What does it mean when the Lord's name is in all capital letters?

A Reader sent me this question via AllExperts and I taught it might be of interest to some here:

Question: What does it mean when the Lord's name is in all capital letters?

My reply:

Hi Cliff,

Whenever you read LORD or LORD GOD it means that God's Name is in the original text.

Due to the commandment against taking the LORD's Name in vain the Jews early on developed a system that is still used in most Bibles. Whenever the saw God's Holy Name instead of saying it they said "Adonai" or Lord. In non-Hebrew translations in order to distinguish a lord (like the Lord of the manner) and THE Lord they wrote LORD.

God's Holy Name is YHVH.

Because the Name is so holy the Jews forgot how to pronounce it -- which vowels to insert-- (that's not quite right but close... everything can be debated hehe).

The letters in Hebrew would be Yod He Vav He.

The most likely (and generally accepted) form is: Yahweh ("Yah-way"). Most people who call God (a title that just means "the Good One") by His name use this pronunciation.

Previously the Holy Name was translated into local languages so in English he was called Jehovah: or JHVH but "Jehovah" is definitely a translation and not a good one at that.

God principle name is Yahweh:

In the Hebrew source materials of the King James is used as followes:

LORD 6510
GOD 4
JEHOVAH 4
variant 1

Hope this helps,

May Yahweh and His dear Son Y'shua bless you,

~ Ben Ruach ha Kodesh
~ John of AllFaith