Tetragrammaton

views updated Jun 27 2018

Tetragrammaton (Gk., ‘four lettered’). The four letters, YHWH/JHWH, of the Hebrew name for God. Traditionally the tetragrammaton is not pronounced, and in the biblical text, YHWH is read as ‘Adonai’ (my Lord) or ‘Ha- Shem’ (the Name). The English ‘Jehovah’ is a vocalization of JHWH, inserting the vowels from Adonai.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions JOHN BOWKER

Tetragrammaton

views updated May 17 2018

Tetragrammaton the Hebrew name of God transliterated in four letters as YHWH or JHVH and articulated as Yahweh or Jehovah. The word is Greek, the neuter of tetragrammatos ‘having four letters’.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES