What do Yahweh and Jehovah mean?
Both words are attempts to say the same Hebrew name — the personal name of God that stands behind the word "LORD" in most English Bibles. The commentators treat it as the name God chose for Himself when He came to rescue a people, and they press two questions: what does it actually mean, and who bears it now?
One Name, Two Spellings
Writers use "Jehovah" and "Yahweh" for the same four Hebrew letters, and they are candid that the exact pronunciation is uncertain.
Arend RemmersIn Genesis, and in the whole Old Testament, two names of God mainly occur: God (Hebrew: Elohim) and Jehovah (Hebrew JHWH: The Eternal One, probably to be pronounced Yahweh).
One reason the sound was lost is that the name was treated as too holy to say out loud.
A J PollockIt appears the Jews had a special reverence for the name Jehovah, so much so that they would not allow the name to pass their lips. They substituted Elohim or Adonai for it, according to the vowel points that went with it. Smith's Concise Dictionary of the Bible states that the true pronunciation of the name Jehovah, by which God was made known to the Hebrews, has been entirely lost because the Jews so carefully avoided using it. If only we Christians showed more reverence when we take the sacred name of God on our lips!
The Meaning: The One Who Simply Is
The name speaks of existence that depends on nothing outside itself, and it was unfolded differently to different hearers.
Walter ScottThe awesome and sacred Name Jehovah means underived existence, the Self-Existing One. To Israel the Name was explained as "I AM WHO I AM" (Ex. 3:14); to the nations as "him who is and who was and who is to come" (Rev. 1:4; 4:8). It is a Name of indescribable grandeur… "Which is" implies independent, unchangeable existence. "Which was" points to Jehovah's relation to the past. "Which is to come" shows His connection with the future.
Where It Sits in Your English Bible
Most readers have met this name thousands of times without noticing, because translators replaced it with a title.
A J PollockIts first occurrence is in Genesis 2:4. It is translated GOD some 300 times, and LORD about 6,000 times. Its meaning is: He who always was, who always is, who always will be — the Eternal. It is mentioned far more often in Scripture than any other name of God. Wherever the reader finds the name GOD printed in capital letters, or the name LORD printed in capital letters in his Bible, he may know in both cases that it refers to Jehovah.
A Name for Drawing Near
Commentators stress that this is not an abstract label for a distant deity. It appears exactly where God binds Himself to people.
Morrish Bible DictionaryJehovah. This is a name of relationship with men, especially with Israel, taken by God in time… God reveals Himself in time as the ever-existing One: that is, in Himself eternally He is always the same. This relationship may be seen in the change from Elohim, the Creator, in Genesis 1, to Jehovah Elohim in Genesis 2, when man was brought into relationship with God. Again in Genesis 7:16 Elohim ordered Noah to make the ark, but Jehovah shut him in.
The same name is what God reaches for when His people are crushed and He acts to free them.
C. H. Mackintosh"JEHOVAH" is the title He takes as the Deliverer of His people, on the ground of His covenant of pure and sovereign grace. He reveals Himself as the great self-existing Source of redeeming love, establishing His purposes, fulfilling His promises, delivering His chosen people from every enemy and every evil.
Known Before Moses, Understood After Him
Exodus 6:3 says God was not known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by this name — yet the name appears all through Genesis. Commentators resolve this by distinguishing hearing a name from grasping it.
F. B. HoleLooking back, the "I AM" is "Jehovah, the God of your fathers." Looking forward, He declares it to be His name for ever and His memorial to all generations… He had been known to the patriarchs as God Almighty, He had been mentioned as the Most High, but "Jehovah" carries within it a fullness of meaning not found in these. The actual name Jehovah was known to the patriarchs, yet they did not understand its full import, which was now to come to light through Moses. Having come to light, it stands good for ever.
The Name Jesus Carries
The writers make a direct link between this Old Testament name and Christ — starting with His own name.
J. N. DarbyHis name is called Jesus — Jehoshua, that is, Jehovah the Saviour, for He shall save His people… Christ is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. So in John 12, Isaiah saw His glory and spoke of Him, quoting Isaiah 6. Whose glory was seen there? Jehovah of hosts.
Yet Christians are not sent back to address God as Israel did.
Truth & TestimonyWhen we as Christians call on the Name of the Lord, this should agree with God's full revelation in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not call on God as Yahweh, the eternal I AM, as the children of Israel did. We worship Him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Summary
- Same name. Jehovah and Yahweh are two renderings of one Hebrew name; the exact pronunciation was lost because it was held too sacred to speak.
- Same meaning. It means self-existence — He who was, who is, and who is to come — God unchanged by time.
- Same nearness. It is the name of relationship: God stepping into time to bind Himself to people and to deliver them.
- Same fullness, unveiled. The patriarchs heard the name; at the burning bush its meaning came to light, and it stands for ever.
- Same Person. Commentators identify Jesus as the Jehovah of the Old Testament — and Christians now know that One as Father.