Excellent ques, Zeke!
Yahweh, or more correctly, Yahuweh, is God’s name. His personal and proper name means "I Am," and "I Exist."
Yahuweh's name was wriiten 7,000 times in the Old Covenant. This has largely been replaced with the title designation, "Lord".
The notion that YHWH was written without vowels isn’t entirely accurate. There were five vowels, or more precisely, consonant-vowels, in Paleo Hebrew, the alphabet of revelation. The yod represented the "ya" sound and the wah is phonetically conveyed identically to the English "u." Therefore, Yhwh is most correctly transliterated "Yahuweh" in English. Yahweh would also be correct so long as one recognizes that the "w" is pronounced like a "u." There is no mystery here. The correct pronunciation of Yahuweh’s name is preserved in the alphebe God chose to represent it. Yahuweh wrote His name on the Ten Commandments as: hwhy.
In Exodus 3:13-14 God not only tells us His name, He associates it with hayah, and thus He defines it for us. "Moses said to God, ‘Behold, when I come to the children of Yisra’el, and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they say to me, "What is His name?" what shall I say to them?’ God said to Moses, ‘I am (hayah - I Was, I Am, and I Will Be; I exist) related to (‘asher - directly linked and associated with) existence (hayah).’ He said, ‘Thus shall you say to the children of Yisra’el, "I Was, I Am, and I Will Be (hayah) has sent me to you."’ And God said moreover to Moses, ‘Thus shall you say to the children of Yisra’el, Yahuweh, the God (‘elohiym) of your fathers, the God (‘elohiym) of Abraham, the God (‘elohiym) of Isaac, and the God (‘elohiym) of Ya’aqob has sent me to you. This is My personal and proper name (shem - designation, nature, authority, report, and mark) forever (olam), and this is My way of being known (zeker - remembered and memorialized) unto all generations." (Exodus 3:13-14)
Yahuweh is God’s only name, the way He wants to be addressed, to be known, to be remembered - forever!
"I Am Yahuweh. The blood shall exist (hayah - shall be Yahuweh) to you as a sign, a signal, a miracle, and an awe inspiring event...and this day shall exist (hayah - shall be Yahuweh) to you for a memorial and remembrance, a reminder of something in the past that has particular significance. Keep it set apart as a Festival of Yahuweh...a statute forever (olam)."
"God (‘elohiym) spoke (dabar - declared) all (kol) these (‘ehel) Words (dabar), saying (‘amar - avowing, claiming, commanding, and promising): I am Yahuweh (YHWH) your God (‘elohiym). Because of relationship (‘asher) I came forth to bring (yatsa’) you out of (min - to set you apart from) the house (bayith - the dwelling and abode) of bondage (‘ebed - slavery, servitude, and submission; of work and worship) in the land (‘erets) of Mitsrayim (the crucible of Egypt). You shall not (lo’) establish or institute (hayah - bring into existence or exist with) other (‘acher - different) gods (‘elohiym) beside and beyond (‘al - in addition to) My personal presence (paniym - My face to face appearance before you)." (Exodus 20:1-3)
"You shall not lift up or advance (nasa’ - accept or promote, carry, support, bear, sustain, forgive, or endure) lifelessness (shav’ - that which is desolate, deceitful, deadly, destructive, or damning) in the name (shem - character or renown) of Yahuweh your God (‘elohiym), for I will not consider innocent, forgive, pardon, release, or fail to punish (naqah - free from guilt, exempt, or cleanse) one who by association (‘asher - who takes part in) promotes, sustains, or accepts (nasa’ - lifts up, carries forth, advances, supports, bears, tolerates, or forgives) that which is desolate, deceitful, deadly, destructive, or damning (shav’ - lifeless) in My name." (Exodus 20:7)
. "Don’t let me say (‘amar - think, boast, and avow, ask, answer, and declare): ‘Who (miy) is Yahuweh (YHWH)?’ lest I be disinherited (yarash - impoverished and dispossessed, be destitute and destroyed), caught in the act, arrested, and incarcerated for (taphas) removing without permission and carrying away by stealth (ganab - for secretly stealing and clandestinely removing) the personal and proper name (shem) of my God (‘elohiym)." (Proverbs 30:9)
Yahuweh realized that the translators of the KJV, NKJV, IV, NIV, NASB, and the JPS Tanach would all do this very thing - and that they would do so regardless of His warning. In a Proverb devoted to the importance of knowing Yahuweh’s name, religious clerics replaced the personal and proper name "Yahuweh" with: "Who is the Lord?" That’s really bad because the Hebrew title Ba’al, (Lord-Ba'al),means Lord, and Ba’al is Satan.
One of the reasons I have hyphenated Lord-Ba’al is to confirm a theologically crucial concept: the primary use and literal meaning of the Hebrew word ba’al in most all Semitic languages was "lord." Ba’al was considered to be "the owner" - as in "the Lord" with a capital "L." In fact, for most Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Philistines, Canaanites, and now Israelites, Ba’al was God. At the very least, Ba’al represented the spirit clerics and kings presented as God. Ba’al was Lord; that’s what ba’al means.
"And it shall be at that day, declares Yahuweh, you shall call Me husband (ishi - extant, present, in existence, a high and mighty individual or man); and shall call Me (qara - summon Me as and read aloud) My Lord (ba’ali) never again (halo owd - no more, no longer). For I will remove and reject the names of the Lords (Ba’alim - false gods) out of her mouth, and they shall be proclaimed (zakar - remembered, recalled, and mentioned) by their name no more." (Hosea 2:16-17)
Yahuweh longs for a time that Lord will never again be spoken, remembered, or read.
One of the most popular Bible translations is the New American Standard. If you look at the "Preface," you will find that it concludes with these words: "The Proper Name for God: To professing Christians, whether of conservative or liberal persuasion, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim." That’s not true - god, like elohiym, is a word, not a name, which is why it’s translated and not transliterated.
The preface continues: "The normal word for Master is Lord, a rendering of Adonai." This is designed to purposely mislead based upon what follows. First, adonai is a word and a title and not a name - although it became a name, that of the sun god Adonis. Second, adonai means master. Third, used as a name, Lord is the name of the Satanic sun god Ba’al. And fourth, Yahuweh has but one name. So the NASB editors are lying when they claim: "There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH. See Exodus 3 and Isaiah 42:8. This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it was consistently pronounced and translated LORD." This is also untrue. Yahuweh was replaced by Ba’al-Lord. Yahuweh was never pronounced or translated Lord.
Since a translation by definition, translates the meaning of a word in one language into its equivalent meaning in another, if the following sentence were accurate, the editors of the NASB translated Yahuweh into Ba’al. "The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated God in order to avoid confusion." Actually, it was done to avoid making the NASB translators look stupid. Rendering adonai YHWH (actually ‘edon Yahuweh), as Lord LORD would only serve to reveal their folly.
The NASB crew conclude with this parting salvo: "It is known that for many years YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh. No complete certainty attaches to the pronunciation. However, it is felt by many who are in touch with the laity of our churches that this name conveys no religious or spiritual overtones. It is strange, uncommon, and without sufficient religious and devotional background. No amount of scholarly debate can overcome this deficiency. Hence, it was decided to avoid the use of this name in the translation proper." So, let’s call Yahuweh Ba’al. After all, "Yahuweh’s name conveys no spiritual overtones. His name is strange and uncommon. No scholarly debate between men can overcome this deficiency."
If Yahuweh is just, when the Warrens, and Schullers, the Bakkers and Kennedys, the Hinns and Hagees, and lest we forget, Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), arrive in His presence, wouldn’t He be compelled to say that their names have no religious or spiritual meaning to Him - that they are deficient and strange, and thus must be strangers. After all, consider the cost and consequence of their proclamations and preaching. As a name, LORD is Ba’al. Therefore, these men have perpetuated the most grievous deception in the history of mankind. They have helped Satan achieve his ultimate ambition - to have his name replace Yahuweh's name.
If you own an NIV translation, don’t gloat. It says: "In regard to the divine name YHWH, commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton, the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as ‘LORD’ in capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered ‘Lord,’ for which small letters are used." Let’s change Yahuweh’s name to the device used by Ba’al because other morons did the same thing before us.
And who were those morons you ask? Open your King James Bible and weep. The title page reads: "King James Version - TO THE MOST HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE: JAMES." That should have been sufficient to burn the book. This was King James’ version, not Yahuweh’s. And the Most High and Mighty Prince was James, not Yahushua, not even Jesus.
The opening paragraph reveals the nature of the translation for those who are wary. The favored English translation of the day was the Geneva Bible. It correctly pointed out in its introduction that there was no divine authorization in Scripture designating kings over any nation other than Israel. So King James coveting a divine sanction had his morons write: "Great and manifold were the blessings, most dread Sovereign, which Almighty God, the Father of all mercies, bestowed upon us the people of England, when first he sent Your Majesty’s Royal Person to rule and reign over us." Yahuweh was relegated to a lower case "he" while James was promoted to a parade of capitals designating deity. The KJV was for him, after all.
The dark spirit behind this politically inspired religious twist is revealed in the next line: "For whereas it was the expectation of many, who wished not well unto our Sion, that upon the setting of that bright Occidental Star, Queen Elizabeth of most happy memory, some think and palpable clouds of darkness would so have overshadowed this Land, that men should have been in doubt which way they were to walk; and that it should be hardly known who was to direct the unsettled State; the appearance of Your Majesty, as of the Sun in his strength, instantly dispelled those supposed and surmised mists, and gave unto all that were well affected exceeding cause of comfort; especially when we beheld the Government established in Your Highness and Your hopeful Seed, by an undoubted Title."
Three terms were capitalized and italicized. Sion means heir so it’s referencing James. The Occidental Star is the sun as it is the bright star which sets in the West. Applied to Elizabeth it is revealing. Her principal viceroy, John Dee, was an occultist, and in her only official portrait, the Queen is clothed in satanic sun god images. This becomes even more blatant, and satanic, when we read that James’ appearance was "as of the Sun." The reason Sion, Occidental Star, and Sun are capitalized is that they represent deity - unfortunately the wrong spirit in that the sun is symbolic of Halal, the Satan or Adversary, best known as Lord-Ba’al.
So this means that Yahuweh’s Scriptures were plastered over and whitewashed by politically inspired clerics to serve the arrogance and power lust of a man who saw himself representing the Sun. The primary Bible of the Protestant Church was corrupted to empower and enrich clerics and kings.
Then putting in a plug for themselves and their boss, the scholars who crafted this beguiling propaganda falsely attributed to God by cleric and king wrote that all will be blessed: "by religious and learned discourse...and by cherishing the Teachers thereof, by caring for the Church, as a most tender and loving nursing Father." Of course the Father, was James in this context, not Yahuweh, the Scriptures are anti-religious, men’s teachings aren’t to be cherished.
So the Lords of England who saw themselves as the Masters and Owners of England, saw fit to apply their title to God, calling Yahuweh Lord. Three centuries later we remain mired in their mess. The key to understanding the Scriptures - Yahuweh’s name - has been removed and replaced with Satan’s. But these human lords had coconspirators. The Yahudim who failed to heed Hosea’s plea, were hauled off to Babylon - the most overtly Satanic place on earth. As a result of their stay, Jews began the process of transitioning from Yahuweh to Ba’al by writing adonai above the Creator’s name. Willfully ignorant and morally bankrupt, priest and politician, congregation and constituent, play merrily along - just like lemmings lunging into the abyss.
You'll never, never, find "Lord" in any preconstantinian text.