Sacred Name Nonsense

I have noticed some people on Facebook writing the Savior’s name as “Yahusha” rather than as “Yeshua,” which is the way Hebrew-literate believers spell and pronounce it.

I posted a question on Facebook asking if anyone knew where this “Yahusha” form originated, and if anyone knew of the existence of any primary original Hebrew document that used a form that could be transliterated as “Yahusha.”

Of course no one could cite any ancient primary Hebrew source to support “Yahusha.” According to some Facebook Buddies, the source of “Yahusha” and “Yahuah” is an obscure YouTube video by a Sacred Name believer. This Sacred Namer explains it this way:

The Sacred Name of the Creator is spelled yod-he-vav-he. The name Judah in Hebrew is spelled yod-he-vav-dalet-he. Since Judah is spelled with the same four letters as the Sacred Name, but with a dalet inserted, if you know how to pronounce the Hebrew name of Judah (which this Sacred Namer mispronounces as “YAHudah”), all you have to do to discover the correct pronunciation of the Sacred Name is remove the dalet from “Yahudah,” and you are left with “Yahuah.”

Most Sacred Namers think that John 5:43 (“I am come in My Father’s name”) means that Jesus’ Hebrew name has to include some form of the Tetragrammaton (even though Jesus says nothing at all about His own name in this verse), so instead of “Yeshua,” the “Yahu” of “Yahuah” is affixed to -shua, and behold, you have “Yahusha.”

Folks, I don’t want to sound mean or cranky, but this is absolute nonsense. This is not how languages work. If this man’s methods were used to determine the pronunciation of other Hebrew words, you would come up with nonsense like the following:

The Hebrew word for “boy” is pronounced yeled and is spelled yod-lamed-dalet. The Hebrew word for “hand” is spelled yod- dalet. Therefore the Hebrew word for “hand” should be pronounced just like yeled, but with the lamed removed. It should be pronounced ye’ed instead of yad, which is the way Hebrew-speaking people pronounce it.

But wait! The Hebrew word for “together” is pronounced yachad and is spelled yod-chet-dalet. So maybe the true pronunciation for “hand” is ya’ad.

But wait! The Hebrew word for “foundation” is pronounced yesod and is spelled yod-samech-dalet. So maybe the true pronunciation for “hand” is ye’od.

I wrote and pronounced the Sacred Name as “Yahweh” at various times for many years (not in casual speech, but in sacred contexts). But now I no longer use any transliteration of the Sacred Name, even though you may see it in some of my old articles from the past. I no longer speak it or write it unless it is necessary to make a point in a teaching. The reason I do not use it is mainly because the pronunciation is unknown, and because I do not want to be associated with Sacred Name Nonsense.

In my writing and speaking, I now normally use some circumlocution like “the LORD,” or “Adonai,” or just spell the name, yod-he-vav-he. If I am on Jewish turf, I might say “HaShem,” which means “the Name [of God].”

When I see all the Sacred Name Nonsense among non-Jewish followers of Yeshua, I can understand the Jews’ reluctance to speak God’s Hebrew name.

Even though I now use a circumlocution, I still believe it is permissible to transliterate the Sacred Name in a sacred context. So if I print letters or articles by other writers in GOE, I will print whatever form the writer uses, whether Yahweh, Yahveh, Yehovah, or some other form. Even “Yahuah” if that’s what they use.

One problem we have in this Messianic Movement is that there are too many reckless people who know just enough Hebrew to be dangerous. They learn some Hebrew words, but they do not learn the grammar of the language. They do not understand how the language works, so they come up with all sorts of crazy ideas based on their miniscule knowledge of Hebrew.

You can be a faithful, fruitful disciple without knowing a single word of Hebrew (though it’s helpful to know the words Amen! and Hallelujah!). I am certain there are believers out there who do not know any Hebrew, yet are far more fruitful than I am. You do not need to know Hebrew. But if you plan to teach on topics that require a knowledge of Hebrew, you need to know the language, not just a list of vocabulary words.

| DB