The Tetragrammaton
The Tetragrammaton is the four-letter Hebrew name of God, written as יהוה (\(YHWH\)) in Hebrew. Due to its holiness, the name is no longer pronounced in traditional Jewish practice, with readers substituting it with other words like “Adonai” (Lord) or “HaShem” (The Name) when reading scripture.
In English Bibles, it is commonly translated as “LORD” or “GOD” in all caps. The name is thought to be related to the Hebrew verb “to be” and may mean “He who is” or “He who causes to be”.
Hebrew letters: The four letters are yod (\(\)), he (\(\)), vav (\(\)), and he (\(\)). Pronunciation: The exact pronunciation is lost, but “Yahweh” is a common scholarly reconstruction. “Jehovah” is another, but considered a hybrid rather than the actual name.
Meaning: The name is believed to be derived from the Hebrew verb for “to be, to exist,” and is associated with the phrase God spoke to Moses: “I am that I am”. Usage: Orthodox Judaism avoids pronouncing the name to prevent misuse. In many English translations of the Bible, the Tetragrammaton (\(YHWH\)) is replaced by “LORD” (all caps) or “GOD” to signify its holiness.
Other contexts: The term “tetragrammaton” can technically refer to any four-letter word, but it is almost exclusively used to refer to \(YHWH\).
Tetragrammaton Found in Earliest Copies of the Septuagint
Below are 2 examples of where the Tetragrammaton has been found in ancient copies of the Septuagint. The Septuagint is a 3rd to 2nd Century BCE Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The below fragments are evidence that the Septuagint originally contained the name Yahweh.
The first is an ancient fragment of the Septuagint dated between 50 BCE and 50 CE (AD). If this dating is correct, it would have been written near the time of Yahushua’s ministry. The name of these fragments are “Nahal Hever Minor Prophets” because they are fragments of Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Zechariah found in the Nahal Hever cave, south of Qumran. The Tetragrammaton is indicated with the large black arrow.
the Tetragrammaton ( ) is found in some of the earliest copies of the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), such as the Papyrus Fouad 266, which contains the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew square letters. Other early examples include Papyrus Rylands 458 and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522. The presence of the Tetragrammaton in these early manuscripts suggests that the original translation may have retained the Hebrew name of God, before later copies and versions substituted the Greek word Kyrios (“Lord”).
Papyrus Fouad 266: This is one of the oldest examples, containing the Tetragrammaton written in Hebrew square letters (“יהוה” ) . Some scholars view this manuscript as an “archaizing and hebraizing revision of the earlier translation”.
Papyrus Rylands 458: This 2nd-century BCE fragment of Deuteronomy may have had blank spaces where the Tetragrammaton was intended to be written.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3522: This 1st-century BCE fragment of Job contains the Tetragrammaton written in paleo-Hebrew letters.
8HevXII gr: 8HevXII gr: This 1st-century CE collection of fragments includes parts of the Minor Prophets and also contains the Tetragrammaton.
The practice of replacing the Tetragrammaton with Kyrios became the standard for most later Christian copies of the Septuagint, but these early finds provide evidence that the original translation likely included the Hebrew divine name.
