Tetragrammaton (from the Greek τετραγράμματον, meaning '[word of] four letters' (tetra "four" + gramma (gen. grammatos) "letter"), [1] refers to יהוה, a name used by the Hebrew Masoretic **** to refer to the deity of the Israelites. The Jewish conception of God holds that this is one of several names for the deity.
יהוה is composed of four Hebrew consonants, and it occurs 6,828 times in the consonantal Hebrew **** of both the Biblia Hebraica and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, despite not appearing at all in the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, or Esther.[2] יהוה is sometimes referred to as the unvocalised Tetragrammaton since it contains no vowel points
The letters, properly read from right to left (in Biblical Hebrew), are:
Hebrew Letter name Pronunciation
י Yodh "Y"
ה He (pronounced "hey") "H"
ו Waw "W" or placeholder for "O"/"U" vowel (see mater lectionis)
ה He "H" (or sometimes silent at the ends of words)
Front side of the Roman Catholic Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, or the Old Cathedral, built in 1834 and located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri near the Gateway Arch. The Tetragrammaton is seen at the top of the front arch.These four letters are usually transliterated from Hebrew as IHVH in Latin, JHWH in German, French and Dutch, and YHWH in English. This was variously rendered as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah", since in Latin there was no distinct lettering to distinguish 'Y' from 'J', or 'W' from 'V', and the Hebrew does not clearly indicate the omitted vowels. In English translations, it is often rendered in small capital letters as "the LORD", following Jewish tradition which reads the word as "Adonai" ("Lord") out of respect for the name of God and the commandment not to take the name of God in vain. The word "haŠem" 'the Name' is also used in Jewish con****s; in Samaritan, "Šemå" is the normal substitution