THE
WORD OF YAH
Introduction
In working on "The Word of Yah" Bible, we have had a special task in mind: producing a version of the Bible that would be accurate and at the same time familiar and easy to use with a standard KJV concordance. We hope and pray that we have achieved this goal.
There are some important differences in this Bible version
which we believe will not be found in any other. The support for
these differences is found below. Our main reason for instituting
these changes is that we believe that there is truth, logic, and
consistency in God's word. Most translations have obscured some
basic truths out of adherence to the traditions of man rather
than adherence to the written word, thereby creating illogic and
inconsistency: we prefer to let the Bible speak for itself.
There is a finite number of words in the Bible. The repeated
use of any word (besides pronouns, conjunctions, etc.) indicates
the importance of that word and the concept behind it. The name
of God (i.e. Yahweh or Yah) appears more than 7,000 times in the
original text. No other word appears with such frequency. We
believe that the name is so important that it must be included in
Scripture, in its most accurate rendering, rather than in an
"Englished" form or in the form of a title. This is the
primary reason for the production of this translation.
In the Old Testament, or Old Covenant as rendered here, we
have consistently used the name "Yahweh" (or "Yah"
where appropriate) where the title "the LORD" or "GOD"
would be found in the King James Version.
Why? Because, as we see in Exodus 6:3, the name of God is
revealed in the Tetragrammaton - i.e. YHWH, as rendered in the
Hebrew. Understanding as we do that Hebrew contains no vowels, we
realize that vowels must be supplied: overwhelmingly, the
consensus is that the name should be rendered "Yahweh".
Although many translations will render the name "Jehovah",
this rendering is merely an Englished version of Yahweh and
inaccurate because there is no letter "J" in the Hebrew
alphabet. The letter "J" is relatively new even to the
English language. It seems to have been introduced somewhere
around the late 1600's and originally replaced the letter
combination "i-e" which is pronounced like a "y".
Today we can see the origins of the pronunciation of the letter
"J" preserved in such words as "hallelujah"
or in some proper names such as "
In the King James Version, the translators rendered the title
"the LORD" where the word "Adonai" or some
variation appeared in the Hebrew text above the Tetragrammaton.
The use of this title was originally done in a mistaken attempt
to protect the name from being misused or blasphemed. As a result,
the name has obscured to most casual readers. Also, in some cases
the title "the LORD" was substituted for the name
"Yah", with the same result. A study of the entry
"LORD" in "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance"
and the lexicon in the back of it will support this.
In this version, we have merely restored the true name of God
in the places where "the LORD" or "GOD"
appears. In a small number of cases, there was an actual change
in the Hebrew text, where the name was taken out and Adonai (the
Lord) or a variation was inserted, again out of a mistaken desire
to protect the name. This can be corroborated by some literal
translations and by a close reading of the marginal notes in
Bullinger's Companion Bible.
In the New Covenant, we have consistently used the name "Yahshua"
in place of "Jesus". There are several reasons for this.
First we should understand that there is no letter "J"
in Greek. Our Messiah never heard the name "Jesus"
during His life on this earth. He was a Hebrew son of Hebrew
parents, and accordingly must have been given a Hebrew name. In
the center margin of many translations there is a note in Matthew
1:21 that the name Jesus could be read "Joshua". This
is an English rendering of the Hebrew name "Yahshua" (a
shortened version of "Yah-hoshua", meaning "Yah
our saviour" or more literally “I AM salvation").
We believe this to have been His real name. Refer to Acts 7:45 in
the KJV for corroboration that the name Jesus is the equivalent
of Joshua, or more accurately, Yahshua.
Throughout this version, Old Covenant and New, there are
places where minor changes in wording have been made, for reasons
of logic and clarity. These changes are supported by a study of
words in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, by other translations
and by some marginal notes in Bullinger's Companion Bible. There
are also some instances where punctuation has been changed or
moved in certain scriptures. Punctuation did not exist in
original Greek of the New Covenant: the punctuation in the King
James Version was inserted wholly at the discretion of the King
James translators. Incorrect placement of punctuation has done
violence to the original meaning of some passages. The sense of
these passages can be restored by simply moving a comma or
inserting quotation marks where appropriate.
In closing, we hope that this Bible version is as enlightening
to readers as it has been to those of us who participated in its
creation.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Old
Testament
New
Testament
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