Answered Scripture

Everyone today has a name. Proper name, last name, first name, middle name, and even nickname. Names are important. They separate us from each other and are also used to being called upon. Some names that are common among families. Here we have Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, Grandmother or Nana, Grandfather or Papa, etc. These are basically titles, but that is what we know our inner family members as. In the Bible, if you really pay attention, names are essential. In biblical times, names were not just given randomly as they are today; they were a family member’s name, and they all had meanings.

So, why is Yahweh missing when reading the Bible with all these names and their meanings? The history of this is fascinating. One of the reasons for this is that the religious leaders of a specific time were afraid of the 3rd commandment in taking Yahweh’s name in vain. Jewish tradition holds that His name is too holy to be spoken casually.

The Hebrew term YHWH (transliterated as Yahweh or Jehovah) was not removed from the bible, but rather, in many English translations, it’s substituted with “LORD” or “God”. When the Jewish people read the Hebrew Bible, they replace it with Adonai (Lord) or Elohim (God). With this, the actual pronunciation of YHWH has been lost, so there is a chance of mispronouncing it. This also goes back to the 3^rd commandment.

I feel that replacing this name with titles takes away from the prominence of Yahweh. As I mentioned, names were given with meaning behind them. Taking Yahweh out of His own word takes His importance away. An example would be if your name is Lisa. Now, suddenly, everyone calls you “the girl” or “the lady”. In that matter, any female name was all called the same. That would eliminate your importance, uniqueness, and personality, wouldn’t it? Same with Yahweh.

Think about it this way: many “gods” are listed as “gods,” but they all also have names by which they go. Replacing Yahweh with “god” now puts Him on the same level as them, but with nothing to distinguish Him from the rest. It is no wonder that there are so many different religions that all believe they worship a true god. Yahweh has been brought down to their level by taking the one thing that separates Him from all the other false gods out there, His name.

Yahweh has a meaning just like all the other names in the Bible have. It is generally understood to mean “He is” or “I am who I am” or “To be,” reflecting Yahweh’s self-existence and eternal nature.  The latter of those being from the Hebrew verb “hayah”.

Yahweh was replaced with “LORD” or “God”, and Yehoshua’s name was also replaced. It became Jesus from a long chain of transliterations and translations from the original. The original Hebrew/Aramaic was Yeshua, a shortened form of Yehoshua, which means “Yahweh is salvation”. Then it was changed to Iesous when it was translated into Greek. The Greek doesn’t have a “sh” sound, and male names typically end in -s, so Jeshua became Iesous. Also, Greek had no letter “Y”, so “Ye” became “Ie”. After that, the Bible was translated into Latin, and His name became Iesus because Latin didn’t have a “J” then, and it was pronounced as “Yay-soos”. And finally, when the Bible was translated into Old English, it became Jesus. Over time, the letter “J” was introduced to the English alphabet, evolving from “I”. In the 16^th century, “J” became distinct in pronunciation (a “juh” sound), so Iesus became Jesus.

Again, let’s look at this from a personal perspective using the example above with Lisa. Time passes, and now, someone from a different region decides your name doesn’t match their language and starts calling you Mina instead. Would you answer if someone called out in a crowd, yelling Mina? Probably not. The language may change even when going to another country, but your name stays the same.

So why have these most essential names been removed or changed? It’s to cause confusion. Satan is very good at what he does. He has convinced people through the ages by placing little hints of doubt here and there that they may be doing something wrong. Replacing Yahweh with just a title has caused His truth from being known. No wonder people don’t understand who He is and make up their version of Him. All this falls right into Satan’s deception of this world. For more on the devil, read my other blog, “Is the Devil Real?”