Renderings

How traditions write the name

Translators have handled the name in five broad ways: a reading substitute, a Greek transcription, a title such as “Lord”, a vocalized form of the Jehovah type, or a reconstructed form of the Yahweh type. Each lane below is one strategy, plotted by date.

compressed: 100 BCE – 1500 CE 1500 – 2030 CE 100 BCE3007001100150016001700180019002000 Reading tradition Masoretic reading tradition (Tiberian pointing, c. 9th–10th c. CE manuscripts): Adonai (read); יְהוָה (written) יְהוָה Masoretic reading tradition · 900 Greek transcription 4Q120 (pap4QLXXLevb) (1st c. BCE): Iaō ΙΑΩ 4Q120 (pap4QLXXLevb) · 50 BCE Title substitution Peshitta (c. 2nd–3rd c. CE (OT translation)): Marya (“Lord”) ܡܪܝܐ Peshitta · 200 Septuagint (Christian-era codices) (4th c. CE great codices): Kyrios (“Lord”) Κύριος Septuagint (Christian-era codices) · 350 Vulgate (Jerome) (c. 382–405 CE): Dominus (“Lord”) Dominus Vulgate (Jerome) · 405 Luther Bible (1534 complete Bible): HERR HERR Luther Bible · 1534 King James Version (1611): LORD; JEHOVAH in 4 verses LORD King James Version · 1611 Van Dyck Arabic Bible (1865): ar-Rabb (“the Lord”) الرب Van Dyck Arabic Bible · 1865 Louis Segond (1910 revision) (OT 1874; complete Bible 1880; revised 1910): l’Éternel (“the Eternal”) l’Éternel Louis Segond (1910 revision) · 1910 JPS Tanakh (1917): LORD LORD JPS Tanakh · 1917 Revised Standard Version (1952): LORD LORD Revised Standard Version · 1952 Vocalized form (Jehovah-type) Tyndale Pentateuch (1530): Iehouah (e.g. Exod 6:3); LORDE elsewhere Iehouah Tyndale Pentateuch · 1530 American Standard Version (1901): Jehovah Jehovah American Standard Version · 1901 Chinese Union Version (1919): Yēhéhuá 耶和華 Chinese Union Version · 1919 Reina-Valera 1960 (1960 revision): Jehová Jehová Reina-Valera 1960 · 1960 New World Translation (complete 1961; rev. 2013): Jehovah Jehovah New World Translation · 1961 Reconstructed form (Yahweh-type) Jerusalem Bible (1966): Yahweh Yahweh Jerusalem Bible · 1966 World English Bible (c. 2000): Yahweh Yahweh World English Bible · 2000 Legacy Standard Bible (2021): Yahweh Yahweh Legacy Standard Bible · 2021

Reading tradition

  1. 900יְהוָהMasoretic reading tradition

Greek transcription

  1. 50 BCEΙΑΩ4Q120 (pap4QLXXLevb)

Title substitution

  1. 200ܡܪܝܐPeshitta
  2. 350ΚύριοςSeptuagint (Christian-era codices)
  3. 405DominusVulgate (Jerome)
  4. 1534HERRLuther Bible
  5. 1611LORDKing James Version
  6. 1865الربVan Dyck Arabic Bible
  7. 1910l’ÉternelLouis Segond (1910 revision)
  8. 1917LORDJPS Tanakh
  9. 1952LORDRevised Standard Version

Vocalized form (Jehovah-type)

  1. 1530IehouahTyndale Pentateuch
  2. 1901JehovahAmerican Standard Version
  3. 1919耶和華Chinese Union Version
  4. 1960JehováReina-Valera 1960
  5. 1961JehovahNew World Translation

Reconstructed form (Yahweh-type)

  1. 1966YahwehJerusalem Bible
  2. 2000YahwehWorld English Bible
  3. 2021YahwehLegacy Standard Bible

Lanes are translation strategies, not evidence tiers, so they are drawn in neutral ink. Dates mark first publication or the manuscript era.

All renderings

Add a rendering
Verification status. Most rows are an editorial seed: widely documented facts about each edition that still need a cited source in the corpus. Rows linked to a corpus record or claim say so. Help by attaching a citation.
WorkDateLanguageRenderingStrategyStatus
Masoretic reading tradition
Jewish
 Tiberian pointing, c. 9th–10th c. CE manuscripts Hebrew יְהוָה
Adonai (read); יְהוָה (written)
Written consonants retained; reader substitutes Adonai (qere perpetuum). See claim C07.
 Reading tradition Linked claim
4Q120 (pap4QLXXLevb)
Jewish Greek
 1st c. BCE Greek ΙΑΩ
Iaō
Greek letters with explicit vowels. See artifact A-4Q120.
 Greek transcription Linked record
Septuagint (Christian-era codices)
Greek Christian transmission
 4th c. CE great codices Greek Κύριος
Kyrios (“Lord”)
Title substitution; earlier Jewish Greek manuscripts show other practices: ΙΑΩ, paleo-Hebrew letters, and square Aramaic script (e.g. P.Fouad 266).
 Title substitution Citation pending
Peshitta
Syriac Christian
 c. 2nd–3rd c. CE (OT translation) Syriac ܡܪܝܐ
Marya (“Lord”)
 Title substitution Citation pending
Vulgate (Jerome)
Latin Christian
 c. 382–405 CE Latin Dominus
Dominus (“Lord”)
 Title substitution Citation pending
Tyndale Pentateuch
English Protestant
 1530 English Iehouah
Iehouah (e.g. Exod 6:3); LORDE elsewhere
Early English use of a vocalized form in select verses.
 Vocalized form (Jehovah-type) Citation pending
Luther Bible
German Protestant
 1534 complete Bible German HERR
HERR
Capitals mark the divine name.
 Title substitution Citation pending
King James Version
English Protestant
 1611 English LORD
LORD; JEHOVAH in 4 verses
Small capitals mark the divine name; JEHOVAH at Exod 6:3, Ps 83:18, Isa 12:2, 26:4, and in compound place names (Gen 22:14, Exod 17:15, Judg 6:24).
 Title substitution Citation pending
Van Dyck Arabic Bible
Arabic Protestant
 1865 Arabic الرب
ar-Rabb (“the Lord”)
 Title substitution Citation pending
American Standard Version
English Protestant
 1901 English Jehovah
Jehovah
Used throughout the Old Testament.
 Vocalized form (Jehovah-type) Citation pending
Louis Segond (1910 revision)
French Protestant
 OT 1874; complete Bible 1880; revised 1910 French l’Éternel
l’Éternel (“the Eternal”)
 Title substitution Citation pending
JPS Tanakh
Jewish
 1917 English LORD
LORD
 Title substitution Citation pending
Chinese Union Version
Chinese Protestant
 1919 Chinese 耶和華
Yēhéhuá
Printed in traditional characters (simplified: 耶和华). Transliteration of a Jehovah-type form.
 Vocalized form (Jehovah-type) Citation pending
Revised Standard Version
English ecumenical
 1952 English LORD
LORD
Preface explains departure from the ASV's Jehovah.
 Title substitution Citation pending
New World Translation
Jehovah’s Witnesses
 complete 1961; rev. 2013 English Jehovah
Jehovah
Also inserted in parts of the New Testament.
 Vocalized form (Jehovah-type) Citation pending
Reina-Valera 1960
Spanish Protestant
 1960 revision Spanish Jehová
Jehová
 Vocalized form (Jehovah-type) Citation pending
Jerusalem Bible
Catholic
 1966 English Yahweh
Yahweh
Later Catholic guidance (2008) discouraged vocalizing the name in liturgy.
 Reconstructed form (Yahweh-type) Citation pending
World English Bible
English (public domain)
 c. 2000 English Yahweh
Yahweh
 Reconstructed form (Yahweh-type) Citation pending
Legacy Standard Bible
English Protestant
 2021 English Yahweh
Yahweh
 Reconstructed form (Yahweh-type) Citation pending