The elimination of Yahweh’s Name began with the post-exilic Jews’ refusal to pronounce it for fear of unintentionally misusing it, notably by violating the third commandment (“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain”). In the end, no one could be absolutely sure how the Name was originally pronounced, though the authoritative 22-volume Encyclopedia Judaica says that the original pronunciation was “Yahweh,” and that it has never been lost.