Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name commonly used for god in the religious rastafari movement”. Today it says “short form of the tetragrammaton יהוה”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Hebrew Bible theonym”. It now reads “Short form for name of Abrahamic God”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Jah (pronounced with a hard J as in Jehovah ) is the name commonly used for God in the religious Rastafari movement . Rastafari consider Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia to have been the religious symbol for Jah incarnate . Referring to him by the title of Jah Rastafari, some consider him to have been the personification of Jah, but this is only one interpretation or metaphor for Rasta belief. Each and every Rasta is encouraged to seek truth for themselves, and no central dogma is imposed. [1] Another way some Rastafarians use to express the idea of Jah is the phrase "I and I" (such as "I and I survive" used in a song by the Bad Brains , usually written "I&I") to represent each and every person who recognizes themselves to be part of a trinitarian unity "Haile Selassie I / Jah / I". Jah is often thought to be a shortened form of the name Yahweh or Jehovah . Thus, the term Hallelujah would mean "Praise Jah." In the West Indies, the recent popularity of Christian reggae has led to the use of the name Jah in Christian circles, especially among younger believers. In the original text of the Hebrew Bible , "Jah" occurs 26 times alone and 24 times in the term "Hallelujah". It is transliterated "Jah" in a single instance (Psalm 68:4) in the King James Version of the Bible , and An American Translation has "Yah" at the same place. New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures of Jehovah's Witnesses preserves for the reader all occurrences, while Rotherham's Emphasised Bible , 49 of them. Jah is also an alternative spelling of the name of the Egyptian deity Iah . Some believe there could be a connection between this name and the Semitic name Jah.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 15987847.
The opening as it stood in 2010 12 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jah ( ˈdʒɑː ) is the shortened name for God YHWH , and Jehovah most commonly used in the Rastafari movement and the world wide preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses in upwards of 500 languages.It comes from the Hebrew יָהּ = Yah .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370924402.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Related topics Art Adherents Criticism Culture Ecumenism Liturgy Mission Other religions Persecution Prayer Sermon Symbolism Western society Worship Sabbath in Christianity Gregorian calendar Glossary Index Outline Christianity portal v t e Jah ( / ˈ dʒ ɑː / ; = Yah ) is a short form of YHWH ( ), the proper name of God in Judaism .Anglicized versions of the Tetragrammaton (Latin YHVH ), mostly used in Christian contexts , are Jehovah , Yehowah , or Yahweh .The name 'Jah' is most commonly associated with the Rastafari movement , and as part of the word " hallelu jah ", although Christian groups may use the name to varying degrees.The name is used in some English translations of the Bible which reconstruct the Tetragrammaton.Other versions sometimes use the academic Hebrew reconstruction "Yah".Some languages use the letter "I" instead of "Y" or "J": Other languages use "CH" ( Choctaw ), "S" ( Tongan ), and "Z" ( Chin ).Abbreviated Tetragrammaton in the Jewish Encyclopedia .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667364091.
The opening as it stood in 2020 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jah or Yah ( , Yah ) is a short form, the first syllable, of Yahweh (in consonantal spelling YHWH , the four letters that form the tetragrammaton ), the personal name of God which the ancient Israelites used.This short form of the name occurs 50 times in the text of the Hebrew Bible, of which 24 form part of the phrase " Hallelujah ", which is actually a two-word phrase, not one word.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 King James Version (1611) there is only a single instance of JAH (capitalised), in Psalm 68 :4.An American Translation (1939) follows KJV in using Yah in this verse.The conventional English pronunciation of Jah is / ˈ dʒ ɑː / , even though the letter J here transliterates the palatal approximant (Hebrew י Yodh ).The spelling Yah is designed to make the pronunciation / ˈ j ɑː / explicit in an English-language context (see also romanization of Hebrew ).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960456812.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jah or Yah ( , Yāh ) is a short form of יהוה (YHWH), the four letters that form the tetragrammaton , the personal name of God : Yahweh , which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of Jah is / ˈ dʒ ɑː / , even though the letter J here transliterates the palatal approximant (Hebrew י Yodh ). The spelling Yah is designed to make the pronunciation / ˈ j ɑː / explicit in an English-language context (see also romanization of Hebrew ), especially for Christians who may not use Hebrew regularly during prayer and study.This short form of the name occurs 50 times in the text of the Hebrew Bible, of which 24 form part of the phrase " Hallelujah ", a phrase that continues to be employed by Jews and Christians to give praise to Yahweh.In the Christian King James Version (1611) there is a single instance of JAH (capitalized), in Psalm 68 :4.An American Translation (1939) and the New King James Version "NKJV" (1982) follows KJV in using Yah in this verse.While pronouncing the tetragrammaton is forbidden for Jews, articulating "Jah"/"Yah" is allowed, but is usually confined to prayer and study.The name Jah is frequently employed by adherents of Rastafari to refer to God.The Bible in Cross Cultural Perspective (Revised ed.).Shorter forms of Yahweh: The name Yahweh also appears in a shortened form, transliterated Jah (pronounced Yah) in the Revised Version and the American Standard Version, either in the text or footnote: "my song is Jah" (Ex 15:2); "by Jah, his name" (Ps 68:4); "I shall not see Jah in Jah's land (Is 38:11).It is common also in such often untranslated compounds as hallelujah 'praise Jah' (Ps 135:3; 146:10, 148:14), and in proper names like Elijah, 'my God is Jah,' Adonijah, 'my Lord is Jah,' Isaiah, 'Jah has saved.' Webber, Christopher L.Milestones of Life among Rastafari .Rastas commonly use the word Jah to mean God, which is a shortened name form of Jehovah – Yahweh, the name of God originated in the ancient Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177120147.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Short form for name of Abrahamic God "JAH" redirects here.Jah or Yah ( Hebrew : יָהּ , Yāh ) is a short form of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH), the personal name of God : Yahweh , which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of Jah is / ˈ dʒ ɑː / , even though the letter J here transliterates the palatal approximant ( Hebrew י yodh ). The spelling Yah is designed to make the pronunciation / ˈ j ɑː / explicit in an English-language context (see also romanization of Hebrew ), especially for Christians who may not use Hebrew regularly during prayer and study. This short form of the name occurs 50 times in the text of the Hebrew Bible , of which 24 form part of the phrase " Hallelujah ", a phrase that continues to be employed by Jews and Christians to give praise to Yahweh. In the 1611 King James Version of the Christian Bible there is a single instance of JAH (capitalized), in Psalm 68 :4.An American Translation (1939) and the New King James Version (NKJV), published in 1982, follows the KJV in using Yah in this verse.While pronouncing the Tetragrammaton is forbidden for Jews, articulating Yah (which is used more frequently in the Jewish context than Jah is) is allowed but is usually confined to prayer and study. The name Jah is frequently employed by adherents of Rastafari to refer to God. The Bible in Cross Cultural Perspective (Revised ed.). Shorter forms of Yahweh: The name Yahweh also appears in a shortened form, transliterated Jah (pronounced Yah) in the Revised Version and the American Standard Version, either in the text or footnote: "my song is Jah" (Ex 15:2); "by Jah, his name" (Ps 68:4); "I shall not see Jah in Jah's land (Is 38:11). It is common also in such often untranslated compounds as hallelujah 'praise Jah' (Ps 135:3; 146:10, 148:14), and in proper names like Elijah, 'my God is Jah,' Adonijah, 'my Lord is Jah,' Isaiah, 'Jah has saved.' Webber, Christopher L. Milestones of Life among Rastafari . Rastas commonly use the word Jah to mean God, which is a shortened name form of Jehovah – Yahweh, the name of God originated in the ancient Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1283121841. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “name commonly used for god in the religious rastafari movement”. Today it says “short form of the tetragrammaton יהוה”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Hebrew Bible theonym”. It now reads “Short form for name of Abrahamic God”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
name commonly used for god in the religious rastafari movement
Now
short form of the tetragrammaton יהוה
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
