MYths About the Divine Name

Myths about the Divine Name

There are several myths that are perpetuated about the Divine Name over and over again, for some strange reason, in most English speaking circles. I would like to address what some of the bigger ones are.

Myth 1: There's only one way to say the Divine Name.

The Rabbis teach there's many. The G-d who said "My ways higher than your ways" (Isa 55:9) has a Name that is more complicated than ours. It can be pronounced multiple ways. One pronunciation means "He Who Is". Another means "He Who Causes to Be". Another means "He Who Is Beyond / Concealed". There's not one set of vowels that mean one thing, but several that work. HOWEVER, out of over 20,000 possible ways to phonetically combine vowels with the Divine Name, less than 90 (under 0.4%) are considered to be valid. So even though there are a lot of valid ways to say the Divine Name, that doesn't mean that any pronunciation is OK. And some pronunciations are blasphemous!!!!! But Judaism has recorded in many ancient Hebrew writings (most of which have never been translated into English) that there are different pronunciations that yield different meanings that are used for different situations. Much has been written in Jewish history on which pronunciation to use for which situation. For example, "He Who Causes To Be" is a pronunciation often used when asking God to change your circumstances. "He Will Be The One Who Is" is a pronunciation used to discuss his eternalness. That's why the answer to "How do you say the Divine Name?" can be "it depends". Very soon, I'll be posting a video that will show you some ancient Hebrew documents, and how they treat this issue, and different pronunciations used for different circumstances.

Myth 2: There's no info outside the Masoret Tanach on how to say the Divine Name

That's a big error. How to pronounce the Divine Name is one of the most written about topics in Jewish history. However, most of these writings have never been translated into English. It's not that the info isn't out there, it just isn't in English. Very shortly, you'll see proof of this as I post on the internet photographs of ancient Hebrew documents that do exactly this.

Myth 3: Jews quit saying the Name after the Babylonian Captivity

This is only partially true. The earliest ban was only on speaking the Name in a language other than Hebrew, followed by not speaking it publicly even when speaking Hebrew (except in the temple). Up until a few hundred years ago, it was permitted to speak the Divine Name in private prayer, and in certain private conversations. Liturgical use of the Divine Name in Jewish congregations can even be found in prayerbooks from the 1700's. In fact, I'll be showing you some photographs of some fro mthat time period in a few days. It has only been relatively recently that a ban on speaking the Divine Name anytime and for any reason has really existed. A COMPLETE ban is a modern tradition, not an ancient one.

Myth 4: The Masoret vowel system is the only way to explain how to say the vowels to the Name

Jews had ways of writing on paper how to say the Name before the Masoret period. In a few days, I'll show you TWO ways this was done such that a Jew could write on a piece of paper how to say the Divine Name, and anyone who understood Hebrew could read it and say it correctly without using the Masoret vowel system. The Masoret system simplified things, but it's not the only way to teach pronunciation. But I'm going to show you more than one way this was possible before the Masoret period.

Myth 5: English speakers have all the info they need to figure out how to say the Divine Name

The more you see of what the rabbis have written, the more you'll see why this is wrong. Many people who love G-d with all their heart are pronouncing the Divine Name in blasphemous ways, such as calling Him "He Who Is Evil" or "He Who Has Become". If you don't know how to take YUD HEY VAV and HEY and say these two phrases, you don't want to risk pronouncing the Divine Name, because you might be blaspheming Elohim when you do. But "YHWH" can be mis-pornounced to say the first, or pronounced in such a way as to communicate the second as well. If you don't know the rules of Hebrew grammar, don't say the Divine Name.

If this sounds contrary to what you have been taught.....

...it's because you were taught wrong. I had more than one Orthodox rabbi tells me several of these things many many years ago. I took it on faith they were right. Later, when I was able to read Hebrew for myself, I began seeing what they had seen. Next, I play to show you. Why? Because I get frustrated when I try to tell people these things and they don't believe me, simply because of the sheer NUMBER of people who have told them the contrary. You'll learn a quick lesson, one of which is that the majority opinion is not always right when you see the evidence I will post. I also think it would be good for the witness of the Gospel if allegedly Messianic people would STOP blaspheming the Divine Name with mis-pronunciations of it in front of Jews who know what those pronunciations mean. It causes unbelieving Jews who know the truth to conclude that the reason you belivee in Yeshua is because you don't think in Hebrew. Because if you did, you wouldn't mispronounce the Name in blasphemous ways. Many wonderful people who love G-d emensely are using blasphemous mis-pronunciations of the Name. Hopefully what I will post on the web soon will help put a stop to those problems.

WARNING.....

Some people won't like this, particularly people in ministry that have been using wrong pronunciations. I will be posting information that will leave some people who have been in error with egg on their face. Sorry, but truth is more important than any one person. Their pride will get in the way. My advise to those folks is this; those who can read Hebrew very very quickly be given references to what books they can read to see the truth. It will be better to stop using the wrong pronunciations and start using the right ones than continue in error and make itobvious to everyone you are in error. Part of the reason I'm saying this stuff BEFORE I post the evidence is to let those folks rip into me with their criticism now so that the impact of seeing the ancient Hebrew documents that proves true all the things I'm telling you now will be that much more powerful.