Reading guide
How to Read the 72 Names of God
Read each Name as a three-letter Hebrew sequence and use the letter names to identify the characters. The site does not treat the triplets as ordinary Hebrew words or claim one definitive ancient pronunciation for all 72.
Reading
How do you read a Hebrew triplet?
On this site, the three letters are identified in their Hebrew sequence from right to left. For example, מהש is identified as Mem · Hey · Shin.
The letter names are there to identify the characters clearly. They are not presented as a reconstructed ancient spoken word.
Why are the letter names more useful than a phonetic spelling?
The derivation produces consonantal letter combinations without a built-in set of vowel points. Writing the letter names avoids pretending that every triplet has one historically fixed pronunciation.
Should the Names be pronounced?
There is no single universally established historical vocalization for the 72 triplets as a set. The Ava Lux practice therefore emphasizes looking at the Hebrew letters, breathing and meditating rather than claiming a definitive ancient pronunciation.
Why do some triplets appear more than once?
A few three-letter combinations recur in the 72-position sequence. Their number matters because each position is derived from a different column in the three source verses and can carry a different contemporary focus.
Examples include והו at Names 1 and 49, לאו at 11 and 17, and מבה at 14 and 55.
Quick answers
Direct answers.
Is transliteration the same as translation?
No. Transliteration identifies or represents the Hebrew letters in another script. Translation would claim a lexical meaning, which these triplets do not have in the ordinary dictionary sense.
Why does this site show letter names such as Mem Hey Shin?
It provides an unambiguous reading aid and stays consistent across all 72 pages.
Can I meditate without pronouncing the letters?
Yes. The practice used in this edition is built around visual attention to the Hebrew letters, breath and a contemporary meditation focus.
How do I find a specific Name?
Use the search on the Complete List by number, Hebrew letters, letter names or focus title.
Sources used on this page
Trace the claim.
- Rashi on Sukkah 45a:2 ↗
Medieval commentary explicitly describing 72 names embedded in the three 72-letter verses and the first/reversed-middle/last extraction pattern.
- Rabbeinu Bahya on Exodus 14:21 ↗
Medieval commentary stating that the three verses contain 72 letters each and explaining the forward/reverse/forward arrangement into three-letter units.
- Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed I.61 ↗
Important evidence that Shem ha-Meforash can specifically denote the four-letter Tetragrammaton.
- Jewish Encyclopedia — “Tetragrammaton” ↗
Historical reference for the four-letter divine name and the terminology surrounding it.