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Ehyeh asher ehyeh (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה) is the sole response given to Moses when he asks for God’s name (Exodus 3:14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Hebrew Bible.

The Tetragrammaton itself derives from the same verbal root. The King James version of the Bible translates the Hebrew as “I am that I am” and uses it as a proper name for God.

The Aramaic Targum Onkelos leaves the phrase untranslated and is so quoted in the Talmud (B. B. 73a).

Ehyeh is the first-person singular imperfect form of hayah, “to be”. Ehyeh is usually translated “I will be,” since the imperfect tense in Hebrew denotes actions that are not yet completed (e.g. Exodus 3:12, “Certainly I will be [ehyeh] with thee.”)

Asher is an ambiguous pronoun which can mean, depending on context, “that”, “who”, “which”, or “where”.

Therefore, although Ehyeh asher ehyeh is generally rendered in English “I am that I am,” better renderings might be “I will be what I will be” or “I will be who I will be”, or even “I will be because I will be.” In these renderings, the phrase becomes an open-ended gloss on God’s promise in Exodus 3:12, with a meaning similar to the Italian proverb “Que sera, sera.”

Other renderings include:

Leeser, “I WILL BE THAT I WILL BE”; Rotherham, “I Will Become whatsoever I please.” Gr., E•go′ ei•mi ho on (εγω ειμι ο ων), “I am The Being” in the Septuagint” or, “I am The Existing One”;

Lat., e′go sum qui sum, “I am Who I am.”

The name Yhwh is considered as the Name proper. It was known in the earliest rabbinical works simply as the Name.

Also as Shem ha-Meyuḥad (“the Extraordinary Name”; Sifre, Num. 143);

as Shem ha-Meforash (“the Distinguished Name”; Yoma vi. 2);

as Shem ben Arba’ Otiyyot (“the Tetragrammaton” or “the Quadriliteral Name”; Ḳid. 71a);

 and as Yod He Waw He (spelling the letters of Yhwh).

The pronunciation of the written Name was used only by the priests in the Temple when blessing the people (Num. vi. 22-27); outside the Temple they used the title “Adonai” (Soṭah vii. 6; p. 38a). The high priest mentioned the Name on Yom Kippur ten times (Tosef., Yoma, ii.; 39b). R. Johanan said the sages delivered to their disciples the key to the Name once in every Sabbatical year. The sages quoted, “This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (Ex. 3: 15). Here the word “le-’olam” (forever) is written defectively, being without the “waw” for the vowel “o,” which renders the reading “le-’allem” (to conceal; Ḳid. 71a).

The restriction upon communicating the Name proper probably originated in Oriental etiquette; in the East even a teacher was not called by name. For naming his master Elisha, Gehazi was punished with leprosy (II Kings 8: 5; Sanh. 100a).

After the death of the high priest Simeon the Righteous, forty years prior to the destruction of the Temple, the priests ceased to pronounce the Name (Yoma39b). From that time the pronunciation of the Name was prohibited. “Whoever pronounces the Name forfeits his portion in the future world” (Sanh. xi. 1). Hananiah ben Ṭeradion was punished for teaching his disciples the pronunciation of the Name (‘Ab. Zarah 17b).

It appears that a majority of the priests in the last days of the Temple were unworthy to pronounce the Name, and a combination of the letters or of the equivalents of the letters constituting the Name was employed by the priests in the Temple. Thus the Twelve-Lettered Name was substituted, which, a baraita says, was at first taught to every priest; but with the increase of the number of licentious priests the Name was revealed only to the pious ones, who “swallowed” its pronunciation while the other priests were chanting. Another combination, the Forty-two-Lettered Name, Rab says, was taught only to whomever was known to be of good character and disposition, temperate, and in the prime of life (Ḳid. 71a; comp. Rashi to ‘Ab. Zarah 17b). Maimonides, in his “Moreh,” thinks that these names were perhaps composed of several other divine names.

Like other Hebrew proper names, the name of God is more than a mere distinguishing title, it represents the Hebrew conception of the divine nature or character and  of the relationship of God to His people. It represents the Deity as He is known to His worshippers, and stands for those attributes which He bears in relation to them and which are revealed to them through His activity on their behalf.

YHWH is the personal name of the God of Israel, whereas the other words are titles which are ascribed to Him.

Yahweh is the personal covenant name of Israel’s God, the most common name for God in the OT – used 6829 times.

Yah is its shortened form.

This name is first mentioned in the book of Genesis (2.4) and in English language Bibles is traditionally translated as “The LORD”.

It is  held that the only “name of God” in the Tanakh is YHWH.

Whereas words such as Elohim (God),  El Shaddai (almighty God), Adonai (master), El Elyon (most high God), etc. are not names, but titles, highlighting different aspects of YHWH, and the various roles which He has. This is similar to how a man may be called by his name, or by ‘Dad’, ‘Husband’, ‘Boss’, ‘Sir’, ‘Son’, etc, however his personal name is the only one that can be correctly identified as his name.

The title YHVH is also referred to as the “Tetragrammaton” meaning “The Four Letters” (the four-letter name of God).

Because Judaism forbids pronouncing the name outside the Temple in Jerusalem, the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton may have been lost, as the original Hebrew texts only included consonants. Some scholars conjecture that it was pronounced “Yahweh”, but some suggest that it never had a pronunciation (which is extremely unlikely given that it is found as an element in numerous Hebrew names). The Hebrew letters are named Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh: יהוה; note that Hebrew is written from right to left, rather than left to right as in English. In English it is written as YHWH, YHVH, or JHVH depending on the transliteration convention that is used. The Tetragrammaton was written in contrasting Paleo-Hebrew characters in some of the oldest surviving square Aramaic Hebrew texts, and it is speculated that it was, even at that period, read as Adonai (“My Lord”) or Elohim when encountered.

The NIV consistently renders Yahweh as Lord.

It is important to understand that YHVH is God’s intensely personal name. The respect with which it was treated bears witness to the national feeling of Israel and also their fear of the God who is among them. This was recognised by the scribes who even avoided pronunciation of the name. They would use circumlocutions and alternate names where possible. Although some pronounce YHVH as “Jehovah” or “Yahweh,” scholars really don’t know the proper pronunciation. The Jews stopped pronouncing this name by about 200 AD our of fear of breaking the commandment “You shall not take the name of YHVH your God in vain” (Ex. 20:7). (Today’s rabbis typically use “Adonai” in place of YHVH.)

In appearance, YHWH is the third person singular imperfect of the verb “to be”, meaning, therefore, “He is”.The name sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for  the word “I AM” (Ex. 3:14,15). The basic meaning of His name is “He who is” or “He who is truly present” or “I will be to you all that I am”.

This is the name that God used to reveal himself to Moses at the burning bush. “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM; and He said, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.. this is My eternal name, and this is how I am to be recalled for all generations.” (Ex.3:14,15) Therefore, YHVH declares God’s absolute being – the source of everything, without beginning and without end.

For Israel, Yahweh is not merely one god among many; He is the Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth, who is worthy of and demands the exclusive homage of his people. He is the God who exists by himself for himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore “I am that I am”.

The idea of ‘life’ has been traditionally connected with the name YHWH from medieval times. Its owner is presented as a living God, as contrasted with the lifeless gods of the ‘heathen’ polytheists: God is presented as the source and author of life (compare 1 Kings 18; Isaiah 41:26–29, 44:6–20; Jeremiah 10:10, 14; Genesis 2:7; and so forth).

In the NT John records that Jesus made seven self descriptions (Jn. 6:35; 8:12 with 9:5; 10:7,9; 10:11,14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1,5), eacho9 one being introduced by “I am”. The Greek text makes this statement emphatic and echoes God’s self –revelation to Moses (Ex.3:14). In a similar fashion,, Jesus expressed the eternity of his being and his oneness with the Father by saying, “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (Jn. 8:58) The people listening knew exactly what he meant by what he said : I AM GOD. The penalty for such blasphemy was stoning (Lev. 24:16) which they fully intended to carry out (Jn.8:59)

The name YHWH is often reconstructed as Yahweh, based on a wide range of circumstantial historical and linguistic evidence. Most scholars do not view it as an “accurate” reconstruction in an absolute sense, but as the best possible guess, superior to all other existing versions, and thus the standard convention for scholarly usage. It is also, however, a historically used name within the Samaritan tradition.

By contrast, the translation “Jehovah” was created by adding the vowel points of “Adonai.” Early Christian translators of the Torah did not know that these vowel points only served to remind the reader not to pronounce the divine name, but instead say “Adonai,” so they pronounced the consonants and vowel points together (a phonological impossibility in Hebrew). They took the letters “IHVH,” from the Latin Vulgate, and the vowels “a-o-a” were inserted into the text rendering IAHOVAH or “Iehovah” in 16th century English, which later became “Jehovah.”

Most modern denominations of Judaism teach that the four-letter name of God, YHWH, is forbidden to be uttered except by the High Priest in the Temple. Since the Temple in Jerusalem no longer exists, this name is never said in religious rituals by Jews, and the correct pronunciation is disputed. Orthodox and some Conservative Jews never pronounce it for any reason. Some religious non-Orthodox Jews are willing to pronounce it, but for educational purposes only, and never in casual conversation or in prayer. Instead of pronouncing YHWH during prayer, Jews say Adonai.

Substituting Adonai for YHWH dates back at least to the 3rd century BCE.  Passages such as:

“And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, YHWH [be] with you. And they answered him, YHWH bless thee” (Ruth 2:4)

strongly indicate that there was a time when the name was in common usage.

Many English translations of the Bible, following the tradition started by William Tyndale, render YHWH as “LORD”), and Adonai as “Lord” In a few cases, where “Lord YHWH” (Adonai YHWH) appears, the combination is written as “Lord GOD” (Adonai elohim).

The form “Jehovah” has been used in English Bibles from the time of William Tyndale (though this is considered an error by some.)