1but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2Now very early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him. He sat down and taught them. 3The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman taken in adultery. Having set her in the middle, 4they told him, “Teacher, we found this woman in adultery, in the very act. 5Now in our law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. What then do you say about her?” 6They said this testing him, that they might have something to accuse him of.
But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger. 7But when they continued asking him, he looked up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger.
9They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle. 10Jesus, standing up, saw her and said, “Woman, where are your accusers? Did no one condemn you?”
11She said, “No one, Lord.”
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more.”
12Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
13The Pharisees therefore said to him, “You testify about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”
14Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going. 15You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. 16Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. 17It’s also written in your law that the testimony of two people is valid. 18I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”
19They said therefore to him, “Where is your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20Jesus spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
22The Jews therefore said, “Will he kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?”
23He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. 24I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
25They said therefore to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However, he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.”
27They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father. 28Jesus therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I say these things. 29He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
30As he spoke these things, many believed in him. 31Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 32You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
33They answered him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 35A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have seen with your father.”
39They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham didn’t do this. 41You do the works of your father.”
They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, God.”
42Therefore Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me. 43Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word. 44You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. 45But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. 46Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of God.”
48Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
49Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50But I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. 51Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?”
54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God. 55You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him and keep his word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.”
57The Jews therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?”
58Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”
59Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.
The people of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East worshipped many gods, each one possessing a proper name. The Greek-speaking world had a number of gods, such as Zeus, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Ares, with Latin counterparts of Jupiter, Diana, Venus, and Mars. As well, the Egyptians had many gods, the chief being Ra, the sun god. The kingdom of the Babylonians, among whom a large number of Israelites lived after the deportation had Marduk as their chief deity. The Canaanites worshipped several gods, the most known being Ba'al and Asherah, Ba'al's consort. All of these nations had proper names of their deities, as given above, and also more generic designations, such as god and lord (master). The same is true of the God of the Hebrews/Israelites. They referred to their deity as God and Lord, but we find in the history of God's revelation to His people that He also gave to them through Moses' encounter with the Israelite deity on Mt. Horeb, that their God also had a proper name.
When Moses came before the God of the Israelites He had some specific instructions. Look at His words to His prophet and spokesman as He indicated that He would be bringing His people out of bondage after they were in Egypt for approximately 400 years, foretold in Genesis 15:13-16, to possess the land of Israel that was inhabited with worshippers of false gods. In Exodus 3, the Hebrew deity said that having heard the cries of His people He had come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and take them to the land promised to Abraham.
Upon hearing these divine words, Moses inquired of God regarding the name of the God before Him. The reply is clear, forceful, and commanding: "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'" (Exod 3:14). These Hebrew words are God's proclamation of Himself, words that only He could proclaim. They are the same words that Jesus gave to the challenge of the unbelieving Jews in John 8:58 (the Greek text says eγω ειμι (ego (I) eimi (I am)), or I myself am. Having given this personal statement, the I AM provides for Moses and the Israelites how they were to address Him. "Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This (referring to Yahweh) is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations" (Exodus 3:15). Having given this revelation of His personal name to Moses, to be taught to the Israelites, this personal name is given several more times in His address to Moses. One will observe in the text of the Old Testament the name of the true God (the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Israel), approximately 6,000 times as the personal name by which He was known and addressed in the Hebrew Scriptures (see specifics about the name Yahweh in Exod 3 discussion above.
This exposition gives rise to why the personal name of God, said to be His name forever and for all generations, is often not known and is not pronounced among Jews and Christians alike. There are several reasons why this may be so.
| Hebrew | ה | ו | ה | י |
| Greek | β | ι | ||
| English | h | w | h | y |
Greek manuscripts and church fathers had difficulty using the name since the language did not have a y or h: yahweh (Hebrew and English have y, h, w, while Greek and Latin do not have a y, h, or w). Yet some fathers and manuscripts use the equivalent of Yahweh as ιαε or ιαβε for יהוה (iae or iabe for Yahweh).
4. Since Yahweh was the name for the Jews to acknowledge the God of their fathers through all generations, is there any importance for the Christians today? In the preface of the 1971 New American Standard Version of the Bible there is an interesting paragraph:
THE PROPER NAME OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT: In the Scriptures, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for the Deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim. One of the titles for God is Lord, a translation of Adonai. There is yet another name that is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exod 3:14 and Isa 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated LORD. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated GOD in order to avoid confusion. It is known that for many years YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh, however no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation.
5. The writers of the preface acknowledge the importance of having a proper designation for the Supreme Deity, as in fact religions throughout history and today have such names, but when it comes to the God of the Bible, who provided the name He wanted to be known by in the Old Testament, this is the one that is not used and is ignored. Those who wrote the preface indicate that YHWH has been spoken as Yahweh (note Hallelu-yah), "no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation." This is an odd statement. We know that the pronunciation of Yahweh is as correct as most of what we know in biblical scholarship, yet it is not used (with the exception of the Jerusalem Bible, World English Bible, and Christian Standard Bible). The use of Yahweh does not appear to be a requirement for Christians. Nonetheless, I believe that the name that was given by God for the people of the Abrahamic Covenant has some basis for Christians to use the divine name when dealing with the Hebrew Scriptures since this is an eternal name He has given and is His proper name in the Old Testament.