Jah orYah (Hebrew:יָהּ,Yāh) is a short form of theTetragrammatonיהוה (YHWH),the personal name of God:Yahweh, which the ancientIsraelites used. The conventionalChristian English pronunciation ofJah is/ˈdʒɑː/, even though the letterJ here transliterates thepalatal approximant (Hebrew יyodh). The spellingYah is designed to make the pronunciation/ˈjɑː/ explicit in an English-language context (see alsoromanization of Hebrew), especially for Christians who may not use Hebrew regularly during prayer and study.
This short form of the name occurs 50 times in the text of theHebrew Bible, of which 24 form part of the phrase "Hallelujah", a phrase that continues to be employed byJews and Christians to give praise to Yahweh.[1][2] In the 1611King James Version of theChristian Bible there is a single instance ofJAH (capitalized), inPsalm 68:4.An American Translation (1939) and theNew King James Version[3] (NKJV), published in 1982, follow the KJV in usingYah in this verse.
While pronouncing the Tetragrammaton is forbidden for Jews, articulatingYah (which is used more frequently in the Jewish context thanJah is) is allowed but is usually confined to prayer and study.[4][5]
The nameJah is frequently employed by adherents ofRastafari to refer to God.[6]
The name of thenational god of the kingdoms ofIsrael (Samaria) andJudah is written in the Hebrew Bible as יהוה (YHWH), which modern scholars often render asYahweh.[7] The short formJah/Yah, appears in Exodus 15:2 and 17:16, Psalm 89:9, (arguably, byemendation)[citation needed] Song of Songs 8:6,[8] as well as in the phraseHallelujah. The name of Yahweh is also incorporated into severaltheophoric names, however, in almost all cases the Hebrew name itself uses-yāhū, not-yāh. This does not preclude the translation of several-yāhū names without the addedū, such asElijah (ʾĒlīyyāhū) orHezekiah (H̱īzəqīyyahū), or the existence of several Hebrew names whichdo use the-yāh form, such asJedidjah,Malchijah, andAdonijah.[1]
Yah occurs 50 times:[9] 43 times in the Psalms, in Exodus 15:2; 17:16; and Isaiah 12:2; 26:4, as well as twice in Isaiah 38:11.
At Revelation 19:1-6,Jah is embedded in the phrase "hallelujah" (Tiberianhalləlûyāh), a Hebrew expression that literally means "Praise Jah". The short form "IA" (Yah or Jah (יה)) in the phrase hallelouia (Ἁλληλουιά) is transcribed by the Greekia.[10]
In theKing James Version of theChristian Bible, the Hebrew יהּ[11] is transliterated as "JAH" (capitalised) in only one instance: "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him".[12]An American Translation renders the Hebrew word as "Yah" in this verse. In the 1885 Revised Version and its annotated study edition, The Modern Reader's Bible, which uses the Revised Version as its base text, also transliterates "JAH" in Psalms 89:8 which reads, "O LORD God of hosts, who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O JAH? and thy faithfulness is round about thee".
With the rise of theReformation, reconstructions of the Tetragrammaton became popular. TheTyndale Bible was the first English translation to use the anglicized reconstruction. The modern letter "J" settled on its current English pronunciation only around 500 years ago; in Ancient Hebrew, the first consonant of the Tetragrammaton always represents a "Y" sound.
Rotherham'sEmphasised Bible includes 49 uses ofJah. In theSacred Scriptures Bethel Edition Bible, theJerusalem Bible, and theNew Jerusalem Bible (prior to 1998) the name "YHWH" and its abbreviated form "Yah" is found. TheNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, used primarily byJehovah's Witnesses, employs "Jah" in theHebrew Scriptures, and translatesHallelujah as "Praise Jah" in theGreek Scriptures. TheDivine Name King James Bible employs "JAH" in 50 instances within the Old Testament according to the Divine Name Concordance of the Divine Name King James Bible, Second Edition.
The Spanish languageReina Valera Bible employs "JAH" in 21 instances within the Old Testament according to theNueva Concordancia Strong Exhaustiva. TheDarby Bible,Young's Literal Translation, The Jubilee Bible 2000,Lexham English Bible, TheComplete Jewish Bible,Names of God Bible, TheRecovery Version,Green's Literal Translation, the New Jewish Publication Society orNJPS Tanakh andWorld English Bible includes "Jah" (Yah in the Lexham English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, the NJPS Tanakh and the World English Bible) numerous times within the Old Testament (as well as in the New Testament or New Covenant as is the case in Christian and Messianic Jewish Bibles) as "Hallelujah!" or "Alleluia!" (Praise Jah or Yah in either instance) which is also employed throughout the Old Testament of these Bible versions.
"Hallelujah!" or "Alleluia!" is also used in other Bible versions such as theDivine Name King James Bible,American Standard Version, theRecovery Version, TheTree of Life Version,Amplified Bible,God's Word Translation,Holman Christian Standard Bible,International Standard Version,The Message,New American Bible Revised Edition, TheJerusalem Bible, TheNew Jerusalem Bible,NJPS Tanakh,The first JPS translation,The Living Bible,The Bible in Living English,Young's Literal Translation,King James Version, The Spanish languageReina Valera and even in Bible versions that otherwise do not generally use the Divine Name such as theNew King James Version,English Standard Version, J.B. Phillips New Testament,New International Version,Douay-Rheims Version,God's Word Translation,Revised Standard Version,New Revised Standard Version, The Jubilee Bible 2000,New American Standard Bible,New Century Version,New International Reader's Version and several other versions, translations and/or editions in English and other languages varying from once to numerous times depending on the Bible version especially and most notably in Revelation Chapter 19 in Christian and Messianic Jewish Bibles.
Rastafari use the nameJah as a term for the Lord God orHaile Selassie, who some Rastafari regard as the incarnation of the God of the Old Testament or as the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, who is also known by theEthiopian titleJanhoy.[13]
Shorter forms of Yahweh: The name Yahweh also appears in a shortened form, transliterated Jah (pronounced Yah) in the Revised Version and the American Standard Version, either in the text or footnote: 'my song is Jah' (Ex 15:2); 'by Jah, his name' (Ps 68:4); 'I shall not see Jah in Jah's land' (Is 38:11). It is common also in such often untranslated compounds as hallelujah 'praise Jah' (Ps 135:3; 146:10, 148:14), and in proper names like Elijah, 'my God is Jah,' Adonijah, 'my Lord is Jah,' Isaiah, 'Jah has saved.'
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title= (help)Rastas commonly use the word Jah to mean God, which is a shortened name form of Jehovah – Yahweh, the name of God originated in the ancient Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament.
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