Jah or Yah is a short form of Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel in
the Hebrew Bible. This short form of the name occurs 50 times in the text of the
Hebrew Bible, of which 24 form part of the phrase Hallelu-jah.
In an English-language context, the name Jah is now most commonly associated with
the Rastafari. It is otherwise mostly limited to the phrase Hallelujah and
theophoric names such as Elijah. In the Authorized King James Version there is
only a single instance of JAH in only one instance, in Psalm 68:4. An American
Translation follows KJV in using Yah in this verse. The conventional English
pronunciation of Jah is , even though the letter J here transliterates the
palatal approximant. The spelling Yah is designed to make the pronunciation
explicit in an English-language context. Also short for the name Jehovah.
Hebrew names of God Yahweh and Yahu Yahweh is a name of God in the Hebrew
language. Yahu is a well-attested short form of the full or extended name
Yahweh. The short form is preserved primarily in theophoric names such as
Elijah, Malchijah, and "my lord is Jah", etc. as well as in the phrase
Hallelujah. Rastafari usage
Rastafari use the terms "Jah" or sometimes "Jah Jah" as a term for God
and/or Haile Selassie I, who is also known by the Amharic title Janhoy.
Jewish and Christian Bibles In the King James Version of the
Christian Bible as well as other Bible versions such as The English Revised
Version of 1885, The Modern Reader's Bible,The Complete Bible, An American
Translation and The Geneva Bible, the Hebrew יהּ is transliterated as "JAH" in
only one instance: "Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that
rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him". An American
Translation renders the Hebrew word as "Yah" in this verse. In the 1885 Revised
Version and it's annotated study edition, The Modern Reader's Bible which
uses the Revised Version as it's base text also transliterates "JAH" in Psalms
89:8 which reads,"O LORD God of hosts, who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O
JAH? and thy faithfulness is round about thee".
With the rise of the Reformation, reconstructions of the Tetragrammaton
became popular. The Tyndale Bible was the first English translation to use the
anglicized reconstruction. The modern letter "J" settled on its current
English pronunciation only around 500 years ago; in Ancient Hebrew, the first
consonant of the Tetragrammaton always represents a "Y" sound.
Rotherham's Emphasised Bible includes 49 uses of Jah. In the Sacred Scriptures
Bethel Edition Bible, the Jerusalem Bible, and the New Jerusalem Bible the
Name "YHWH" and its abbreviated form "Yah" is found. The New World
Translation of the Holy Scriptures, used primarily by Jehovah's Witnesses,
employs "Jah" in the Hebrew Scriptures, and translates Hallelujah as "Praise
Jah" in the Greek Scriptures. The Divine Name King James Bible employs "JAH" in
50 instances within the Old Testament according to the Divine Name Concordance
of the Divine Name King James Bible, Second Edition.
The Spanish language Reina Valera Bible employs "JAH" in 21 instances within the
Old Testament according to the Nueva Concordancia Strong Exhaustiva . The
Darby Bible, Young's Literal Translation, The Jubilee Bible 2000,
Lexham English Bible, The Complete Jewish Bible, Names of God Bible , The
Recovery Version, Green's Literal Translation, the New Jewish Publication
Society or NJPS Tanakh and World English Bible includes "Jah" numerous times
within the Old Testament as "Hallelujah!" or "Alleluia!" which is
also employed throughout the Old Testament of these Bible versions.
"Hallelujah!" or "Alleluia!" is also used in other Bible versions such as the
The Divine Name King James Bible, American Standard Version, the Recovery
Version, The Tree of Life Version, Amplified Bible, God's Word Translation,
Holman Christian Standard Bible, International Standard Version, The
Message, New American Bible Revised Edition, The Jerusalem Bible, The New
Jerusalem Bible, NJPS Tanakh, The first JPS translation, The Living Bible, The
Bible in Living English, Young's Literal Translation, King James Version, The
Spanish language Reina Valera and even in Bible versions that otherwise do not
generally use the Divine Name such as the New King James Version, English
Standard Version, J.B. Phillips New Testament, New International Version,
Douay-Rheims Version, God's Word Translation, Revised Standard Version,
New Revised Standard Version, The Jubilee Bible 2000, New American
Standard Bible, New Century Version, New International Reader's Version and
several other versions, translations and/or editions in English and other
languages varying from once to numerous times depending on the Bible version
especially and most notably in Revelation Chapter 19 in Christian and
Messianic Jewish Bibles. = In music =
Jah is referenced in many reggae songs. The popularity of this music form
associated with the Rastafari has spread the name "Jah" beyond the West Indies.
For example, it is referenced in Bob Marley's "Is this Love", in the line:
We'll share the same room, for Jah provide the bread. It appears in the
title of Third World's hit song "Try Jah Love." The Mighty Diamonds song "Pass
the Koutchie" has the following lyric: Cause the spirit of Jah, you know he
leads you on. Similarly, Mystic Roots "Pass The Marijuana" contains the words:
Pass the marijuana, give Jah thanks and praise today. Also Stevie Wonder's ode
to Marley, "Master Blaster", contains the following verse lyric: We've agreed
to get together, joined as children in Jah. P.O.D.'s Song, "Strength Of My
Life" contains the words: If Jah is for me, tell me whom I gon' fear?, And Jah
of Jacob, deserving of my love. Also, Jah is referenced many times in Damian
Marley's song Road to Zion and in the songs of Costa Rican singer, Noah, such
as "If you don't believe in Jah, we can not be together" Additionally, Jah has
been linked to acid-reggae music. For example, the name can be heard in
Thievery Corporation's song "The Outernationalist". Hardcore Punk/ Reggae
band Bad Brains' first album contains the songs 'Jah Calling' and 'I Luv I
Jah'. The use of Jah in music is also evident in the reggae band, Soldiers of
Jah Army, also known as SOJA. Jah also appears in The Lonely Island's Ras Trent
as well as being the subject of "Mount Zion" by the MC Young Zeus. Jah also
appears in a Massive Attack's song, "A Prayer for England": 'Jah forgive us for
forgetting, Oh Jah help us to be forgiving'.
"Jah" sometimes appears in other Christian music genres as well. P.O.D.
recorded the song, "Without Jah, Nothing", and the first line of Camper
Van Beethoven's song "Take the Skinheads Bowling" is "Every day, I get up and
pray to Jah." Major Lazer released a song in 2012 called 'Jah No Partial'
See also Iah
Yahweh References