The Hebrew Letter w (Vav/Waw)

When Used As A Consonant

The V Sound Is Made

When Used As A Vowel

The O & U Sounds Are Made aeiou[ywh

Copyright:This study was written by Kevin A Bitterman and the copyright © is given to Yahweh. He “…will give

unto him that is athirst of the fountain of water of life freely” (Rev. 21:6). Therefore, if you feel that this study may help someone else with their search for the truth you may make as many copies of it that is required so that others may freely benefit as well.

Because what Yahweh has to offer is free (Isa. 55:1-3) the distribution of this work by the author is free (Pro. 23:23) and anyone who so desires to pass it along must also freely give it to others without obligation (Mt. 10:8). No gain of any sort is to be received by the person who chooses to pass this work on to others other than the blessing that will be received from giving. (Acts 20:35)

However, I do stipulate that you copy it in its entirety so the context of this study is kept intact and so the reader that it is passed on to will know who to contact with comments, suggestions, or concerns. No alterations are allowed so that the context will not be changed. An infringement on this copyright will be a violation of the 8th & 9th commandments. However, segments of this work may be used if permission is granted after asking.

First Edition: 8/8/11 Edited By: Kevin A Bitterman

Discloser:Because of an inability to perfectly form sentence structures and paragraphs some will do what they can

to make another person feel like the work they have put together is worthless; others will look beyond such imperfections and seek to understand the content. I, for one, do not have the ability to form perfect sentence structures and paragraphs but that isn’t proof positive that the content of what I am attempting to point out is in error (1Cor. 1:27). And there have been some who have stated that they rarely have a problem understanding what my points are.

It is my prayer that Yahweh has given me the ability to express to you what I understand to be true. If you find errors in grammar or punctuation and wish to point it out I will appreciate it and will take no offence to you doing so. Any help I receive is appreciated and helps me continue to learn. Also, if there are things that I have overlooked that will strengthen the viewpoint of this work I would appreciate your input on that too, or if you find that you are critical of this work then constructive criticism is encouraged. I am not of the opinion that there is nothing that I have overlooked or misunderstood, or that what I believe to be true cannot be false. I will take into consideration what I am told by you, and it is my hope that you will take into consideration the things I tell you.

Although it has been stated that I over explain some things, but an under-explanation is incomplete.

Contact Information:Mailing Address: Kevin Bitterman Email: Yahuyahweh@yahoo.com 331 E. 12th St. Phone: 970.672.3123 Loveland, CO 80537

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Scriptural Quote Notations:

Scriptural quotes:All Scriptural quotes come from the electronic software, e-sword. The 1769 King James Version of the

Holy Bible (also known as the Authorized Version) was used (KJV) for the English translation, unless otherwise noted. This same version can be used with Strong’s Numbers and is the version used when the Strong’s Numbers are included within the text.

When using Hebrew the unpointed Tanach from the Masoretic text was used and the unpointed Tanach from the Masoretic text with embedded Strong’s Numbers was used. The software for these electronic versions can be downloaded for free at e-sword. At e-sword.net there are multiple electronic books that can be downloaded for free: Bibles, Commentaries, Dictionaries, Graphics, History books and more. Their website is, http://e-sword.net. When the pointed Hebrew was used the Version ID: WTT [from the electronic edition in the software package, Bible Works 7] was used. Description: BHS Hebrew Old Testament [4th ed].

When coming across the word, Jehovah:Jehovah is an improper transliteration of our heavenly father’s name, Yahweh. Therefore, Yahweh is

used throughout this study, and the Scriptural quotes that are quoted in this work where the improper name Jehovah has been used, or where God, GOD, LORD and Lord have been rendered in place of his name, his proper name, Yahweh, has been restored in those quotes.

When coming across the word, Jesus:Jesus is an improper transliteration of our savior’s name, Yahushua. Therefore, Yahushua is used

throughout this study and the Scriptural quotes that are quoted in this work where the improper name Jesus has been used his proper name, Yahushua, has been restored in those quotes.

When coming across the word, God:God is a poor translation of the Hebrew word, Elohim. Elohim has a singular-plural meaning rather than

simply being singular like the word God. Like the word family is one (singular), but it is one as in a unit (plural), the same is true of the word Elohim. However, the word God does not carry across that same meaning and therefore is a poor translation of the word Elohim. Therefore, for a better rendition of the original word, Elohim, it has been restored throughout this study and in the Scriptural quotes where the word God was translated from the word, Elohim.

Other words that may not have been directly quoted: Within the Scriptural quotes words such as: Messiah, stake, and impaled were used instead of: Christ,

cross, and crucified, because of personal preference. The use of these words would not change the context of any verse of Scripture quoted.

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Table Of Contents

Purpose Of This Article 5

Jesus, An Improper English Transliteration Of Our Savior’s Hebrew Name 5

A Proper Transliteration 7

Questioning A Sermon 8

Hebrew Words That Have The Hebrew Letter w (Waw) 8

The English Letter W Used As A Vowel & A Consonant The Hebrew Letter w Used As A Vowel & A Consonant 9

The Long Form & Short Form Of Our Savior’s Name 10

Yod Hey Waw (why) 14

The Hebrew Letter Yod (y) 14

The Hebrew Letter Hey (h) 15

Yahweh, Judah & Joshua 18

The Hebrew Letter Waw (w) 21

70 + Witnesses Confirm, why = Yahu 22

Scholarly Evidence Shows The 3rd Hebrew Letter In Joshua’s Name Is Not Silent 24

Conclusion 26

Hebrew Alphabet Chart 27

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Purpose Of This Article

I was inspired to put this article together after listening to a sermon on the name, Yahshua. Instead of using the name, Jesus, Yahshua is the name that many say is the name that was actually given to our savior, some use the form, Yeshua. However, when looking into the actual Hebrew, from which the name of our savior comes (Strong’s G2424 Of Hebrew origin [H3091]), it is revealed that his name wasn’t Yeshua or Yahshua.

Those who say our savior’s name is Yahshua or Yeshua find their self in a predicament because they have to explain why they neglect to sound out one or two letters that is within the name that was given to our savior. Shouldn’t we be careful not to add or to take away from the word of Yahweh? (Dt. 4:4; 12:32; Josh. 1:7; Pro. 30:6, Ecc. 1:14; Rev. 22:18-19) Doesn’t Scripture remind us that there is a reason for even every jot and tittle? (Mt. 5:18; Isa. 34:16) How much more of an important issue is it when it comes to the name of our savior? (Ps. 138:2; Acts 4:12; Php. 2:10; 1Jn. 3:23)

To neglect to sound out all the letters in our savior’s name has led many to teach something that simply is not true. Instead of accepting the fact that they have not been calling our savior by his proper name they concoct a story that the third Hebrew letter in his name is a silent letter , or that his name comes from the Greek. The story that says the third Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is quiescent/silent does have a little backing, but there are a number of falsehoods that have a little backing in order to make the falsehood seem true. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence that proves the third Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is not a silent letter.

When overwhelming evidence about something is piled up along side of a small amount of evidence we have got to go along with the pile of evidence that out weighs the other. In this study I will present an overwhelming amount of evidence that proves the third Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is not a silent letter.

Jesus, An Improper English Transliteration Of Our Savior’s Hebrew Name

As for our savior’s name coming from the Greek: it has already been established that the origin of his name comes from the Hebrew. Just look in your Greek dictionaries where our savior’s name is defined to verify this fact (Strong’s G2424; Of Hebrew origin [H3091]). In order to get a proper transliteration of any name in any language the name should be transliterated directly from the language the name comes from.

Take, for example, the name, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev ; in English these names seem a little awkward because the origin of these names are from another language. But when these names are transliterated/translated into the English language they are not first transliterated into the German language, THEN into the Arab Language, THEN into the Latin language, THEN into the English Language. To do so that would be, absurd, but that is similar to the way our savior’s name has been formulated in the English language. To transliterate a name using this method by the time it ends up in the language it is being translated into it might be so distorted that it wouldn’t resemble the original name, at all, and that is what has happened to our savior’s name, Yahushua.

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People do not recognize our savior’s proper name, Yahushua, because it has been so distorted from being transliterated many times over before being transliterated into the English language, and the result from transliterating our savior’s name multiple times over before transliterating it into the English language is: the name that many use to identify who their savior ISN’T EVEN SIMILAR to the name that his father said we should call him. (Mt. 1:21)

Evidently people do not give it any thought but when we do not call our heavenly father’s son by the name that he told Joseph to call him then we are disobeying our heavenly father. This is another reason a proper transliteration of his name is important. A proper transliteration of any name into the English language is achieved by transliterating that name directly into the English language from the language of origin. When doing that the name being transliterated is usually very similar to the original name; sometimes the name in both languages will be the exact same. However, that is not the way our savior’s name has been transliterated by most and that is why the name that most use for the name of our savior isn’t even similar to his proper name. To any believer in our savior IT SHOULD BE DISTURBING TO KNOW THAT THE NAME THEY HAVE BEEN LEAD TO BELIEVE IS OUR SAVIOR’S NAME isn’t even similar to the name that our heavenly father told Joseph to call him.

A proper transliteration of any name from one language to another will have that name stay as close as possible to its original form when transliterating it; and should that language have a name that it uses which is equivalent to the name that is being transliterated it isn’t changed to match an equivalent name that is used in the language that it is being transliterated into. This is demonstrated through the name, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was a Soviet political leader and his name is well known here in the USA, but when the English language is used to make a reference to him his name isn’t changed to Michael, which is the equivalent form of his name in the English language , we still refer to him by his proper name, Mikhail.

By the way, for those who do not understand that names do not change from language to language when they are properly transliterated, which is evident from Mikhail being referred to as Mikhail in the English language instead of using the name, Michael, but if names were to change from language to language when transliterating them then what English names should be used in place of Sergeyevich Gorbachev ?

The fact of the matter is when a name is properly transliterated from one language into another the name remains as close to its origin as possible. This is why the name, Jesus, is not a proper transliteration of our savior’s name in the English language, because our English language is capable of carrying across the same sounds that are used in the Hebrew language when it comes to our savior’s proper name, Yahushua, but the name, Jesus, does not resemble his proper name, at all. But this is why Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a proper transliteration of his name in the English language.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a proper English transliteration of the Russian name Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev because Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is the name that was given to him. Although the Russian name, Mikhail, and the English name, Michael, are equivalent names, Michael is NOT a proper English transliteration of the Russian name, Mikhail.

Consider this: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev’s name is properly transliterated into the English language while the name of our savior, isn’t. Knowing this it makes me wonder who is behind taking away the glory due to the name that was given to our savior. (1Ch. 16:29; Ps. 29:2; 96:8)

I am confident that there are few believers in the Messiah who purposely distort the name that he went by when living here on earth, because they likely are unaware of how distorted it has become, but some

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who understand how distorted his name has become purposely un-distort it. I am among them who purposely un-distort the name that was given to our savior. That is why I never call him, Jesus. Why would I want to promote a distorted form of his name when I know how distorted that name is? (Jn. 15:22; Acts 17:30; Heb. 10:26) The more people there are who become aware of how distorted the name of our savior has become the more there are who want to un-distort it (Acts 17:30). Hallelujah for that!

As already mentioned, the origin of our savior’s name is, Hebrew. Therefore, not mattering what language his name is transliterated into it should be directly transliterated into that language FROM THE HEBREW. However, the way that our savior’s name has been handed down to the English language is:

It was passed through the Greek language from the Hebrew, then it was passed through the Latin language from the Greek, then it was passed through the Old English language from the Latin, then it ended up in our Modern English language from the Old English.

THE FORMULA OF TRANSLITERATION MENTIONED ABOVE IS NOT A PROPER METHOD OF TRANSLATING.

A Proper Transliteration

The end result of our savior’s name being passed from language to language before being transliterated into the English is; the name that most people use to refer to our savior does not resemble his given name, AT ALL! The name Jesus is just simply not a proper English transliteration of our savior’s Hebrew name, Yahushua. And for those who insist the transliteration of our savior’s name must come from the Greek, Jesus is just simply not a proper English transliteration of our savior’s name from the Greek either.

Just because our savior’s name is Yahushua in Hebrew doesn’t mean that it has to be something different after being transliterated into the English language, because the English language is a different language. This too is demonstrated with the Russian name, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev. Although Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev’s name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev in Russia his name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev in English too . Our savior’s name in English should have the same results that Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev has in English. Although our savior’s name is Yahushua in Hebrew his name is Yahushua in English too, when properly transliterating it.

The fact of the matter is the best transliteration of a name from language to language doesn’t have any changes in the name, AT ALL, but not all alphabets in every language has the ability to do that. So names do very from language to language, but only when the alphabet of that language does not have the ability to carry across the same sound as the language that it is being transliterated from. But this is not the case for the transliteration of our savior’s name from the Hebrew language into the English language.

Because the English language has the ability to carry across the exact same sounds that are found in our savior’s Hebrew name, when properly transliterating his name into the English, it will be the exact same in BOTH languages .

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Questioning A Sermon

Shalom _______,I listened to the sermon you gave on The Name of Yahshua, thanks for addressing this issue. If no one

has been able to help you to understand that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) isn’t quiescent/silent, or as you indicate that it is only there to anchor two words together making it one word, and has no sound, I hope I can shed some light on the subject. That teaching is as false as the teaching that was going around which said the Hebrew does not have any vowels. You don’t hold to that teaching, do you?

Sure, of the Hebrew letter, w (Waw), Strong’s says it is quiescent, but do you believe that everything else in the Strong’s is true and accrete? I don’t, and if by saying that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is quiescent means that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is silent then it is obvious that Strong’s is incorrect about it being quiescent.

For the purpose of this article, because there are so many that believe that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) in our savior’s name is a silent letter, and because that information was gathered from Strong’s, it will be assumed that when Strong’s says the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is quiescent that it is meant that it is silent whether that is what was meant by Strong’s or not.

Whichever the case may be it could be that is only what is assumed Strong’s meant, because that teaching is not upheld throughout the Strong’s , therefore, I am under the opinion that many simply do not understand what is meant by Strong’s when it is stated that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is quiescent. Or it could be that Strong’s didn’t clarify what he was trying to get across when he stated that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is quiescent. Or it could be that he simply misspoke. Nevertheless, the purpose of this study isn’t to determine what Strong’s really meant the purpose of this study is to show that if the saying that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is quiescent means that it is a silent letter then there is no validity to that teaching whatsoever.

I realize that many sacred name assemblies teach that the third letter in our savior’s name is silent, thus they say his name is Yahshua. For a long time, because I didn’t know any better, I too used Yahshua for the name of our savior, but once we come to a better understanding of things I would hope you agree; we are commanded to change (Acts 17:30). Even if our friends or family don’t see things the same way we do. When we come to a better understanding of something we can’t forsake what we have come to know as being true.

Hebrew Words That Have The Hebrew Letter w (Waw)

For a long time I was just unaware of the vocalization of the Hebrew, but once being able to make sense of the sounds of the Hebrew letters it didn’t take long at all to know that I was being duped concerning the teaching that the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is quiescent/silent. Please take the time to do a simple study of some Hebrew words and it will confirm that what I am saying is true. Just search out some Hebrew words that have the Hebrew letter w (Waw) in them and it becomes obvious what sound it represents, and that it is not a silent letter. One such word is, hallel u jah (Ps. 111:1; יה H3050 הללו H1984). The U in this word has an oo

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sound and this sound comes from the Hebrew letter, w ( וה ל ל י ה ). The Hebrew letter w (Waw) is not quiescent/silent.

Many are familiar with the Hebrew words, “R u ach Qodesh” (Ps. H6944קדשHך ;51:11 ;(H7307ורוח when translated into the English it is a reference to the “Holy Spirit.” Within the word, ‘Ruach,’ the U has an oo sound and this sound comes from the Hebrew letter, w ( ר חוו ). The Hebrew letter w (Waw) is not quiescent/silent.

Another word that many have become familiar with is the Hebrew word for salvation; “yesh u ah ” (Ex. ,H3444). Again, the U in this word has an oo sound and this sound comes from the Hebrew letter ישועת ;14:13

w ( . The Hebrew letter w (Waw) is not quiescent/silent .( ע תוי ש

Consider also the name of the city, Jer u salem (Ps. 122:6; H3389). The U in this word has an oo ירושלם

sound which comes from the Hebrew letter, w ( ר םוי ל ש ). The Hebrew letter w (Waw) is not quiescent/silent.

The name, R u th , also has a Hebrew letter w in it (Ruth 1:4; רות H7327), and the Hebrew letter w (Waw) in her name is not quiescent/silent. The U in the name, Ruth, has an oo sound, which is sounding out the Hebrew letter, w. ( ( תור

Also, take into consideration the names of a few tribes of Israel: Re u ben , J u dah and Zeb u lun (Eze. H2074). The names of all these tribes have the Hebrew letter זבולן H3063 יהודה H7205 ראובן ;48:31-33 w in them, which is represented with the English letter, U, and it is used to make an oo sound in each of these words from the Hebrew letter, w ( . The Hebrew letter w (Waw) is not quiescent/silent .( ל ןוז ב , ד הוי ה , ב ןור א

And the name, Sam u el , has the Hebrew letter w in it (1Sam. 1:20; אלושומ H8050) which is represented with the English letter, U, and it is used to make an oo sound. Clearly, the Hebrew letter w (Waw) is not quiescent/silent.

Furthermore, the name, Yah w eh , has the Hebrew letter w in it ( הויה H3068), and it too has an oo sound. The only difference is in the name, Yahweh, the Hebrew letter w is translated into the English with a, W, instead of a, U. This is where the confusion comes in for them who make the name Yahweh into a three syllable English word; they do so by adding a U to it (Yahuweh). Evidently, they do not realize that the W in the name Yahweh acts as a, vowel. Thus, the English version, Yahweh, is already a three syllable word. Yes, the W can act as a vowel in the English language. Don’t forget what the W really is; it is a double, U!

The English Letter W Used As A Vowel & A ConsonantThe Hebrew Letter w Used As A Vowel & A Consonant

Like the English letter, U, the English letter W also can make the oo sound. And like the Hebrew letter, w (Waw), the English letter W can be used as a vowel or it can be used as a consonant. One good example of this is found in the English word, wow. The first W in the word, wow, is used as a consonant; the second W is used as a vowel and it has the double u, or oo sound. In Hebrew, however, when the Hebrew letter w (Waw/Vav) is used as a consonant it is used like our English letter, V, is used. The word, Da v id , is an

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example of this (1Sam. 17:55; דוד H1732). The V in the word, David, comes from the Hebrew letter, w (Waw/Vav).

Another example where the Hebrew letter w (Waw/Vav) is used as a consonant and is used like the English letter, V, is the word, le v iathan (Isa. 27:1; יתןול H3882). Also the V in the word, Nine v eh , comes

from the Hebrew letter w (Waw/Vav) and is used as a consonant like the English letter, V (Jonah 1:2; הונינ H5210). And the Hebrew letter, w (Waw/Vaw), is used as a consonant in the name, Le v i (Mal. 2:4; יול H3878); hence, the controversy whether the Hebrew letter, w (Waw/Vaw), is to have a V sound or whether it is to have the W sound. Did you catch that? There is a controversy as to what SOUND the Hebrew letter w (Waw/Vav) makes; that means this letter is not quiescent/silent.

The fact of the matter is the Hebrew letter, w (Waw/Vav), is used both ways. When used as a consonant the V sound is used but when used as a vowel the W (double u) sound, oo, is often used. Sometimes it carries the O sound when it is used as a vowel, like in the names: J o b (Job 1:1; בואי H347) H o sea (Hos. 1:1; ה

שעו H1954), J o el (Joel 1:1; אלוי H3100), Am o s (Amos 1:1; סועומ H5986) and J o nah (Jonah 1:1; נהוי H3124). The Hebrew word, shal o m , that is translated with the English word, peace, has a Hebrew letter w (Waw/Vav) in it too and it has the O sound. (Ps. 119:65; םושל H7965)

Whichever the case may be, it doesn’t matter whether the Hebrew letter, w (Waw/Vaw), is being used as a vowel or whether it is being used as a consonant, it is clear that the Hebrew letter w (Waw/Vav) is not quiescent/silent. However, we know that the V sound isn’t to be used in the name, יהוה (Yahweh), because

each Hebrew letter in the name, יהוה, is used as a vowel. We learn this from the writings of Josephus. In Wars 5:5:7 (235) he states that Yahweh’s name contains, 4 vowels. And because there are only 4 letters in the name, ,and because these letters are not to be used as consonants , יהוה we can be assured that the Hebrew letter w DOES NOT HAVE THE V SOUND . Thus, it is evident that Jehovah is an improper transliteration of our heavenly father’s name in the English.

More English words that use the W as a vowel, having the oo sound, are: Andrew, blew brew, chew, crew, dew, Dewey, drew, ewe, few, flew, grew, hew, Jew, jewel, knew, lewd, Lewis, new, news, pew, pewter, screw, sewer, stew, steward, Stewart, strew, threw, view, yew. Note that in all these words, and there are many others, the W carries the oo sound, as does the U in halleluYah. With the U in halleluYah and the W in Yahweh both coming from the same Hebrew letter, w (Waw), and serving as a vowel, it becomes evident that in both words the Hebrew letter w (Waw) carries the double u, oo, sound.

The Long Form & Short Form Of Our Savior’s Name

When it comes to the name of our savior, ,יהושע it is no different; the Hebrew letter w is not quiescent/silent in his name. Note: the spelling of Joshua the prophet’s name in two verses of Scripture (Dt. 3:21; Jdg. 2:7) gives the long form of his name ( ע וש וי ה H3091). This form has two Waw’s (w) in it, but the pronunciation is the same both ways.

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Hebrew reads ←←←←The long form of his name looks like this: [wXwhy ← The 3rd and 5th letters are w

The short form of his name looks like this: [Xwhy ← The 1st w remains the 2nd is not present

Commonly, though, when the name Joshua is found in Scripture it is spelled like the short form, with only one w in it; the first one. With that being said, those who say the name of our savior is, Yahshua, and say that the Hebrew letter w is, silent, evidently do not realize that the oo sound in shua actually comes from the Hebrew letter, w . Otherwise, they wouldn’t be saying that the Hebrew letter w is silent. Clearly, the Hebrew letter w isn’t silent in the second half of the prophet Joshua’s name, neither should it be silent in the first part of his name.

Without realizing that the sound that the u makes in the last part of our savior’s name, shua ([wX), comes from the Hebrew letter, w, some contend that the use of Yahushua for our savior’s name is incorrect because of the use of the U in the first part of his name. Their reasoning comes from a misconception that the Hebrew letter w is silent. Thus, the form, Yahshua, is often preferred over the form Yahushua. But if the Hebrew letter w truly is a silent letter then the u in Yahsh u a would have to be silenced, because the sound that the u makes in Yahshua comes from the Hebrew letter, w ([wXwhy). However, with the understanding that the sound that the u makes in the last part of our savior’s name, shua, comes from the Hebrew letter, w, then it is easily understood that the teaching that the Hebrew letter w is a silent letter is a false teaching and that Yahushua is the correct form of our savior’s name.

Either way you look at it; those who contend that the name of our savior is, Yahshua, have some changing to do. If the Hebrew letter, w, truly is a silent letter then our savior’s name would have to be pronounced with no u’s in it at all. Maybe something like, Yahsha! However, if the Hebrew letter, w, isn’t a silent letter then why would someone continue to use a name that doesn’t carry the sound of that letter? The form, Yahshua, silences the sound of the Hebrew letter w in the first part of his name but it carries the sound of the Hebrew letter w in the last part of his name. So, which is it? Either the Hebrew letter w is silent or it isn’t.

After learning the placement of the Hebrew letters that form our savior’s name and learning the sounds that each letter makes I learned that the short form of his name is pronounced the same as the long form of his name, and I learned that what made the short form of his name was the absence of a Hebrew letter w. However, the Hebrew letter w that was absent in our savior’s name i sn’t the one they are saying is to be silent.

If there was a letter to be made silent in the name, [wXwhy, then one could reason that the letter that should be silent should be the second w ([wXwhy) instead of the first w ([wXwhy), because the second w is the one that is most often absent when coming across the prophet Joshua’s name in Scripture ([Xwhy). However, those who contend that our savior’s name is, Yahshua, they say that the w which is present in the name [Xwhy should be silenced but they turn around and pronounce the w that is absent. THAT JUST SIMPLY DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE! (See illustration below)

In other words, instead of pronouncing the Hebrew letters, why, in the name, [Xwhy, as Yahu, they silence the w and say Yah is the pronunciation of these letters. Then, in the last part of the name, [Xwhy, where the Hebrew letter w is missing from the long form ([wXwhy), the Hebrew letter w is pronounced when saying that the name of our savior is, Yahshua. The u in Yahshua comes from the Hebrew letter w THAT IS ABSENT

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IN THE NAME , [ Xwhy . Clearly, the Hebrew letter w is not a silent letter, thus, the Hebrew letters, why, in the name, [Xwhy, should be pronounced as, Yahu, and with this being the case the name of our savior should be, Yahushua, instead of, Yahshua. It will be well documented in this article that the sound of the three Hebrew letters, why , are, Yahu , not, Yah. Two of these three Hebrew letters (why) make the sound, yah; the third one makes an oo sound.

As odd as it may seem the Hebrew word that the name Yahshua is transliterated from has the Hebrew letter w in the first part of the name in probably every case when found in Scripture ([Xwhy), but those who insist that the name of our savior is Yahshua silence that Hebrew letter. On the other hand, in nearly every case where the prophet Joshua’s name is found in Scripture it doesn’t have the Hebrew letter w in the last part of his name ([wXwhy), but that letter isn’t silenced in the form, Yahshua. It just takes a little research to discover this truth, but when there is no one to point these things out to a person who isn’t very familiar with the Hebrew language it is understandable how a person can get caught up in following after someone who does seem to have an understanding of these things. At times it is hard to understand why some learned people have a hard time understanding some simple truths.

There are only two verses of Scripture that I know of where the long form of the name Joshua is used (Dt. 3:21; Jdg. 2:7), which is the same name that our savior was known to have when he dwelled here on this earth among us as a man, and evidently the long form and the short form of his name is pronounced the same. Whichever the case may be, in the transliteration, Yahshua, there is a Hebrew letter that is silenced not mattering which form is used to transliterate the name, the long form and the short form, but it shouldn’t be. From the way that the Hebrew is written for the name that was given to our savior, [wXwhy, [Xwhy, the English translation, Yahshua, is made up by using the Hebrew letters in this way:

Long Form Short Form y = Y y = Y

h = ah h = ah

w = silent, though present w = silent, though present X = sh X = sh

w = u not silent = u not silent though absent[ = a [ = a

As you can see in the long form the first Hebrew letter w is made out to be silent when using Yahshua for an English transliteration, but when it comes to the second Hebrew letter, w, it isn’t silenced. If the Hebrew letter w is a silent letter then the oo sound in the form, Yahshua, should be removed because the oo sound in the form, Yahshua, comes from the second Hebrew letter, w. If the Hebrew letter w truly is a silent letter then the name of our savior wouldn’t have any u’s in it.

The irony of using Yahshua for the transliteration of the Hebrew word, [Xwhy, is that the Hebrew letter w that is present in the short form is silenced while the Hebrew letter w that isn’t present the English letter u is used to show that it should be there. What sense does it make to silence a letter in a word that is present but sound out a letter that isn’t present?

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If one of the Hebrew letters truly were to be silenced wouldn’t it go to reason that the letter that isn’t there should be the one that is silent? Well, not everything stands to reasoning, but the fact of the matter is the Hebrew letter w is not a silent letter and, thus, Yahshua is not a proper transliteration of the name that was given to our savior in English. The proper English transliteration of the name that was given to our savior is, Yahushua, because the Hebrew letter, w, is not a silent letter:

Long Form Short Form y = Y y = Y h = ah h = ah w = u not a silent letter w = u not a silent letter X = sh X = sh w = u not a silent letter = u an inferred Hebrew letter w [ = a [ = a

The reason that the u is used where the Hebrew letter w is absent in the short form is because it is there in the long form of this name. So, even though it isn’t present in the short form a vowel is inferred. What this means is: because the second Hebrew letter w is in the long form of the prophet Joshua’s name in order to properly transliterate his name the Hebrew letter w is vocalized in the short form even though it is absent. By doing such his name is properly transliterated, even in the Hebrew language.

The teaching of some who say the Hebrew alphabet only has consonants say every vowel in the Hebrew language is inferred, and that has caused some confusion and likely played into the misconception that the Hebrew letter, w , is a silent letter . With the misunderstanding that there are no vowels in the Hebrew alphabet it is understandable how one could reason that the Hebrew letter w in the name of our savior is a silent letter. But the fact of the matter is the Hebrew alphabet does have vowels and the Hebrew letter w is one of the Hebrew letters that acts as a vowel.

Nevertheless, simple reasoning will tell you that if a letter is to be made silent in the name of our savior, [wXwhy, then it would stand to reason that the second Hebrew letter w should be the one that is silenced instead of the first one, because, in most cases, the second one is the one that is absent where the name Joshua ([wXwhy) is found:

Long Form Short Form y = Y y = Y h = ah h = ah w = u w = u X = sh X = sh w = u = No letter, no sound [ = a [ = a

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Silencing the Hebrew letter w that is absent in the name [Xwhy would make the name something like, Yahusha, rather than, Yahshua. It just doesn’t make sense to silence a letter that is present but sound out a letter that is absent. However, this isn’t to say that I am advocating that his name should be Yahusha or that the short form of the name [Xwhy should be pronounced, Yahusha. The evidence shows that the Hebrew letter w is not a silent letter , and the complete form of the name that was given to our savior has two Hebrew letter waw’s (w) in it ([wXwhy), and the transliteration of the name, [wXwhy, in English is, Yahushua.

Yod Hey Waw (why)

After learning what I have learned I am not willing to ignore the facts. The fact of the matter is the first three Hebrew letters in the name of our heavenly father are: Yod, Hey, Waw ( היהו ), and these three Hebrew letters are the EXACT same three Hebrew letters that make up the name of our savior and Judah ( שעיהו H3091, דהיהו H3063). Clearly, the English words, Joshua and Judah, are not good transliterations

from the Hebrew. A proper transliteration of the Hebrew word, יהודה, in the English would be, Yahudah,

rather than, Judah. And a proper transliteration of the Hebrew word, ,יהושע in the English would be, Yahushua, rather than, Joshua.

The Hebrew Letter Yod ( y )

Because the first Hebrew letter is an Yod (י) in the words that: Jehovah ( הוהי ), Judah ( הודהי ) and Joshua

((( עהושי ) are translated from the J in these words should have a Y sound. This can be established from the use of the word, hallelujah. The J in the word hallelujah carries the original sound that the J’s should have in all these other words. This can be verified from the understanding that the J is the newest letter added to the English Alphabet. (See pg. 20)

In the old English the J was originally an, I, and the sound it made in these words was the same as the sound that we get from a, Y. However, when the I’s took on the J form (I believe this took place in the 15th century) most words that used to have the Y sound from the letter I took on a different sound. However, the J in the word hallelujah continued to make the Y sound. Thus, for a proper transliteration of these other words: Jehovah, Judah and Joshua, just like the J has a Y sound in the word, hallelujah, the J in these names should have a Y sound too. This too is evident because of what these words mean. Each of these words gives witness to our creator, and in part the name of our creator is found in each of these words.

Because all these words give witness to our creator and in part has his name in each of these words ( ,יהוה יהושע, יהודה ) all these words should in part have his name in them when translated. But because the

translation that we have in the English (Jehovah, Judah, Joshua) doesn’t in part have our creator’s name, Yahweh, in them shows that the words: Jehovah, Judah and Joshua, have not been properly translated. However, the way that the word hallelujah is translated it does have our creator’s name in it, in part, which shows that it is a good translation from the Hebrew into the English. So we can use this word for an anchor.

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The Y sound in the word hallelujah comes from the Hebrew letter, Yod ( היהללו־ ). Thus, for a proper transliteration of the words: Jehovah, Judah and Joshua, into the English from the Hebrew, these words should all begin with an English letter that has a Y sound. The J in the word hallelujah can be changed to a Y too because in the English language the word hallelujah originally did not have a J in it . Again, This can be verified from the understanding that the J is the newest letter added to the English Alphabet (See pg. 20). So, to begin putting together a proper transliteration of our savior’s name into the English the first letter in his name and in these other names should all have a Y sound where the J is:

English reads Hebrew reads →→→→ ←←←←Improper English Proper English transliteration HebrewRendition Of the Hebrew letter י Hallelujah HalleluYah היהללו־ Jehovah Y הוהיJudah Y הודהיJoshua Y הושעי

The Hebrew Letter Hey ( h )

Because the second Hebrew letter is a Hey (ה) that the words: Jehovah ( וההי ), Judah ( ודההי ) and Joshua

((( ושעהי ) are translated from the Hebrew word that hallelujah is translated from ( היהללו־ ) can verify what the proper sound is that this letter makes too.

Many contend that the meaning of the word, hallelujah, is, Praise the Lord, but with the J having a Y sound it is brought to light who is being praised with this word. The word halleluYah is giving praise to, Yah! Who is Yah? Yah is our creator. It can be noted that Yah is what the name Yahweh starts out with and it can be noted that Yah is what the name of his son starts out with (Yahushua), but when their names are improperly transliterated this does not stand out. And because the J in the word, hallelujah, actually has a Y sound there is nothing wrong with changing the J into a Y so the word is spelled, halleluYah. In fact, using a Y in the word halleluYah is a better translation.

In a King James Version of the Scriptures just look at the way Psalms 68:4 reads. The word, Jah, is used in Psalms 68:4, but like the J in hallelujah actually has a Y sound so should the J have a Y sound in the word, Jah. Thus, it is evidence that the word, Yahweh, is a better transliteration of our heavenly father’s name than the word, Jehovah, because Jehovah does not begin with the proper sound that the Hebrew letters, יה, make. The sound that the Hebrew letters יה make is, Yah, not, Jeh. This can be further verified when looking up Psalms 68:4 in a New King James Version of the Scriptures. In the New King James Version of the Scriptures Psalms 68:4 transliterates the Hebrew word, יה, as, Yah. In the New King

James Version of the Scriptures the Hebrew word, יה, is transliterated as, Yah, in a few other places too. (Isa. 12:2; 26:4; 38:11)

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When knowing that the Hebrew letters יה make the sound, Yah, it is evident that because all these words:

Jehovah, Judah, Joshua and Jah begin with the Hebrew letters, the transliteration of all these words ,יה should start with the sound, Yah. Thus, to continue with the construction of a proper English transliteration of the words: Jehovah, Judah and Joshua, it is evident that the first Hebrew letter in these words has a Y sound. And in order to have a proper transliteration from the Hebrew to the English the best English letter to be used for a proper transliteration would be one that has a Y sound. And moving on to the second Hebrew letter that the words: Jehovah ( וההי ) Judah ( ודההי ) and Joshua ( ושעהי ) are translated from,

that letter is a Hey (ה), and the word halleluYah gives us the sound of this letter too. The sound of that letter

comes from the last Hebrew letter in the word halleluYah ( היהללו־ ) and for a proper transliteration of that Hebrew letter two English letters are used, ah (halleluY ah ) . So, for a proper transliteration of the Hebrew words, Jehovah ( וההי ) Judah ( ודההי ) and Joshua ( ושעהי ), into the English, they should all begin with the English letters, Yah:

English reads Hebrew reads →→→→ ←←←←Improper English Proper English transliteration HebrewRendition Of the Hebrew letters יה Hallelujah HalleluYah יההללו־ Jehovah Yah והיהJudah Yah ודהיהJoshua Yah ושעיהJah Yah יה

Because all these words: Jehovah, Judah, Joshua and Jah, actually start out with the same spelling in the Hebrew (יה), and have the same sound, in order to properly transliterate these words into the English the English letters that should be used for these words should be letters that carry the same SOUND ; and the word, halleluYah, showes us that the sound they should all have is, Yah, because the last two Hebrew letters in the word, halleluYah, are the same two Hebrew letters that the words: Jehovah, Judah, Joshua and Jah all begin with in the Hebrew. Again, this gives credence as to why Yahweh is a better English transliteration than Jehovah because Jehovah does not have the sound, Yah, in it; but neither does Judah or Joshua. However, for a proper transliteration into the English they all should.

Those who have been in the sacred name movement for a period of time are well aware of this information. But many have stopped their investigation here concerning the proper transliteration of our savior’s name because there is not a real controversy as to what the ending of our savior’s name is, being, shua, which is the same ending that Joshua the prophet’s name ends with (Joshua). So, the translation of his name is partially correct but why not make it completely correct?

Our savior’s name and Joshua the prophet’s name both end with, shua (שע), and after learning that, Yah

is placed at (יה) is the proper way that Joshua the prophet and our savior’s name should begin, Yah ,(יה))

the beginning of their name, shua (שע) is placed at the end. Thus, when combining the sounds of these letters together into the English language the name, Yahshua, emerges. But this is where the investigation

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ended for many and this is the name that many use for the name of our savior to this very day. However, Yahshua is not a complete transliteration of Joshua the prophet and our savior’s name in the English language.

When you combine the letters יה (Yah) with the letters שע (shua) the combination of these Hebrew letters

look like this, יהשע. However, this is not how Joshua the prophet’s name is rendered in the Hebrew. In the

Hebrew Joshua the prophet’s name is, שעויה , and if you will take note there is a letter missing in this

rendering, יהשע. The letter that is missing in this form, יהשע, is the, ו. And in order to properly transliterate our savior’s name into the English, which is the same name that Joshua the prophet had (check Acts 7:45 and Heb, 4:8 for the name that is used in these verses of Scripture and you will see from the Greek dictionary that our savior and Joshua the prophet shared the same name; Strong’s Greek #2424 is from the Hebrew #3091. Thus, for a proper English transliteration of our savior’s name it is to be transliterated from the Hebrew, not the Greek, and our savior’s name will match Joshua the prophet’s name) all the Hebrew letters that are used for their name must be accounted for. And in doing so we must learn what the sounds of each of those Hebrew letters are. Doing anything less than this will result in an improper transliteration of our savior’s name, and such is the result when saying, Yahshua, is the name of our savior.

I believe that the majority of them who believe that the name of our savior is, Yahshua, have good intentions because it goes to reason that because our savior had the same name as Joshua the prophet, and that because the J originally had a Y sound, then to come up with a more accurate name for our savior over, Jesus, one could just simply place a Y at the beginning of Joshua the prophet’s name in place of the J and one could be reasoned that Yoshua is an accurate rendering of our savior’s name in the English. Certainly, that is a step in the right direction, praise Yahweh for everyone who have taken steps in this direction. But when knowledge shows that our reasoning is not complete shouldn’t we continue to go in the right direction when knowledge is revealed? The name, Joshua, is missing more than just a Y sound for a proper transliteration of the Hebrew word, יהושע. The name, Joshua, is missing an oo sound too.

What has been established is; in the long form of Joshua the prophet’s name the proper transliteration of the Hebrew letters in English is:

The 1st Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, י It has a, Y, sound in English.

The 2nd Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ה It has an, ah, sound in English.

The 3rd Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ו It has an, oo (u/w), sound in English.

The 4th Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ש It has a, Sh, sound in the English.

The 5th Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ו It has an, oo (u/w), sound in English.

The 6th Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ע It has an, a, sound in English.

The English transliteration of these 6 Hebrew letters, יהושוע, are: Y ah u sh u a

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In the short form of Joshua the prophet’s name the proper transliteration of the Hebrew letters in English is:

The 1st Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, י It has a, Y, sound in English.

The 2nd Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ה It has an, ah, sound in English.

The 3rd Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ו It has an, oo (u/w), sound in English.

The 4th Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ש It’s vowel pointed to have a, Shu, sound.

The 5th Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is a, ע It has an, a, sound in English.

The English transliteration of these 5 Hebrew letters, יהושע, are: Y ah u shu a

For a proper and complete English transliteration of our savior’s Hebrew name all the sounds of the Hebrew letters that make up his name need to be transferred over into the English from the Hebrew, and when doing so the name, Yahushua, emerges. Where the controversy lies for some is in the third Hebrew letter of our savior’s name. The claim that is made by some is; the Hebrew letter, ו (Waw), is quiescent, or silent. But, clearly, that is some misinformation.

Yahweh, Judah & Joshua

The first three Hebrew letters of our savior’s name are identical to the first three Hebrew letters that make up the name of our heavenly father. And the sound that those three letters make is, Yahu; although a, W, is used instead of a, U, in the English translation of our heavenly father’s name, Yahweh, but the sound is the same. Much like there is not a necessity to change the, j, into a, y, in the word, hallelujah, in order for the j to make the y sound, because the j in the word hallelujah does make the y sound, a U could be used where the W is in the name, Yahweh, but because the name is so well known with a W in it and because the W can be used to make the same sound that the U makes in, Yahu, there is not a necessity to change it from a W to a, U.

Although there is not a necessity to change the J into a Y in order for it to make the Y sound in the word hallelujah, because the J does have a Y sound in the word hallelujah. Nevertheless, there would be nothing wrong with replacing the J with a Y in the word hallelujah because doing so would not change the vocalization of the word nor would it change the meaning. However, when silencing the third letter in our savior’s name the vocalization of his name does change . It changes it from, Yahushua, to, Yahshua. And because of that change the word, Yahshua, is almost as incomplete as the word, Joshua, is for the English transliteration of the prophet’s name. Thus, transliterating our savior’s name as, Yahshua, in English too is incomplete. Would those who say there is nothing wrong with silencing the third letter of our savior’s name say it is acceptable to silence the second letter of his name too? But that is what many do when they call him, Yeshua. I would like seated in the congregation when that sermon is preached in a sacred name assembly, that it is acceptable to use the name Yeshua for our savior instead of the name, Yahshua.

The prophet Joshua and our savior’s name is not the only name that has the first three Hebrew letters in their name identical to the first three Hebrew letters in our heavenly father’s name. The first three Hebrew letters in the name, Judah, are identical to the first three Hebrew letters in our heavenly father’s name too ((( דהיהו, היהו, שעיהו ). And just like the third Hebrew letter in our heavenly father’s name has an, oo

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sound, the third Hebrew letter in the name, Judah, has an oo sound too . And because the first three letters of our savior’s name match the first three letters in the names of our heavenly father and Judah the third letter in our savior’s name too has an oo sound.

As previously mentioned, the English letter that makes the oo sound from the third Hebrew letter in our heavenly father’s name, Yahweh, is a, W, and the English letter that makes the oo sound from the third Hebrew letter in the word Judah is the, U. And because the first two Hebrew letters in these two names are the same, which make the sound, Yah, and knowing that the third Hebrew letter makes the sound, oo, both of these names should start out with the sound, Yahu; whether a, U, is used in the English or whether a, W, is used to make the oo sound.

Furthermore, because the first three Hebrew letters in Joshua the prophet and our savior’s name are identical to the first three Hebrew letters of our heavenly father’s name and Judah a proper transliteration of all these names in the English will have them all begin with the same sound, Yahu.

The first 3 Hebrew letters in our heavenly father’s name are: יהו A proper English transliteration of these 3 Hebrew letters is, Yahu The first 3 Hebrew letters in the name Judah are: יהו A proper English transliteration of these 3 Hebrew letters is, Yahu

The first 3 Hebrew letters in the name Joshua are: יהו A proper English transliteration of these 3 Hebrew letters is, Yahu

Please note that in the Hebrew all three of these names are identical in the way they start out and they all start out having the same sound ( שעיהו, דהיהו, היהו ). Thus, a proper transliteration of these Hebrew letters should carry the same sound into the language they are being translated into , but when these names were translated into the English there is no consistency.

Please note below how the sounds of these three Hebrew letters ( have been improperly transliterated (יהו

into the English. If these three Hebrew names: שעיהו, דהיהו, היהו , would have been properly transliterated they would have the same sound at the beginning of their name, because in Hebrew they have the same sound at the beginning of their name, but because these three names do not have the same sound at the beginning of their name in English is evidence that they have not been properly translated.

Please note how inconsistent the English transliteration is when transliterating these three Hebrew letters, :יהו

The first three Hebrew letters that make up the name of our heavenly father are: יהוThe English letters that are commonly used to represent these Hebrew letters in his name are: Jehov

The first three Hebrew letters that are used to make up the name Judah are: יהוThe English letters that are commonly used to represent these Hebrew letters in this name are: Ju

The first three letters from the Hebrew into the English for the name Joshua are: יהוThe English letters that are commonly used to represent these Hebrew letters in this name are: Jo

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Please note that in the Hebrew these three names start out identically the same ( שעיהו, דהיהו, היהו ) but in the English they are NOTABLY DIFFERENT. Thus, if the name of our heavenly father, and the name of Judah, and the name of Joshua were properly transliterated into the English language, because all three of these names have the same sound in the beginning of their name in the Hebrew, then all three of these names would have the same sound at the beginning of their name in English. But they don’t! Therefore, it is evident that these names were not properly transliterated into the English language . It is disturbing to know of these INCONSISTENCIES; it causes a person to realize how the name of our creator and savior have been lost or forgotten (Jer. 23:26-27). So, this brings it a little closer to home as to why the sacred name movement has tried to bring the name of our creator back into existence. Malachi 3:16 reads:

Then they that feared Yahweh spake often one to another: and Yahweh hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon his name.

Wouldn’t you like to be among them for which this book of remembrance is written? Do you ever think upon his name? Do you know his name in order to think upon it or are you like some who never want to discuss the topic concerning the name and think that those who do are a bit loony? Whichever the case may be I believe the issue concerning the name of our creator is interesting and I believe knowing his name draws us closer to him.

Knowing a person’s name is telling concerning what type of a relationship a person has with another person. Have you ever known someone who talks about how well they know so & so but when it came right down to it they didn’t even know what their name was? Many have encountered a situation like that and when it was discovered that they didn’t even know what the person’s name is it became obvious that they really don’t know the person as well as they made it seem. And, of course, just knowing a person’s name doesn’t mean that you know them all that well either, but not knowing their name is evidence that you don’t really know them all that well. Proverbs 30:4 and Isaiah 52:6 reads:

… what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? …my people shall know my name…

It baffles me to know of brethren who seem so sincere in their quest for truth and want to be in the organization that has sound doctrine, preaching the truth, but when it comes to the issue of our creator’s holy name they shrug it off as though it does not matter if we call him by his proper name or not. Yes, there is controversy as to what his name actually is, but there is no controversy that the name the Messiah went by when he lived here on earth nearly 2000 years ago was not Jesus . In fact, the name, Jesus, was never applied to him until nearly 1500 years after his death. This is shocking news to some but he wasn’t even called Jesus in the original 1611 King James Version of the Scriptures.

In the original 1611 edition of the King James Version of the Scriptures our savior’s name appeared like this, “Iesus.” Believe it or not, the name, Jesus, has not been around for very long. These facts can easily be proven by obtaining a copy of the 1611 edition King James Version of the Scriptures (they are inexpensive) and by looking up the letter “J” in a regular dictionary for verification that it was not a part of the English language until around the 16th century. When doing a search on the Internet for, “English alphabet,” on the web page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_alphabet, under the header, Old English, it has this to say:

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In the year 1011, a writer named Byrhtferð ordered the Old English alphabet for numerological purposes.[2] He listed the 24 letters of the Latin alphabet (including ampersand) first, then 5 additional English letters, starting with the Tironian note ond (⁊) an insular symbol for and:

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z & ⁊ Ƿ Þ Ð Æ

Note that there is no letter J in this older version of the English Alphabet. On the same web page under, Modern English, it has this to say:

The letters u and j, as distinct from v and i, were introduced in the 16th century, and w assumed the status of an independent letter, so that the English alphabet is now considered to consist of the following 26 letters:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I am confident that the truth matters to most who believe in the Messiah; hopefully when these facts are revealed to you your desire to know our savior to the fullest will cause you to consider whether or not you really know his name. At least just take the time to double check this information to see if it is correct or not. If you find that it is correct maybe you will decide to introduce our savior to others by his proper name. If you discovered that you were calling some other person by a name that they didn’t go by wouldn’t you be embarrassed to know that you were calling them by a name that they didn’t go by? And after finding out that you were calling them by a name that they didn’t go by would you continue to call them by that name or would you call them by the name that they go by?

Maybe you are of the mind that we should all just answer to whatever name a person decides to call us? How would your parents feel about that? How would you feel if people called your child by a name other than the name you gave to your child? Our heavenly father gave his son a name that is above every name (Php. 2:9), don’t you think he done so in order for that name to be on the lips of every man? (Acts 2:21; Php. 2:10) Who are we to call him by any other name? (Ex. 23:13; Josh. 23:7; Ps. 16:4)

I heard it said once; those who worship false Elohim use the name they give to their Elohim, but those who worship the true Elohim use the name that he gives them to use. To name your Elohim gives you power over your Elohim but to use the name that your Elohim gives you to use gives him power over you.

Please consider this: Isn’t it being disobedient to our heavenly father to call his only begotten son by a name other than the name he said to call him? In Matthew 1:21 we are told, “thou shalt call his name Yahushua…” Why, then, do people not call him, Yahushua? Mostly because his name has been improperly transliterated. This is why a proper transliteration of our savior’s name is important. Properly transliterating our savior’s name brings us in compliance with our heavenly father’s will. (Mt. 7:21)

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The Hebrew Letter Waw ( w )After investigating the facts the findings are:

The third to the last Hebrew letter in hallelujah is a ו and it is not quiescent/silent. It makes an oo sound.

The third Hebrew letter in our heavenly father’s name is a ו and it is not silent. It makes an oo sound.

The third Hebrew letter in the name Judah is a ו and it is not quiescent/silent. It makes an oo sound.

Because of these facts and because the third Hebrew letter in Joshua the prophet’s name is a ו it is hard

for me to believe that in this ONE LONE NAME the Hebrew letter ו is quiescent/silent . The evidence

tells me that because the third Hebrew letter in the name Joshua is a, ו, then it too makes an oo sound. And with all the evidence presented it is evident that the proper transliteration of the prophet Joshua’s name into the English is, Yahushua.

Based upon the fact that the first two Hebrew letters in the prophet Joshua’s name make the sound, Yah when they are properly transliterated, and because it is evident that the third Hebrew letter in his ,(יה))

name (ו) has an oo sound, then when these three Hebrew letters are properly transliterated the first part of

his name has the sound, Yahu (יהו), which is the same sound that is made in the beginning of our heavenly father’s name and the name Judah when they are properly transliterated. Then, because the last two Hebrew letters in the prophet Joshua’s name make the sound, shua (שע), when these two Hebrew letters are put

together with the first three Hebrew letters which make the sound, Yahu ( ,(יהו the word, Yahushua,

emerges (יהושע). And because Joshua the prophet and our savior had the same name it is evident that the proper English transliteration of our savior’s name, too, is Yahushua.

In the diagram below you can confirm that the names: Jehovah, Judah, and Joshua all begin with the same three Hebrew letters ( יהו ) , and when properly transliterating those three Hebrew letters each name would have the same sound at the beginning of their name, which is, Yahu:

English reads Hebrew reads →→→→ ←←←←Improper English Proper English transliteration Hebrew Rendition Of the Hebrew letters יהו Hallelujah HalleluYah יה־והלל Jehovah Yahw (the w has an oo sound) היהו Judah Yahu דהיהוJoshua Yahu שעיהוJah Yah יה

There is just nothing to suggest that the third Hebrew letter in the name Joshua should be quiescent / silent while that same letter IN EVERY OTHER WORD has a sound . Next we will take a look at over 70

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other words in Hebrew that have these same three Hebrew letters in them ( and not one of them has (יהו that third letter silent. And in each case the combination of these three Hebrew letters carry the sound, Yahu.

70 + Witnesses Confirm, why = Yahu

Just like it is a misnomer that the Hebrew alphabet has no vowels it is a misnomer that the third Hebrew letter in our savior’s name is silent. Now let’s use the Strong’s Concordance to take a look at over 70 other words that use the combination of the first three Hebrew letters that are in the name that was given to our savior, ,יהו and we will see that in each case the third letter, , ו is not quiescent/silent , and the combination of these three Hebrew letters have the sound, Yahu. The Strong’s Concordance that I will be using is the electronic version that comes with the E-sword software, which can be downloaded for free at, www.e-sword.net:

H29 יהואב 'abıyahu H138 יהואדנ 'adonıyahuu H223 יהואור 'urıyahu

H274 ויהואחז 'achazyahu H281 יהואח 'achıyahu H452 יהואל 'elıyahuH558 יהואומצ 'amatsyahu H568 יהואומר 'amaryahu H683 ויהואצל 'atsalyahuH1141 יהובנ benayahu H1296 יהוברכ berekyahu H1436 ויהוגדל gedalyahuH1587 ויהוגומר gemaryahu H1806 ויהודל delayahu H2069 יהוזבד zebadyahuH2148 יהוזכר zekaryahu H2396 יהוחזק chizqıyahu H2396 יהויחזק yechizqıyahuH2518 יהוחלק chilqıyahu H2608 יהוחננ chananyahu H2811 יהוחשב chashabyahuH2882 ויהוטבל tebalyahu H2899 ויהואדנ טוב tob 'adonıyahu H2900 יהוטוב tobıyahuH2970 יהויאזנ ya'azanyahu H2977 יהויאש yo'shıyahu H3000 ויהויברכ yeberekyahuH3012 ויהויגדל yigdalyahu H3153 יהויזנ yezanyahu H3165 ויהויחד yechdıyahuH3169 יהויחזק yechizqıyahu H3203 יהויכל yekolyahu H3204 יהויכנ yekonyahuH3253 ויהויסומכ yismakyahu H3269 ויהויעז ya‛azıyahu H3404 יהויר yerıyahu H3414 יהוירומ yirmeyahu H3449 יהויש yishshıyahu H3460 יהוישומע yishma‛yahuH3470 יהוישע yesha‛yahu H3562 ויהוכוננ konanyahu H3659 ויהוכנ konyahuH3663 יהוכננ kenanyahu H4321 יהוומכ mikayehu H4322 ויהוומיכ mıykayahuH4441 יהוומלכ malkiyahu H4590 יהוומעז ma‛azyahu H4641 יהוומעש ma‛aseyahuH4737 ויהוומקנ miqneyahu H4920 יהוומשלומ meshelemyahu H4983 יהוומתנ mattanyahu

H4993 יהוומתת mattithyahu H5374 יהונר nerıyahu H5418 יהונתנ nethanyahuH5565 ויהוסומכ semakyahu H5662 יהועבד ‛obadyahu H5718 יהועד ‛adayahuH5812 יהועזז ‛azazyahu H5818 יהועז ‛uzzıyahu H5838 ויהועזר ‛azaryahuH6271 יהועתל ‛athalyahu H6305 יהופד pedayahu H6410 יהופלט pelattyahuH6667 יהוצדק tsidqıyahu H6846 יהוצפנ tsephanyahu H6984 ויהוקוש qushayahuH7345 ויהורחב rechabyahu H7425 ויהורומל remalyahu H7645 יהושבנ shebanyahu

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H7935 יהושכנ shekanyahu H8018 יהושלומ shelemyahu H8098 יהושומע shema‛yahuH8114 יהושומר shemaryahu H8203 יהושפט shephatyahu H8304 יהושר serayahu

For the purpose of a second witness to the Strong’s to verify that these three Hebrew letters make the sound, Yahu, let’s look at the way The NIV Exhaustive Concordance transliterates the three Hebrew letters, ,יהו which are the same three letters found at the beginning of our savior’s name. Furthermore, this is

verification that the Hebrew letter, ו (Waw), is not quiescent/silent:

#32 AbiyYahu #154 AdoniyYahu #250 UriyYahu #302 AhazYahu #309 AhiyYahu #489 EliyYahu #605 AmasYahu #619 AmarYahu#729 AsalYahu #1226 BenaYahu #1322 BuqqiyYahu #1393 BerekYahu #1546 GedalYahu #1702 GemarYahu #1934 DelaYahu #2090 HodawYahu#2278 ZebadYahu #2358 ZekarYahu #2625 HizqiyYahu #2760 HilqiyYahu#2864 HananYahu #3117 HasabYahu #3189 TebalYahu #3210 TobiyYahu#3280 YaazanYahu #3288 YosiyYahu #3310 YeberekYahu #3323 YigdalYahu#3369 Yehu (Yahu) #3471 YezanYahu #3485 YehdeYahu #3491 YehizqiyYahu #3525 YekolYahu #3527 YekonYahu #3577 YismakYahu #3596 YaaziyYahu#3746 YeriyYahu #3759 YirmeYahu #3808 YissiyYahu #3820 YismaYahu#3833 YesaYahu #3925 KonanYahu #4037 KonYahu #4041 KenanYahu#4042 KananYahu #4780 MiykaYahu #4899 MalkiyYahu #5069 MaazYahu#5129 MaaseYahu #5240 MiqneYahu #5453 MeselemYahu #5515 MatanYahu#5525 MatitYahu #5950 NeriyYahu #5993 NetanYahu #6165 SemakYahu#6282 ObadYahu #6348 AdaYahu #6453 AzazYahu #6460 UzziyYahu#6482 AzarYahu #6976 AtalYahu #7016 PedaYahu #7125 PelatYahu #7409 SidqiyYahu #7623 SepanYahu #7773 QusaYahu #8153 RehabYahu#8248 RemalYahu #8589 SeraYahu #8677 SebanYahu #8909 SekanYahu#8983 SelemYahu #9062 SemaYahu #9080 SemarYahu #9153 SepatYahu

For a third witness to verify that the first three Hebrew letters that are found at the beginning of our savior’s name (יהו) are transliterated into the ENGLISH as, Yahu , which in turn verifies that the

Hebrew letter, ,(Waw) ו is not quiescent/silent, the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE will be used to confirm that there are over 70 witnesses to these facts:

# 138 AdoniyYahu # 223b UriyYahu # 558 AmatsYahu # 568 AmarYahu # 683 AtsalYahu #1141 BenaYahu #1232 BuqqiyYahu #1296 BerekYahu #1436b GedalYahu #1587 GemarYahu #1806 DelaYahu #1939 HodavYahu#2069 ZebadYahu #2148a ZekarYahu #2396 ChizqiyYahu or YechizqiyYahu#2518 ChilqiyYahu #2608a ChananYahu #2811 ChashabYahu #2882 TebalYahu#2899a Tob AdoniyYahu #2900 TobiyYahu #2970 YaazanYahu #2977 YoshiyYahu#3000 YeberekYahu #3012 YigdalYahu #3058 Yehu (Yahu?) #3153 YezanYahu#3165 YechdeYahu #3169 YechizqiyYahu #3203 YekolYahu #3204 YekonYahu#3253 YismakYahu #3269 YaaziyYahu #3404 YeriyYahu #3414 YirmeYahu #3449 YeshshiyYahu #3460 YishmaYahu #3470b YeshaYahu #3562 KonanYahu #3659 KonYahu #3663 KenanYahu #4321 MikaYehu(Yahu?) #4322 MikaYahu #4441 MalkiYahu #4590 MaazYahu #4641 MaaseYahu #4737 MiqneYahu#4920 MeshelemYahu #4983 MattanYahu #4993 MattithYahu #5374 NeriyYahu#5418 NethanYahu #5565 SemakYahu #5662 ObadYahu #5718 AdaYahu#5812 AzazYahu #5818 UzziyYahu #5838 AzarYahu #6305 PedaYahu #6410 PelatYahu #6667 TsidqiyYahu #6846 TsephanYahu #6984 QushaYahu

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#7345 RechabYahu #7425 RemalYahu #7645 ShebanYahu #7935 ShekanYahu#8018 ShelemYahu #8098 ShemaYahu #8114 ShemarYahu #8203 ShephatYahu #8304 SeraYahu

There are many other examples in Scripture where the three Hebrew letters are used together which יהו

verify that the Hebrew letter, is not silent, but I wont go into that detail at this time. Showing these 70 ,ו plus witnesses will do for the purpose of this article but if I find that these witnesses are not sufficient maybe I will include more witnesses to this fact in an updated version of this article.

Scholarly Evidence Shows The 3rd Hebrew Letter In Joshua’s Name Is Not Silent

After an investigation of the claim that the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) in our savior’s name is a silent letter I

could not go along with the teaching that it is quiescent/silent. The Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is not quiescent/silent in any other word that I have come across and I have found no scholarly evidence that proves the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is to be silent in the name of our savior. To the contrary, the scholarly

evidence that I have come across suggests that the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) , IN OUR SAVIOR’S NAME, has the O sound.

• The Strong’s Hebrew dictionary renders it this way, “יהושע יהושוע, yehoshua‛ (H3091).” Here the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is given the long o sound in the same name that was given to our savior.

• The Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew reads, “yehoshua‛.” Here the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is given the long o sound in the same name that was given to our savior.

• Under the word, Joshua, the electronic copy of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia in

the software, e-sword, also shows that the Hebrew letter has a long (Waw) ו o sound in the

same name that was given to our savior: “( יהושע, יהושוע , yehoshua).”

• In the software of Bibleworks 7.0 the electronic copy of the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia reads: “5123 Joshua (1) <josh'-u-a> ((a) Heb: yehoshua`, (b) Heb: yehoshua`, ‘Yahweh is deliverance’ or ‘opulence’” Clearly, from the Hebrew, the third Hebrew letter in the

same name that was given to our savior, the ו (Waw), is not quiescent/silent.

• Under, JOSHUA, in the electronic copy of the New Unger's Bible Dictionary of the Bible Explorer 4 software, reads: “JOSH´UA (josh´ua); (Heb. yehôshua‘, ‘Jehovah is salvation’)…” Again, in the same name that was given to our savior the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) in that name is

given the long o sound . Clearly, THAT LETTER IS NOT A SILENT LETTER.

• In the electronic copy of Scofield's Study Notes in the Bible Explorer 4 software under Joshua 1:1 reads, “Joshua (Je-hoshua, meaning Jehovah-Saviour)…” Here it is evident that Scofeild didn’t

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think that the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is quiescent/silent in the same name that was given to our savior, either.

• The electronic copy of Fausset’s Bible Dictionary in the Bibleworks 7.0 software under Joshua reads: “041.01 (See CANAAN, on Procopius' inscription in Mauritania confirming the historical facts). = JEHOSHUA.” Again, the third Hebrew letter that is in the same name that our savior had is not left silent; the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is shown to have an o sound in this name .

Please, check your dictionaries/lexicons more closely; they confirm that the third Hebrew letter IN OUR SAVIOR’S NAME , the ו (Waw), is not silent . Although I do not agree with the dictionaries that

list the third Hebrew letter in our savior’s name with a long o sound, but from all the evidence compiled it is evident that the third Hebrew letter in our savior’s name has a sound. It is just up to us to determine what that sound should be, and from the research that I have done I have concluded that the sound of that letter is, oo, which carries the same sound that the W has in our heavenly father’s name, Yahweh.

The long O sound is not found in the name, Yahweh, thus I believe that is another inconsistency on the part of Scholars (the inconsistency being that in the name Yahweh the Hebrew letter ו has an oo sound

but in the prophet Joshua’s name Hebrew letter ו has a long o sound). Nonetheless, what I do agree with

is that the Scholars do not teach that the Hebrew letter, ו (Waw), is a silent letter, and there is a vast amount

of other evidence to back such, which proves that the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is not a silent letter. And from

the evidence that I have gathered I believe it is sufficient to say that the Hebrew letter in our (Waw) ו savior’s name should have the oo sound.

For another witness to the Hebrew sound, Yahu, one only has to pay attention to the news. Note that the name of Israel’s Prime Minister is, Netanyahu. His name also demonstrates that the Hebrew letter ו (Waw) is not a silent letter and that the sound it has is an oo sound.

Conclusion

The teaching that the Hebrew letter (Waw) ו in our savior’s name is quiescent/silent is a tradition of men, and that tradition distorts the actual name that was given to our savior. I hope this brief study will be of some help to you, and to others. I look forward to hearing back from you should you have any questions, comments or concerns concerning this issue.

Yahweh bless you in all that you do which is in accordance to his perfect will,

Kevin A Bitterman

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Hebrew Alphabet Chart

This Hebrew Alphabet Chart was designed after the chart found in the electronic copy of the Futato Basic Hebrew Tutorial in Bibleworks 7.0. The Scriptural passages were taken from the electronic KJV of Bibleworks 7.0. This chart does not reflect the sounds that the Hebrew letters: h , w & [ make when used as a vowel.

The characters in this column are used at the end of the word, which differ from the Hebrew character when it is used at any other place in a word 1 Alef a Silent Psalm 119:1 ALEPH2 Bet B B as in Boy Psalm 119:9 BETH

b V as in Van3 Gimel g G as in Gas Psalm 119:17 GIMEL4 Dalet d D as in Dog Psalm 119:25 DALETH5 Hey h H as in Hat Psalm 119:33 HE6 Vav w V as in Van Psalm 119:41 VAU7 Zayin z Z as in Zoo Psalm 119:49 ZAIN8 Chet x CH as in BaCH Psalm 119:57 CHETH9 Tet j T as in Top Psalm 119:65 TETH10 Yod y Y as in You Psalm 119:73 JOD11 Kaf K K as in Key & Psalm 119:81 CAPH

k Ch as in BaCH $12 Lamed l L as in Lot Psalm 119:89 LAMED13 Mem m M as in Mat ~ Psalm 119:97 MEM14 Nun n N as in Nut ! Psalm 119:105 NUN15 Samek s S as in See Psalm 119:113 SAMECH16 Ayin [ Silent Psalm 119:121 AIN17 Pey P P as in Pie Psalm 119:129 PE p F as in Fan @18 Tsade c TS as in CaTS # Psalm 119:137 TZADDI19 Qof q K as in Key Psalm 119:145 KOPH20 Resh r R as in Rug Psalm 119:153 RESH21 Sin f S as in See Psalm 119:161 SCHIN Shin v SH as in SHe22 Tav t T as in Top Psalm 119:169 TAU

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