The Name of the Creator is central to the Scriptures. Throughout the Abariy (Hebrew) Scriptures, the Name YAHUAH identifies the Creator personally rather than functioning merely as a title. <u>Promote The Truth</u> places the restoration of this Name at the center of its Scripture research and the <u>Truth Scriptures™ project</u>.
When we examine the Bariyt Hadash (New Testament), an important manuscript question arises: How was the Name YAHUAH represented when the Bariyt Hadash was written, copied, translated, and transmitted in Yuuniy (Greek) and other languages?
The surviving Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts provide important evidence. In passages corresponding to quotations from the Ta’anak, Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts commonly contain words such as κύριος (kyrios), meaning “Lord,” rather than the Abariy (Hebrew) letters יהוה. However, the fact that a particular form appears in surviving manuscripts does not automatically establish everything about what stood in the earliest written copies.
To understand the question properly, we must distinguish between:
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the Name YAHUAH in the ancient Abariy (Hebrew) Scriptures;
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the way the Name was represented in ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture traditions;
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the Yuuniy (Greek) wording preserved in surviving Bariyt Hadash manuscripts;
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textual variants in particular passages; and
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modern restoration approaches such as the Truth Scriptures™.
This article examines those issues while keeping the focus on the Name YAHUAH and the importance of studying the earliest available Scriptural evidence.
TL;DR:
YAHUAH is the personal Name of the Creator emphasized throughout Scriptures.
Surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscripts generally use Yuuniy (Greek) terms such as κύριος or θεός where readers might expect the Name YAHUAH based on the underlying Ta’anak passage.
The surviving manuscript record therefore needs to be distinguished from the question of what may have appeared in the earliest copies of the Bariyt Hadash writings.
Ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture manuscripts demonstrate that the representation of the Name was not uniform across every period and manuscript tradition.
It provide important evidence about how early scribes treated Set-Apart (Divine) terms in Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts.
Textual variants such as the reading in Yahudah (Jude) 5 demonstrate why individual passages must be examined rather than assuming that every occurrence followed exactly the same transmission history.
The absence of יהוה from surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscripts is an important manuscript fact, but it does not by itself answer every question about the earliest form of the text.
Promote The Truth approaches Scripture restoration through the study of ancient Abariy (Hebrew), Aramiyt (Aramaic), and other early textual sources and restores the Name YAHUAH in the Truth Scriptures™.
Table of Contents
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The Name YAHUAH in Scripture
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What Do Surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash Manuscripts Contain?
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The Set-Apart (Divine) Name in Ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture
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κύριος and the Question of Name Substitution
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Set-Apart Name in Early Yuuniy (Greek) Manuscripts
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Important Bariyt Hadash Textual Variants
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Yahudah (Jude) 5 and the Shamut (Exodus)
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“Lord, Lord” and Set-Apart (Divine) Name Language
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AHLALUYAHUAH (HalleluYah) in the Bariyt Hadash
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What the Manuscript Evidence Can and Cannot Establish
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Why Restoring YAHUAH Matters
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YAHUAH in the Truth Scriptures™
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How to Study the Evidence
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Conclusion
The Name YAHUAH in Scriptures
The first question should not be whether a later translation contains a familiar form of the Set-Apart (Divine) Name. The first question should be:
What Name does Scripture itself reveal?
Promote The Truth identifies the Name of the Creator as YAHUAH and emphasizes the importance of recovering the Name through the earliest available Scriptural evidence.
The Name is presented as a Personal Name rather than simply another title. This distinction matters because titles such as “Lord” and “God” can be used in different contexts, while a personal Name identifies the one being addressed.
Shamut (Exodus) 3:15 is especially important because the Name is presented as a memorial for generations.
The question of YAHUAH in the Bariyt Hadash therefore cannot be separated from the larger question of how the Name was transmitted through Scriptures history.
What Do Surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash Manuscripts Contain?
The surviving Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts of the Bariyt Hadash provide an important part of the evidence.
In quotations from the Ta’anak, Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts generally use forms of κύριος, commonly translated as “Lord,” or θεός, meaning “God,” rather than writing the four Abariy letters יהוה directly within the Yuuniy (Greek) text.
This is a statement about the surviving manuscript evidence.
It should not automatically be expanded into a claim that we know exactly what every earliest manuscript originally contained.
A responsible manuscript study therefore asks several separate questions:
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What does the earliest surviving manuscript actually read?
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What does the corresponding Ta’anak passage contain?
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Are there textual variants?
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What did earlier Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture traditions do with the Name?
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Could scribal transmission have affected the wording?
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What evidence exists outside the surviving Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts?
These questions prevent one piece of evidence from being used to answer a different question.
What would direct preservation of the Name look like?
If a Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscript preserved the Name directly, evidence might include:
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יהוה written within a Yuuniy (Greek) passage;
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the Name written in an older Abariy (Hebrew) script;
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a Abariy (Hebrew) transliteration representing the Name;
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special scribal treatment distinguishing the Name from surrounding Yuuniy (Greek) words; or
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another identifiable manuscript form preserving the Name rather than replacing it with an ordinary Yuuniy (Greek) title.
No surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscript presently provides an undisputed example of יהוה appearing directly in the Yuuniy (Greek) text.
That observation is significant.
At the same time, manuscript absence should be distinguished from proof concerning the contents of manuscripts that have not survived…
The Set-Apart (Divine) Name in Ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture
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The history of the Yuuniy (Greek) Scriptures is important because Bariyt Hadash writers quoted passages from the Ta’anak.
Ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture manuscripts do not present a completely uniform history of how the Name was represented.
Some early Yuuniy (Greek) witnesses provide evidence for the Name being preserved in Abariy (Hebrew) characters or represented through forms such as ΙΑΩ. Other Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts use κύριος.
This history demonstrates that the representation of the Name in Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture developed across different manuscript traditions.
Therefore, the question cannot simply be reduced to:
“Did Yuuniy (Greek) readers always use κύριος?”
The manuscript evidence shows that different practices existed.
The next question is how those practices relate to the Yuuniy (Greek) wording found in the Bariyt Hadash.
κύριος and the Question of Name Substitution
The Yuuniy (Greek) word κύριος means “lord” or “master.” It is not itself the Abariy Name YAHUAH.
This distinction is important.
When a Ta’anak passage containing the Name YAHUAH is represented in Yuuniy (Greek) using κύριος, the reader encounters a title or descriptive term where the source text contains the personal Name.
That does not by itself prove why the substitution occurred in every individual manuscript.
Several historical explanations have been proposed, including:
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established Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture translation practices;
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Reading customs;
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reverential avoidance of pronouncing the Name;
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scribal conventions;
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translation from Yuuniy (Greek) copies that already contained κύριος; and
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later manuscript transmission.
These possibilities must be examined against the actual manuscript evidence.
The important point for Scripture students is that YAHUAH and κύριος are not identical words.
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Set-Apart Name in Early Yuuniy (Greek) Manuscripts
Another important feature of early manuscripts is the practice known as Set-Apart Name, meaning abbreviated forms of certain words.
Yuuniy (Greek) manuscript scribes sometimes abbreviated words such as:
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κύριος
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θεός
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Ἰησοῦς
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Χριστός
and marked the abbreviation with an overline.
This practice is significant because it shows that early scribes had a distinctive way of treating certain words associated with Set-apart subjects.
Why does this matter?
Set-Apart Name demonstrate that the scribal treatment of Set-apart terminology was not always identical to ordinary Yuuniy (Greek) writing.
However, the existence of Set-Apart Name should not automatically be treated as proof that a particular abbreviation originally represented the Name YAHUAH.
Claims about numerical values, Abariy (Hebrew) connections, or deliberate substitution must be evaluated separately from the manuscript fact that the abbreviations existed.
The strongest approach is therefore to distinguish:
Manuscript fact:
Early manuscripts contain Set-Apart Name.
Interpretation:
Researchers have proposed different explanations for why particular Set-apart terms were abbreviated.
Conclusion:
The evidence should be weighed without claiming more than the manuscripts demonstrate…
Subsequent scholarship has raised substantive objections:
Important Bariyt Hadash Textual Variants
Some passages are especially valuable because they contain textual variants that affect how readers understand the identity or title associated with a passage.
These passages demonstrate why a study of YAHUAH and the Bariyt Hadash should not depend only on a single English translation.
A textual-critical investigation should compare:
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manuscript readings;
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early versions;
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quotations by early writers where available;
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internal context;
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and the likelihood of particular scribal changes.
The goal is not to force a predetermined conclusion but to examine what the available evidence actually shows.
Yahudah (Jude) 5 and the Exodus
Yahudah (Jude) 5 is a significant example.
The passage has a textual variation involving the identity of the one who delivered the people from Matsar (Egypt). Different manuscript traditions preserve different readings.
This matters because the reading affects how the passage is understood in relation to the Shamut (Exodus) account.
Rather than treating the textual variant as a minor detail, Scriptures students should examine the manuscript evidence directly.
Questions to consider include:
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Which manuscripts contain each reading?
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How early are those manuscripts?
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Which reading explains the development of the other?
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Does the reading correspond with the surrounding context?
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How do translations represent the variant?
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What does the underlying Ta’anak account say?
This approach allows the reader to study the evidence without allowing a later translation to become the only authority.
“Lord, Lord” and Set-Apart (Divine) Name Language
Another frequently discussed example is the repeated expression “Lord, Lord.”
In Yuuniy (Greek), the doubled form can function as an emphatic address.
Some scholars have argued that particular occurrences may have deeper significance when examined against the language and passages of the Ta’anak.
Others point out that repetition itself can function as a Semitic form of emphasis and therefore does not automatically prove that the Set-Apart (Divine) Name was present behind the expression.
Both observations should be kept separate from the manuscript evidence.
The Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts contain the expression.
The question of what theological significance the expression carries requires further interpretation.
This distinction is essential when studying the relationship between YAHUAH and the Mashiyha.
AHLALUYAHUAH (HalleluYah) in the Bariyt Hadash
One especially important Name-related expression does remain recognizable in the Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash:
AHLALUYAHUAH (HalleluYah)
The expression contains the shortened Name element YAH.
This provides an important reminder that Abariy (Hebrew) Name elements were not necessarily eliminated from every Yuuniy (Greek) Scriptural expression.
AHLALUYAHUAH (HalleluYah) is therefore relevant when studying the broader question of how Abariy (Hebrew) Name elements were transmitted into Yuuniy (Greek)-language Scripture.
It should not, however, be treated as proof that every occurrence of YAHUAH in the Bariyt Hadash was preserved in exactly the same way.
Each textual occurrence should be examined in its own context.
What the Manuscript Evidence Can and Cannot Establish
This distinction is one of the most important principles for studying the subject.
The evidence can establish:
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what surviving manuscripts actually contain;
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which manuscripts contain particular variants;
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how ancient scribes wrote certain Yuuniy (Greek) terms;
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that different Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture traditions existed;
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that the Name was represented differently across historical periods and textual traditions.
The evidence cannot automatically establish:
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exactly what every lost original manuscript contained;
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the precise intention of every ancient scribe;
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that every occurrence of κύριος replaced YAHUAH in exactly the same way;
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that one particular reconstruction explains every manuscript tradition.
This is why careful Scripture study must distinguish manuscript evidence from reconstruction.
Why Restoring YAHUAH Matters
For Promote The Truth, the question is not merely academic.
The Name YAHUAH is treated as the personal Name revealed in Scripture and therefore as something that should not simply disappear behind generic titles.
When readers encounter “LORD” or “Lord,” they may not realize that different Abariy (Hebrew) words and concepts can stand behind those English forms.
Restoring the Name allows the reader to see the Name itself.
This is particularly important when studying passages that quote the Ta’anak.
Instead of beginning with an English translation and assuming that every occurrence of “Lord” represents the same underlying term, Scripture students can ask:
What is the Name or word in the earliest available source?
That question encourages direct examination of the text.
YAHUAH in the Truth Scriptures™
The Truth Scriptures™ project exists to examine the Scriptures through ancient textual sources and restore names and meanings that Promote The Truth believes have been obscured through centuries of translation and transmission.
The project covers both the Ta’anak and Bariyt Hadash, with the Name YAHUAH restored throughout.
This restoration approach is based on the conviction that names should be preserved rather than routinely replaced with titles.
The Truth Scriptures™ therefore provides a useful resource for readers who want to compare restored-name readings with conventional English translations.
The purpose is not simply to change spelling.
It is to encourage Scripture students to examine:
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the original-language context;
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ancient manuscript evidence;
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personal Name;
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Set-Apart (Divine) Name occurrences;
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translation decisions;
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textual variants;
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and the larger Scriptural context.
How to Study the Evidence
A careful study of YAHUAH in the Bariyt Hadash can follow a simple process.
Step 1: Identify the Ta’anak passage
When a Bariyt Hadash writer quotes the Ta’anak, locate the original passage.
Step 2: Examine the Name
Determine whether the source passage contains YAHUAH.
Step 3: Compare the Yuuniy (Greek) wording
Examine whether the Yuuniy (Greek) manuscript tradition uses κύριος, θεός, another term, or contains a textual variant.
Step 4: Examine manuscript evidence
Where a variant exists, compare the available manuscript witnesses rather than relying on a single English translation.
Step 5: Compare restoration translations
Read the passage in the Truth Scriptures™ and compare how the Name and surrounding terminology are rendered.
Step 6: Separate evidence from interpretation
Do not treat a proposed explanation as though it were itself a manuscript.
Ask:
What does the manuscript say?
Then ask:
What does the evidence suggest?
Those are two different questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is YAHUAH found in the Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscripts?
No surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscript provides an undisputed occurrence of the four Abariy (Hebrew) letters יהוה within the Yuuniy (Greek) text.
However, this does not by itself settle what appeared in every earliest or lost manuscript.
Why do Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts use κύριος?
The surviving Yuuniy (Greek) manuscript tradition commonly uses κύριος in passages corresponding to Ta’anak quotations containing the Name.
The historical reasons for this practice require examination of Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture traditions, reading customs, translation practices, and scribal transmission.
Is κύριος the Name YAHUAH?
No.
κύριος is a Yuuniy (Greek) word meaning “lord” or “master.” YAHUAH is the personal Name of the Creator.
A translation may use “Lord” where the source contains the Name, but the two terms should not simply be treated as identical.
Did early Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture manuscripts ever preserve the Set-Apart (Divine) Name?
Some ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture witnesses provide evidence for Abariy (Hebrew) characters or forms such as ΙΑΩ in connection with the Set-Apart (Divine) Name.
This demonstrates that ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture traditions were not completely uniform.
Does the absence of יהוה from surviving Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash manuscripts prove that it was never there?
No.
It establishes that surviving Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts do not provide direct manuscript evidence of יהוה in the Bariyt Hadash.
It does not automatically prove the contents of manuscripts that have not survived.
Why does the Truth Scriptures™ restore YAHUAH?
Promote The Truth’s restoration approach seeks to preserve the Name and other original Scriptural names rather than replacing them with generic titles.
The Truth Scriptures™ therefore uses YAHUAH throughout its restoration of the Ta’anak and Bariyt Hadash.
What should Scripture students do when a textual question is disputed?
Examine the earliest available evidence, compare manuscript readings, identify textual variants, study the underlying Ta’anak passage, and distinguish documented evidence from interpretation.
Conclusion
The question of YAHUAH in the Bariyt Hadash requires more than looking at a modern English translation.
The surviving Yuuniy (Greek) manuscripts generally present κύριος or other Yuuniy (Greek) terminology where corresponding Ta’anak passages contain the Name YAHUAH. That is an important manuscript observation.
But the manuscript record must be studied carefully.
Ancient Yuuniy (Greek) Scripture traditions demonstrate variation in how the Name was represented. Early scribes also developed distinctive conventions such as Set-Apart Name. Individual Bariyt Hadash passages contain textual variants that can affect how readers understand the relationship between the Name and the Mashiyha.
Therefore, the most productive approach is to return to the earliest available sources and examine the evidence carefully.
For readers seeking a restoration-based approach, the Truth Scriptures™ provides a way to study the Ta’anak and Bariyt Hadash with the Name YAHUAH restored throughout.
The goal is simple:
Do not merely inherit the wording of later translations. Study the Scriptures, examine the evidence, and seek the truth of YAHUAH’s Word.
— Maria
Study resources: Truth Scriptures and related offerings
Promote The Truth publishes the Truth Scriptures™ Translation, a restoration rendering of the Ta’anak and Bariyt Hadash translated from ancient Abariy (Hebrew) and Aramiyt (Aramaic) manuscript sources, with the Name YAHUAH restored throughout rather than replaced by a generic title. For readers who want restored names, manuscript notes, and parallel readings alongside the academic material above, the Truth Scriptures™ Digital Collection offers a searchable study companion.
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The Truth Scriptures™ Translation restores original Abariy (Hebrew) and Aramiyt (Aramaic) names, including YAHUAH, throughout both Bariyt Hadash and Ta’anak (Testaments).
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The Truth Scriptures™ Digital Collection provides digital access with manuscript notes for closer comparative study.
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Readers wanting guided, structured teaching can join the PTT “RENEWED” Virtual Retreat, offered at a specific fee, covering foundational Scriptural concepts including the Name.
Explore the Truth Scriptures translation and see how a Abariy (Hebrew) and Aramiyt (Aramaic)-rooted rendering treats the Set-Apart (divine) Name where Yuuniy (Greek) Bariyt Hadash (New Testament) manuscripts use κύριος.
Sources
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BYU Religious Studies Center: context on nomina sacra and kyrios development
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New Testament Studies: ‘Lord, Lord’ — Jesus as YHWH in Matthew and Luke