." Let us be united by our shared beliefs and not disjointed by our disagreements? It seems to me that we should stand shoulder to shoulder and back to back and tell Israel who they are and that they should, "Hear, O Israel: YHWH our Elohim, YHWH is one! You shall love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart" (Deut. 6:4).
May our CREATOR bless us all with an understanding of His Word,.
Your Hebrew brother,
Charles J. Voss
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