Concept
Theology ProperTheophoric Names: Yah
The covenant name shortened to Yah or Yeho and folded into personal names: Elijah, Isaiah, Jehoshaphat, Hallelu-Yah.
#hebrew#names
- 4passages
- 29original words
- 2approved connections
- 109cross-references
The words behind it
Hebrew and Greek standing in the 4 passages listed below, not a lexicon of "theophoric names: yah" itself. The number on each word is how often it occurs in those passages; the connecting words the languages use everywhere are set aside so the words that carry meaning can be seen.
Hebrew29
19 more hebrew words ▾
The passages
Every passage this site attaches to the concept, in canon order. Each row says where it came from.
Old Testament4
- Exodus 15:2listed key text
The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Exodus 15:22 voices
THIS is the first song unto the Lord which is recorded in Holy Scripture. In Jacob's blessing of his children there are verses which may be regarded as songs, but they are mere fragments and can scarcely be said to be sung unto the Lord. There are other couplets in the Book of Genesis, but this is the first connected song upon record. I should think that Abraham often sang unto the Lord, but we have no record of it.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1867: “Untitled Sermon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1885
They have work to do, temptations to grapple with, and afflictions to bear, and are weak in themselves; but he strengthens them: his grace is their strength. They are often in sorrow, upon many accounts, but in him they have comfort, he is their song; sin, and death, and hell, threaten them, but he is, and will be, their salvation: See Isa. xii.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
- 1 Kings 18:36listed key text
At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on 1 Kings 18:362 voices
The evening sacrifice - This time he chose, that he might unite his prayers with the prayers of the godly Jews at Jerusalem, who at that time assembled together to pray. Lord God of, &c. - Hereby he shews faith in God's ancient covenant, and also reminds the people, of their relation both to God and to the patriarchs.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Evangelical
Lord God of Abraham - He thus addressed the Supreme Being, that they might know when the answer was given, that it was the same God whom the patriarchs and their fathers worshipped, and thus have their hearts turned back again to the true religion of their ancestors.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832Evangelical
- Psalm 68:4listed key text
Sing to God! Sing praises to His name. Exalt Him who rides on the clouds— His name is the LORD— and rejoice before Him.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Psalm 68:42 voices
Jah - Is an abbreviation of the name Jehovah, which the Heathens pronounced Jao. Before him - Before the ark where he is present, as David is said to dance before the Lord, upon this occasion, 2 Sam. vi, 14.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Evangelical
Sing to God, sing a psalm to his name. "Sing" — in Scripture this always signifies contemplation (theoria): that is, consider the mysteries and the meaning of divine Scripture. But "to make melody" (psallere) Scripture signifies as a good work: for example, that the hearing should furnish its own work, and likewise the mouth, and the eyes, and the hands, and all the members should as it were agree, and thus strike the psaltery in the virtues. Make a way for him who ascends above the sunset: the Lord is his name.
Jerome· Homily 7, on Psalm 67, 420Patristic
- Psalm 150:6listed key text
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Psalm 150:62 voices
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. "Let all breath praise him": that is to say, all living beings. He gave them breath, let them breathe his praise. His name is in the Hebrew composed rather of breathings than of letters, to show that all breath comes from him: therefore let it be used for him. Join all ye living things in the eternal song. Be ye least or greatest, withhold not your praises. What a day will it be when all things in all places unite to glorify the one only living and true God!
Charles Spurgeon· The Treasury of David, Vol. 7, 1885
Now that the gospel is ordered to be preached to every creature, to every human creature, it is required that every human creature praise the Lord. What have we our breath, our spirit, for, but to spend it in praising God; and how can we spend it better? Prayers are called our breathings, Lam. iii.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
Approved connections
2 links an editor approved, each with the reason it was kept.
- theophoric familynames of god
The line is dense with Yah/El theophorics (Hezekiah, Josiah, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Abijah) - each a compact creed; floor-detectable browsable thread.
STEPBible TIPNR forms; biblicalhebrew.org
- theophoric familynames of god
Yah-name family (Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hezekiah, Joshua/Jesus): each embeds a short form of YHWH - names as compact creeds. Spokes off the YHWH card.
STEPBible TIPNR; biblicalhebrew.org
See the same links as a table or a map ▾
Where this concept leads
2- names of godOtherThe line is dense with Yah/El theophorics (Hezekiah, Josiah, Jehoshaphat, Jotham, Abijah) - each a compact creed; floor-detectable browsable thread.
- names of godOtherYah-name family (Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hezekiah, Joshua/Jesus): each embeds a short form of YHWH - names as compact creeds. Spokes off the YHWH card.
Voices on these passages
Commentary matched to the verses above, each named with its source: the full pool sits on each verse page.
THIS is the first song unto the Lord which is recorded in Holy Scripture. In Jacob's blessing of his children there are verses which may be regarded as songs, but they are mere fragments and can scarcely be said to be sung unto the Lord. There are other couplets in the Book of Genesis, but this is the first connected song upon record. I should think that Abraham often sang unto the Lord, but we have no record of it.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1867: “Untitled Sermon” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)
Exodus 15:2
The evening sacrifice - This time he chose, that he might unite his prayers with the prayers of the godly Jews at Jerusalem, who at that time assembled together to pray. Lord God of, &c. - Hereby he shews faith in God's ancient covenant, and also reminds the people, of their relation both to God and to the patriarchs.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old TestamentEvangelical
1 Kings 18:36
Jah - Is an abbreviation of the name Jehovah, which the Heathens pronounced Jao. Before him - Before the ark where he is present, as David is said to dance before the Lord, upon this occasion, 2 Sam. vi, 14.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old TestamentEvangelical
Psalms 68:4
Study it deeper
4 moves a student can make from here. Every one opens a tool on this site.
Trace one word to every place it stands
A word page lists every verse that word occurs in, with its definition and its range of meaning. Start with the roots that occur most under the passages above.
Walk out from the passages
The passages above carry 109 cross-references between them, links from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, the great 1830s reference work, together with the reader-voted index at OpenBible.info. The most-linked destinations:
Read the whole chapter around it
A verse quoted alone can mean almost anything. Open Exodus 15 in the reader, where the Hebrew or Greek sits under every line.
See everywhere else it appears
The search page is a doorway: it returns verses, word studies, people, places and studies for one term at once.
Where this comes from
יָהּ (Yah) is the short form of the covenant name YHWH. Elijah is "my God is YHWH", a walking manifesto against Baal; Isaiah is "YHWH is salvation"; Jeremiah, Obadiah, Zechariah and hundreds more carry it, and the last word of the Psalter, Hallelujah, is a command with the name attached.
Yah names surge after Sinai and around the reforming kings, which makes them a rough gauge of covenant loyalty in a generation.