JEHOVAH (je-hti'vab),(Heb.V".,yeh-ho-vaw'), or rather perhaps JAHVEH (Heb. yalz-veh', the existing one), according to the reading sug gested by Ewald, Havernick, and others—the name by which God was pleased to make himself known under the covenant;to the ancient Hebrews (Exod. vi:2, 3). LXX generally render it by 6 K6ptos, ho koo'ree-os, the Vulgate by _Dominus ; and in this respect they have been followed by the A. V., where it is translated "The Lord." (1) Pronunciation. The true pronunciation of this name, by which God was known to the Hebrews, has been entirely lost, the Jews them selves scrupulously avoiding every mention of it, and substituting in its stead one or other of the words with whose proper vowel points it may happen to be written. This custom, which kid its origin in reverence, and has almost degen erated into a superstition, was founded upon an erroneous rendering of Lev. xxiv :to, from which it was inferred that the mere utterance of the name constituted a capital offense. In the rab binical writings it is distinguished by various euphemistic expressions; as simply "the name," or "the name of four letters" (the Greek tetra grammaton) ; "the great and terrible name ;" "the peculiar name," i. e. appropriated to God alone; "the separate name," i. e. either the name which is separated or removed from human knowledge, or, as some render, "the name which has been interpreted or revealed" (Heb. shem ham'-mee pho-rawslz). The Samaritans followed the same custom, and in reading the Pentateuch substi tuted for Jehovah (rrt:;', shey-maw) "the name," at the same time perpetuating the practice in their alphabetical poems and later writings.
(2) Meaning. When Moses received his com mission to be the deliverer of Israel, the Al mighty, who appeared in the burning bush, com municated to him the name which he should give as the credentials of his mission: "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM (1.7;Iti nO; eh -yeh' ash -er' eh- yeh'), and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, ANI bath sent me unto you." That this passage is intended to indicate the etymology of Jehovah, as understood by the Hebrews, no one has ventured to doubt; it is in fact the key to the whole mystery.
(3) When Revealed. It is distinctly stated in Exod. -vi :3, that to the patriarchs God was not known by the name Jehovah. If, therefore, this pas sage has reference to the first revelation of Jehovah simply as a name and title of God, there is clearly a discrepancy which requires to be explained. In renewing his promise of deliverance from Egypt, "God spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am Jehovah; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by (the name of) God Al mighty (El Shaddai, "1_t_ LM..), but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them." It follows then that, if the reference were merely to the name as a name, the passage in question would prove equally that before this time Elohim was unknown as an appellation of the Deity, and God would appear uniformly as El Shaddai in the patriarchal history. But although it was held by Theodoret (Quest. xv. on Ex.) and many of the Fathers, who have been followed by a long Jist of moderns, that the name was first made known by God to Moses, and then introduced by him among the Israelites, the contrary was main tained by Cajetan, Lyranus, Calvin, Rosenmtiller Hengstenberg, and others, who deny that the pas sage in Exod. vi alludes to the introduction of the name. That Jehovah was not a new name Havernick concludes from Exod. iii:14, where "the name of God Jehovah is evidently presup posed as already in use, and is only explained, interpreted, and applied. . . . It is certainly not a new name that is introduced; on the con trary, the 'I am that I am' would be unintelligi ble, if the name itself were not presupposed as already known. The old name of antiquity, whose precious significance had been forgotten and neg lected by the children of Israel, here as it were rises again to life, and is again brought home to the consciousness of the people." (Smith, Bib. Diet.) (See ELOHIM ; and article on GOD.)