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Level: Basic
In Jewish thought, a name is not merely an arbitrary designation, a random combination of sounds. The name conveys the nature and essence of the thing named. It represents the history and reputation of the being named.
This is not as strange or unfamiliar a concept as it may seem at first glance. In English, we often refer to a person's reputation as his "good name". When a company is sold, one thing that may be sold is the company's "good will", that is, the right to use the company's name. The Hebrew concept of a name is very similar to these ideas.
An example of this usage occurs in Exodux 3,13-22: Moses asks God what His "name" is. Moses is not asking "what should I call you"; rather, he is asking "who are you; what are you like; what have you done". That is clear from God's response. God replies that He is eternal, that He is the God of our ancestors, that He has seen our affliction and will redeem us from bondage.
Another example of this usage is the concepts of chillul Ha-Shem and kiddush Ha-Shem. An act that causes God or Judaism to come into disrespect or a commandment to be disobeyed is often referred to as "chillul Ha-Shem", profanation of The Name. Clearly, we are not talking about a harm done to a word; we are talking about harm to a reputation. Likewise, any deed that increases the respect accorded to God or Judaism is referred to as "kiddush Ha-Shem", sanctification of The Name.
Because a name represents the reputation of the thing named, a name should be treated with the same respect as the thing's reputation. For this reason, God's Names, in all of their forms, are treated with enormous respect and reverence in Judaism.
The most important of God's Names is the four-letter Name represented by the Hebrew letters Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh (YHVH). It is often referred to as the Ineffable Name, the Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. Linguistically, it is related to the Hebrew root Heh-Yod-Heh (to be), and reflects the idea that God's existence is eternal. In scripture, this Name is used when discussing God's relation with human beings, and when emphasizing his qualities of lovingkindness and mercy. It is frequently shortened to Yah (Yod-Heh), Yahu or Yeho (Yod-Heh-Vav), especially when used in combination with names or phrases, as in Yehoshua (Joshua, meaning the LORD is Salvation), Eliyahu (Elijah, meaning my God is the LORD), and Halleluyah (praise the LORD).
The first Name used for God in scripture is Elohim. In form, the word is a masculine plural. The same word (or, according to Maimonides, a homonym of it) is used to refer to princes, judges, other gods, and other powerful beings. This Name is used in scripture when emphasizing God's might, His creative power, and his attributes of justice and rulership. Variations on this name include El, Eloah, Elohai (my God), and Eloheynu (our God).
God is also known as El Shaddai. This Name is usually translated as "God Almighty", however, the derivation of the word "Shaddai" is not known. According to some views, it is derived from the root meaning to heap benefits. According to a Midrash, it means, "The One who said 'dai'" ("dai" meaning enough or sufficient) and comes from the idea that when God created the universe, it expanded until He said "DAI!" (perhaps the first recorded theory of an expanding universe?). The name Shaddai is the one written on the mezuzah scroll. Some note that Shaddai is an acronym of Shomer Daltot Yisrael, Guardian of the Doors of Israel.
Another significant Name of God is YHVH Tzva'ot. This Name is normally translated as LORD of Hosts. The word "tzva'ot" means hosts in the sense of a military grouping or an organized array. The Name refers to God's leadership and sovereignty. Interestingly, this Name is rarely used in scripture. It never appears in the Torah (i.e., the first five books). It appears primarily in the prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, as well as many times in the Psalms.
Jews do not casually write any Name of God. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the LORD's Name in vain, as many suppose. In Torah thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking and vain blessings, and is a prohibition against using God's Name falsely or frivolously (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means for falsehood).
The Torah does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it only prohibits erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated, or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.
The commandment not to erase or deface the name of God comes from Deuteronomy 12,3. In that passage, the people are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, we are commanded not to do the same to our God. From this, the rabbis inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of God.
It is worth noting that this prohibition against erasing or defacing Names of God applies only to Names that are written in some kind of permanent form, and recent rabbinical decisions have held that writing on a computer is not a permanent form, thus it is not a violation to type God's Name into a computer and then backspace over it or cut and paste it, or copy and delete files with God's Name in them. However, once you print the document out, it becomes a permanent form. That is why many observant Jews avoid writing a Name of God on web sites like this one or in newsgroup messages: because there is a risk that someone else will print it out and deface it.
Normally, Orthodox Jews avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God". In addition, the number 15, which would ordinarily be written in Hebrew as Yod-Heh (10-5), is normally written as Tet-Vav (9-6), because Yod-Heh is a Name. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about using letters as numerals. In English letters, there is no need for these stringencies. On the other hand, especially for those who think that tricky spelling solves their problems, we remind you here of what we say on our introduction page:
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you print from these pages for reading away from your computer, please remember that even where no names of God appear, whatever discusses matters of Torah is forbidden for a Jew to treat with disrespect or to throw away. So either save what you print, or turn it over for burial as required for all holy writings that are no longer needed (or even better, pass it on to a friend to read).
Nothing in the Torah prohibits a person from pronouncing the Name of God. Indeed, it is evident from scripture that God's Name was pronounced routinely. Many common Hebrew names contain "Yah" or "Yahu", part of God's four-letter Name. The Name was pronounced as part of daily services in the Temple.
The Mishnah confirms that there was no prohibition against pronouncing The Name in ancient times. In fact, the Mishnah recommends using God's Name as a routine greeting to a fellow Jew. Berakhot 9,5. However, by the time of the Talmud, it was the custom to use substitute Names for God. Some rabbis asserted that a person who pronounces YHVH according to its letters (instead of using a substitute) has no place in the World to Come, and should be put to death. Instead of pronouncing the four-letter Name, we usually substitute the Name "Adonai"; but sometimes we substitute "Elohim" when YHVH comes either immediately before or after the name "Adonai" itself.
Although the prohibition on pronunciation applies only to the four-letter Name, Jews customarily do not pronounce any of God's many Names except in prayer or study. The usual Orthodox practice is to substitute letters or syllables, so that Adonai becomes Ha-Shem or Adoshem and Eloheynu and Elohim become Elokeynu and Elokim, etc. This practice is quite unnecessary in the context of learning Torah, and it is especially offensive when whole verses are read from the Bible with these ugly substititutes for God's names.
With the Temple destroyed, the prohibition on pronouncing The Name outside of it caused pronunciation of the Name to fall into disuse. Scholars passed down knowledge of the correct pronunciation of YHVH for many generations, but eventually the correct pronunciation was lost, and we no longer know it with any certainty. We do not know what vowels were used, or even whether the Vav in the Name was a vowel or a consonant. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about the difficulties in pronouncing Hebrew. Some religious scholars suggest that the Name was pronounced "Yahweh", but others do not find this pronunciation particularly persuasive; our opinion is that this pronunciation is quite insulting to God and expresses more the man-centered ignorance of the scholars than the true name of God (in other words, never say "Yahweh", unless you intend to insult Him, God forbid!).
Some Christian scholars render the four-letter Name as "Jehovah", but this pronunciation is particularly unlikely. The word "Jehovah" comes from practice of writing YHVH in the Hebrew Bible with the vowels of the Name "Adonai" (the usual substitute for YHVH) on the consonants of YHVH to remind people not to pronounce YHVH as written. A sixteenth century German Christian scribe, while transliterating the Bible into Latin for the Pope, wrote the Name out as it appeared in his texts, with the consonants of YHVH and the vowels of Adonai, and came up with the word JeHoVaH, and the name stuck.