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Names of God in Judaism
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In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people. To show the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for them, the scribes of sacred texts used terms of reverence so as to keep the true name of God concealed. The various names of God in Judaism represent God as he is known, as well as the divine aspects which are attributed to him.
The numerous names of God have been a source of debate amongst biblical scholars. Some have advanced the variety as proof that the Torah, the main scripture of Judaism, has many authors (see documentary hypothesis). It is also held that the only "name of God" in the Tanakh is Yahweh (the English rendering of YHWH), whereas words such as Elohim (God), El (mighty one), El Shaddai (almighty God), Adonai (master), El Elyon (most high God), Avinu (our Father), etc. are not names but titles, highlighting different aspects of YHWH, and the various roles which He has. This is similar to how a man may be called 'Dad', 'Husband', 'Boss', 'Sir', 'Son', etc, but his personal name is the only one that can be correctly identified as his name. In the Tanakh, YHWH is the personal name of the God of Israel, whereas the other words are titles which are ascribed to Him.
Names of God
The Tetragrammaton
The most important and most often written name of God in Judaism is the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God, also known as יהוה, or YHWH. "Tetragrammaton" derives from the prefix tetra- ("four") and gramma ("letter", "grapheme"). The Tetragrammaton appears 6,828 times in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia edition of the Hebrew Masoretic text. This name is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis (2.4) and in English language bibles is traditionally translated as "The LORD".
(The epithet "The Eternal One" may increasingly be found instead, particularly in Progressive Jewish communities seeking to use gender-neutral language[1]). Because Judaism forbids pronouncing the name outside the Temple in Jerusalem, the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton may have been lost, as the original Hebrew texts only included consonants. The Hebrew letters are named Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh: יהוה. In English it is written as YHWH, YHVH, or JHVH depending on the transliteration convention that is used. The Tetragrammaton was written in contrasting Paleo-Hebrew characters in some of the oldest surviving square Aramaic Hebrew texts, and were not read as Adonai ("My Lord") until after the Rabbinic teachings after Israel went into Babylonian captivity. [2]
In appearance, YHWH is an archaic third person singular imperfect of the verb "to be", meaning, therefore, "He is". This explanation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — "I am". It stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists by himself for himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore "I am that I am".
The idea of 'life' has been traditionally connected with the name YHWH from medieval times. Its owner is presented as a living God, as contrasted with the lifeless gods of the 'heathen' polytheists: God is presented as the source and author of life (compare 1 Kings 18; Isaiah 41:26–29, 44:6–20; Jeremiah 10:10, 14; Genesis 2:7; and so forth).
The prohibition of blasphemy, for which capital punishment is prescribed in Jewish law, refers only to the Tetragrammaton (Soferim iv., end; comp. Sanh. 66a).
The name YHWH is likely to be the origin of the Yao of Gnosticism. A minority view considers it to be cognate to an uncertain reading "Yaw" for the god Yam in damaged text of the Baal Epic. Though the final Heh in YHWH might not have been pronounced in classical Hebrew, the medial Heh would have almost certainly been pronounced thus the roots of the alleged Yaw and "YHWH" are different. Other possible vocalizations include a mappiq in the final Heh, rendering it pronounced — most likely with a gliding Patah (a-sound) before it.[citation needed]