Names of Yehovah: Yehovah Yireh

 

Introduction

 

A distinction must be drawn between the names and the titles of the God of Israel. A name is a uniquely personal way of addressing anyone, intended to distinguish that person from another. Every Hebrew name has a meaning that tells of an event or gives a description. A title, on the other hand, is not necessarily unique, describing rank, function and/or character.

 

Yehovah has several names and many titles. He is addressed by these names, titles, and by combinations of names with the titles. A large book would be required to cover all combinations. This document will consider one combination.

 

1. Yehovah Yireh – 

 

Yehovah () is the most often used name of the God of Israel. Silly debates over this name’s derivation have taken place over centuries. Some ignorant scholars believe it was pronounced ‘Yahweh’ (supposedly indicating breath or air—a concept especially pushed by an anti-Semitic German scholar in the last century), claiming this error on the basis of a truth: that God is a spirit. Such ‘scholars’ were apparently unaware of the Biblical statement showing the derivation and pronunciation of this Name in Exodus 3:13-15:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The literal rendering of this passage is:

 

 

 

Exodus 3:13 And Moshe said unto the Elohim, “Behold I come unto the children of Israel. And I will say to them, ‘The Gods of your fathers sent {singular} me unto you.’ And they shall say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What will I say unto them?” And Elohim said unto Moshe, “I will be Who I will be!” And He said, “So thou shalt say to the children of Israel, ‘I-will-be sent me unto you!’” And Elohim said again unto Moshe, “So thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, ‘Yehovah the Gods of your fathers, the Gods of Abraham, the Gods of Yitzkhak, and the Gods of Yaakov sent me unto you!’ This is my Name to Hider, and this is my remembrance to generation, generation!”

 

 

 

Yehovah therefore must be derived from ‘I-will-be.’ Orthodox Jewish children are taught that it means, “He will be, He is, He was.” Yehovah is a contraction derived in the following way:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yehovah is sometimes contracted again to Yah, and this is also used as His Name.

 

 

 

 (Yireh) means He will see. The dotting done by Rabbinic scholars cannot be right (the dotting determines pronunciation and the form of the word) since this does not fit the context of the text of Genesis 22:1-19. The Hebrew and a literal English rendering (rearranged for clarity) of Genesis 22:7-14 follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Genesis 22:7 And Yitzkhak said unto Avraham his father, and he said, “My father!” And he said, “Behold I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold the fire and the trees. And where is the lamb for the ascension?” And Avraham said, “Elohim will see for Him the lamb for the ascension, my son.” And both of them went together. And they came unto the place that the Elohim said to him. And Avraham built the altar there. And he ordered the trees. And he bound Yitzhkhak his son. And he put him upon the altar from above to the trees. And Avraham sent his hand. And he took the cleaver to slaughter his son. And Angel Yehovah called unto him from the heavens. And He said, “Avraham! Avraham!” And he said, “Behold I am!” And He said, “Do not send thine hand unto the youth! And do not do to him nothing! For now I have known that thou art a fearer of Elohim! And thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only, from me!” And Avraham lifted his eyes. And he saw. And behold, another ram was caught in the thicket via his horns. And Avraham went. And he took the ram. And he ascended him to an ascension under his son. And Avraham called the name of that place Yehovah-Will-See, which will be said today, “In the mountain of Yehovah he will be seen.”

 

 

 

This is not logical. I will show what the text would say if the dotting were correct:

 

 

 

And Yitzkhak said unto Avraham his father, and he said, “My father!” And he said, “Behold I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold the fire and the trees. And where is the lamb for the ascension?” And Avraham said, “Elohim will be seen for Himself the lamb for the ascension, my son.” And both of them went together. And they came unto the place that the Elohim said to him. And Avraham built the altar there. And he ordered the trees. And he bound Yitzhkhak his son. And he put him upon the altar from above to the trees. And Avraham sent his hand. And he took the cleaver to slaughter his son. And Angel Yehovah called unto him from the heavens. And He said, “Avraham! Avraham!” And he said, “Behold I am!” And He said, “Do not send thine hand unto the youth! And do not do to him nothing! For now I have known that thou art a fearer of Elohim! And thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only, from me!” And Avraham lifted his eyes. And he saw. And behold, another ram was caught in the thicket via his horns. And Avraham went. And he took the ram. And he ascended him to an ascension under his son. And Avraham called the name of that place Yehovah-Will-Be-Seen, which will be said today, “In the mountain of Yehovah He will be seen.”

 

This makes much more sense, and the undotted text reads exactly the same in both cases. (The bad grammar in the expression, “And do not do to him nothing!” is good grammar in Hebrew.)

 

 

 

If what I have proposed is true, the expression Yehovah Yireh (pronounced ‘Yeer-eh’) means Yehovah will be seen. It is a prophetic Name/Title combination which shows that He will be the lamb sacrifice pictured in this case, and will come to the Mountain of Yehovah in the End Times. Yehovah intentionally had Avraham do a ram sacrifice instead of a lamb to show that another sacrifice pictured by a lamb will occur in the future.