Linguistic Evidence

IAUA Sacred Name IAUA
IAUA End Time Ministry
Preparing for the End of Time
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My original study of the Sacred Name began in the spring of 2004. I read what other people had concluded from their various forms of research to get started in my own research. I was initially dismayed by all the different conclusions and opinions. However, I recognized something important in understanding the Sacred Name.

I had learned how important it was to verify, to the limits of my ability, the statements and conclusions people made. Slowly, I learned more and more about the particulars of Hebrew script and pronunciation. I compared various ideas with the facts found in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary.

I discovered there was plenty of evidence available by studying linguistic comparisons of identical letters in Hebrew words and names. There were a great number of inconsistencies in traditional Hebrew pronunciation compared to Hebrew script. The knowledge of the intent to deliberately obscure, confuse, and hide the truth led me to study deeply to unravel the lies to discover the truth.

This study led to a pattern of truth, which became a witness to my understanding. I was greatly surprised when the evidence led me to a conclusion, which disagreed with most people. I reached my current understanding of the Latin spelling and pronunciation of the name of IAUA in September 2006.

Old Testament Hebrew Use

The best way to understand the Old Testament is to read it in the original Hebrew. Few of us can spend the years it takes to learn Hebrew well enough to read it with a high level of understanding. Many of us still struggle with English as our native language.

The next best text for Modern English understanding is The Complete Word Study Old Testament. A number is printed above the English text, which represents each word in the Hebrew Old Testament. The number corresponds to the original Hebrew word in Strong's Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible.

All the reference material you need is available for the computer on the Internet. The quickest and most complete reference to the Hebrew and Greek is found at this excellent Bible study website:

www.BlueLetterBible.org

The e-Sword program is an excellent Bible study tool for Hebrew and Greek, which you can use on a computer even when you cannot connect to the Internet. It is available for free download at this website:

www.e-Sword.net

It was primarily through the study of Hebrew script, Bible names, and their Hebrew pronunciation described in Strong's Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible, I developed my current understanding of the original pronunciation of the name of God. It required diligent effort to unravel and reverse the pattern of Jewish attempts to hide the true pronunciation. Study deeply the evidences I mention and come to your own conclusion.

Hebrew Pronunciation

The first clue to the proper pronunciation is to dispel the myth (actually an ignorant lie) that the Tetragrammaton (four letters) is four consonants. Josephus refers to the sacred name as four vowels. Josephus was in a position to know having been a member of the priesthood.

"A mitre also of fine linen encompassed his head, which was tied by a blue ribbon, about which there was another golden crown, in which was engraven the sacred name [of God]: it consists of four vowels."
The Wars Of The Jews Book 5, chapter 5, paragraph 7.

The Hebrew script for several key names is shown by Strong's number. Remember that Hebrew is written right to left. Compare the Strong's pronunciation of the vowels as they are pronounced in multiple appearances in these words. You will discover an inconsistency for the first and third vowel dependent on when they appear with the second vowel.

I am not going to trace each instance of each letter to show the patterns, which lead to the truth. I will leave that exercise to your own study. My suggestion for a transliteration, which relates to the corrected, consistent pronunciation, is shown:
Strong's KJV Hebrew Transliteration (Pronunciation)
#00452 Elijah לאיהו ELIAU (ail·ee·ah·oo)
#03041 Jedidiah ידידיה IDIDIA (ee·dee·dee·ah)
#03050 Yah יה IA (ee·ah)
#03063 Judah יהודה IAUDA (ee·ah·oo·dah)
#03064 Jehudi יהודי IAUDI (ee·ah·oo·dee)
#03068 Yahweh יהוה IAUA (ee·ah·oo·ah)
#03067 Jehudith יהודית IAUDITh (ee·ah·oo·deeth)
#03091 Joshua יהושוע IAUShUO (ee·ah·oo·shoo·oh)
#03470 Isaiah ישעיהו IShOIAU (ee·shoh·ee·ah·oo)
Greek
#2424 Jesus Ἰησοῦς Iesous (ee·ay·sooce')

These are the transliteration and pronunciation results:

You can easily trace the evolution of the changes in the pronunciation. The first disguising of the sacred name is found in the changing of the sound of the first vowel leading to the second vowel. The sound "ee-ah" if slurred is a lot like "ee-yah" and so becomes "yah" as found in Yahweh. This was later changed by the influence of the German language on Jews in Germany to "Jah" as found in Jehovah.

The second change is the sound of the third vowel leading to the fourth vowel from "oo-ah", which if slurred is a lot like "oo-wah". You can also see the transition from "oo" or "u" to "w" or double-u in Yahweh. Under German influence, it became "v" as found in Jehovah.

The progression of the change in these pronunciations is illustrated like this.

Ee-ah-oo-ah
Ee-yah-oo-wah
Yah-u-wah
Yah-weh
Jeh-o-vah

The name of the Messiah is usually spelled Yahushua, which means "Yahu Saves". Notice that since Hebrew is read right to left, the first three letters are identical to the name of God. This is exactly the same name Joshua had in the Old Testament. My transliteration of Joshua from the Hebrew text is IAUShUO. The name of Joshua is the same name given to our Saviour as evidenced by the Greek in the historical discourse of Stephen before he was martyred. This text speaks of the actions of Joshua using the identical Greek name used to refer to Jesus and is translated Jesus.

Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
Acts 7:45

Commentators also recognize Joshua the son of Nun as the individual spoken of in this verse.

For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Hebrews 4:8

Notice the last three letters of Elijah are identical to the name of God. The name of Judah is actually the name of God with only one letter difference. Numerous names of the Old Testament begin or end with part of the name of God. This has often been disguised through changes in pronunciation and spelling.

The name of God is part of many Hebrew words. The term Jew (IAU) is literally the name of God. No wonder the pronunciation was changed because of the exclusive attitude of the Jews to keep the name of God off the lips of the heathen.

The identical first three letters of the name of Joshua was unacceptable to the Jews because of the ineffable name doctrine. The name came to be shortened to Yeshua. This deletes the portion of the name that connects with God and means only "He saves". This change appears in the Greek Septuagint long before the Messiah was even born.

Modern English Use

The Sacred Holy Name is probably from the language of Eden. It is quite possible that Hebrew is a direct descendent of the original language of Eden. The languages were confounded at Babel. The true followers of God would not be found at Babel. They were not dispersed like all the others. Their language was probably not changed.

The Hebrew Torah indicates the spelling, which is a clue to the pronunciation, in Hebrew script. Misinformation tells us there were no vowels in the Biblical Hebrew. A simple examination of Hebrew script shows this to be false. History records that the original Torah did not have any vowel markings for pronunciation. The modern Torah tries to obfuscate (hide) the name by misrepresenting vowels and consonants. The vowel markings are deliberately designed to confuse the pronunciation.

It is sad to note in modern times just how bizarre Jewish tradition has become. They even refuse to write the words L-rd and G-d. Instead of showing reverence for God, it just shows how silly our human ideas can get.

The more evidence I see of the attempt to hide the Sacred Name, the more convinced I become of its importance. If the Sacred Name is going to be a part of our lives today, it needs to be clearly understood.

There is a specific difficulty with any of the conventional Latin representations. They do not conveniently or accurately, convey the pronunciation. One choice would be the cryptic but conventional YHWH. This is a conventional transliteration (letter substitution) of the Biblical Hebrew. The problem is you must remember they are Hebrew vowels not consonants.

Yahweh is commonly used with some indication of pronunciation but the consonants are to be pronounced as vowels. The "Y" sound is to be pronounced as in happy. The "W" sound is to be pronounced as in new. Some represent the name as Yahuwah to get even closer to a reasonably accurate pronunciation.

The most obscured part of the pronunciation still eluding most believers and researchers is the leading sound "ee". It is valuable to note this important historical fact. The Hebrew scholars who created the Septuagint selected the Greek "I" as the character to represent the first letter of the Tetragrammaton as found in the name of the Messiah. The Greek pronunciation as indicated in Strong's matches what I use. The English spelling of the name Isaiah also uses an "I" twice matching the same Hebrew letter.

It is confusing to try to transliterate Hebrew with the conventional letters and try to compensate with vowels. The most accurate rendering by pronunciation is IAUA. One of the beauties of this representation is it preserves the concept of four letters, the Tetragrammaton. You will note that I have decided always to capitalize the entire name. This complements the traditional way of writing YHWH. I do not want to introduce a new word but pronunciation and not conventional transliteration is important for a personal proper name. This is acceptable, practical, and necessary since the Hebrew rendering does not use the Latin alphabet. It needs to be easy enough for even children to understand.

About a year after I was impressed that the best way to represent the name of God was IAUA, I discovered this is not an original invention of mine. Many scholars for years have proposed the same spelling.

The short form IA, which appears at the end of many Hebrew names, is often mispronounced. The pronunciation is the same as the ending of the English words India, Syria, Lydia, and others. The vowels of the English language are pronounced a dozen different ways. It is interesting to compare with Spanish where a vowel always has the same sound. The vowel pronunciation of Spanish for the name IAUA is identical to my best understanding of the correct pronunciation.

This principle can easily be extended to all Hebrew names, which include the name of God. Many modern translations of these names in Israel match what I propose. It is simple to look up the Hebrew for these names in Strong's Dictionary of the Hebrew Bible and substitute the appropriate letters as previously illustrated.

New Testament Greek Use

The best text for Modern English understanding is the The Complete Word Study New Testament. The Greek New Testament manuscripts we know today do not contain the Sacred Holy Name. I do not understand how an item of such significance in the Old Testament is totally missing in the New Testament. This is a matter of major consideration to both sides of the disagreement over the importance of the Sacred Name.

The first point is the only one on which all parties agree.

Jews of first century Judah were bound by their own culturally entrenched custom of not speaking the Tetragrammaton. Jesus at no time condemned this custom. He did not teach against it as an error. He never addressed the custom one way or another. The fact that Jesus ignored this Jewish practice presents ... a rather conspicuous problem.
Did Jesus Speak the Name Yahweh?

My observation is that the Saviour did not become embroiled in political, religious, or philosophical arguments. This is an important example to us. In the New Testament IAUShUO refers to God as Father. IAUShUO repeatedly taught others to refer to God as Father. This is an even more intimate way to refer to God. IAUShUO probably used this as an example against the Jewish prohibition of using IAUA.

How was the Old Testament name of God changed in the New Testament? Here is one method to trace this change. There are numerous quotes in the New Testament of the Old Testament. I assume it was quoted accurately. The Messiah quoted scripture from the Old Testament. I assume He quoted it accurately. The words in the New Testament indicate how the name of God was changed. You decide for yourself whether the Messiah and others used the correct name of God and it was simply changed in the written Greek.

  • 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD (IAUA) revealed?
    Isaiah 53:1

    38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
    John 12:38

  • 1 The LORD (IAUA) said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
    Psalm 110:1

    44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?
    Matthew 22:44

  • 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD (IAUA) our God is one LORD (IAUA):
    Deuteronomy 6:4

    29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
    Mark 12:29

In these verses and many others, Strong's Dictionary of the Greek Bible #2962 kurios is used. The Greek word is less specific than the Hebrew. When the word is used for "the LORD" it is preceeded by a specific article (art3588 nn2962) or is an implied article (an,nn2962).

Some suggest later copyists may have changed the wording in the New Testament. The general claim is that there does not exist a single copy with the name of God or the Messiah in Hebrew or Aramaic. A simple search of the Internet for "Hebrew Matthew" reveals this is not the case.

Catholic Church history records Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. Hebrew manuscripts do exist and have been published. I have not had the opportunity to examine one of these.

The Name of the Messiah

In the Septuagint, the short form Yeshua (Joshua) was transliterated to the Greek Iesou and Iesous. This occurred even before the Messiah was born. The Septuagint was begun about 250 BC. This Greek Iesous became in English Jesus.

The name IAUA also refers to IAUShUO. The Messiah is truly God. He is also called "the LORD" using the same Greek words referring to God.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Matthew 1:22

15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Matthew 2:15

6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Matthew 28:6

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
Mark 16:19-20

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
Luke 24:3

2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
John 20:2

18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
John 20:18

There are numerous other verses where He is called "the LORD". I also prefer the Hebrew word Messiah to the Greek word "Christ".

The Titles of God

Some say English titles such as God and Lord are pagan. This is unjustified because the Old Testament uses the title "God" numerous times with the name of IAUA. It also freely applies Elohim to refer to IAUA and pagan gods.

1 And God [#430 Elohim] spake all these words, saying,
2 I am "the LORD" [IAUA] thy God [Elohim], which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods [elohim] before me.
Exodus 20:1-3

In the Old Testament the title, Lord is used numerous times with the name of IAUA.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the LORD [#113 Adhon] God [IAUA].
Exodus 23:17

The titles are also freely used in the New Testament. They are also mixed with references to the true god and the pagan gods. I use the Bible as my witness and my guide. I do not try to place myself as expert and judge over the prophets and the apostles.

From this analysis, I conclude there is no error in using the titles Lord and God. There is no benefit to be derived by emphasizing Hebrew titles to refer to God in an English speaking society. This practice conveys an attitude of separation, elitism, and condemnation of what is familiar to a person. Rather than supposedly separating the sacred and the profane, it confuses the listener and brings disrepute on the message.

Among those who understand, the use of Hebrew terms is valuable. It gives a sense of kinship with Hebrews and our Hebrew Messiah. All in heaven will be Hebrews.

7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:7

Abraham was the first Hebrew and the father of all literal and spiritual Hebrews. Paul did not create this concept on his own. The same thought was begun by our Saviour.

39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
John 8:39

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Revised 2015-08-21