In the past you would hear the name Jehovah quite often. One of the only reasons the name is still in heavy use in 2010 is because of the Jehovah's Witnesses. In most of the contemporary English versions and even the King James Version you will not find it. So what's up with that?
In the Old Testament God went by and was addressed by many designated names. God, LORD are two of them. God is how we translate "Elohim". LORD with all capitals/uncials is a translation of YHWH (the tetragrammaton). YHWH was the Old Testament name of God without the consonants. The truth is YHWH is akin to the phrase "I AM WHO I AM". Names were taken with deadly earnest back then, especially God's. Names were not just pretty sounding embellishments but had specific meanings. They revealed something about their possessor. God was telling Moses in Exodus that He was quite real and an active God.
Having no vowels only consonants, Hebrew scholars eventually went back to sacred writings to clarify and and add vowel points since there was the potential of loosing the proper translation. Unfortunately, because of the sacredness of God's name and the fear of accidentally enunciating it improperly or at an improper time, they did not put vowel points on YHWH. They just didn't want to tamper with God's name out of fear.
Whatever YHWH actually means it does not mean LORD but LORD has been used for centuries, perhaps a millennium. When the Hebrew was translated into Greek in the Septuagint there was no attempt to find a translation of the tetragrammaton so the Greek word κύριος/Kurios was used which meant Lord. This in turn caused problems with the Hebrew word Adonai/ אֲדֹנָי which meant...you guessed it: Lord. So what happened is there are places where the words/names Adonai and YHWH are adjacent one another and you end up with lord LORD or LORD Lord. A little redundant, eh?
Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” Exodus 4:10
In Hebrew the name LORD and Lord are right next to one another with no punctuation: אדני (Adonai) & יהוה (Yahweh) in Exodus 4:10
To add even more confusion we must understand that lord is a title not a name like YHWH.
So...centuries ago the Jews began to feel the name YHWH was too holy to enunciate so it fell out of favor and ceased being used. Yes, the actual name revealed to them by God Himself (minus the consonants). They began to replace YHWH with Adonai. The name Jehovah is a rather clumsy translation of YHWH or Yahweh. If we go back to the Middle Ages and the use of middle English we see that the letter "J" had a "Y" sound and the "V" had the sound of a "W". So in Medeval Europe Jehovah would've sounded more like Yehowah. Yehowah isn't that far removed from Yahweh. If you consider that we're not even sure how it was suppose to be pronounced, it was close enough, right? In the 14th century though, many Bibles began to use Jehovah in the Old Testament. The name and pronunciation that is a butchering of the original real name.
The only version that now contains this name which is a butchering of the name Yahweh which we are not even sure is the correct translation/enunciation is the New World Version. It is the version used by none other than...the Jehovah's Witnesses.
So sorry, no consolation prize. They didn't even get the butchering of a possible mispronunciation right. They did not get God's name wrong just little, they got it totally wrong. Oops.
4 comments:
thanks andy, for this. i've listened to enough of their blurb to know they fancy themselves as having figured out a little more than other spiritual speakers.
Yeah Barbera, they are really rehearsed in their doctrine and a drilled quite often on it. As soon as you question them about the specifics of doctrine such as the Trinity they pull out their version of the Bible and point you to things in their revised version that back up their statements. It is at these times the good evangelical Christian immediately questions their stance on the Trinity (John 1, Titus 2:13, etc etc, the fact that they view the Holy Spirit as a non-identity (force) like Star Wars and issues like where they actually get their name from...their house of cards begins to fall apart. They begin to stammer on the doorstep and realize they are not prepared to answer outside of the brainwashing they have recieved in their Kindgom Halls. Their views of Hell are skewed, who actually gets saved and who does not is skewed, their salvation by works if skewed ...blah blah blah. Yep, your right.
Great job. Paul in Romans 10:9 calls upon us to confess that Jesus is Lord. This is much more than confessing His sovereign authority over our lives, but indeed confessing that He is the YHWH of the OT Scriptures. See Luke 24!
Your next door neighbor
mark 7:8 "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
because they do not love God so they keeping traditions of men
traditions of men is "we do not use God's name"
but they are wrong in (NIV)matthew 23:39 "For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. is 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yehowah.
check CJB,NWT,the scripture and hebrew the testmant
they are keeping traditions of men but not keeping God's commandment
whey will jedged in the last day
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