The Holy Scriptures

Few people have ever experienced reading The Holy Scriptures as they were INSPIRED to be written. Almost all people have only seen what has been mistranslated--what has been written according to PERSONAL or church based BIAS and PREJUDICE: with ADDED or DELETED WORDS, with phrases completely DIFFERENT from the original, as well as written so obscurely that no one is able to READ those Scriptures, and then UNDERSTAND the true meaning intended by our loving Creator and Father.

For hundreds of years now, most scholars of the Scriptures have known that the Holy Scriptures have been misused and abused, not only by the early scribes, but also by the translators themselves. In specific instances, certain words or phrases were left untranslated; at times, changes were made to hide the meaning of the words or phrases. In other cases, words were deleted from the original text, either by copyist error, or by flagrant intention. At times, footnotes were written in the Scriptures, in the same way we would make notes in our books; however, these footnotes would later be included in the text by other copyists, who would write these as "inspired" Scripture, to be read by later generations as part of the original text.

Many phrases have been deliberately mistranslated in order to hide their true meaning, so that Scripture would not bring to light the deceitful teaching of the established, and popular, religious organizations.

The alteration of Yahweh's Scriptures, either by untranslating or mistranslating, has caused the True Work, which His Prophets spoke of, to be hidden in most translations of the Scriptures, and has been damaging to those who are searching the Scriptures for the way to Eternal Life.

However, the most damaging error in all the Scriptures, was the error of removing YAHWEH'S NAME from the very Scriptures He inspired to be written, and writing in its place the pagan titles of GODS, and SATAN HIMSELF! Because of this grave error, those who are calling upon the names of gods and Satan, even though ignorantly, are actually worshiping the gods and Satan--for they are not calling upon, and with, The NAME of YAHWEH!

These detrimental facts are not hidden. In fact, an abundance of data confirming these statements has been published for many years, but generally confined only to footnotes, Scriptural commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, concordances, and technical publications. These facts are indeed plenteous, and they are openly admitted, not only among scholars of the Scriptures, but also among the religious denominations as well.

Joseph Bryant Rotherham, in The Emphasized Bible; A New Translation, Cincinnati, Ohio, The Standard Publishing Co., 1902, Introduction, The Incommunicable Name, says:

The Name Suppressed: THE FACT

It is willingly admitted that the suppression has not been absolute; at least so far as Hebrew and English are concerned. The Name, in its four essential letters (YHWH), was reverently transcribed by the Hebrew copyist, and therefore was necessarily placed before the eye of the Hebrew reader. The latter, however, was instructed not to pronounce it, but to utter instead a less sacred name-- ADONAY or ELOHIM. In this way The Name was not suffered to reach the ear of the listener. To that degree it was suppressed. The Septuagint, or ancient Greek version (LXX), made the concealment complete by regularly substituting Kurios; as the Vulgate, in like manner, employed Dominius; both Kurios and Dominus having at the same time their own proper service to render as correctly answering to the Hebrew ADONAY, confessedly meaning 'Lord'. The English versions do nearly the same things, in rendering The Name as LORD, and occasionally GOD; these terms also having their own rightful office to fill as fitly representing the Hebrew titles Adonay and Elohim and El, so that the Tetragrammaton is nearly hidden in our public English versions.
The Immediate CONSEQUENCES of the Suppression (i.) Partly literary, though more than that. Reference is here made to the confusion into which many things are thrown through this abnormal state of things. 'Baal' is 'lord', and so is 'Adon' (Adonay)--that is distressing; but why add to the embarrassment by rendering YHWH also as 'Lord'? Worst of all is the confusion when 'Y' and Adonay occur together, as they do many times in the Book of Ezekiel (Yechetzqyah). Inasmuch as to say, 'Lord LORD' for 'Adonay Y', was too grotesque and misleading (positively false to the ear), the new device had to be resorted to of rendering this combination by 'Lord GOD'--'GOD' in this case, and not 'Lord' at all, standing for The Name. Even YH (the shorter form) and YHWH (the full form) of the tetragrammaton, coming together, caused a dilemma; though in these instances, the acuteness of the trouble compelled the adoption of a partial remedy, and 'the LORD JEHOVAH; is the result. 'Confusion', then, is a term not a whit too strong to apply to these varying devices. No wonder that even intelligent and educated people are continually forgetting what they have heard or read concerning so involved a matter.

Rotherham then gives reasons why the Name Yahweh must be restored, and from now on retained in the Scriptures:

1. Because its suppression was a mistake. So grave a mistake cannot be corrected too soon. An unwarrantable liberty has been taken; the path of humility is to retrace our steps. ..it is too heavily burdened with merited critical condemnation--as modern, as a compromise, as a 'mongrel' word, 'hybrid', 'fantastic', 'monstrous'. The facts have only to be known to justify this verdict, and to vindicate the propriety of not employing it in a new and independent translation. What are the facts? And first as to age. 'The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but was contested by Le Mercier, J. Drusius, and L. Capellus, as against grammatical and historical propriety.' (Oxford Gesenius, P. 218.) Next, as to formation. 'Erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah, which is merely a combination of the sacred Tetragrammaton and the vowels in the Hebrew for Lord, substituted by the Jews (Yahdaim) for JHVH (YHWH), because they shrank from pronouncing The Name, owing to an old misconception of the two passages (Exodus xx. 7 and Leviticus xxiv. 16)...To give the name JHVH the vowels of the word for Lord (Heb. Adonai) and pronounce it Jehovah, is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal--viz., Gormuna...-Jehovah is not older than about 1520 c.e.

The Ancient, and Honored, Name of Yahweh The very oldest Scriptural text ever found, dating back almost 2,600 years, was found in a tiny silver amulet which contains a Seventh Century b.c.e. extract from the Book of Numbers (6:24-26), the Priestly Blessing. The rolled up amulet was part of a treasure hoard found by a Tel Aviv University archaeologist in a First Temple Period family tomb in Yerusalem, Israyl. When this amulet was written, the Temple of Solomon still stood, the heirs of King David still ruled on the throne, and the Dead Sea Scrolls would not be written for another 400 years.

It was three years after its discovery before this fragile amulet could be unrolled by technical experts at the Israyl Museum. On this amulet the NAME OF YAHWEH could be clearly read. Complete details of this magnificent find can be read in the 6-28-86 and 8-9-86 issues of The Jerusalem Post, and the 6-87 issue of The Readers Digest.

THE UNDENIABLE NAME OF YAHWEH
There is no doubt that the True NAME of our Creator is Yahweh. In fact, the evidence is overwhelming.

Unger's Bible Dictionary, Merrill F. Unger, 1957, Moody Press, Chicago, pp. 1177, says:

Yahweh(ya'we). The Hebrew tetragrammaton (YHWH) traditionally pronounced Jehovah (q. v.) is now known to be correctly vocalized yahwe. New inscriptional evidence from the second and first millennia B. C. point toward this fact. The old view of Le Clerc, modernly propounded by Paul Haupt and developed by W. F. Albright, has commended itself in the light of the phonetic development and grammatical evidence of increased knowledge of Northwest Semitic and kindred tongues. This thesis holds Yahwe to be originally a finite causative verb from the Northwest Semitic root hwy "to be, to come into being," so that the divine name would mean "he causes to be, or exist," i. e., "he creates." Amorite personal names after 2,000 B. C. lend support to the Haupt Albright view, demonstrating that the employment of the causative stem yahwe "he creates" was in vogue in the linguistic background of early Hebrew.

Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia, 1975, Vol. 2, pp. 690, Moody Press, Chicago, tells us:

'The Name par excellence for the Creator of Israyl is Yahweh-- found 6,823 times in the OT. Through Israyl's deliverance from bondage in Egypt, adoption as a nation, and guidance to the Promised Land, the Redeemer Creator is especially known by THIS NAME.' (Emphasis ours.)

The Interpreter's Dictionary, 1962, Vol. 4, pp.923, Abingdon Press, Nashville, says:

'YAHWEH--The vocalization of the four consonants of the Israylite name for the Creator, which scholars believe to approximate the original pronunciation.'

James Moffatt, in his translation, The Bible: A New Translation, 1935, Harper and Brothers, informs us in his introduction:

'Strictly speaking this ought to be rendered 'Yahweh' which is familiar to modern readers in the erroneous form of 'Jehovah'. Were this version intended for students of the original, there would be no hesitation whatever in printing 'Yahweh'.

Although Moffatt substitutes the title, 'the Eternal' in the place of the Name of Yahweh, he fully admits a distinct loss of meaning in this.

The Encyclopedia Judaica, 1972, Keter Publishing House, P.O.B. 7145, Jerusalem, Israel, Vol. 7, pp. 680, states emphatically:

'The TRUE PRONUNCIATION of the NAME YHWH WAS NEVER LOST. Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the Name was pronounced 'YAHWEH" .

The personal Name of the Father of Israyl is written in the Hebrew Scriptures with the four consonants YHWH, and is referred to as the 'Tetragrammaton'. At least until the destruction of the First Temple in 586 b.c.e., Yahweh's NAME was pronounced regularly with its proper vowels, as is clear from the Lachish Letters, written shortly before that day. However, at least by the third century before Yahshua our Messiah was born, the pronunciation of the Name YAHWEH was avoided, and Adonai, 'the Lord', was substituted for it.

The Century Bible, Volume 1, Pages 90-91, by Adeney and Bennett, tells us:

Some time after the return from the Captivity, and before the beginning of the Christian era, the Yahdaim (Jews) came to believe that the Holy Name YAHWEH was too sacred to be uttered on ordinary occasions. It was said to be pronounced by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement. At other times, when any one read or quoted aloud from what is called the Old Testament, the word 'Adonay', 'Lord,' was usually substituted for YAHWEH, and similarly the LXX (Septuagint Version) has Kurios, the Vulgate dominus, and the E.V. LORD, where the Hebrew has YAHWEH. Hebrew was originally written without vowels, but when the 'vowel points' were added, the vowels of 'Adonay' or 'Elohim' were written with YAHWEH, as a direction that these words were to be read INSTEAD OF the word whose consonants were YAHWEH; thus we find the combinations YeHoWaH and YeHoWiH. At the Reformation, the former being the more usual, was sometimes used as the Name of the (Mighty One) of Israyl, and owing to ignorance of its history was MISREAD as 'Jehovah,' a form which has established itself in English, but DOES NOT give the pronunciation of the Holy Name it represents.

In the Middle Ages, when the consonantal text was supplied with vowel points by the MASORITES, the Tetragrammaton was substituted in over 130 places in the Hebrew Text with the Canaanite god, 'Adonay', and in some places 'Elohim' (God, Gods) wherever anthropomorphism (ascribing the physical attributes of man to Yahweh) was applied. Wherever they left the Tetragrammaton intact, they placed diacritical marks beneath it to indicate pronunciation of the word to be SPOKEN--ADONAY, not the word WRITTEN--YAHWEH, which the Hebrews considered too sacred to be spoken aloud.

For 'Yahweh' they have substituted 'BAAL', the Babylonian god, and 'ADONAY', the Canaanite god of the Phoenicians, both corresponding to the English word, 'LORD'.

Likewise, the Name of Yahweh's Son, 'YAHSHUA' (Yahweh is Salvation), has been substituted by YESHUA, IESOUS, IESUS, JESUS, and EAZEUS (healing Zeus). Webster's Dictionary says that Zeus is the sky god, and is also known as Deus (Latin), Dio (Italian), Dios (Spanish), Dayus (Sanskrit), and Zeus Soter, meaning Zeus the Savior.

The substitution of the Names of Yahweh and Yahshua, by the names of pagan gods, has brought immeasurable harm. Such names as Lord, God, Jesus, and Christ in no way represent the meaning of the NAME revealed by Yahweh our Heavenly Father to Mosheh (Moses), and to the ancient Hebrews. By employing these names, the people unknowingly turn the worship of Yahweh into that of gods, and actually ascribe the loving and merciful characteristics of the Father of Israyl, to the pagan gods! (Hosheyah 2:8).

In their The Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures, the Jehovah's Witnesses, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., admit in their Foreword (pp. 23) that:

'While inclining to view the pronunciation 'Yahweh' as the more CORRECT WAY, we have retained the form 'Jehovah' because of people's familiarity with it since the 14th Century.'

As an opposing example, The New International Version Interlinear Hebrew-English Old Testament,edited by John R.Kohlenberger III,4 Volumes, Zondervan Publishing House,Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506, elects to USE YAHWEH'S NAME wherever it is written in the Hebrew Text. In Vol. l, pp. 26 of the Introduction, is found this statement:

'Yahweh, the personal Name of (the Creator), is always translated 'Yahweh', against the practice in the NIV in rendering it as 'LORD'. On the one hand, this prevents confusion of this Name with the title (Adonai) 'my Lord', for the idea of lordship is NOT an integral element of the Name. On the other hand, it may be the use of YAHWEH in this work will encourage the reader to use the personal Name of (Yahweh) in prayer and praise, as is intended by the most common imperative in the Scriptures: (Hallelu Yahweh!) Psalm 104:35: Praise Yahweh!

The Name of Yahweh
The Holy Name of our Father and Creator, Yahweh, or its shortened form, Yah, which appears in the compound names of people, prophets, and cities, is the ONE and ONLY Name by which the Creator is known throughout The Holy Scriptures. Following are only a few of the many Scriptures in which YAHWEH is extolled and praised:

Psalm 23;6--

'Surely righteousness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.'

Psalm 9:10--

'They that know Your Name will trust in You! Those who seek You, You will not forsake!'

Psalm 83:18--

'Let men know that You, Whose Name Alone is YAHWEH, are the Supreme Head over all the earth!'

Isayah 43:3--

'For I am Yahweh your Father, the Holy One of Israyl, your Savior...'

Following is a list of only a few of the Scriptures, which show the glorification of Yahweh's Name in His Book: Psalm 68: 4, Exodus 17:815, Exodus 15:26, Judges 6:24, Genesis 22:13,14, Acts 2:21, Yeremyah (Jeremiah) 23:3, Proverbs 30:4, Isayah 42:8, Hosheyah (Hosea) 2:17, Hebrews 2:12, Psalm 22:22, I Kings 18:21, Yahchanan (John) 12:13, Yahchanan 14:13,14, Acts 4:12.

The Hiding of Yahweh's Name
The Masorites, Hebrew Scribes during the Middle Ages, who added the vowel points to the accepted Hebrew Text, did not 'remove' Yahweh's Name from the Scriptures. They did, however, point the Four Letter Name of Yahweh with the vowel marks of either Elohim or Adonay--pagan names of gods which had been 'accepted' for hundreds of years--effectually establishing in their writings, what had previously been only an 'oral custom'!

These names of the Canaanites' gods were 'accepted' before the time of Yeremyah (Jeremiah) the prophet; and when Yeremyah began his prophesying, he said:

Yeremyah 23:25-27--

'I have heard what the prophets say, who prophesy lies in My Name, saying; I have dreamed! I have dreamed! How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Yes, they are prophets of the deceit of their own minds; which devise to cause My people to FORGET MY NAME through their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor, just as their fathers have forgotten MY NAME for BAAL (Lord).'

The word Baal simply means 'Lord', as shown in any Bible Dictionary. Unger's Bible Dictionary, for instance, under the subject 'Lord', on pp. 665, says:

'Lord (Hebrew, Adon), an early word denoting ownership; hence, absolute control. it is NOT PROPERLY a (righteous) title...MASTER; of kings, as the lords of their subjects.'
(4.) 'Lord, Master, (Greek Kurios) Supreme...'
(5.) 'Baal (Master) (as noted above, it means Lord)-- applied only to heathen deities (gods), or to man as husband. etc...'

Unger also tells us, on this same page, that:

'The Jews, out of a superstitious reverence for the Name Yahweh, always, in reading, pronounce 'Adonai' where 'Yahweh' is written.'

On pp. 413, Unger tells us:

'Baal--common Canaanite word for 'master, lord', was one of the chief male deities of the Canaanite Pantheon, now well known from the religious epic literature discovered at Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit of the Amarna Letters), from 1921-1937.'

The 1872 Edition of Smith's Bible Dictionary, states (emphasis ours):

'The substitution of the word Lord is most (sad); for while it in no way represents the meaning of the Sacred Name, the mind has constantly to guard against a confusion with its lower uses, and, above all, the direct personal hearing of the Name on the revelation of YAHWEH...is injuriously out of sight.'

Attempts to Correct Mistakes The Effect of Hiding Yahweh's Name
Some conscientious scholars have made meager attempts to restore the Name of the Creator in the Holy Scriptures. And their efforts have been much appreciated by serious students of the Holy Writ: their efforts to correct these mistakes have brought about new inroads, leading to deeper studies of Yahweh's word. However, the conscientious Scholars, whose work is now being studied worldwide, knew their work was very insignificant, compared to the corrections that were needed.

An example of this, is in the name of the prophet, Yeremyah, (Jeremiah)--the same prophet who was inspired to write of the people forgetting Yahweh's Name, in Vs.23:25-27--; his own name was changed by the later translators, to HIDE the Name of YAHWEH, which was in his name! By changing Yeremyah, which means, 'May Yahweh Lift Up', to Jeremiah, which means nothing, the later translators effectively hid the Name of Yahweh; therefore, not even a hint of Yahweh's Name remains in this name. In today's modern translations, ALL the place names and the personal names, which originally bore the glory of Yahweh's Name, have been changed; every trace of Yahweh's Name is hidden. The result of this is: a student can read the majority of the later English translations of the Scriptures, and the NAME of the ONLY ONE Who inspired those Scriptures to be written, is not even hinted at!

The Name of Our Messiah, Yahshua
According to the inspired prophecies, the Messiah's Name was to MEAN: Yahweh is Salvation; which is exactly what the Name Yahshua means! In The Book of Yahweh, the Name Yahshua, the True Name of Yahweh's only begotten Son, and our High Priest, Messiah, Redeemer, Ruler, and King, has been restored in the Scriptures. This was of utmost importance, for the Scriptures openly proclaim there is only ONE NAME given on earth, through which all men may achieve salvation (Acts 4:10-12), and that NAME is 'Yahshua'-- 'Yahweh is Salvation!' Any name, other than the correct Name, will not suffice.

The Holy Scriptures proclaim over and over, that YAHWEH Himself is our Savior (Psalm 27:1, Isayah 43:11).

Our Messiah Himself stated His mission was to proclaim WHO our Savior is--YAHWEH! (Yahchanan (John) Chapter 17). Obviously, our Messiah's very Name would state Who our Savior is; and the Name of our Messiah makes this distinction: 'Yahweh is Salvation', or 'YAHWEH IS OUR SAVIOR'. That Name is YAHSHUA. (Gesenius' Hebrew Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, pp. 339).

The world, for the most part, has rejected this Name (Yahshua), and has replaced it with the name YESHUA, or JESUS. However, even the scholars of the Christian Church openly admit that these FALSE NAMES (Yeshua, Jesus) replaced the True Name (Yahshua) in the Scriptures. Louis Hartman, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 1141, openly admits this fact in his writings:

'JESUA--In the last few centuries before Christ, the personal name YOSUA (Yahshua) was pronounced and written as YESUA (Yeshua).

New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 7., pp. 970:

Jesus (The Name): In English, the name Jesus is a transliteration of the Latin for, 'Iesus', which represents the Greek form 'Iesous', of the Hebrew name 'Yesua (Yeshua). The latter is a LATE FORM, by VOWEL DISSIMILATION, of the Name Yosua (Yahshua).

Mr. Hartman (Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible) clearly shows that the original Name Yahshua was first changed by the Hebrews to YESHUA, using the same vowel point system which was used to HIDE the Name of YAHWEH! Then, the Churches perpetuated this error, further changing the name to the present 'Jesus'.

With the subtle use of 'vowel dissimilation', the True Name of the Messiah, Yahshua. was replaced with the name that HID Yahweh's Name--YESHUA, which means 'He will save'. Then, the Greeks wrote a literal transliteration of the Hebrew word 'Yeshua' (Iesous): the Latins (Romans) wrote a literal transliteration of the Greek word 'Iesous' (Iesus); then the English wrote a literal transliteration of the Latin word 'Iesus' (Jesus). All of these names are VOID of the power of Yahweh's Name!

With the use of 'vowel dissimilation,' only a slight change occurs, but this slight change REMOVES the Name of Yahweh, effectively shutting off SALVATION FROM YAHWEH to those who are deceived into using the names of Yeshua and Jesus!

Importance Placed on The Name!
Throughout the Holy Scriptures, one can read of the importance placed on the NAME of Yahweh. Knowing, and using, our Creator's Name in worship and study has been important for each generation, for YAHWEH is the only being Who can give life, as the Holy Scriptures also say:

I Timothy 6:16--

'Who alone has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man has seen, nor can see; to Whom belongs honor and power everlasting. HalleluYahweh! Praise Yahweh!'

This Scripture alone shows the great importance that is attached to knowing our Heavenly Father's Name. But as this age grows closer to an end, and all hope of life and protection slowly vanishes; and as it becomes more obvious that mankind will use his capabilities to eradicate all life, it becomes extremely important for people to know our Creator's Name, and become knowledgeable of the great Plan Yahweh reveals in HIS unadulterated word--for it is ONLY those who CALL WITH the NAME OF YAHWEH who will be delivered at this End Time:

Yahyl (Joel) 2:31, 32--

'The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of Yahweh comes. And whoever will CALL WITH THE NAME OF YAHWEH will be delivered; for in Mount Zion in Yerusalem there will be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, among the remnant who has escaped of those whom Yahweh calls.

It is our prayer that all will completely turn to Yahweh with all their hearts, calling WITH the Name of Yahweh, as Yahweh inspired His prophet Yahyl (Joel) to proclaim in Yahyl 2:31,32

Credits for this article: The House of Yahweh, Abilene, Texas