DIETY OF JESUS--EXPLANTION

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Terry Cornell: Can you please explain where you are getting this Yahweh
and Yahshua?

ME: I could refer you to the Higher-Fire archives for the month of
September when a full discussion on this subject took place, however the
topic was too controversial to retain on the archives so I’ll do my best
to explain it in as short a space as possible, although it is a lengthy
subject..

The Heavenly Father's Name is Yahweh, according to Strong’s it is used
6519 times in the Old Testament alone. You will not see it in most
English translations because it has been deleted and the title “the
LORD” has taken its place. Yahweh’s son’s name is Yah-shua, meaning Yah
is Salvation.

One of the primary reasons the vast majority of Christianity is unaware
of the proper names for the Father and His Son is the confusion between
translation and transliteration. Translation is the replacing of a word
from one language into another based on the meaning of the word.
Transliteration is replacing the word based on the sound of the word.
Only proper nouns (names of people and places) are usually
transliterated. Translators never translate names but always
transliterate them, thus maintaining the correct pronunciation even
across languages.

The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1989 vol. 18, p. 411.
Transliterate, to replace (letters or characters of one language) by
those of another used to represent the same sounds

Sometimes you will find in scripture that the Father is called simply
"Yah." See your King James or New King James Bible for confirmation of
this. Here is the King James Version of Psalms 68:4  Sing unto God, sing
praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by His Name
JAH, and rejoice before him.

Here we see it written as JAH, however it is pronounced like YAH since
there is no "J" sound in Hebrew. The New King James Bible restores the
correct rendering, and
does so as well in Is. 12:2 & 26:4.

Yah is the poetic or short form of the Father’s name found to have
survived translators in Psalm 68:4 of the KJV.  It is the prefix of the
name Yahweh as found in
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and shows the fallacy of the name
Jehovah.

There is not now nor was there ever an equivalent letter "j" in the 22
letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Nor is there any Hebrew letter that
carries even an approximate sound of the consonant letter "j." Neither
is there a letter "j" in the Greek alphabet. Look up “j” in your
encyclopedia and dictionary.

Look up LORD in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, it will direct you, in
the Hebrew Dictionary, to #3068: Yehovah, the self-Existent or Eternal;
Jewish national name of God. #3050, Yahh, contraction for #3068, and
meaning the same; Jah, the sacred name.

One of the most widely known words in the world is "halleluYah," meaning
"Praise you Yah." Notice that the short or poetic form is “Yah.”
HalleluYah is heard the
world over and sounds the same in all languages. “Yah” also appears in
names like Isaiah (IsaYah), Jeremiah (JeremYah), Zephaniah (ZephanYAH),
Nehemiah (NehemYAH), Obadiah (ObadYah), Zechariah (ZecharYah), and other
names ending in "iah." Jeremiah translates Yahweh exalts, Obadiah
translates servant of Yahweh, Nehemiah translates comfort of Yahweh.

Read what translators say about the Father’s name Yahweh and the excuses
they used to keep it out of these familiar bible translations.

New American Standard Version, 1901. Preface to the New American
Standard Bible, 1963, p. vi.    It is inconceivable to think of
spiritual matters without a proper
designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for deity
is God, a translation of the original Elohim. There is yet another name
which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name,
that is, the four letters YHWH. See Exodus 3 and Isaiah 42:8. This name
has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great
sacredness of the divine name. Therefore,  it was consistently
pronounced and translated LORD.  It is known that for many years
YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh. No complete certainty attaches
to this pronunciation. However, it is felt by many who are in touch with
the laity of our
churches that this name conveys no religious or spiritual overtones. It
(this name) is strange, uncommon, and without sufficient religious and
devotional background. No amount of scholarly debate can overcome this
deficiency. Hence, it was decided to avoid the use of this name in the
translation proper.

Revised Standard Version, 1946. Preface, p. v.   While it is almost if
not quite certain that the Name was originally pronounced “Yahweh,” this
pronunciation was not indicated when the Masoretes added vowel signs to
the consonantal Hebrew text. To the four consonants YHWH of the Name,
which had come to be regarded as too sacred to be pronounced, they
attached vowel signs indicating that in its place should be read the
Hebrew word Adonai meaning “Lord.” The form “Jehovah” is of late
medieval origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine
Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an
entirely different word. The sound of Y is represented by J and the
sound of W by V, as in Latin. For two reasons the Committee has returned
to the more familiar usage of the King James Version: (1) the word
“Jehovah” does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used
in Hebrew; and (2) the use of any proper name for the one and only God,
as though there were other gods from whom He had to be distinguished,
was discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era and is entirely
inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.

New International Version, 1973. Preface, p. ix. In regard to the divine
name YHWH, commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton, the translators
adopted the devise used in most English versions of rendering that name
as “LORD” in capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another
Hebrew word rendered “Lord,” for which small letters are used.

New King James Version, 1982. Preface, p. iv & v.   In the discipline of
translating biblical and other ancient languages, a standard method of
transliteration, that is, the English spelling of untranslated words,
such as names of persons and places, has never been commonly adopted. In
keeping with the design of the present work, the King James spelling of
untranslated words is retained. The covenant name of God was usually
translated from the Hebrew as “LORD” in the King James Old Testament.
This tradition is maintained.

New English Bible, the introduction to the Old Testament.      One
variation of this convention is of special importance, inasmuch as it
affects the divine name. This personal proper name, written with the
consonants YHWH, was considered too sacred to be uttered; so the vowels
for the words ‘my Lord’ or ‘God’ were added
to the consonants YHWH, and the reader was warned by these vowels that
he must substitute other consonants. This change having to be made so
frequently (ed. note: 6,823 times), the Rabbis did not consider it
necessary to put the consonants of the new reading in the margin. In
course of time, the true pronunciation of the divine name, probably
Yahweh, passed into oblivion, and YHWH was read with the intruded
vowels, the vowels of an entirely different word, namely, ‘my Lord’, or
‘God’. In late medieval times this mispronunciation became current as
Jehova, and it was taken over as Jehovah by the Reformers in Protestant
Bibles. The present
translators have retained this incorrect but customary form in the text
of passages where the name is explained with a note on its pronunciation
(e.g. Exodus 3:15) and in four place-names of which it forms a
constituent element; elsewhere they have followed ancient translators in
substituting ‘LORD’ or ‘GOD’, printed as here in capital letters, for
the Hebrew Name.

Read what respected dictionaries and encyclopedia say about Yahweh and
the false name Jehovah.

Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1971, pg. 455.
Jehovah, noun [New Latin, false reading of Hebrew Yahweh] : God.

>From the 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia Corporation’s Microsoft
Encarta.
Jehovah, name of the God of the Hebrew people as erroneously
transliterated from the Masoretic Hebrew text. The word consists of the
consonants JHVH or JHWH,
with the vowels of a separate word, Adonai (Lord). Because of an
interpretation of such texts as Exodus 20:7 and Leviticus 24:11, the
name came to be regarded as too sacred for expression; the scribes, in
reading aloud, substituted “Lord” and therefore wrote the vowel markings
for “Lord” into the consonantal framework The translators of the Hebrew,
not realizing what the scribes had done, read the word as it was written
down, taking the scribal vowel markings as intrinsic to the name of
their God rather than as a mere reminder not to speak it. From this came
the
rendition Jehovah. It indicates that the name was originally spoken
Jaweh or Yahwe
(often spelled Yahweh in modern usage).

The New Bible Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1986, pg. 430.           The
Hebrew word Yahweh is in English (Bible) versions usually translated
‘the LORD” (note the capitals) and sometimes ‘Jehovah’. The latter name
originated as follows. The original Hebrew text was not vocalized; in
time the ‘tetragrammaton’ YHWH was
considered too sacred to pronounce; so adonay (‘my Lord’) was
substituted in reading, and the vowels of this word were combined with
the consonants YHWH to give ‘Jehovah’, a form first attested at the
start of the 12th century AD. The pronunciation Yahweh is indicated by
transliterations of the name into Greek in early Christian literature.
Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only ‘name’ of God. In Genesis wherever
the word sem (‘name’) is associated with the divine being that name is
Yahweh. Yahweh, therefore, in contrast with Elohim (God) is a proper
noun, the name of a Person, though that Person is divine. A study of the
word ‘name’ in the
OT reveals how much it means in Hebrew. The name is no mere label, but
is significant of the real personality of him to whom it belongs.

The Encyclopedia Britannica (Micropedia, vol. 10): "Yahweh-the personal
name of the [El] of the Israelites...The Masoretes, Jewish biblical
scholars of the Middle Ages, replaced the vowel signs that had appeared
above or beneath the consonants of YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai
or of Elohim. Thus the artificial name
Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after the
Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in
the 19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars again began to use the
form Yahweh, thus this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never
really lost. Greek transcriptions also indicate that YHWH should be
pronounced Yahweh."

Read these verses, does He want His name remembered and praised or not?

Ex 3:15 And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the
children of Israel, Yahweh God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me to you: this [is] my
name for ever, and this [is] my memorial to all generations. [16] Go,
and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, Yahweh God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me

Ps. 29:2 - Give unto Yahweh the glory due his name.

Ps. 34:3- O magnify Yahweh with me; and let us exalt his name together.

Ps. 54:6 - I will praise thy name, O Yahweh; for it is good.

Ps 68:4 - Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth
upon the heavens by his name YAH, and rejoice before him.

Ps. 72:18-19 - Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who only doeth
wondrous things. [19] And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let
the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Ps 83:18 - That men may know that thou, whose name alone is Yahweh, art
the most high over all the earth.

Ps. 99:2-3 - Yahweh is great in Zion; and he is high above all the
people. [3] Let them praise thy great and terrible (reverened) name; for
it is holy.

Ps 111:9 - Holy and reverend [is] his name.

Ps. 113:1-3 - Praise ye Yahweh! Praise, O ye servants of Yahweh, praise
the name Yahweh. [2]Blessed be the name of Yahweh from this time forth
and for evermore.
[3]From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same Yahweh's
name is to be praised.

Ps. 135:1& 3 - Praise ye Yahweh, Praise ye the name of Yahweh. [3]
Praise Yahweh; for Yahweh is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is
pleasant.

Proverbs 18:10-  The name of Yahweh [is] a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe.

Isa. 12:4 - And in that day shall ye say, "Praise Yahweh!" Call upon his
name; declare his doings amoung the people; make mention that his name
is exalted.

Isa. 42:8 - I am Yahweh; that is my name; and my glory will I not give
to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Malachi 3:16 - Then they that feared Yahweh spake often one to another:
and
Yahweh hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written
before Him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon His name.

Now lets look at the name of Yahweh’s son, who was given the exact same
name as Joshua (who led Israel into the promised land), yet his name has
somehow come down to us pronounced as Jesus.  In the original 1611
printing of the King James Bible the word “Jesus” is not to be found,
not even once. How did we end up with the Savior’s name so different
from what Mary and the apostles addressed him as?

A good question to ask is why would a Jewish maiden, whose native tongue
was Hebrew, living in a Jewish community of Hebrews, who was spoken to
in Hebrew by Gabriel, give her newborn child a hybrid Latin-Greek name?

The Greek word for savior is "soter," while the Latin is "salvare." No
part of either word is found in "Jesus," a name with no recorded meaning
in any language. Yet the angel in Mt. 1:21 said His name would mean
salvation. What for?  “For he shall save his people from their sins.”

Turn to Strong's Greek Dictionary #2424  Iesous ee-ay-sooce'; of Hebrew
origin #3091. Now turn to Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary #3091 you’ll find
the Savior’s name is a combination of #3068 Yahweh, and #3467 yesha, to
deliver, save, rescue. Joshua of the Old Testament also is #3091.

#3091  Yehowshuwa` yeh-ho-shoo'-ah or Yehowshu`a yeh-ho-shoo'-ah

>From the 1994 Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia Corporation’s Microsoft
Encarta.
The name Jesus is derived from a Greek rendering of the Hebrew name
Joshua, or in full Yehoshuah .

The New Bible Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1986, pg. 584.     The name Jesus
is not strictly a title for the person who bore it. It is however a name
with a meaning, being a Greek form of Joshua, i.e. ‘Yahweh is
salvation’. The NT writers were well aware of this meaning (Mt. 1:21).

Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1971, pg. 456.
Jesus / noun [Late Latin, from Greek Iesous, from Hebrew Yeshua]

Matthew A Commentary, by Fredrick Dale Bruner, Vol. 1, The Christ
Book,pg. 25.
The Greek name Iesous is the Hellenizing of the Hebrew “Yeshua”
(familiar to us as “Joshua”) a shortening of “Ye-ho-shuah,”  and means
“Yah(weh) is the one who saves.”

New Explorers Study Bible for Kids, pg. 1226.   The name Jesus comes
from the Old Testament name Yeshua or Joshua.  In the New Testament the
name was written in the Greek language.  Both of these spellings have
the same meaning.  They
mean “the Lord is Salvation.”

A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 1, pg. 10.
“Jesus is the same as Joshua, a contraction of Jehoshuah (Nu. 13:16; 1
Ch. 7:27), signifying
in Hebrew, ‘Jehovah is helper,’ or ‘Help of Jehovah’” (Broadus). So
Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua (He. 4:8).

Adam Clarke, Clarke Commentary, vol. 3, pg. 39.            Mt. 1:21.
JESUS] the same as Joshua. Also see vol. 3, pg. 394.

If “Jesus” is the same as “Joshua” then why is it not Joshua? Who had
the authority to change it? And if “Joshua” is the same as “Yahshua” why
did it not stay that way?

Many might answer by saying what’s the big deal, Jesus, Joshua, Yahshua,
what’s the difference as long as you know who you mean? But the
scriptures tell us to seek the truth.

1 Co. 2:15 - But he that is spiritual judgeth* all things. [*Strong’s
#350, to scrutinize, investigate, question, examine, judge or search]

1 Th. 5:21 - Prove* all things. [*Strong’s #1381, to test, discern,
examine, try]

2 Ti. 2:15 - Study to shew thyself approved unto Yahweh, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth.

He. 11:6 - He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The big deal is this: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must
be saved." (Ac. 4:12)

I already touched on transliteration but since it’s so central to this
subject lets look into it in greater length.

The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1989 vol. 18, p. 411.
Transliterate, to replace (letters or characters of one language) by
those of another used to represent the same sounds

The Pocket Dictionary of Signing by R. Butterworth & Micky Fledin.
Fingerspelling is constantly used amoung the deaf to communicate words
for which there are no signs, especially names of people and places.

New King James Version, 1982. Preface, p. iv & v.        In the
discipline of translating biblical and other ancient languages, a
standard method of transliteration, that is, the English spelling of
untranslated words, such as names of persons and places, has never been
commonly adopted.

Daniel Valois (val wa), in the Translation Dept. at Public Works and
Government Services in Halifax.     He says proper names are not
translated but are pronounced the same in all languages.  He told us if
you went to China, McDonalds, the fast food chain, is pronounced as you
hear it spoken here.  The sign would have both English
and Chinese lettering but both would indicate the word be pronounced
“McDonalds.” There are some exceptions to this rule, but they only apply
to place
names and do not apply to personal names.  For instance New Brunswick
and New Orleans both have a French and English pronunciation, not
because they override the rule, but because of their history that at
separate times gave them different names, depending on which nation
controlled them.

Spectrum Multilanguage Communications, Expert Translation and Foreign
Language, New York                                               Phone
(212) 391-3940.
In translation from English into other languages, personal, corporate,
and brand names frequently appear, whether on an executive's business
card or in descriptive material about a company, and proper rendering is
of vital importance. If the foreign
language involved is one that is printed with the Latin alphabet,
personal names do not change, even if the name has a translatable
meaning or an "equivalent" in that foreign tongue. In languages printed
with other scripts, such as Russian, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, or the
Oriental tongues, the translator's job is to render personal names
phonetically in the foreign characters so that they sound as close as
possible to the way they sound in English. Regardless of the script and
the accepted
conventions or lack of them, it is essential that the translator know
how the individual's name is pronounced in his own language; Unless it's
clearly apparent,
please be sure to advise how a name is pronounced when you need it
rendered into another script as part of a translation assignment.

The Savior’s name was taken from Hebrew to Greek into Latin, and then
English, losing the true Hebrew name and instead we end up with a
Latinized-Greek hybrid
instead of the holy, saving Name Yahshua.

Look at Mt. chap. 1 again, just two verses down, vs. 23, we see the
Hebrew name “Immanuel,” not altered in any way, pronounced in English
exactly as it is in Hebrew. Why was this name transliterated, not
translated?

The Savior stated in John 5:43, "I am come in my Father's Name," He
carried His Father's Name.  Just as today the family name is passed on
from father to son, we
would expect Yahshua to bear the name of the Heavenly Father. He went on
to say, “If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” He
reemphasized his name is not his own, he has been given the Father’s
name.

Yahshua indeed came in the name of His Father, for His very name means
"the
Salvation of YAHWEH." His name contains the sacred, poetic, heavenly
family name Yah: Pronounced YAHshua, shua meaning salvation.

Look for yourself in Strong’s Greek Dictionary under Jesus #2424, it
tells you it’s taken from the Hebrew #3091.  Turn to Strong’s Hebrew
Dictionary #3091 you’ll find the Savior’s name is a combination of #3068
Yahweh, and #3467 yesha, to deliver, save, rescue. Joshua of the Old
Testament also is #3091.

#3091 Yehowshuwa` yeh-ho-shoo'-ah or Yehowshu`a yeh-ho-shoo'-ah

1989 Nelson KJV, Slimline Reference Edition, p. 196.           Joshua.
His original name is Hoshea, “Salvation” (Num. 13:8); but Moses
evidently changes it to Yehoshua, “Yahweh Is Salvation” (Num. 13:16).
This is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Iesous (Jesus).

One has but to look at Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 in the King James Bible
where the hybrid "Jesus" erroneously appears. It is obvious that scribes
went through the
King James Bible and everywhere changed the true name of Yahshua to
Jesus. With overzealous intent, the name Joshua (Yahshua) the son of Nun
had been mistakenly replaced with the hybrid "Jesus" as well! The NKJV
and modern Bible versions have replaced the more proper Joshua.

Salvation is through Yahshua alone. "Neither is there salvation in any
other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved."
(Ac. 4:12)

Phil. 2:9-10 - Wherefore Yahweh also has highly exalted him [Yahshua,
vs. 5], and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name
of Yahshua every knee should bow.  Eph. 3:15 states that the entire
“family in heaven and earth” is named after the precious name of the
Father, Yahweh.

The following quotations are taken from the pages of  The Oneness of
God, by David Bernard, whose books are familiar to many Apostolics.

{p. 44}  “God’s name represents the following: 1) God’s presence, 2) the
revelation of His character, 3) His power and 4) His authority.”

{p. 45}  “1. God demands fear (reverence, respect) for His name (Det.
28:58-59). He commands man not to take His name in vain (Ex. 20:7).  2.
God warns His people not to forget His name (Ps. 44:20-21; Jer.
23:25-27).  3. God promises a blessing for those who know His name (Ps.
91:14-16).

{p. 45}  “Yahweh (Jehovah) is the redemptive name of God in the Old
Testament (Ex. 6:3-8), and the unique name by which the one true God
distinguished Himself in
the Old Testament from all other gods (Is. 42:8).”

{p. 46}  “Yahweh means “He is.” When used by God, the verb form is in
the first person, or “I Am.” In other words, Yahweh and “I Am” are
different forms of the same verb.”

{p. 47}  “Jehovah appears by itself only four times in the KJV.  In
every other place, the King James translators used GOD or LORD to
represent YHWH.  In using
LORD as a substitute for YHWH, they were simply following an ancient
Jewish tradition.”

{p.50 - 51}  “Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name variously
rendered as Jehoshua (Nu, 13:16), Jeshua (Ezra 2:2), or Joshua (Ex.
17:9).  Both Acts 7:45
and He. 4:8 show that Jesus is the same name as Joshua. (See NIV.)  The
identification of the name Jesus with salvation is particularly evident
because the Hebrew for Jeshua is practically identical to the Hebrew for
salvation, especially since ancient Hebrew did not use written vowels.
In fact, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance transliterates Jeshua as
Yeshuwa and the Hebrew word for salvation as Yeshuwah.”

>From David Bernard’s “In the Name of Jesus”          pg. 36, “In New
Testament times the Hebrew or Aramaic pronunciation of the name Jesus
was Yeshua or Y’shua.”

pg. 36, “The name Jesus ... literally means ‘Yahweh-Savior’ or ‘Yahweh
is salvation.’”

pg. 39, “Webster’s Dic. clearly shows that the English name Jesus came
from the Latin Iesus, from the Greek Iesous, from the Hebrew Yeshua.”

Names evolve over generations. Karl (German) is Carlo (Latin) is Carlos
(Spanish) and Charles (English). However when a child is named Charles
he is not addressed as Carlos in Spain, for his named is not Carlos,
even though it is derived from the same root as Charles. The Prince of
Wales is called Charles when he goes to Spain and the King of Spain’s
name is pronounced Carlos when he visits Britain.

If you went to Russia or China they would pronounce your name as close
to what your family here at home does, and so they should. Should we not
make the effort to
pronounce our Savior’s name as close as we can to what Gabriel announced
it to be?

Dave