The name for the four consonants of one of the primary Hebrew names for God. It comes from the Greek roots tetra, “four,” and gramma, “a letter of the alphabet”. The four letters are the Hebrew equivalents of English Y (or J), H, W, and H. The name probably means “the one who is, that is, the absolute and unchangeable one.” The Lord reveals the name to Moses (Exodus 3:15; compare with 13–14; John 8:56–58).
In the Ten Commandments, the Jewish people were told not to take this name in vain (Ex 20:2, 7). So, the Jewish people viewed the name as holy and would not pronounce it. Instead, they would say Adonai, “Lord.” Originally, the text was written with only consonants. Eventually, scholars called the Masoretes added vowel points to the Hebrew. When writing the tetragrammaton, they inserted the vowels for Adonai as a reminder not to read the sacred name. Non-Hebrew speakers combined the vowels of Adonai with the consonants JHWH, creating “Jehovah,” which does not exist in Hebrew. It is possible the correct pronunciation of the name was Yahweh. Most translations write LORD, using capital letters to distinguish it from other uses of the English word “lord.”