jehova

Jehovah, or the Tetragrammaton, is regarded as the fundamental basis of Masonic symbolism and dogma 1. Derived from the Hebrew verb meaning "to be," the four-letter name combines past, present, and future tenses, symbolizing the eternal and immutable existence of the Deity 1. In Craft doctrine, knowing the Holy Name represents an understanding of the essential nature of the Grand Architect 1.

The name was attached to the Master Mason degree as the original Master's Word among operative Masons and throughout the early speculative period following the 1717 revival in England 1. Early tracing boards of the Third Degree featured a coffin inscribed with the name Jehovah 1.

George Oliver maintained that the word remained the Master's Word until late in the eighteenth century, when Thomas Dunckerley took it out of the Third Degree to place it within the Royal Arch 1. However, later historians including R. F. Gould and Henry Sadler cast significant doubt on Oliver’s account of Dunckerley's involvement 1. Although subsequent ritualistic changes in certain American and English bodies introduced substitute explanatory words, the Tetragrammaton remains historically recognized as the true omnific word 1.