Tetragrammaton
The tetragrammaton is a sequence of four Hebrew consonants that represent a personal name of God. In English, it is usually represented as YHWH. In the Hebrew text, the tetragrammaton is given as YÄhovah. This word appears 6,519 times in scripture. In the King James Version, it is usually indicated with an all-caps "GOD" or "LORD." In four cases, the KJV transliterates the tetragrammaton as "JEHOVAH."
| Tetragrammaton | |
|---|---|
| Hebrew name | |
| Hebrew | ×Ö°×Ö¹×Ö¸× |
| Romanization | YÄhovah |
| Strong number | H3068 |
In ancient Hebrew, there were no vowels but only consonants. In the Dead Sea scrolls, the tetragrammaton is given without vowels. In Middle Ages, a group of Jewish scholars called the Masorites vowelized the Hebrew scripture. In the case of the tetragrammaton, the Masoretic text intentionally misrepresents pronunciation so as to prevent the Lord's name from being use sacrilegiously. Modern scholars have reconstructed the original pronunciation as "Yahweh."
The word "tetragrammaton" is from a Greek word meaning "consisting of four letters."
In ancient Hebrew, the four letters are yod (×), he (×), vav (×), and he (×). They are read from right to left: ××××.
External links
- Hebrew 4 Christians, "Vav."
- Hebrew Alphabet (Just the letters), from Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org (youtube.com)e â audio instruction.