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[[File:Tetragrammaton scripts.svg|thumb|The Tetragrammaton in [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] (12th century BCE to 150 BCE), [[Paleo-Hebrew alphabet|Paleo-Hebrew]] (10th century BCE to 135 CE), and square [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] (3rd century BCE to present) scripts]]
The '''Tetragrammaton''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|t|ɛ|t|r|ə|ˈ|ɡ|r|æ|m|ə|t|ɒ|n}}) or '''Tetragram''' (from [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|τετραγράμματον}}, meaning "[consisting of] four letters") is the four-letter [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word {{script|Hebr|יהוה}} (transliterated as '''YHWH''' or '''YHVH'''), the name of the [[national god]] of Israel.<ref name="TEOC"/><ref name="Knight,2011">{{cite book |last=Knight |first=Douglas A. |title=The Meaning of the Bible: What the Jewish Scriptures and Christian Old Testament Can Teach Us |year=2011 |publisher=HarperOne |location=New York |isbn=978-0062098597 |edition=1st |author2=Levine, Amy-Jill }}</ref> The four letters, read from right to left, are ''[[yodh]]'', ''[[he (letter)|he]]'', ''[[waw (letter)|waw]]'' (or ''[[vav (letter)|vav]]''), and ''[[he (letter)|he]]''.<ref>The word "tetragrammaton" originates from ''tetra'' "four" + γράμμα ''gramma'' (gen. ''grammatos'') "letter" {{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=tetragrammaton |title=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> While there is no consensus about the structure and etymology of the name, the form ''[[Yahweh]]'' is now accepted almost universally.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pcAkKMECPKIC&pg=PA500 |title=Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament |volume=5 |editor1-first=G. Johannes |editor1-last=Botterweck |editor2-first=Helmer |editor2-last=Ringgren |translator-first=David E. |translator-last=Green |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |date=1986 |page=500 |isbn=0-8028-2329-7}}</ref><ref name="TEOC"/>
The books of the [[Torah]] and the rest of the [[Hebrew Bible]] except [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[Ecclesiastes]], and (with a possible instance in verse 8:6) the [[Song of Songs]] contain this [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] name.<ref name="TEOC"/> Observant [[Jews]] and those who follow [[Talmud]]ic Jewish traditions do not pronounce {{script|Hebr|יהוה}} nor do they read aloud proposed transcription forms such as ''Yahweh'' or ''[[Yehovah]]''; instead they replace it with a different term, whether in addressing or referring to the God of Israel. Common substitutions in Hebrew are [[Names of God in Judaism#Adonai|Adonai]] ("My Lord") or [[Elohim]] (literally "gods" but treated as singular when meaning "God") in prayer, or ''[[Names of God in Judaism#HaShem|HaShem]]'' ("The Name") in everyday speech.
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