Jehovah Jireh

The Name in Genesis 22

"Jehovah Jireh" (more accurately transliterated YHWH Yireh) appears once in Scripture — at the climax of the binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah:

Genesis 22:14 — "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said [to] this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen."

The Hebrew is YHWH yir'eh (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה), meaning "the LORD will see" or "the LORD will provide." The KJV's translation "Jehovahjireh" transliterates the Hebrew directly rather than translating it, because Abraham uses the phrase as a place name.

The Two Meanings in One Verb

The verb ra'ah (רָאָה, Strong's H7200) means primarily "to see, to look, to perceive." But in Hebrew idiom, ra'ah with a direct object of need extends to mean "to see to, to provide for" — the same semantic bridge English makes when it speaks of someone "seeing to" a matter. Abraham plays on both senses in the passage:

• Genesis 22:8 — "God will provide (yir'eh) himself a lamb." (Seeing/providing)
• Genesis 22:14 — "YHWH Yireh." (Seeing/providing)
• Genesis 22:14b — "In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen (yera'eh)." (Seeing, passive)

The narrative uses the same root ra'ah three times at the chapter's climax, each with slightly different grammatical nuance. The wordplay is part of the passage's literary craft.

The Context: The Binding of Isaac

Genesis 22 is the Akedah — the "binding" of Isaac. God tests Abraham by commanding him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of Moriah. Abraham travels three days, ascends the mountain with Isaac, builds an altar, binds his son, and raises the knife. At the last moment the angel of the LORD intervenes:

Genesis 22:12–13 — "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him… And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son."

The ram is the provision. Abraham names the place YHWH Yireh — "YHWH provides" — because God had, in the moment of extreme need, seen to the offering.

The Location

Genesis 22:2 names "the land of Moriah" as the destination. 2 Chronicles 3:1 identifies Mount Moriah as the site of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem:

"Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where [the LORD] appeared unto David his father."

The same mountain where Abraham's ram was provided became the site of the temple where sacrifices would be offered for a millennium. The literary and theological weight of "in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen" (Genesis 22:14) accumulates through this identification.

Among the Compound Names of God

YHWH Yireh is one of several compound names that combine the covenant name YHWH with a descriptive Hebrew word. Each names God by what he did or revealed in a specific moment:

• YHWH Yireh — "the LORD will provide" (Genesis 22:14)
• YHWH Rapha — "the LORD that healeth" (Exodus 15:26)
• YHWH Nissi — "the LORD my banner" (Exodus 17:15)
• YHWH Shalom — "the LORD is peace" (Judges 6:24)
• YHWH Tsidkenu — "the LORD our righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6)
• YHWH Shammah — "the LORD is there" (Ezekiel 48:35)

"Jehovah" as a Transliteration

The English form "Jehovah" combines the consonants of YHWH (יהוה) with the vowel points of Adonai ("Lord") — a reading convention developed in medieval Hebrew manuscripts to remind readers to say Adonai rather than pronounce the divine name aloud. The actual pronunciation of YHWH is unknown; scholarly reconstructions most often propose "Yahweh." Either way, "Jehovah Jireh" is the conventional English form of the place name Abraham established on Mount Moriah, nearly four thousand years ago.