Yahweh

Yahweh is the personal name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible. It is usually represented by the four-consonant tetragrammaton YHWH, with no vowels indicated in the writing. Because ancient scribes did not record vowel points for the divine name, the exact pronunciation has been uncertain for centuries. In Jewish practice, the name is treated as sacred and ineffable; it is read aloud only as Adonai (“the Lord”) or HaShem in liturgy, while the original consonants are preserved in text and study.

Etymology and meaning are debated, but many scholars link the name to the Hebrew root hayah, “to be.” The form is often associated with existence or eternal being. In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh” (I will be what I will be), a passage frequently cited in discussions of the name’s significance and self-description.

Pronunciation and transliteration have varied. The scholarly rendering Yahweh is commonly used in academic contexts. The form Jehovah arose in early modern English by combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels of Adonai, a method also reflected in some Bible translations and in the naming of certain religious groups.

Usage across traditions differs. In Judaism, the divine name is not spoken aloud in ordinary life or prayer. In much of Christian Bible translation, YHWH is rendered as “the Lord,” with occasional use of Yahweh or Jehovah in specific contexts or footnotes. In biblical scholarship, references to the tetragrammaton appear in discussions of textual transmission, the Masoretic Text, and the Greek Septuagint, which generally renders the name as Kyrios (the Lord).