How should we pronounce the name of God? We don’t really know since, out of caution, our Jewish brothers and sisters stopped speaking it millennia ago.
The Tetragrammaton, YHWH, is used to represent His name. Sometimes it is written out as Jehovah or others use Yahweh.
It is commonly taught that the Name is missing the vowels, but I ran across two interesting hypotheses that suggest something else. One said they actually were vowels (that one slips over my head). The other idea said they were aspirate consonants – consonants that actually sound like vowels.
Based on this second idea, when pronounced without intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing. YH (inhale): WH (exhale). Did you just try it? I did.
So a rabbinic thought is that a baby’s first cry, his first breath, speaks the name of God. A deep sigh calls His name – or a groan or gasp that is too heavy for mere words. Even an atheist would speak His name unaware, his very life giving constant acknowledgment to his Creator. Likewise, a person is gone with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer being spoken.
So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out His name?
Does being alive mean I speak His name constantly?
Is it heard the loudest when I’m the quietest?
I don’t know how God would pronounce His name, but I love this picture. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this idea.
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