What is the meaning ofYahweh? What is the meaning ofJehovah?
The names "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" refer to the same divine name — the personal, covenant name of God revealed in the Old Testament. It is derived from the Hebrew havah, meaning "to exist," and its meaning can be expanded as "He that always was, that always is, that always will be." God Himself furnished the meaning at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14: "I AM THAT I AM."
The Name Defined
Morrish's Bible Dictionary gives the fullest definition:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryJehovah. This is a name of relationship with men, especially with Israel, taken by God in time. It is derived from havah, 'to exist,' and may be expanded into 'who is, who was, and is to come.' God thus reveals Himself in time as the ever-existing One: that is, in Himself eternally, He is always the same: cf. Heb. 1:12. ... "God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM," Ex. 3:14, where the word is Ehyeh, which is from the same root as Jehovah, the Eternal existing One; He that was, and is, and the coming One.
The dictionary notes the contrast with Elohim, which is the general name of divine nature — the Creator as such. Jehovah enters Scripture in Genesis 2:4, precisely where God enters into relationship with man:
relationshipThe above 'relationship' may be seen in the change from Elohim, the Creator, in Gen. 1, to Jehovah Elohim in Gen. 2, when man was brought into relationship with God. Again in Gen. 7:16 Elohim ordered Noah to make the ark but Jehovah shut him in.
A Name of Covenant Faithfulness
A. J. Pollock explains the meaning plainly:
A. J. PollockIts meaning is, He, that always was, that always is, that always will be, the Eternal. It is far more numerously mentioned in Scripture than any other name of God. ... The meaning of the word, Jehovah, is furnished by God Himself. It is a name setting forth God's covenant relationship with man.
Pollock also addresses the well-known verse Exodus 6:3, where God tells Moses, "By My name Jehovah was I not known unto them" (i.e. the patriarchs):
He, that always was, that always is, that always will beThe answer is, that up to the time of the burning bush, though the name of Jehovah occurs frequently on the sacred page, yet in God's oral communications with the early patriarchs the meaning of the word, Jehovah, was not fully revealed, but He presented Himself again and again as the Almighty God. They knew the name, but did not know its significance.
"I AM WHAT I AM" — His Essential Being
William Kelly, in his notes on Exodus 3, draws out the force of the name as God's answer to Moses:
William KellyThen, to Moses asking a specific name of His presence, He says, "I AM WHAT I AM," His essential and abiding being; and bids Moses say to Israel, "I AM hath sent me to you." All else was but creature. He was the only and ever existing One.
"I Am" — His Personal Name; "God of Abraham" — His Relational Name
J. N. Darby distinguishes between God's essential name and His memorial name on earth:
J. N. DarbyIn the mission which God thus confided to Moses, He declares His name "I Am." At the same time, while declaring that He is that He is, He takes for ever, as His name upon the earth, the name of the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob: an important principle, as regards God's ways. "I Am" is His own essential name, if He reveals Himself; but as regards His government of, and relationship with, the earth, His name, that by which He is to be remembered to all generations, is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.
Darby further explains the character of Jehovah as a name of constant relationship and faithfulness:
constant relationship and faithfulnessGod was now about to manifest Himself under the name of Jehovah. He had put Himself in relation with the fathers under the name of God Almighty. That was what they wanted, and this was His glory in their pilgrimage. Now He takes a name in relationship with His people, which implies constant relationship with them; and in which, being established with Him who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, He accomplishes in faithfulness what He has begun in grace and promise.
The Acquired Honours of Jehovah
The covenant character of the name is further seen in its compounds: Jehovah-Jireh ("The LORD will provide"), Jehovah-Nissi ("The LORD my banner"), Jehovah-Shalom ("The LORD send peace"), Jehovah-Tsidkenu ("The LORD our righteousness"), Jehovah-Shammah ("The LORD is there"), and others. Each unfolds a new facet of what the unchanging God is for His people.
J. G. Bellett makes a beautiful observation about these compound names:
J. G. BellettIn Ex. 3, He communicates His personal name to Moses, saying out of the bush, "I AM THAT I AM." But then, He communicates His acquired name also, calling Himself "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"; and to this second, this acquired name, He adds, "This is My name forever, and this is My memorial unto all generations:" words which deeply tell us how He prized that glory which He had acquired in His doings for sinners.
The Lost Pronunciation
Morrish records that the original pronunciation has been lost:
The true pronunciation of Jehovah is declared to be lost: the Jews when reading the O.T. never utter it (from a constrained interpretation of Lev. 24:16), but say, 'the name,' 'the great and terrible name,' etc.
"Yahweh" is the scholarly reconstruction of the original pronunciation from the four Hebrew consonants YHWH; "Jehovah" is the older English rendering that became traditional through its use in the Authorized Version.
In sum, the name Jehovah (Yahweh) means the ever-existing, self-sufficient One — "I AM THAT I AM." But it is far more than a statement about God's eternal being. It is supremely a covenant name — the name by which God bound Himself in relationship to His people. As Elohim, He is the almighty Creator; as Jehovah, He is the faithful God who enters into man's history, makes promises, and keeps them. The patriarchs knew the word Jehovah, but its full significance — that God would act in redemptive power for His people — was first made known to Moses at the burning bush. And as Bellett so beautifully puts it, these acquired names are dearer to Him than even His essential glory, for they speak of what He has done in grace for sinners.