JEHOVAH

Heb. ‏יְהֹוָה‎ . In the Old Testament it is usually with the vowel points of ‏אֲדֹנָי‎ ; but when the two occur together, the former is pointed ‏יֱהֹוִה‎ , that is, with the vowels of ‏אֱלֹהִים‎ , as in Obad. i. 1 ; Heb. iii. 19 . The LXX. generally render it by Κύριος , the vulgate by Dominus ; and in this respect they have been followed by the A.V. where it is translated “The Lord.” The true pronunciation of this name, by which God was known to the Hebrews, has been entirely lost, the Jews themselves 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 had its origin in reverence, and has almost degenerated into a superstition, was founded upon an erroneous rendering of Lev. xxiv. 16 , “He that blasphemeth the name of God shall surely be put to death”; from which it was inferred that the mere utterance of the name constituted a capital offence. In the Rabbinical writings it is distinguished by various euphemistic expre ions; as simply “the name,” or “the name of four letters” (the Greek tetragrammaton ); “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.” (Profe or W. A. Wright, M.A., Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible , in loco .) This superstitious reverence for the word Jehovah must have been the origin of the Ismu ʾl-Aʿz̤am , or “exalted name,” which Muḥammad is related to have said was known only to God and His prophets; but which, he said, occurs in one of three verses in the Qurʾān, namely: Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah ii. 256: “God! ( Allāh ) there is no God but He ( Hū ) the Living One ( al-Ḥaiy ), the Self-Subsisting One ( al-Qaiyūm )”; or, in the Sūratu Āli ʿImrān iii. 1 , which contains the same words; or, in the Sūratu T̤ā Ḥā xx. 110 : “Faces shall be humbled before the Living One ( al-Ḥaiy ), the Self-Subsistent One ( al-Qaiyūm ).” Some European scholars (see Catafago’s Arabic Dictionary ) have fancied the Yahūh ‏יהוה‎ , or Yahovah of the Hebrews, is identical with the ejaculation of the Muslim devotee, Yā Hū , “O He!” ( i.e . God). Al-Baiẓāwī says the word Hū (better Huwa ), i.e . HE (God), may be the Ismu ʾl-Aʿz̤am , or Exalted Name of the Almighty, especially as it occurs in two of the verses of the Qurʾān indicated by Muḥammad, namely, Sūrahs ii. 256 , iii. 1 . [ HUWA , GOD .]