God’s name in Hebrew is “JHWH,” probably pronounced as Yahweh. The reason we do not know for certain is because the name has been unknown for ages. This is due to the fact that during the time between the Babylonian exile and the coming of Christ, the Jews decided to no longer use the name JHWH,
to prevent misuse, that is, sin against the third commandment. Moreover, in that time the Aramean language became more common instead of the Hebrew language. The Hebrew texts became difficult to read for the people, since Hebrew texts existed of consonants, without vowels. If that was the case in English, a sentence such as then Moses said to God
would look like this: THN MSS SD T GD.
To help people pronounce and understand the Hebrew text well, vocals were inserted in the text. But to prevent people from saying, Yahweh,
the vocals of Lord
(Adonai) were added, so what we read in the text now is Jehovah.
It is a non-sense name. The Jews read Adonai
wherever the word “JHWH” is used. That is why most translations translated JHWH
as LORD.
Some translations use the name Jehovah.
So, in translations of the Old Testament, Lord
is a translation of Adonai
which means master: full of power and authority. Lord
(all capital letters) is used as translation of YHWH/Yahweh.
In the New Testament Lord
is used for both, and often used for Christ.
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”