Join Our Sabbath Meetings

There are many people in need of fellowship and who are sitting at home on the Sabbath with no one to talk to or debate with. I want to encourage all of you to join us on Shabbat, and to invite others to come and join us as well. If the time is not convenient then you can listen to the teaching and the midrash after on our YouTube channel.

What are we doing and why do we teach this way?

We are going to discuss both sides of an issue and then let you choose. It is the work of the Ruach (Spirit) to direct and to teach you.

The medieval commentator Rashi wrote that the Hebrew word for wrestle (avek) implies that Jacob was “tied”, for the same word is used to describe knotted fringes in a Jewish prayer shawl, the tzitzityot. Rashi says, “thus is the manner of two people who struggle to overthrow each other, that one embraces the other and knots him with his arms”.

Our intellectual wrestling has been replaced by a different kind of struggle. We are wrestling with Yehovah as we grapple with His Word. It is an intimate act, symbolizing a relationship in which Yehovah and you and I are bound together. My wrestling is a struggle to discover what Yehovah expects of us, and we are “tied” to the One who assists us in that struggle.

Today, many say Israel means “Champion of God”, or better — the “Wrestler of God”.

Our Torah sessions each Shabbat teaches you and encourages you to constantly challenge, question, argue against, as well as view alternative views and explanations of the Word. In other words, we are to “wrestle with the Word” to get to the truth. Jews worldwide believe that you need to wrestle with the Word and constantly challenge Dogma, Theology, and views or else you will never get to the Truth.

We are not like most churches where “The preacher talks and everyone listens.” We encourage everyone to participate, to question and to contribute what they know on the subject being discussed. We want you to be a champion wrestler of the Word of Yehovah. We want you to wear the title of Israel, knowing that you not only know but are capable of explaining why you know the Torah to be true with logic and facts.

We have a few rules though. Let others talk and listen. There is no discussion about UFO’s, Nephilim, Vaccines or conspiracy-type subjects. We have people from around the world with different world views. Not everyone cares who is the President of any particular country. Treat each other with respect as fellow wrestlers of the word. Some of our subjects are hard to understand and require you to be mature and if you do not know, then listen to gain knowledge and understanding and hopefully wisdom. The very things you are commanded to ask Yehovah for and He gives to those who ask.

Jas 1:5  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him.

We hope you can invite those who want to keep Torah to come and join us by hitting the link below. It is almost like a Torah teaching fellowship talk show with people from around the world taking part and sharing their insights and understandings.

We start off with some music and then some prayers and it’s as though you were sitting around the kitchen back in Newfoundland having a cup of coffee and all of us enjoying each other’s company. I hope you will grace us with your company someday.

Sabbath services begin at 12:30 PM EDT where we will be doing prayers, songs and teaching from this hour.

Shabbat midrash will begin at about 1:15 pm Eastern.

We look forward to you joining our family and getting to know us as we get to know you.

Joseph Dumond is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
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2026 Is a Third Tithe Year

I want to begin by apologizing for not being more faithful in reminding us all of our duties in this third tithe year.

We are in the third year of the current 5th Sabbatical Cycle (2024–2030). According to the biblical pattern given in Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and 26:12-15, every third year is designated as the Third Tithe Year — the year set aside specifically for the widows, the fatherless (orphans), the Levites, and the stranger in your gates.

This is not the regular first and second tithe used for the feasts and supporting the work of the ministry. The Third Tithe is an additional tithe (10% of your increase) given directly to care for those who cannot care for themselves.

Sightedmoon.com has taught this consistently for many years: 2026 is a Third Tithe Year (Aviv 2026 to Aviv 2027).

If you have widows or orphans in your own family or immediate circle, this is the year to support them intentionally. The command is clear — do not neglect them.

If you do not have family members in need, or if you want to do more, you can support the widows and orphans who reach out to Sightedmoon.com. Many are struggling in this time of rising costs and uncertainty. Your Third Tithe gift this year will be used directly to help those in genuine need.

Deuteronomy 14:29 tells us that when we obey this command, “the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

This is not optional. It is one of the specific ways Yehovah tests and blesses His people — especially in a year like 2026, when the signs of scarcity are increasing.

Let us be faithful in the Third Tithe this year.

If you would like to support the widows and orphans through Sightedmoon.com, you can do so here:

https://sightedmoon.com/donate/

May Yehovah bless you as you obey Him in this important command.

AI, Fear, and Idolatry, Are We Using a Tool or Bowing to It?

The Divine Name in Hebrew Theophoric Names

Yeh at the Beginning

Yah at the End

In proper biblical Hebrew, when the divine name is incorporated into personal names (theophoric names), it follows a consistent grammatical pattern rooted in the pronunciation and structure of Yehovah (יְהֹוָה).

• When the divine element appears at the beginning of a name, it takes the form Yeh- or Yeho- (יְהוֹ).
• When it appears at the end of a name, it takes the form -yah (יָה) or the fuller -yahu (יָהוּ).

This pattern is not arbitrary. It aligns with Hebrew grammar, accent rules, and the way the eternal Name — revealed as Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (“I AM WHO I AM / I Will Be Who I Will Be”) in Exodus 3:14 — is embedded in compound names. The three tenses of the root hayah (“to be”) — Yihyeh (He will be), Hoveh (He is), and Hayah (He was) — combine to express the full meaning of Yehovah: “He Was, He Is, He Will Be.”

Why the Pattern Exists

Hebrew favors certain vowel sounds and syllable stress. When the divine name is prefixed, the natural form is Yeh- / Yeho- to carry the full weight of the Name at the start. When suffixed, the emphasis shifts to the end of the word, producing -yah or -yahu. This is seen uniformly across the Hebrew Scriptures and reflects the original pronunciation preserved in the Masoretic text.

Examples of Names Beginning with Yeh- / Yeho-

Here are many clear biblical examples (using standard English spellings followed by Hebrew transliteration):

• • Yehoshua (Joshua) – יהושע – “Yehovah is salvation” (most famous: successor of Moses)
  • Yehonatan (Jonathan) – יהונתן – “Yehovah has given” (son of Saul, friend of David; also others)
  • Yehoyada (Jehoiada) – יהוידע – “Yehovah knows” (high priest who overthrew Athaliah; father of Benaiah)
  • Yehoyakim (Jehoiakim) – יהויקים – “Yehovah will raise up / Yehovah establishes”
  • Yehoyachin (Jehoiachin) – יהויכין – “Yehovah will establish / Yehovah prepares”
  • Yehoahaz (Jehoahaz) – יהואחז – “Yehovah has grasped / Yehovah holds”
  • Yehoash (Jehoash / Joash) – יהואש – “Yehovah has given / Yehovah is strong” (kings of Judah and Israel)
  • Yehonadav (Jehonadab) – יהונדב – “Yehovah is willing / Yehovah impels”
  • Yehoshaphat (Jehoshaphat) – יהושפט – “Yehovah has judged” (king of Judah)
  • Yehoram (Jehoram / Joram) – יהורם – “Yehovah is exalted / Yehovah is high” (kings of Israel and Judah)
  • Yehosef (Joseph, full form) – יהוסף – “Yehovah will add / Yehovah increases” (Psalm 81:6)
  • Yehochanan (Jehohanan) – יהוחנן – “Yehovah is gracious / Yehovah has shown favor” (multiple in Chronicles, Ezra)
  • Yehiel (Jehiel) – יהיאל – “Yehovah is God / God lives” (multiple leaders and Levites)
  • Yehizkiyah (Hezekiah, longer form) – יהזקיה – “Yehovah strengthens”
  • Yehotzadak (Jehozadak) – “Yehovah is righteous”
  • Yehoaddah – “Yehovah has adorned”
  • Yehoram (already listed)
  • Yehoiada (already listed)
  • Yehoshabeath (Jehosheba) – “Yehovah is an oath / swearing”

There are over 20 clear examples of the Yeho- / Yeh- prefix in the Hebrew Bible, all consistently following this rule with no standard exceptions among Israelite names.

Examples of Names Ending with -yah or -yahu

The suffix form is even more common:

• • Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) – יִרְמְיָהוּ – “Yehovah will exalt / Yehovah lifts up”
  • Yeshayahu (Isaiah) – יְשַׁעְיָהוּ – “Yehovah is salvation”
  • Eliyahu (Elijah) – אֵלִיָּהוּ – “My God is Yehovah”
  • Zekaryahu (Zechariah) – זְכַרְיָהוּ – “Yehovah remembers”
  • Chizkiyahu (Hezekiah) – חִזְקִיָּהוּ – “Yehovah strengthens”
  • Yoshiyahu (Josiah) – יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ – “Yehovah heals / supports”
  • Mattanyahu (Mattaniah) – מַתַּנְיָהוּ – “Gift of Yehovah”
  • Shefatyahu (Shephatiah) – שְׁפַטְיָהוּ – “Yehovah has judged”
  • Azaryahu (Azariah) – עֲזַרְיָהוּ – “Yehovah has helped”
  • Uziyahu (Uzziah) – עֻזִּיָּהוּ – “Yehovah is my strength”
  • Abiyah (Abijah) – אֲבִיָּה – “My father is Yehovah”
  • Adoniyah (Adonijah) – אֲדֹנִיָּה – “My lord is Yehovah”
  • Amasyah (Amasiah) – עֲמַשְׁיָה – “Yehovah has borne / carried”
  • Amaryah (Amariah) – אֲמַרְיָה – “Yehovah has promised / said”
  • Hizkiyahu (Hezekiah, variant) – same as above
  • Nethanyahu (Nethaniah) – נְתַנְיָהוּ – “Yehovah has given”
  • Yedidyah (Jedidiah) – יְדִידְיָה – “Beloved of Yehovah” (Solomon’s other name)
  • Malkiyah (Malchiah) – מַלְכִּיָּה – “Yehovah is king”
  • Uriyah (Uriah) – אוּרִיָּה – “Yehovah is my light / flame”
  • Toviyah (Tobiah) – “Yehovah is good”
  • Berekyahu (Berechiah) – “Yehovah blesses”
  • Gemaryahu (Gemariah) – “Yehovah has completed”
  • Nedabyah – “Yehovah is willing”
  • Pedaiah – “Yehovah has redeemed”
  • Rephayah – “Yehovah has healed”
  • Shemayah (Shemaiah) – “Yehovah has heard”
  • Tsidqiyahu (Zedekiah) – “Yehovah is righteous” (last king of Judah)
  • Obadyahu (Obadiah) – “Servant of Yehovah”

There are dozens of names ending in -yahu (full form) and even more in the shortened -yah. This pattern holds throughout the Tanakh.

The Consistency of Proper Hebrew

This is not a random custom but a reflection of proper Hebrew grammar and phonology. The prefix Yeh- and suffix -yah / -yahu both point back to the same divine Name revealed to Moses. No biblical Israelite name begins with “Yah-” as a prefix in the way “Yeh-” appears, nor does the suffix appear as “Yeh-” at the end. The pattern is uniform and testifies to the pronunciation Yehovah as preserved in the Hebrew text.

This beautiful feature of the Hebrew language shows how the eternal Name — “He Was, He Is, He Will Be” — was woven into the very identities of God’s people, reminding them constantly of the One who called them by name.

In the Masoretic Hebrew text of the Tanakh, when the divine Name is incorporated into personal names, proper Hebrew grammar follows a clear and consistent rule:

• When the divine element appears at the beginning of a name, it is always spelled and pronounced Yeh- or Yeho- (יְהוֹ־).
• When it appears at the end of a name, it is spelled -yah or -yahu (יָה / יָהוּ).

There are virtually no standard Israelite theophoric names in the Hebrew Bible that begin with “Yah-” (יַה־) as the divine prefix in the same consistent way that the Yeh-/Yeho- prefix appears.

The short form Yah (יה) is frequently used as:

• A standalone poetic expression (e.g., Hallelu-Yah),
• A suffix at the end of names (-yah / -yahu).

Yehudah (Judah / יְהוּדָה), one of the earliest names, begins with Yeh-, not “Yah-”. Claims that place a “Yah-” prefix at the front of names are mostly made by modern non-scholars and do not reflect proper Hebrew grammar or the Masoretic text.

The few rare candidates sometimes mentioned (such as Yahdai in 1 Chronicles 2:47 or Yahzeel in Genesis 46:24) are exceptional, minor names and not part of the abundant, consistent pattern seen with Yeh-. No major prophets, kings, or central figures in Israel have names that reliably begin with a clear “Yah-” divine prefix.

This uniform pattern — Yeh- at the beginning and Yah / Yahu at the end — is preserved throughout the Tanakh. It testifies to the pronunciation Yehovah as embedded in the Hebrew Scriptures according to proper Hebrew rules.

The Name of God Revealed in Exodus 3:14

From Yehovah to Yahweh

God’s displeasure when His Name is neglected or replaced

The Jewish Practice of Not Pronouncing the Name Yehovah (or YHWH)

Jews today do not pronounce the Tetragrammaton יהוה (whether as Yehovah, Yahweh, or any other vocalized form) out of deep reverence for its holiness. This tradition is ancient and stems from several biblical and historical factors.

Primary Biblical Foundation: The Third Commandment

The core reason is the Third Commandment:

“You shall not take the name of Yehovah your God in vain, for Yehovah will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)

Traditional Jewish interpretation understands “in vain” (lashav) to include not only false oaths or casual swearing, but any irreverent, unnecessary, or casual utterance of the sacred Name. To avoid any risk of breaking this commandment, the Name is simply not spoken aloud.

The Key Passage Often Cited: Jeremiah 44:26

Some teachers, especially in Sacred Name circles, point to Jeremiah 44:26 as a specific divine pronouncement related to the Jews in Egypt:

“Therefore hear the word of Yehovah, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I have sworn by My great name,’ says Yehovah, ‘that My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “As the Lord GOD lives.”’”

In context, this was a judgment against the idolatrous Jews in Egypt who were mixing worship of Yehovah with pagan practices (such as offering incense to the “Queen of Heaven”). God declared that because of their profanation of His Name through syncretism, He would remove the privilege of invoking it in that place. This was a localized judgment on that specific community, not a universal, eternal curse on all Jews everywhere for all time.

Broader Context in Jeremiah

Jeremiah also rebukes false prophets who were trying to make God’s people forget His Name (Jeremiah 23:26-27):

Jer 23:26  How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? But they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart,

Jer 23:27  who plot to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal.

This shows God’s displeasure when His Name is neglected or replaced, but it does not command a permanent ban on its use by all Jews.

Historical Development of the Tradition

• By the Second Temple period (c. 3rd century BCE onward), the practice of substituting Adonai (“My Lord”) when reading the Name aloud was already well established.
• The Masoretes (7th–10th centuries CE) reinforced this by inserting the vowels of Adonai into the consonants YHWH as a perpetual reminder not to pronounce it.
• After the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, the oral knowledge of the exact pronunciation was largely lost outside very restricted circles (the High Priest pronounced it only on Yom Kippur in the Holy of Holies).

Modern Jewish Practice

Today, observant Jews:

• Say “Adonai” when reading Scripture aloud.
• Use “HaShem” (“The Name”) in conversation.
• Never pronounce Yehovah, Jehovah, or Yahweh in prayer, song, or daily speech.

This is not because they reject the Name, but because they regard it as supremely holy and seek to protect it from any possible misuse — in obedience to the Third Commandment and in line with the warnings in Jeremiah against profaning or forgetting it.

In summary, the avoidance of pronouncing the Name is fundamentally an act of reverence rooted in Exodus 20:7. Jeremiah 44:26 was a specific judgment on a particular idolatrous group, not a blanket eternal curse preventing all Jews from ever using the Name. The tradition of substitution has been the standard practice across Judaism for over two thousand years.

Nehemia Gordon’s Research on the Pronunciation “Yehovah”

Nehemia Gordon, a Karaite Jewish scholar, has conducted extensive research into the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH). He argues that the original and correct pronunciation preserved in ancient Hebrew sources is Yehovah (יְהֹוָה), not the scholarly reconstruction “Yahweh.” His work focuses on direct manuscript evidence rather than linguistic theory alone.

Core Claim and Methodology

Gordon’s central argument is that Jewish scribes (Masoretes and later copyists) occasionally revealed the full vowels of the Name when they “slipped” in their careful system of hiding it. He and his team have systematically examined thousands of Hebrew Bible manuscripts from libraries worldwide (including the Vatican, Russian National Library, and others). They search for instances where YHWH appears with a complete set of vowel points that spell Yehovah (sheva under yod, holem on vav, kamatz under final heh).

Key milestones in his findings:

• By January 2018: Over 1,000 Hebrew Bible manuscripts with full vowels of “Yehovah.”
• By late 2019: Over 2,000 such manuscripts.

These include major codices and fragments dating from the 9th–15th centuries CE onward.

Specific Ancient Sources and Proofs

Gordon highlights several key pieces of evidence:

1. The Aleppo Codex is one of the oldest and most authoritative Masoretic manuscripts of the entire Hebrew Bible. Gordon and his team examined it extensively and identified at least seven clear instances where the Tetragrammaton יהוה has the full vowels of Yehovah (sheva under the yod, holem on the vav, and kamatz under the final heh).

   One notable example is in 1 Samuel 15:1, during the scene where Samuel anoints Saul as king. Gordon highlights that even in this meticulously proofread codex, the scribes occasionally allowed the full pointing. He argues this was not random error but occasional preservation of the known pronunciation. The Aleppo Codex’s precision makes these instances particularly significant — if the scribes were strictly substituting Adonai vowels, such full pointings should not appear at all. Gordon has shared high-resolution images and folio references in his studies, showing the exact vowel marks.

2. Leningrad Codex (c. 1008 CE, basis for many modern Hebrew Bibles):

   This is the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible and serves as the textual basis for many modern editions (such as Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia). Gordon notes that it also contains multiple instances of the full Yehovah vowels, though with some variations and occasional later “corrections.”

   He points out inconsistencies in how later scribes handled the pointing, sometimes adjusting vowels when the Name appeared near Adonai. Despite these, the core Yehovah pattern appears repeatedly. Gordon contrasts this with the complete absence of any “Yahweh” pointing in the manuscript. The Leningrad Codex provides one of the earliest large-scale witnesses in his collection.

3. Early Hebrew Bible Fragments (9th–11th centuries):

   Gordon’s team has catalogued numerous early fragments and partial manuscripts from major libraries (including the Vatican, British Library, Russian National Library, and others). These date from the 9th to 11th centuries and show the Yehovah vowels in various biblical books.

   He stresses that these are not isolated anomalies but part of a broader pattern across hundreds of sources. In some cases, scribes wrote the full vowels and later added marginal corrections to Adonai, indicating awareness of the pronunciation. Gordon maintains these revelations occurred because scribes knew the true vowels but followed the tradition of concealment most of the time. His database now includes thousands of such attestations.

4. Traditional Jewish Sources:

   Gordon has examined previously untranslated or understudied rabbinic and especially Karaite texts. Karaites (a non-rabbinic Jewish sect) sometimes preserved different attitudes toward the Name. He cites sources where Jewish authorities explicitly describe the vowels as producing Yehovah.

   In his series “10 Rabbis Speak Out on the Name,” he presents medieval Jewish voices confirming this pointing. Gordon connects this to the Masoretes themselves, arguing that many were influenced by Karaite traditions that retained knowledge of the pronunciation even while suppressing public utterance. These internal Jewish witnesses are central to his argument that “Yehovah” was not a Christian invention but known within Jewish scribal circles.

5. The “Mistake That Got It Right”:

   This is one of Gordon’s most detailed explanations. When scribes were supposed to insert the vowels of Adonai (which begins with a hatef-patach under a guttural), they sometimes used a regular sheva under the yod of YHWH instead. Additionally, they frequently omitted the middle holem (the “o” sound) on the vav.

   Gordon argues this was a deliberate strategy to obscure the Name while still allowing the correct pronunciation to be recoverable. Occasionally, a scribe would include the full set of vowels (sheva + holem + kamatz), producing Yehovah by what Gordon calls a “happy mistake” or “the mistake that got it right.” He also discusses rafeh marks (dots) and other scribal notations used to signal how to handle the Name. These “slips” in otherwise rigorous proofreading preserved the pronunciation across centuries.

Gordon emphasizes that in all these thousands of manuscripts, he has not found a single instance of vowel points spelling “Yahweh” or similar forms in Jewish Hebrew Bible texts.

Overall Assessment: Gordon’s work documents over 2,000 Hebrew Bible manuscripts (as of 2019, with more added since) containing the full vowels of Yehovah. He repeatedly notes the complete absence of any manuscript evidence for “Yahweh” in Jewish sources. His research emphasizes primary manuscript evidence over later linguistic reconstructions and has been presented in detailed video studies on NehemiasWall.com. While mainstream scholarship debates his interpretations (particularly the intent behind the pointing), Gordon’s contribution lies in the sheer volume of documented examples from the Masoretic tradition itself.

Additional Supporting Points from Gordon

• He links this to the three tenses of the verb hayah (“to be”): Yihyeh (He will be), Hoveh (He is), Hayah (He was) → forming Yehovah (“He Was, He Is, He Will Be”).
• He argues the Masoretes (many of whom he believes included Karaites) knew the pronunciation but suppressed public use while occasionally allowing it in the written tradition.
• Gordon has also examined Hebrew New Testament manuscripts and other sources for consistency.

Summary of His Position

Gordon presents his findings as overwhelming empirical evidence from primary sources: thousands of Hebrew manuscripts (now over 2,000 documented by his count) preserve the full vowels of Yehovah. He views this as proof that Jewish scribes knew and sometimes recorded the true pronunciation, even while the broader tradition substituted “Adonai” out of reverence. His research is detailed in videos, articles, and studies on NehemiasWall.com, including “The Mistake That Got It Right” series.

This work has been influential in certain Hebrew Roots and Sacred Name communities, though it remains debated in mainstream scholarship. Gordon continues to share updates and encourages direct examination of the manuscripts.

Nehemia Gordon’s Position on the Origin of “Yahweh”

One of the most misunderstood points in the debate over the divine Name is Nehemia Gordon’s position on the pronunciation “Yahweh.” Many people assume Gordon teaches that “Yahweh” comes directly from Zeus or that the Name itself is pagan. That is not what he says. His argument is more careful, more historical, and, in many ways, more troubling for the modern scholarly consensus.

Gordon’s real point is this: the academic preference for “Yahweh” does not rest on primary Hebrew manuscript evidence. It rests mainly on later secondary testimony, especially a fifth-century Christian report about Samaritan pronunciation, and that testimony comes from a community with a documented history of religious syncretism and adaptation under pagan rule. For Gordon, that is a very weak foundation on which to build certainty about the pronunciation of the most sacred Name in Scripture.

At the center of the scholarly case for “Yahweh” stands Theodoret of Cyrus, a Christian Church Father writing around 450 CE. In his Questions on Exodus (Question 15), Theodoret says that the Samaritans pronounced the Name as Iabe, while the Jews pronounced it as Aia. This brief statement has been cited again and again in modern lexicons and scholarly discussions. In fact, it has become one of the main ancient witnesses used to support the reconstructed pronunciation “Yahweh.” Scholars generally interpret the Samaritan form Iabe as a Greek attempt to capture something like Yahweh, allowing for the limitations of Greek spelling.

Gordon does not deny that this passage exists or that it has deeply influenced scholarship. His objection is that it is being given a level of authority it does not deserve. Theodoret is not preserving a direct Hebrew manuscript tradition. He is a late Christian writer reporting what he says the Samaritans called the Name. That is not the same thing as ancient Jewish or Israelite manuscript evidence. It is second-hand external testimony, and Gordon argues that scholars have leaned on it far too heavily.

The problem becomes more serious when one considers the historical record of the Samaritans themselves. During the persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century BCE, the Samaritans sought to avoid suffering by distancing themselves from the Jews and adapting themselves to Greek expectations. Josephus records in Antiquities of the Jews 12.257–264 that they requested their temple on Mount Gerizim be rededicated to Jupiter Hellenius. Likewise, 2 Maccabees 6:2 confirms that the temple on Mount Gerizim was called the temple of Zeus. These are not hostile rumors from much later sources. They are ancient witnesses to a real historical episode.

For Gordon, this matters greatly. It shows that the Samaritans were willing, under pressure, to blur or adapt their religious identity. Josephus even describes them presenting themselves as “Sidonians in Shechem” rather than as Jews. In other words, they were not preserving an unbroken, untouched witness to Israelite tradition. They had already shown themselves willing to compromise, rename, and reposition themselves when it served their survival. Gordon therefore argues that Samaritan pronunciation, especially when reported centuries later by Theodoret, cannot simply be treated as the pure ancient pronunciation of the divine Name.

This is where Gordon’s critique of modern scholarship becomes especially sharp. He points out that some of the very scholars who helped popularize “Yahweh” as the original form were themselves willing to connect that form, at least speculatively, with names associated with pagan deities. The most famous example is Wilhelm Gesenius, the great nineteenth-century Hebrew lexicographer whose work shaped much of modern biblical scholarship. In the English translation of his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, Gesenius wrote that, in his opinion, the reconstructed form Yahweh might be of the greatest antiquity and perhaps of the same origin as Jovis or Jupiter, possibly transmitted from the Egyptians to the Hebrews.

Gordon finds this both shocking and ironic. The very academic tradition insisting that “Yahweh” is the original pronunciation was sometimes willing to compare it to Jupiter or Jovis. Gordon does not use this to argue that “Yahweh” literally is Zeus. Rather, he uses it to expose how speculative the scholarly chain of reasoning has been. What is often presented as settled fact turns out to rest on Samaritan testimony filtered through a late Christian writer and then extended by scholars who were not above entertaining pagan parallels.

Against all of this, Gordon appeals to what he sees as the far stronger witness of the Hebrew Bible manuscripts themselves. He and his team have spent years examining Hebrew manuscripts, and by early 2018 they had already documented more than one thousand manuscripts containing the full vowels of Yehovah. At one point the count had reached 1,015, and he has indicated that the number has continued to increase. These examples include the Aleppo Codex, the Leningrad Codex, and hundreds of other manuscripts and fragments ranging from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. Gordon has published spreadsheets, high-resolution images, and detailed explanations of this evidence.

For him, the significance is obvious. There is an enormous body of direct Hebrew manuscript evidence for Yehovah, while there is no direct ancient Hebrew manuscript evidence for Yahweh. That does not end the debate for everyone, but it certainly changes how the evidence should be weighed. Gordon insists that primary Hebrew manuscript evidence must carry more authority than later external reconstructions based on Samaritan pronunciation.

He strengthens this case further by appealing to the internal evidence of biblical Hebrew names. The theophoric names of the Tanakh follow a highly consistent pattern. At the beginning of names, the divine element appears overwhelmingly as Yeh- or Yeho-, as in Yehoshua, Yehonatan, Yehoshaphat, and Yehoyada. At the end of names, it appears overwhelmingly as -yah or -yahu, as in Yirmeyahu, Yeshayahu, Eliyahu, and Chizkiyahu. Gordon argues that these patterns fit naturally with Yehovah and do not align nearly as well with Yahweh. If the Name had originally begun with Yah-, one would expect that form to appear much more clearly in theophoric prefixes throughout the Hebrew Bible. Instead, what appears again and again is Yeh- or Yeho-.

So Gordon’s conclusion is not that “Yahweh” is a pagan name in itself. His conclusion is that the scholarly preference for “Yahweh” rests on a chain of evidence that is secondary, late, heavily Samaritan, and historically entangled with a community known to have adapted itself under Hellenistic pressure. By contrast, Yehovah is, in his judgment, supported by a massive body of Hebrew manuscript evidence and by the internal structure of Hebrew names preserved throughout the Tanakh.

This is why Gordon rejects the academic consensus. He believes the case for “Yahweh” asks us to trust late outside reports over the Hebrew manuscripts, Samaritan testimony over Jewish scribal preservation, and scholarly reconstruction over direct textual evidence. For him, that is methodologically backwards. The place to begin is not with Theodoret, not with Gesenius, and not with later reconstructions. The place to begin is with the Hebrew text itself.

In the end, that is the real issue. Will we build our understanding of the divine Name on primary manuscript evidence preserved in the Hebrew Bible, or on later scholarly theories rooted in second-hand Samaritan testimony? Nehemia Gordon’s answer is clear. He believes the evidence points not to Yahweh, but to Yehovah.

Call upon His Name

This week I have been explaining the Name of Yehovah and why it matters. I want to close this newsletter by bringing all of it down to one simple but powerful truth. It is important to know the Name of Yehovah because He revealed it so that His people would remember it, honor it, and call upon it.

This is not a minor issue. It is not a side discussion for those who enjoy Hebrew studies. It is not an optional preference. It reaches into prayer, worship, covenant, deliverance, and obedience itself.

When Yehovah first revealed His Name to Moses, He did not do it casually. In Exodus 3:15 He said,

“Say this to the people of Israel: Yehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

That is as plain as words can be. This is My Name forever. Thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

He did not reveal His Name so that it could be hidden. He did not reveal it so later generations could replace it with titles. He said this is how He is to be remembered. And then in Exodus 6:2-3 He spoke again to Moses and said,

“I am Yehovah.”

He identifies Himself by Name. He is not nameless, and He is not content to remain unknown behind generic titles.

This same truth is repeated in Isaiah 42:8, where He says,

“I am Yehovah, that is My Name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images.”

He ties His glory to His Name. He declares it. He distinguishes Himself by it. So who are we to act as though the Name is unimportant?

The Scriptures do not treat the Name as unimportant. Again and again, Yehovah commands His people to call upon it.

Psalm 105:1 says,

“Oh give thanks to Yehovah; call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples!”

Isaiah 12:4 says,

“And in that day you will say: Give thanks to Yehovah, call upon His Name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted.”

This is not hidden in some obscure passage. It is part of the ordinary language of worship. We are told to give thanks to Yehovah, to call upon His Name, and to make it known that His Name is exalted.

Zephaniah 3:9 goes even further, speaking of the future restoration:

“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call upon the Name of Yehovah, to serve Him with one accord.”

Think about that. In the restoration of all things, the peoples are given a pure language for a purpose, so that they all may call upon the Name of Yehovah. The Name is not discarded in the restoration. It is restored in the restoration.

And there are promises attached to calling upon the Name.

Joel 2:32 declares,

“And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the Name of Yehovah shall be saved.”

This promise is so central that it is quoted again in the New Testament, in Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13. The message remains the same. Deliverance is tied to calling upon the Name of Yehovah.

Psalm 50:15 says,

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

And Psalm 91:14-15 says,

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My Name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him.”

These verses connect knowing His Name, calling upon Him, deliverance, and answered prayer. That is not accidental. That is covenant language. It is intimate language. It is the language of relationship.

From the earliest pages of Scripture, this was the practice of the faithful. Abraham built altars and called upon the Name of Yehovah in Genesis 12:8 and again in Genesis 13:4. Isaac did the same in Genesis 26:25. Elijah stood against the prophets of Baal and said in 1 Kings 18:24,

“Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call upon the Name of Yehovah; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”

David says in Psalm 116:13,

“I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the Name of Yehovah,”

and again in verse 17,

“I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the Name of Yehovah.”

This is the pattern of the righteous. They did not merely think about Him. They called upon Him by Name.

There is another reason this matters, and it has to do with covenant itself. In the ancient world, when a great king entered into covenant with a lesser people or ruler, the covenant began with the declaration of the king’s personal name and titles. In the ancient suzerain-vassal treaties of the Hittites and others, the preamble always identified the greater king by name. The covenant was not made with an anonymous force. It was made with a named ruler whose identity established the authority and binding nature of the agreement.

This is exactly the pattern we see in Scripture. When Yehovah enters covenant with Israel, He begins by declaring Himself.

“I am Yehovah your God…”

That is the covenant preamble. That is the declaration of the One with whom Israel is entering relationship. His Name is not a minor detail. It is part of the covenant foundation.

That is why Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20 say,

“Yehovah your God you shall fear, and Him you shall serve, and by His Name you shall swear.”

His Name is tied to allegiance, worship, service, and covenant loyalty.

So let us be very plain. God did not reveal His Name so that we could hide it. He did not reveal His Name so we could permanently replace it with titles. He revealed it so that His people could know Him, remember Him, honour Him, and call upon Him.

Now let me be careful. I am not saying that a man must have perfect pronunciation in order for Yehovah to hear him. Yehovah knows the heart. He knows when a person is crying out in sincerity. But once He has revealed His Name, and once you know it, the question becomes one of obedience and honour. Will you use the Name He gave, or will you continue to hide it behind tradition or calling upon a false god?

The issue is not whether God is intelligent enough to know who you mean. Of course He is. The issue is whether you will honour what He Himself said. He said,

“This is My Name forever.”

He said,

“Call upon His Name.”

He said,

“I am Yehovah, that is My Name.”

He said,

“Everyone who calls upon the Name of Yehovah shall be saved.”

This is why it matters to know the Name. It matters because He revealed it. It matters because He commanded it to be remembered. It matters because He told us to call upon it. It matters because He tied deliverance, nearness, and answered prayer to those who know and call upon His Name.

So if you are seeking to know Him more intimately, begin using the Name He gave. Give thanks to Yehovah. Call upon Yehovah. Pray to Yehovah in the day of trouble. Teach your children the Name of Yehovah. Let the Name He said is His memorial forever once again be found on the lips of His people.

This is why I use the Name Yehovah.

Because He said,

“This is My Name forever.”

Because He said,

“Call upon His Name.”

Because He promised,

“Everyone who calls upon the Name of Yehovah shall be saved.”

Because He said,

“I will deliver him… because he has known My Name.”

And I do not believe He revealed His Name for us to bury it again.