of translation
The Proper Name of God in the Old Testament: In the Scriptures, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for the Deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim. One of the titles for God is Lord, a translation of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as his special or proper name, that is, the four letter YHWH (Tetragrammaton; Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated LORD. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated GOD in order to avoid confusion.
It is known that for many years YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh, however no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation.
the lockman foundation
Source: NASB Thinline Bible, Large Print (1995 Translation), p. vii