Yahweh (יהוה)

Hebrew. A word consisting of the four Hebrew letters, Yodh (י) He (ה) Waw (ו) He (ה), i.e. YHWH, the four-letter personal name of God. Since it has no written vowels it can be vocalized in several different ways, such as Yahweh and Yehowah. In order to counter confusion, several vocalizations were proposed throughout history, often by adding vowel points to the Hebrew consonants. This however, led to even more possibilities and further confusion. Most Jews deem the name too sacred to be uttered and pronounce the word as Adonai, meaning ‘My Lord’. The Hebrew name for Jesus, i.e. Yeshua (ישוע) or Yehosha (יהושע), means ‘Yahweh rescues’. The name is a compound of Yeho (יהו) and shua (שוע) or sha (שע), the first element standing for Yahweh and the latter coming from the root yesha (ישע), which means ‘rescue’ and ‘salvation’. The word shua (שוע) itself also means ‘lord’ and ‘to cry out [for help]’, and is even reminiscent of the Thai word chuay (ช่วย), which similarly translates as ‘to aid, help’ or ‘rescue’. 回