Exploration 104 – Behold the Hand, Behold the Nail

⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
¹⁰ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
¹¹ And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-11 King James Version

In Hebrew the letters Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey (YHVH) are often translated as Lord, but Lord is a title, not a name. Rock Island Books in the video below attempts to answer the question: Who is YHVH?

The original paleo-Hebrew script was pictographic so we can find clues in each letter that is used. The Yod (Y) is the symbol for a hand. The Hey (H) is the symbol of a man with two hands raised in praise as if saying Behold! The Vav (V) is the symbol for a nail. Translating the word YHVH pictographically they come up with Behold the hand, behold the nail.

These letters can also be used as numbers. The Yod (Y) is the 10th letter representing ordinal perfection. The Hey (H) is the 5th letter representing grace and favor. The Vav (V) is the 6th letter representing man. They offer the following number translation: As a result of God’s anointed and appointed plan man will find himself surrounded on both sides by divine grace and favor.

They ultimately come to the conclusion that YHVH is Yeshua (Jesus). That surprised me, because I am used to thinking of YHVH being more the Father than the Son, but then after thinking of the Trinity perhaps Jesus is a better and more personal answer to the question especially considering that God has given Him a name above every name.

For more on the early Hebrew script and other such topics see Jeff A. Benner’s article, The Ancient Pictographic Alphabet, and the frontmatter to Douglas N. Petrovich’s The World’s Oldest Alphabet: Hebrew as the Language of the Proto-Consonantal Script.