Jehovah n
1. a name for the God of the Old Testament as transliterated from the Hebrew consonants YHVH [syn: Yahweh, YHWH, Yahwe, Yahveh, YHVH, Yahve, Wahvey, Jahvey, Jahweh, JHVH]
2. terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God [syn: Godhead, Lord, Creator, Maker, Divine, God Almighty, Almighty]

Jehovah \Je*ho"vah\, n. [Heb. usually y[e^]h[=o]v[=a]h (with the vowel points of [a^]d[=o]n[=a]i Lord), sometimes (to avoid repetition) y[e^]h[=o]vih (with the vowel points of [e^]l[=o]h[=i]m God); but only the four Heb, consonants yhvh are conceded to be certainly known.] A Scripture name of the Supreme Being, by which he was revealed to the Jews as their covenant God or Sovereign of the theocracy; the ``ineffable name'' of the Supreme Being, which was not pronounced by the Jews.

Yahweh \Yah"weh\, Yahwe \Yah"we\, n. Also Jahveh \Jah"veh\, Jahve \Jah"ve\, etc. A modern transliteration of the Hebrew word translated Jehovah in the Bible; -- used by some critics to discriminate the tribal god of the ancient Hebrews from the Christian Jehovah. Yahweh or Yahwe is the spelling now generally adopted by scholars.

For Jewish people YHWH is the most holy name of God, as written in the ancient Hebrew language. The language has no vowels, so the pronunciation is not agreed on. However, most academics agree that "Yahweh" is one guess of how to say it, but probably is not correct.

It has also been pronounced as "Jehovah" in English, or "Yehowa" in Hebrew. This is because Hebrew pointing, or vowel symbols, are often put under the YHWH, making יְהֹוָה.

Traditionally, religious Jews do not say this name aloud. This is because it is believed to be too holy to be spoken when there is no Temple in Jerusalem. However, they often use substitutes when referring to the name of the their God. For example, they use HaShem ("The Name") or Shem HaMeforash (“the indescribable Name”).

Today, all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) say that there is only one god. So, YHWH is often referred to as just "God", or "Allah" (which is the Arabic word for god). However, the Jewish Tanakh (also known by Christians as the Old testament), is not clear on this point. It refers to other gods in several places - most notably in the versions of the Commandments given at either Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb, and detailed in Exodus (20,2 NIV) and Deuteronomy (5,6 NIV), both of which command the Jews not to worship any other god besides YHWH.

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