LORD - YHWH
This blog series will focus on Biblical Hebrew words. The first word we will look at is LORD – YHWH. When it comes to creating something for His will, we should always start with the LORD our God. After all, only true salvation is through Jesus Christ. I think in order to bring more information, it is important that we break this blog into 2 parts. This won’t be a normal format, but there is more information that is important for you to learn. This first blog will focus on the direct translation of the word LORD. We will look primarily at Exodus 3: 14-15.
Deuteronomy 6: 4-5
Before we go into the direct translation, let’s first understand the reason for LORD in all caps.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
The Great Commandment. This is what my bible has named this small section. This was a prayer Jewish people would pray every day as a sign of their Love for God. Take note that even in scripture, the word LORD is in all capitalization. This is to insert the understanding that Jesus is the LORD of Lords. In this time period, you would see many Lords (people of wealth or power). This discrete, but clear, distinct difference interjects God’s authority of man.
The Burning Bush
Let’s look further back in the Bible to Exodus 3: 14-15. The famous Burning Bush, the story where God calls Moses to free his people. Moses asked how the children of Israel will know God truly sent Moses.
In the KJV translation the passage reads as “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” God first answers to Moses “I AM THAT I AM.” We get this translation from EHYEH, this directly translates to I will be. If we understand I AM THAT I AM, this is God saying He Is, Was, and Is to be. This means God has no beginning and no end.
Moreover, verse 14 is not finished, God commands Moses to say to the Children of Israel, YAHWEH. This directly translates to the God of our ancestors, He has sent me. (He will be). The reason for this addition is because, when Moses is to speak to the people of, it would be out of place for Moses to say EHYEH or I will be has sent me. God knew for His people to understand, God would have to speak through Moses.
As we take a deeper look into Exodus 3:14, translating it word for word tends to be more difficult. God tells Moses I AM THAT I AM. This translation (KJV specifically) comes from EHYEH asher EHYEH. There is widespread debate on how this is translated over. The debate isn’t EHYEH. That is commonly referred to I AM or I WILL BE. The more complex matter is asher. Unfortunately, there is no direct word in the English language. Asher is considered to be a generic word in Hebrew language. One form of the word I have come across is “is who.” I see the KJV as a better translation.
Finally, in verse 15 God gave another commandment. God commanded Moses to exclaim that this is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The purpose of this is to further authenticate Moses to the Children of Israel. God, also, states “This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” God is speaking to the name YAHWEH. This is where the Children of Israel come to honor his name.
We can conclude the name YAHWEH, has a long history. God, as we are aware, has a plan for everything. Anytime God speaks, we should stop and take time to truly listen to His words. A lot can come from such few words. Next time on this blog series, we will continue our look into YAHWEH. We will go into what the Children of Israel did after learning God’s name.
Sources:
As I have stated before, I have found the inspiration from numerous sources. I want to ensure I credit the sources I have found when researching this topic. It is important to understand that these organizations are separate from CCAG. They may not do or say exactly what CCAG feel is right. These were only sources and used for researching purposes.
The Bible Project.
Be sure to check out their website and YouTube channel. It is full of interesting topics.
https://thebibleproject.com/explore/shema-listen/
The Meaning of Ehyeh asher Ehyeh.
I was able to do a bit more digging into this topic. I recommend to review some material from this source. This source goes far more in depth over Exodus 3:14.
http://www.exodus-314.com/part-ii/the-meaning-of-ligehyeh-asher-ehyehlig.html
