#MEANING OF ONE AND ALL FULL#

For those before Moses, the fulfillment of GodвЂ™s promises remained distant, and their view of the character of God was murky.

God had manifested Himself as вЂќAlmightyвЂќ but not as вЂњthe absolute Being working with unbounded freedom in the performance of His promisesвЂњ (Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament).

#MEANING OF ONE AND ALL FULL#

How, then, should we understand GodвЂ™s statement that He did not make Himself known to the patriarchs by the name Yahweh? The answer seems to be that, whereas Noah, Abraham, et al., knew the name Yahweh-and thus knew that God is eternal and faithful-they never experienced the full impact of that name. Moses himself seems to suggest that the Hebrews were already familiar with the name Yahweh (in Exodus 4:1). This declaration drives us to further study, because both Noah (in Genesis 9:26) and Abraham (in Genesis 22:14) spoke of Yahweh by that name. Then He says, вЂњI appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to themвЂќ (Exodus 6:3). In Exodus 3:15, as Yahweh speaks to Moses, He says that He is also the God of the patriarchs. Yahweh is the covenant name for the God of Israel. The significance is in the meaning, not the pronunciation, just as Jehovah is still a sacred name, even if it is not a technically correct spelling. Since we do not have the original vowels, we cannot know for sure. The pronunciation yГ¤ЛЊwДЃ is our best estimate of how YHWH would have been pronounced. So, both LORD and GOD in English versions stand for YHWH. When the Scripture speaks of the Lord YHWH, then the English versions will have вЂњLord GODвЂќ with the word God in all capital letters. Following this practice, most English versions of the Bible translate YHWH as вЂњLORDвЂќ (all capital letters) as seen in Exodus 3:15, above. Instead of pronouncing Yahweh, they simply pronounced the word Adonai.

When vowels were later added to the text, the scribes took the vowels from the word adonai, which means вЂњlordвЂќ or вЂњmaster,вЂќ and inserted them between the consonants. Second, the ancient Hebrew scribes considered GodвЂ™s name too sacred to write or pronounce. It is for this reason that the Jewish leadership in JesusвЂ™ day thought it was scandalous, blasphemous, and worthy of death for Jesus to utter the words вЂњBefore Abraham was, I amвЂќ (John 8:58вЂ“59). All others are dependent upon Him for life and breath and existence. Several things must be noted here in order to properly understand the significance of the name Yahweh.ДЇirst, the tetragrammaton, which is the technical term for the four letters YHWH, is based on the Hebrew word for вЂњbeing.вЂќ It could be translated вЂњI am who I amвЂќ or вЂњI will be what I will beвЂќ or perhaps even вЂњI am the One who is.вЂќ Regardless of the specific translation, the name speaks of the self-existence and self-sufficiency of God. вЂњGod said to Moses, вЂI am who I am.вЂ™ And he said, вЂSay this to the people of Israel: вЂњI am has sent me to you.вЂќвЂ™ God also said to Moses, вЂSay this to the people of Israel: вЂњThe LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.вЂќ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generationsвЂ™вЂќ (Exodus 3:14вЂ“15).

The name Yahweh comes from the Hebrew word for вЂњI am.вЂќ When God met Moses at the burning bush and commanded him to go back to Egypt and lead the people out, Moses asked who he should say has sent him. However, it has become more popular in recent years to use Yahweh instead of Jehovah because it is technically more accurate. For all practical purposes, Jehovah and Yahweh are the simply English and Hebrew pronunciations for GodвЂ™s name. Jehovah became the English translation of the Latin form of the Hebrew name. Jehovah is the same name based on the Latin equivalents of the Hebrew letters: JHVH. This would not have been a problem for native speakers and readers. In ancient Hebrew, the vowels were not normally written. Yahweh is based on the consonants YHWH, which is one of the names for God used in the Old Testament.

Meaning of one and all