Sacred Names
By
Gary Primo
Jan. 8, 2011
This is just a short essay on my understanding of the Sacred Names. I will not go into the spectrum of Sacred names verses traditional Christian names. What I would like to focus on here are the different pronunciations of the sacred names. I have lost count of how many different pronunciations I have heard. What’s more, I have lost interest in the multiple debates I have read. All seem to have some merit, but they cannot all be right. I believe that YHVH gives us all an “A” for effort. Most of the names I have come across sound very similar anyway.
The standard is YHWH or Yahweh as the name of the Father and Yeshua or Yahshua for the Son. The reason that I use Yahuwah and Yahushuh instead is because I had a sister in the faith a DVD showing what the oldest form of the word and the pronuciation was and he was pretty convincing. Still, that form of the name survived some 1500 years and I feel that the pronunciation may have even changed over that time. Now I am open and receptive to whichever way anyone one else fells it should be pronounced. At least we are trying to do what seems right to our conscience.
I simply cannot see how anyone can determine, with any degree of accuracy, what the original pronunciation was over 3 ½ millennia ago. I have read arguments from a number of wannabe linguistic experts, all of which contradict one another, and have found nothing in the way of actual fact, that supports any of their views. All is merely speculation.
From reading the Scriptures it seems that YHVH likes to change the names of the players to fit the purpose they serve in His plan. For instance, Abram’s name was changed to Abraham; Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, etc. And these are not even the original Hebrew names. We are told in the Book of Revelation that Yahushua now has a new name that nobody knows. So I do not believe that YHVH places a lot of value on how we pronounce the names, as long as we are convinced in our own mind that the one we use is correct. I am no surer of my pronunciation than you are with yours, and the very real possibility exists that we are both wrong. However, I don’t believe that YHVH cares as long as we are close, and neither do I.
I am sure that we all have run into people of different nationalities, with strong accents, who have tried their best to pronounce our names, but come out with some funky version of it. I believe we have the same situation when it comes to the sacred names. People from different cultural backgrounds are naturally going to pronounce them differently. So what? Who cares? They are doing their best and that is all they can do. Any normal, rational person is going to understand and not get offended. I don’t believe that YHVH is offended either.
In conclusion I just want to say that whichever pronunciation you use is perfectly alright with me. Don’t feel you have to use the same pronunciations as I use when you are contacting me. Use whatever your heart tells you is right. But by the same courtesy, do not write me claiming that I have it all wrong, for it is not going to matter in the long haul, as I am sure that both the Father and the Son will have new names in the next millennium.
The most important thing is who we are focused on. If we are focused on the one and only Almighty Creator, then we are talking about the same person. If we are talking about the one true Jewish Messiah from Galilee, then we are talking about the same person. I know very well that YHVH was blessing me and answering my prayers before I even knew the sacred names, as He did for you, so what is the point of arguing the validity of one pronunciation over another? There is none. End of story. End of discussion.
YHVH Bless
G.P.