The Tetragrammaton is the four-letter Hebrew name of God, written from right to left as יהוה. Those four consonants are yod, he, waw, he — often transliterated YHWH (or JHVH in older Latin-based writing). Hebrew in the Old Testament was written with consonants only, so the letters themselves are certain; what is not certain is the vowel sounds that went with them. That is why you will see the name rendered as Jehovah in some English Bibles and as Yahweh in scholarly writing. The letters are the stable part of the question. The pronunciation is the debated part.
What exactly are the four Hebrew letters?
The name is spelled with four consonants:
- Yod (י) — the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a small stroke at the top.
- He (ה) — an open letter, like a window.
- Waw (ו) — a hook or peg shape; in ancient times it carried a w sound.
- He (ה) — the same letter again at the end.
Read right to left, the four letters are יהוה. This is the form found in the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, and it appears thousands of times. The shape you see in modern printed Hebrew Bibles is the square or Assyrian script, which became standard after the Babylonian exile. Earlier Hebrew writing used a rounded, older script, but the letters are the same four.
Because Hebrew was written without vowels, the reader supplied the vowels from memory and from tradition. For most words that is no problem — the meaning is clear from context. For the divine name, the tradition of pronunciation was eventually lost, which is why the exact vowels are disputed.
How did the name come to be written as Jehovah?
When Jewish readers came to the four letters in the text, they did not read them aloud. Instead they said Adonai (Lord) or, in some settings, HaShem (the Name). To remind the reader of this, the scribes added the vowel points of Adonai to the four consonants. The consonants remained יהוה, but the vowels belonged to another word.
Later, Christian scholars who did not know this convention read the consonants together with those vowels and produced the form Jehovah. It first appears in Latin writing in the Middle Ages and entered English Bibles through the King James Version. The KJV uses “Jehovah” in a handful of places where the name stands out, such as:
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth. — Psalm 83:18 (KJV)
The American Standard Version of 1901 went further and used “Jehovah” consistently for the Tetragrammaton throughout the Old Testament. Most modern translations follow the ancient Jewish practice and print “the LORD” in small capitals, signalling that the Hebrew behind it is the divine name.
Is the original pronunciation recoverable?
Probably not with certainty. The Hebrew text gives us the consonants, and early Greek and Latin writers give us some hints, but no one preserved a full, reliable vowel tradition. Scholars commonly propose Yahweh as the most likely original pronunciation, based on those early transcriptions and on the shorter form Yah found in names and in the Psalms. But this is a scholarly reconstruction, not a manuscript reading.
What we can say with confidence is that the name was a real, spoken name in ancient Israel. It was not a secret code. It was given to Moses at the burning bush and used in worship, oath and blessing. The exact sound of it has been lost, but the name itself has not.
Why does the name matter for reading the Bible?
When you see “the LORD” in small capitals in your English Bible, the Hebrew text has the four letters. That is a translation decision, not a change in the text. The name identifies the God who made a covenant with Israel and who acts in history. He is not a generic deity; He is the One who revealed Himself by name.
God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, 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 this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. — Exodus 3:15 (BSB)
In that verse, the BSB prints “the LORD” where the Hebrew has יהוה. The name is eternal and is to be remembered. The form of the letters is not magic; the identity of the One who bears the name is what matters.
What about the claim that the name was never spoken?
The practice of avoiding the spoken name grew over time, especially after the exile, out of reverence for the holiness of God. By the time of the New Testament, the common Jewish practice was to read Adonai in place of the four letters. This is why the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, usually renders the name as Kyrios, “Lord.”
Some groups today, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, argue that the name should be restored and used in worship, and they point to the many occurrences of the Tetragrammaton in the Hebrew text. Other Christians, while honouring the name, follow the long-standing practice of saying “the Lord” in reading and prayer. This is a difference in practice, not a difference about who God is. The site you are reading takes the historic Protestant view that the name is holy and is to be treated with reverence, while the exact pronunciation is not a matter on which salvation depends.
How should I think about the letters themselves?
The letters are not a talisman. They are not a symbol to be used in rituals or worn as an amulet. They are simply the written form of God’s name in the language He chose for the Old Testament. What matters is that you read the text as it stands, understand that the LORD is the God of Israel, and respond to Him in faith.
The Bible’s own emphasis falls on the character of the One who bears the name:
I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols. — Isaiah 42:8 (BSB)
That verse is about God’s exclusive glory, not about a particular spelling. The name is a gift of revelation, and it points to the God who saves.
If you want to go further, read Exodus 3 and Exodus 6 carefully, noting where your Bible prints “the LORD” and where it prints “God Almighty.” Ask your pastor how your translation handles the divine name. Pray that you would know the God who revealed Himself by name, not just the letters that spell it.
Questions readers ask
What are the four Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton?
They are yod, he, waw, he — written from right to left as יהוה. These are consonants only, because biblical Hebrew was written without vowels.
Why is the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton uncertain?
Hebrew was written with consonants only, and the spoken tradition of the name was eventually avoided and lost. The vowels that appear in the medieval text belong to the word Adonai, which readers substituted. So the exact original vowels are not preserved.
Is Jehovah the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton?
Jehovah is a later form that combines the four consonants with the vowels of Adonai. Many scholars prefer Yahweh as a likely reconstruction, but no one can be certain. The letters themselves are not in doubt.
Does the Tetragrammaton appear in the New Testament?
The surviving Greek manuscripts of the New Testament use Kyrios (Lord) where the Old Testament is quoted, rather than the Hebrew letters. Some argue that the original text may have had the Tetragrammaton, but the manuscript evidence as we have it does not show it.
Lexicon answers from the Bible and public-domain reference works. It is a study aid and is not affiliated with any organisation.