is the Greek word for FOUR LETTERS, referring to the Four Letter Name of God - Yud Hey Vav Hey. This name occurs about 6800 times in the Hebrew Bible. Since the Name
Yud
Hey Vav Hey was considered too sacred to be pronounced, ADONAI was enunciated in its place. In written texts, like the Bible, the vowel points of ADONAI were inserted under the consonants Yud Hey Vav Hey to remind readers to articulate ADONAI instead of Yud Hey Vav Hey.
The incorrect name JEHOVAH arose from the Christian lack of understanding of this Jewish custom.
In the time of the Temple, the High Priest did pronounce Yud Hey Vav Hey during the Yom Kippur services. He did this inaudibly to keep it concealed from the rest of the people. After the fall of the Temple the pronunciation of the Name was lost.
Yud Hey Vav Hey is frequently pronounced as Yahweh which is incorrect. There is no W sound in this word, or in Hebrew, for that matter - and of course no vowel points to indicate this pronunciation.
SOURCES -
Birnbaum, Philip. 1995. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts
New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. 608.
Achtemeier, Paul J. 1985. Harper's Bible Dictionary. San Francisco: Harpers. 1036).
Gesenius, William. 1979. Tr. Samuel Tregelles. Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. Grand Rapids:Baker Book House. 337 a-b.
