Following the violent anti-Ya’ohdah riots in Alexandria in 38 AD, Philo was sent in 39/40 AD to Emperor Caligula (12-41 AD) in Rome to plead the cause of the Ya’ohdaym, exposing himself to the emperor’s cruelty, cynicism, and perversion. Caligula demanded to be worshiped as a God by all of his subjects but the Ya’ohdaym refused. Philo writes that:
“It was by grinding his teeth in an insulting tone that he said to us: ‘Are you not these people, enemies of the gods, who, alone, when all men recognize my divinity, despise me and prefer my worship to that of your God with a name that has no meaning? At the same time he raised his hands to heaven and uttered a blasphemy that he is not allowed to hear, let alone repeat” (Philatio ad Gaium §353).
Σαρκάζων γὰρ ἅμα καὶ σεσηρὼς « Ὑμεῖς » εἶπεν « ἐστὲ οἱ θεομισεῖς, οἱ θεὸν μὴ νομίζοντες εἶναί με, τὸν ἤδη παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνωμολογημένον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀκατονόμαστον ὑμῖν; » Καὶ ἀνατείνας τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐπεφήμιζε πρόσρησιν, ἣν οὐδὲ ἀκούειν θεμιτόν, οὐχ ὅτι διερμηνεύειν αὐτολεξεί.
Very shortly after this incident, on January 22 (or 24) 41 AD, Caligula was brutally assassinated by being stabbed to death 30 times by conspirators.
What was THE NAME that Caligula blasphemed right after he said it was a name with no meaning? He blasphemed the name Ιαω (pronounced YA’OH) which was very widespread at the time but it is a name that has no known meaning.
The Creator’s name is not like our names. It is not a conjugated verb and you cannot put it thru the grammar mill in order to determine its meaning, like heathen European scholars have tried to do. The Creator’s name is HOLY and it stands outside of the Hebrew verbal system. His name has a meaning but it is beyond the ability of the human brain to fathom. That is why He never tells us the meaning of His name in scripture. The meaning of His name is ineffable. It is unspeakable.
Caligula thought that a God with a name you cannot know the meaning of was a joke and he blasphemed the holy name by uttering it out loud with insults. YA’OH then arranged to have Caligula brutally killed almost immediately thereafter. You’ve been warned.
His name is YA’OH.
It always has been. It always will be.