(Editor's Note: YHVH are the four consonants of God's personal Name in the Hebrew Old Testament. The Hebrew name of God is usually articulated as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" . Since vowels were not used in the ancient Hebrew , no one knows for sure how the sacred Name was pronounced. Most linguists believe it was "Yahweh", though this is arguable.)
THE word *YHVH (which is always the Hebrew when the capital letters LORD are used in the King James Version) is explained by Rabbinic sources as encompassing three Hebrew words:
HYH meaning "Was"
HVH meaning "Is" (literally "the present tense" -- the word "is" is not used in Hebrew
HYH meaning "Will Continue to Be"
Putting them all together, YHVH actually means the "Was-Is-Will Continue to Be" Being.
Even Hebrew linguistic scholars agree that YHVH must be derived from some form of the verb "to be" (was, is, will be).
By His very name, then, God quite literally encompasses all aspects of time -- past, present and future.
This is in complete accord with Mal. 3:6 "For I am YHVH, I change not;" -- Heb. 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday [was], and today [is), and forever [will continue to be];" --and Rev. 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
Consequently both Moffatt's "the Eternal" and Fenton's "Ever-Living" are excellent translations.
* The V was originally pronounced as W, though in modern Hebrew it is pronounced as V. You may see either V or W used in transliterations.
The Good News Magazine-November- December 1972 Issue [Edited For This Web Page]
