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bowl from the 6th or 7th century C.E. (Montgomery, J.A., in Museum Journal of the
University of Pennsylvania, 1910, pp.28-30). This was evidently VOCALIZED AS
YAHBEH. . ." (p.584).

YAHVEH and YAHBEH sound very similar, almost the same exact sound. YAHWEH,
with the typical English "w" sound, is quite different. "V" and "B" are both explosive consonants,
formed by closing the teeth to the lips, or the lips together. However, the English "W" sound is
formed by merely closing the lips part way and blowing through them as you vocalize. Thus the
"V" and "B" sounds are much more explosive, powerful, caused by a build up of pressure against
the teeth and/or lips.

The Askenazi Jews, who migrated through Russia and Europe, and settled in Germany and
other regions of Europe, tend to use the letter "V" for the final consonant of God's name. When
many commentaries, or authors, refer to "YAHWEH," we need to remember that they have been
heavily influenced by the German "W" which sounds like an English "V." The "W" should be
pronounced as a "V," just as in the word "Volkswagen," which in German is literally, "Volks-
VAGON." Says the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, once again:

"In the light of these facts, it is clear that the first syllable of the name was Ya-, and the
only possible uncertainty attaches to the second syllable. Was the name originally Yah,
Yahu, Yaho or Yahveh? If the original pronunciation was Yahveh, then Yahu is most eas-
ily explained as a contraction . . . In this case the old for Yahveh and the new for Yahu
continued side by side. If Yah or Yahu was original, then YAHVEH is a later theologiz-
ing expansion.

"However, the reading YHVH is very old, being found in line 18 of the Moab-
ite Stone, the inscription of King Mesha of Moab, written in the 9th century B.C.E. This
goes far to establishing the priority of the FOUR-LETTERED NAME (Tetragrammaton).
It is the oldest known datable independent occurrence of the divine name. . . . Unfortu-
nately, the Moabite form, being unvocalized, gives us no help in pronunciation. The pre-
vailing opinion is in favor of the reading YAHVEH . . ." (The Universal Jewish Encyclo-
pedia, "Yahveh," p.584-585)

In another article, "God, Names of," this same authority goes on to elaborate on the names
of God as found in the Scriptures. We read:

"The Tetragrammaton or Four-Lettered Name [YHVH], which occurs 6,823 times, is by
far the most frequent name of God in the Bible. It is now pronounced Adonai; but the
church father Theodoret records that the Samaritans pronounced it IaBe, and Origen tran-
scribes it as Iae, both pointing to an original vocalization Yahveh" (p.6).

Another authority on this question, The Torah: A Modern Commentary, edited by W.
Gunther Plaut, and published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York, tells us
more about this name of God. Commenting on the pronunciation of the name, it says:

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