Hebrew Translation

[LossForWords]

This is the closest topic I could find that might come close to being an appropriate place for my question...

In Hebrew, the word for breath of God is Ruah. However, it's pronounced like YHWH (yahweh). When writing this...are you to use Hebrew letters YHWH...are you supposed to use the letters RUAH...or is there a specific symbol for this word?

[Leonard]

This is the closest topic I could find that might come close to being an appropriate place for my question...

In Hebrew, the word for breath of God is Ruah. However, it's pronounced like YHWH (yahweh). When writing this...are you to use Hebrew letters YHWH...are you supposed to use the letters RUAH...or is there a specific symbol for this word?

Ruah is 'spirit' or 'wind' (occasionally also translated breath), Yahweh has a COMPLETELY different pronunciation. I have no objectio nto writing YHWH, but religious Hebrew speakers routinely substitute the word Adonai (LORD) for YHWH.

[Tubal-Cain]

In Hebrew, the word for breath of God is Ruah. However, it's pronounced like YHWH (yahweh). When writing this...are you to use Hebrew letters YHWH...are you supposed to use the letters RUAH...or is there a specific symbol for this word?

According to the Blue Letter Bible the words would be as follows:

ruwach = רוח

Yĕhovah = יהוה

[Retrobyter]

This is the closest topic I could find that might come close to being an appropriate place for my question...

In Hebrew, the word for breath of God is Ruah. However, it's pronounced like YHWH (yahweh). When writing this...are you to use Hebrew letters YHWH...are you supposed to use the letters RUAH...or is there a specific symbol for this word?

Shalom, LossForWords.

Curious. How did you arrive at the pronunciation of "ruach" as "YHVH?" "Ruach" is pronounced "roo'-ach," where the "oo" is long as in the word "moon" and the "ch" is the "ch" sound in the Scottish word "loch." (I like to reserve the hard, gutteral "kh" for the caf without the dagesh [the dot put in the center of the letter].) While it is true that one possible pronunciation of "YHVH" is "yahweh," it is by no means the only possible pronunciation. Other possible pronunciations are "yahuwh" and "yahowh." We don't know how to pronounce it anymore since the Jews stopped saying the word "erring on the side of caution" so they wouldn't accidentally use G-D's name in vain, which would break the third commandment. That's why they read and say "ADONAI" instead when they come across the word. It's similar in older versions of the English Bible, too. That's why the KJV, for instance, has the word "Lord" (a translation from "Adonai") and "LORD" (a translation from "YHVH"). When vowel pointing was introduced long after the Tanakh (the OT) was finished, they substituted the vowel pointing for the word "Adonai" in and around the letters of "YHVH" which is where we get the unfortunate English word "Jehovah."

Personally, I believe that His Name should be pronounced as at the end of Hebrew names. For instance, Matthew in Hebrew is "Matityahu" and Elijah in Hebrew is "Eliyahu"; therefore, I believe His Name was most probably pronounced "Yahuwh," sounding like "Yahoo," with the accent on the final syllable.

Now, I know that some Bible programs, such as PC Study Bible for example, will sometimes highlight TWO (or more!) words that were translated a particular way in English. When this occurs, the look up function for Strong's number system will only use the first word found. If both words were used in a particular verse and translated as though for only one of them, this can cause confusion, and you may be given the definition (and pronunciation) for the wrong word.

Did this help?

Retrobyter

P.S. By the way, the Jews will use a double yud to represent THE NAME (Ha Shem), YHVH. Furthermore, one other possible pronunciation is "Yahveh" since the third letter if a vav that usually carries a "v" sound, not a "w."

Edited July 20, 2007 by Retrobyter

[Guest Ger_Tzedek]

In Hebrew, the word for breath of God is Ruah. However, it's pronounced like YHWH (yahweh). When writing this...are you to use Hebrew letters YHWH...are you supposed to use the letters RUAH...or is there a specific symbol for this word?

According to the Blue Letter Bible the words would be as follows:

ruwach = ???

Y?hovah = ????

Tubal-Cain: In the four Hebrew letters you quoted for the Name of G-d, baruch hu, if you look closely, you will notice several things (provided you know Hebrew).

1. There are NO VOWELS. Thus, it is NOT "Yehovah"

2. The letter vav, sometimes also spelled waw (germanic pronunciation) may be a /v/, a /u/, or an /o/. It is never a /w/. Thus, it is not Yahweh.

3. I am told if a person is really fluent in Hebrew (which I am not) it becomes readily apparent how to pronounce this word, as it has meaning: "always was, ever is, forever will be." However, such people will never say this name aloud, as it is sacred.

4. Did you consider before you wrote this post, that by putting the most sacred name of G-d into writing in cyberspace, that should the file decay or be destroyed, so will the name? I am disturbed that I simply hit reply before thinking, because now my reply contains His holy name in a quote. I don't know if you are a Jewish believer in Yeshua or not.

Shavua Tov

[Retrobyter]

In Hebrew, the word for breath of God is Ruah. However, it's pronounced like YHWH (yahweh). When writing this...are you to use Hebrew letters YHWH...are you supposed to use the letters RUAH...or is there a specific symbol for this word?

According to the Blue Letter Bible the words would be as follows:

ruwach = ???

Y?hovah = ????

Tubal-Cain: In the four Hebrew letters you quoted for the Name of G-d, baruch hu, if you look closely, you will notice several things (provided you know Hebrew).

1. There are NO VOWELS. Thus, it is NOT "Yehovah"

2. The letter vav, sometimes also spelled waw (germanic pronunciation) may be a /v/, a /u/, or an /o/. It is never a /w/. Thus, it is not Yahweh.

3. I am told if a person is really fluent in Hebrew (which I am not) it becomes readily apparent how to pronounce this word, as it has meaning: "always was, ever is, forever will be." However, such people will never say this name aloud, as it is sacred.

4. Did you consider before you wrote this post, that by putting the most sacred name of G-d into writing in cyberspace, that should the file decay or be destroyed, so will the name? I am disturbed that I simply hit reply before thinking, because now my reply contains His holy name in a quote. I don't know if you are a Jewish believer in Yeshua or not.

Shavua Tov

Shalom, Ger_Tzedek!

Please allow me to calm your fears. I write the NAME in many places because I love Him and want Him to be glorified! He MUST be glorified by being made FAMOUS! That's what "glorify" means! I know quite well that it is a mammoth sin to take His name flippantly ("in vain") and worse yet to villify His Name, but consider the following: First, all forms of communication decay and are destroyed. That is why we make copies of written works, copies of computer files, and make sound recordings of verbal speech. The whole occupation of scribe was created BECAUSE written copies decay and are destroyed. Consider the excitement when ancient written records are discovered, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves at Qumran. The first confidence we received from the Dead Sea Scrolls was found in the fidelity of the scribes' work; with copies from the prophecy of Yesha`yahu (Isaiah) found came the discovery that modern copies were IDENTICAL to the copies of that time period with very few exceptions! This fidelity, this consistency, this loyalty, this faithfulness to the text gives us confidence and assurance that we have accurate copies of the Bible.

The NAME will NEVER BE DESTROYED!!! He is El Elyon! He is MUCH greater than our puny attempts at preserving His NAME, baruwk haSHEM! If you are a Jewish believer in the Mashiach Yeshua`, then KNOW and rest assured that HE has kept all of the Torah knowing full well that we never could keep it all! That was what Rav Sha'ul was teaching the Korinthians in II Corinthians 5:21. "He became sin for us WHO KNEW NO SIN that we might be made the righteousness of G-d in Him!" Although I have some Jewish blood in me, I was not raised as a Jew. Therefore, I know that Jews might look down on my point of view as coming from a Goy, but believe me when I say that I would rather keep Torah than not. I believe that we should keep His commandments -- ALL of them! But, I also believe that it never was to be acceptable to G-d. Rather, G-d accepts us as He did Avraham -- by FAITH! Instead, we keep Torah because we know that He wants us to keep Torah and we want to please Him because we love Him!

Now, consider this: from Moishe when G-d revealed His NAME to haMelek David to haMelek Shlomo to the last of the Prophets, they all WERE NOT AFRAID TO USE HIS NAME!! They were mere human beings as we are, but they made His NAME famous among the surrounding nations! I am not truly convinced that modern Jews know how to pronounce the NAME. As you noted, the vav can be pronounced /v/, /o/, or /u/. So which was it for haSHEM? The unlikely pronunciation of "Yahweh" could have come from "Yahuwheh," by the way.

So, don't be too hard on yourself and others for including His NAME in your text. If I were Him, I'd be happier that you remembered my name than to treat it so solemnly that you forgot how to pronounce it! Make sense?

In the Messiah,

Retrobyter