All 49 instances of 'Yah' in the OT/Hebrew Bible

My document is an annotated list of all 49 occurrences of the Hebrew Bible (HB) shorter divine name-form ‘Yah’ (יָהּ / Yāh ), which occurs in Exodus (twice), Psalms (forty-three times), and Isaiah (four times). Its use is solely in poetic or praise contexts. The translation ‘praise ye Yah’ represents the well-known Hebrew ‘halleluyah’, which features in the choral climax of Handel’s oratorio ‘Messiah’, presenting praise to God Almighty in the Greek text of Revelation 19:1, 3, 4 and 6.

Here’s the core idea of what this document contains:

An English Bible (EB) translation tradition like KJV covers up 48 of the 49 instances of ‘Yah’ by ‘the LORD’. Only in one case – Psalm 68:4 (5 HB) – does the KJV attempt a transcription, in the form ‘JAH’ (all-upper case in the style of ‘LORD’).

So, on my list, I present ‘the LORD’ in red print to show where the KJV is covering up a case of ‘Yah’ in the HB. Where ‘Yahweh’ (cf. YHWH: the tetragrammaton) is found (con)textually close to ‘Yah’ in HB, I ignore KJV’s ‘the LORD’ that covers it up, and instead transcribe the Hebrew letters, four consonants and two vowels. This makes clear which Divine name-form it is. KJV’s double deployment of ‘the LORD’ to cover up both ‘Yahweh’ and ‘Yah’ is doubly indefensible. God revealed His name for it to be made known to all generations (Exod. 3:15); identifying Him and His deeds by His name. (See “Added note”, below.)

The document is structured in sections based on grammatical or textual forms of ‘Yah’:

1. Direct occurrences of ‘Yah’ (20x): This first section lists verses where ‘Yah’ appears in the Hebrew text, embedded in poetry or divine praise language.
2. ‘Hallelu-Yah’ forms (24x): These only occur in the Psalms. This is the large ‘Praise ye the LORD’ cluster, as represented in KJV. The document notes variations in how this phrase is split or hyphenated in the Hebrew text and emphasizes that it directly contains the divine name ‘Yah,’ even when English translations obscure it.
3. Other verbal/grammatical forms (1x each): These are rare constructions derived from the root idea of ‘praise Yah,’ such as:

• “he shall praise”
• “they shall praise”
• “let everything that has breath praise”

These are treated as linguistically connected to ‘Yah’ even though not obvious in English translation.

1. ‘In Yah’ (Heb. בְּיָהּ/bᵉyāh) occurs twice: These two cases are prepositional - בְּ/bᵉ -constructs that appear in KJV Psa. 68:4(5 HB) as “by his name JAH,” and in Isa. 26:4 as “in the LORD Yahweh.” So, in this latter KJV Isaiah case, EBs’ Divine Name (DN) avoidance device ‘the LORD’ covers up the HB’s ‘Yah’ instead of transcribing it, as the former KJV’s Psalms’ case does with ‘JAH’. Uniquely, in Psa. 68:4(5HB), ‘name’ doubly introduces ‘Yah’ in the HB text. Earlier in the verse it is: “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name.”
2. Notes and critique of translation practice: I show also, in the inset box, that KJV’s ‘Praise ye the LORD’ in Jeremiah 20:13 is not featuring ‘Yah’ but is ‘praise ye Yahweh’ (Heb. haləlû ʾet-yahweh ). Also, I mention that KJV Judges 5:2 misleadingly gives ‘Praise ye the LORD’ and NIV ‘Praise the LORD!’ However, the Hebrew text is: 'Bless ye Yahweh' (as NJB has). NKJ, ESV, NAS, RSV have: 'Bless the LORD'.

Overall, the document is not just a list*—it’s also a translational critique arguing that EB tradition, using the example of the KJV’s “the LORD”, systematically hides occurrences of “Yah,” flattening distinctions between the two divine name forms that are explicit in the Hebrew text.

*It also enables English Bible readers to Bible-mark where ‘Yah’ occurs in the Hebrew text.

____________________

Added note: The full Divine name form ‘Yahweh’ numerically eclipses ‘Yah’. ‘Yahweh’ occurs 6828 times, both in prose and poetry, and across all but three HB books: Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. I use the transcription ‘Yahweh’ as the scholarly consensus vocalised name-form.

Translation of a name is normally conveyed in print by transcription. The Psalms’ Hebrew ‘halleluyah’ is represented by inspired transcription in the Greek New Testament, in Rev. 19. The Greek ‘ia’ in ἁλληλουϊά/‘allēlouiá reproduces the native Hebrew vocalisation of יה/YH, as also reflected in the medieval Masoretic vowel-pointing: יָהּ / Yāh. This long ‘ā’ vocalisation in the single syllable DN form, also shows that Judaism maintained its pronunciation, and did not deny its utterance.

So, whilst rabbinic false piety made it official to deny the utterance of ‘YHWH’, having supposed it to be “ineffable”, this was not applied to the short DN form ‘Yah’. This means that EB versions that block ‘Yah’, by ‘the LORD’, or some other avoidance device, (mis)treat it as they also (mis)treat ‘YHWH’.

Fabrications like ‘The LORD’, ‘GOD’, ‘Iehovah’ or ‘Jehovah’, are not names, not transcriptions, but semantically vacuous forms designed to be read instead of ‘Yah’ and ‘Yahweh’ in EBs.

My underlying concern is that “the LORD” or any like cover up of ‘Yah’ (or ‘Yahweh’), as featured in English Bible (or other language) translations, is a Divinely unsanctioned practice. Indeed, in scriptural terms, this opposes God’s desire that His revealed name, represented by ‘Yah’ and ‘Yahweh’, be “made known to all generations” (Exod. 3:14-15).