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Jehovist or Yahwist is the name given in higher Biblical criticism to one of the postulated authors of the Hexateuch. He is identified by his use of the divine name Jehovah or Yahweh as opposed to Elohim, used by the author of the first chapter of Genesis. The term Jehovist is a part of the documentary hypothesis.

The word Yahwist was first used in 1753 by the Catholic physician, Jean Astruc (1684 - 1766) in his book Conjectures sur les mémoires originaux dont il paraît que Moïse s'est servi pour composer le livre de la Genèse for the writer of that portion of Genesis that was likely written by a different author than the first chapter. Over time it evolved into the German Jahvist, then the English Jahwist, then the modern English Jehovist, in relation to the Latinized version of the name of the Hebrew God, rendered "Jehovah".

Astruc's use of the word "Jehovist" in his formation of the documentary hypothesis apparently comes from his intent to describe the writer of the document that came to be known as "J" (for "Jahwist", 1822, Frederick Bleek; "Jehovist", 1853, Hermann Hupfeld), as one who used the name of Jehovah in his writings. It has been extended to anyone who uses the word "Jehovah" as the name of God, whether in worship or in Biblical transmission (writing or translation).

Later the term was used openly in regard to worshippers of the Deity. Afterward, the term came to be used to indicate a supporter of the translation of the tetragrammaton as "Jehovah", and those who cling to its pronunciation as "Yahweh" as "Yahwists".

Yahwistic is a theophoric term meaning "of or pertaining to Yahweh", the name of the Jewish God, and can be applied as a suffix or prefix to a word. These prefixes or suffixes are "yhw" or variations of it, like "ia-a" in Akkaddian or "yau". In common useage, the theophoric element of the word can be dropped- for example, the official name "Jehoahaz" becomes "Ahaz" among the commoners. Many- but not all- of the ancient Kings of Israel have Yahwistic names, like Hezekiah or Jehosophat.

In historial terms, having a Yahwistic name is usually proof of the subject being an Israelite or Judahite, but this is not always the case. One of the Shasu groups has a Yahwistic name, while a reference to a "Yahweh of Teman" has also been found ("Teman" being Hebrew for "south"). Still, since most of the Yahwistic names occur in Israel and Judah in ancient Palestine, it is relatively safe to assume Yahwistic people are from Palestine.

Examples of Use

• http://machaut.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/WEBSTER.page.sh?PAGE=798
• http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/0105g.html
• http://www.brainydictionary.com/words/je/jehovist181426.html