Yahweh
/ˈjɑːweɪ/
proper noun
Origin
Biblical Hebrew
ה-ו-ה — to be or become
Overview
Meaning Now
- The personal name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible.
Literal older meaning
He causes to be; He who creates
Language path
Proto-Semitic → Biblical Hebrew → English
Earliest form
יהוה
Earliest period
8th–6th century BCE
Journey
Yahweh is the Tetragrammaton (four-letter name) appearing in the Hebrew Bible. Due to a tradition of divine name avoidance, the Masoretes added vowel points for 'Adonai' (Lord) to the Tetragrammaton, leading to the erroneous 'Jehovah' construction in the Middle Ages. The modern form 'Yahweh' is a scholarly reconstruction based on historical linguistics.
Evolution
- 10th century BCE
YHWH
“The divine name”
Represented by the Tetragrammaton.
- 3rd century BCE
Ἰαώ (Iaō)
“Divine name”
Greek transliteration preserved in non-biblical texts.
- 19th century
Yahweh
“The modern academic reconstruction”
Popularized by Wilhelm Gesenius based on Greek evidence.
Connections
Word parts
Yah-
prefix
third-person imperfect prefix
-weh
root
to be
Related across languages
Aramaic
YHW
God
Explore next
Related to Yahweh
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.