In the original Hebrew writings, the name of the only true and living God was written with 4 consonants: YHWH or JHVH. Such consonants appear almost 7,000 times throughout the Bible.
This identifying name is a form of a Hebrew verb (ha wah’ meaning “to become,” and actually signifies “He causes to Become.” Thus God’s name identifies him as the One who progressively fulfills his promises and unfailingly realizes his purposes.
The true pronunciation is not known with certainty because of two main reasons. First, ancient Hebrew was written with consonants only-no vowels. When the language was read, the reader would add the proper vowels for a correct pronunciation. Yes, very complicated indeed! Fortunately, Jewish scholars later realized the potential problems and around the second half of the first millennium C. E. they invented a system of adding “vowel points” to the written language.
Secondly, a superstitious idea/belief was adopted among the Hebrews that it was blasphemous to speak the divine name out loud. Possible because they felt that it was a violation of the third commandment. Consequently, in order to avoid this sin, but acknowledge the divine name when scripture was being read aloud, the reader would substitute it with the name “Adho nai” (Sovereign Lord).
The most common pronunciations used in English is Jehovah or Yahweh-with less frequency.
Regardless of which name is used, the important thing is to use it because a title such as Lord, God, Eternal and so forth are not personal and distinctive. Keep in mind that Satan is a “god” and Jesus used his father’s name and made it known/manifest. (John 17:6: 2 Corinthians 4:4) His name was certainly pronounced during Jesus’ time on earth and probably up to 70 CE when the temple was destroyed. Do we not we pray that His name be sanctified or hallowed?-Matthew 6:9.
