It seems God's oldest form for his name was

YAH.

Before that it was El.

From this site: Hebrew: = From El (God) Hebrew: = El (God).

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), February 05, 2004

Answers

Taken from this site: Yah.

The earliest El Yah inscription (late Late Bronze Age) was found on a beautiful Ewer, discovered in a rubbish heap of a temple at Lachish in 1934. A more recent article on the subject was a BAR, Sept/Oct. 1991, p. 50. work of Ruth Hestrin, titled "Understanding Asherah-- Exploring Semitic Iconography." Hestrin viewed the seven branched tree as an icon that favored the translation of "Elath" , as a female consort of El "Asherah." We have numerous examples of the seven branched tree used as an icon for Yah (Yahweh) and sometimes in an El/Yah combination with such a tree and/or a ram. Also the "Taw" after the El was an archaic ending for El. The "Yah of Gat" ligatures were recognized and translated by Harris and Hone

The Lachish Ewer,; (1220 BCE): Icon connection, a menorah and a ram: It is also possible to begin reading at the rams head, left to right then right to left over the same line of signs across and down to the last two signs g-t.

Old Negev: Hebrew: [ ] [ ] Lexical analysis: `Elat ( the feminine form of El) `Elat is directly above the tree and Yah (Yahweh) is directly above the ram; (alt) = a place of suspense, uncertainty; y-h (a short form of Yahweh); g-t () = a place name, Gat.

Translation: The tree [of] `Elath, a place of suspense, the ram Yah of Gat. [From Ruth Hestrin, "Understanding Asherah" BAR, Sept./Oct. 1991, pp. 50-52-59. The "Yah of Gat" translation by Harris and Hone.

The Name of God in the Ancient Negev Nahal `Avedat Site 81: 1, & 2; Visited by Harris/Hone, April 1997. Old Negev, L-1 Hebrew: Old Negev, L-2 Hebrew: Translation: Beloved, escape to my God my Father, Jah.

Har Karkom Harris/Hone, April 1997:

Old Negev:

Hebrew:

(Sun and rain) (Sun and rain and Yah)

(as a human like figure with his arms out- stretched.)

Transliteration: l-t-t () = to give (a gift from the heavens) [a prefix followed by Kal infinite construct of n-t-n (]; y-h ()= Yah (abbreviation of Yahweh); r-b-l-t-h ()= fertility (with a paragogic ending); m-tz, ()= sufficient [imperfect of m-tz-`, () the silent ending "aleph" being dropped.] Translation (of symbols and phonetic signs): The gift of Yah from heavens [sun and rain, bringing sufficient fertility].

Har Karkom, Harris/Hone 4/22/1997 (Photo by C.P.):

Old Negev: Hebrew;

Translation: My mountain (refuge is) El (God)-deliverance for the Jew.

#6. Winnett's No. 11052; To be read from right to left: Old Negev: Hebrew:

Lexical Analysis: b-m-h,= Bamah ( a hlgh place dedicated to religious worship) b-z, spoil (booty); b-h-'-l-h, () [hiphil imperative verb with prefix -notice position above the line]= bring up by;; d-k, ()= the door; b-t, () = the house [of]; y-h.= () Yah (Yahweh). Translation: "Bamah (place of worship), spoil bring up by the door of the house of Yah." Or, "Bring thou up spoil by the door of the house of Yah." ...Translation: "Bamah (place of worship), spoil bring up by the door of the house of Yah." Or, "Bring thou up spoil by the door of the house of Yah." Also the word "bamah" and the phrase, House of Yahweh are precisely appropriate element of this composition. "Bamah (place of worship), spoil bring up by the door of the house of Yah." Or, "Bring thou up spoil by the door of the house of Yah." Also the word "bamah" and the phrase, House of Yahweh are precisely appropriate element of this composition.

Harris/Hone, 1997 Anati's Area #58, Har Karkom: Old Negev: Hebrew: Transliteration: l y-h,= For Yah; n-m,= flee away; b-n,= son; `-r-t, = of lights. Translation: Flee away for Yah son of lights (revelations). Flee from the enemies of the Ram (of God)? Also regarding the appearance of a sword at the side of the figure on the right above the inscription, we saw a steel sword on exhibit in the Israel Museum (April 1997) dated to the time of king Hezekiah. The inscription shown above and the inscriptions shown below are among those we regarded as of special importance and that contained unclear script that required an on site examination from which our own sketches and photos could be made, interpreted, and translated.

Harris/Hone, 1997, Nahal `Avedat Hallouns 22: 1, 2, 3: [Read from left to right.] Old Negev: L-1, Hebrew;

1. l-`,= not, no; r-',= evil; l-h,= for him.

Old Negev: L-2, Hebrew;

2. `-l,= El (God); y-h,= Yah; '-d-t,= time, season, a long time.

Old Negev: L-3, Heb.; 3. l-n,= abide, remain, lodge; m-b-b-r= by election; be chosen; w-h- b,= to love, to give; w-t-l,= unto the tel (high place of worship); p- l-y-h,= the escaped of the remnant. Translation: For him in the time of evil (turn to) El Yah. Upon the heights God gave to the chosen, the escaped of the remnant (continued below) watchful [for] Yah.

Har Karkom, 277, 1982, LXV-23-24, (Our 6557):

Read in both directions from the middle. Hebrew: (middle) = Yah - El

Nahal `Avedat, Harris/Hone, 1997, Halloun's 22: 4, (a block renewed or added after the original inscribing was done.) 5, & 6:

Old Negev, L-4 Hebrew: = watchful for Yah. Old Negev, L-5 Hebrew: Old Negev, L-6 Hebrew: Translation: (L-5 & L-6) To dream of great Yah lament (those) bold in speaking, (of the) Lord. Halloun published the above panel in the 1990 Israel Survey, ... Nahal `Avedat Site Near 22: Harris/Hone, 1a; April 1997:

Old Negev: Hebrew: Translation: El Yah, life you will deliver, life in the hard night.

Har Karkom, Harris/Hone, April 1997: Old Negev;=Hebrew: Yah & the Burning Bush [also the Tree of Life & Light - a very unconventional minorah.

Har Karkom, Harris/Hone, April 1997: Old Negev:

Hebrew;

Translation: Yahh [one of three approved abbreviation for Yahweh. ....

A script with a large representation of archaic features has been traced from the Sinai (Serabit el-Khadim) during the Late Bronze Age (1600-1400 BC) to the Land of Canaan (where it survived as Proto- Canaanite through the eight hundred year hiatus). Around 1200 BC two variations of Proto-Canaanite emerge; Old Negev in the southern deserts and Canaanite/Phoenician in the north (Canaan, Moab, Phoenicia, etc.). In the Negev the script continues well into the Iron Age and at some time between the Assyrian conquest and the Babylonian captivity, the script and the language it expressed fell out of use. [Discoveries, such as the water jars marked with this script found in Old Jerusalem's Burnt House, 600 BC, may have been family treasures from a dimming past.] The language, best called Proto-Canaanite, (suggesting the West Semitic, used throughout the Northwest Semitic area, before the language formed distinctive dialects and before the dialects became distinctive languages. The ethnic ties of the Old Negev scribes may include Kenite Midianites, Israelites, and other Canaanites such as the Avites and the Canaanites that worshipped Yah of Gad (Lachish Ewer). Perceptions of Yah in the Ancient Negev:

The name of Yah was never spelled out in full in any of the inscriptions. The most often use form was Yah (hy), followed by El/Yah or Yah/El (hy la) and just two inscriptions of Yahh (hhy). The ram is the most frequently encountered icon associated with Yah and El. The ram's seventy appearances in the first four books of Moses (which invite and insure the continued favor of the God of Israel) are complimented by the image of the Ram of Redemtpion and is an acknowledgment of God's intervention among the ancient inhabitants of the Negev. Place names found in the compositions are appropriate for the time, location, and context in which they are used. The persona of Yah is associated with radiance, as from the sun and the head of the radiant Serpent. The glory of the radiant serpent was to be extended to his people so that their countenances would shine as they become a holy nation (a sanctified people). It is possible that the serpent (as an icon of Yahweh) would have survived in greater numbers had it not been for the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah. The serpent symbolizes Yah as the healer, and God of the storms, rain, sun, and Prince of Life. Yah was the disciplinarian, judge, protector, deliverer, teacher, purifier, and Father of his covenant people. The Shield of David represents Yah as the protector of the Twelve Tribes (represented by the twelve points of the star). In addition to the "Shield of David" inscription shown above, we have an enlarged photo of a geoglyph Shield of David on top of one of the Har Karkom platforms. The Tree of Life icon projects the conception of Yah as the life and light of the world and the simple but powerful representation on Har Karkom is hard to discount as a commemoration of the bush that burned but was not consumed before the eyes of Moses (Exodus 3:1-2).

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), February 05, 2004.

From the prevoius site, I chose these passages.

David, Rod, or Jim F,

How will you translate these old passages found in the Negev, as old or older as the first 7 boks of the Bible? The Negev was where Moses spent his days first as a refugee, later when he took the Israelites out of Egypt.

Notice the use of Yah (short for Yahweh).

For him in the time of evil (turn to) El Yah. Upon the heights God gave to the chosen, the escaped of the remnant (continued below) watchful [for] Yah

El Yah, life you will deliver, life in the hard night.

My mountain (refuge is) El (God)-deliverance for the Jew.

The Man of Yahweh The Christian Yahwist

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), February 06, 2004.

The Psalm you quoted for 2/6/04 sounds funny at the beginning, David. One may think that Lord is God's name.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Psalm 8:9 / KJV

-- David Ortiz (cyberpunk1986@hotmail.com), February 06, 2004.

Notice how it sounds in Hebrew:

A Psalm [04210] mizmowr of David.]] [01732] David O LORD [03068] Y@hovah our Lord, [0113] 'adown how excellent [0117] 'addiyr [is] thy name [08034] shem in all the earth! [0776] 'erets who hast set [05414] nathan thy glory [01935] howd above the heavens. [08064] shamayim

Sounds more like:

Yahweh, our Lord,your name is magnificent on Earth and your glory in the heavens.

The Man of Yahweh The Christian Yahwist

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), February 06, 2004.

In Hebrew the infinitive of the verb to be, lehityot has no present tense conjugations like I am, you are, he is, she is, we are,... it is implied. For example Ani Elpidio becomes I am Elpidio. So those people who quote from the Gospel of John saying I am means Jesus is God are confused.

Hebrew like Spanish adds suffixes to the verbs. Not only that prefixes also, or a combination of both.

The future tense is formed thus by suffixes

Eheye (see the e at the beginning) I will be This is what God said in Exodus 3:14 Eheyeh asher eheyeh (I will be what I will be)

Tiheye(see ti) You will be (male) Tiheyi -you will be-female

Yehiyeh (see Ye) He will be (sometimes ya or yo) This is what uses using the third person in Exodus 3:15 Yahweh...this is my name forever.. So God's name is third person future.

Tiheyeh -She will be

Nehiyeh (see Ne)-We will be

Tehiyu(see Te) you will be

Yehiyu (see Ye)They will be

For the past:ti for I, ta and it for you, ...

hayiti (I was), hayita (you were),hayit (you were-female), haya(he was), haytah (she was), hayenu( we were),Hayeetem(you were), Hayeeten (you were-female plural), hayu (they were).

The Christian Yahwist

PS: so those who still insist that God is I am are 100% confused.

The Man of Yahweh

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), August 27, 2004.

I say we start posting in Aramaic, Elpidio.

..............

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), August 27, 2004.

Yahweh is derived from the Hebrew word for "I Am"

God reminded Moses of His covenant promises to Abraham and used the name "I Am" to show His unchanging nature.

Exodus 3:13-15

Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " God also said to 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, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Psalm 135:13

Your name, O LORD , endures forever, your renown, O LORD , through all generations.

John 8:58

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"

John 1:1-2

In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the begining.

-- ("faith01@myway.com"), August 27, 2004.

Well, faith,

in 3:15 the word The Lord is actually Yahweh. Exodus 6:2 says: And God said to Moses, " I am Yahweh". I appeared to Abraham.... as El (God) Shaddai (Almighty) but by my name Yahweh I did not make my name known to them. In I Samuel 20:42 Jonathan tells David: As we have sworn both of us in the nmae of Yahweh, saying, Yahweh shall be (Hebrew Yiheyeh, future of to be)between you and me ..

So God's name is Yahweh. He is not a present but a continous future because he will exist forever. As I am writing this is present. But once I wrote it is past.

The Christian Yahwist

The Man of Yahweh

-- Elpidio Gonzalez (egonval@yahoo.com), September 01, 2004.

Elpidio--

The Hebrew reads:

God spoke to Moshe; he said to him, "I am Adonai. I appeared to Avraham, yitz'chak and ya'akov as El Shaddai, although I did not make myself known to them by my name, Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh {Adonai}.

Adonai--Literally *My Lord*..a word the Hebrew uses to refer to God.

So what's your point?

-- ("faith01@myway.com"), September 06, 2004.

Elpidio

i have never understood this obsession with words. would he be offended if we called Him "God"? are you so "form over substance"?

aren't you really just asking "what is the world's oldest language"?

aren't you just trying to start a debate in semantics?

-- Ian (ib@vertifgo.com), September 07, 2004.

Or, semetics....uh, Ebionites and all that. I'm kidding, Elpidio.

.........

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), September 07, 2004.

Ian...

God is known by many names--and depending on what name is used, you can get a better feel for the text.

Elpidio is under the false impression that theologians have wrongly named God *I Am* because of some supposed mistranslation. But he is mistaken.

-- ("faith01@myway.com), September 07, 2004.

Faith God, surely, is God. the rest is semantics.

"I am who I am"

"I am Me"

"I am God"

etc

Elpidio is up to something here. let *him* explain why he appears to be so engrossed by these seemingly futile exercises in wordplay.

something is amiss.

-- Ian (ib@vertifgo.com), September 07, 2004.