JEHOVAH

 

*THE NAME "JEHOVAH"*

*Introduction*

It is obvious that in most of our churches, some of our Priests and Catechists forbid us from pronouncing the name JEHOVAH, whether during prayers or general Christian songs, attributing the name to the group JEHOVAH’S WITNESS. But that is not it. Before my academic studies in theology, I once came across the name JEHOVAH in JERUSALEM BIBLE, the first of it, before this NEW JERUSALEM BIBLE. In a Hebrew class, the Lecturer gave us assignment on this name JEHOVAH, before teaching it in the class. In this article, I will explain the term JEHOVAH and how it comes about. Fortunately or unfortunately, the first person to use the name is a  Catholic Priest.

*Brief History of the Use of the name Jehovah in the Bible*

In 1278 AD a Spanish monk, Raymundo Martini, wrote the latin work PUGIO FIDEI (Dagger of faith). In it he used the name of God, spelling it Yohoua. Later printings of this work, dated some centuries later, used the spelling JEHOVA. Soon after, in 1303 AD, Porchetus de Salvaticis completed a work entitled VICTORIA PORCHETI AVERSUS IMPIOS HEBRAEOS (Porchetus' Victory Against The Ungodly Hebrews). He spells God's name IOHOUAH, IOHOUA and IHOUAH. Then, in 1518 AD, Petrus Galatinus, a Catholic priest born in the late 1400's AD, published a work entitled DE ARCANIS CATHOLICAE VERITATIS (Concerning Secrets of the Universal Truth) in which he spelled God's name IEHOUA. Now, the name "Jehovah" first appeared in an English BIBLE in 1530 AD, when William Tyndale published a translation of the Chumash (the first five books of the Bible). In this, he included the name of God, usually spelled IEHOUAH, in several verses (Genesis 15:2; Exodus 6:3; 15:3; 17:6; 23:17; 33:19; 34:23; Deuteronomy 3:24. Tyndale also included God's name in Ezekiel 18:23 and 36:23 in his translations that were added at the end of THE NEW TESTAMENT, Antwerp, 1534 AD).

It is good to note that there was no "J" in English at this time (not until 1700s AD); the J is a product of a stylized I; thus giving us the current Jehovah rather than the Old English Iehovah. The "u" used in the above names is also a reminder that there was no "v" in Old English, as you can read David in the original King James version was written "Dauid".

In 1534 AD Martin Luther published his complete translation of the Bible in German, based on the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. While he used the German "Herr" (Lord or Sir) for the Tetragrammaton, in a sermon which he delivered in 1526 AD on Jeremiah 23:1-8, he said, "The name Jehovah, Lord, belongs exclusively to the true God."

*The names Yahweh, Elohim, Adonai and Jehovah * 

The name of the God of the Israelites revealed to Moses has four Hebrew consonants YHWH called the TETRAGRAMMATON. After the exile (6th century BC), and especially from the 3rd century BC on, *Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons*. First, as Judaism became a universal religion through its proselytizing in the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun *Elohim*, meaning "*god*," tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others. Second, at the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too Sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai ("My Lord"), which was translated as Kyrios ("Lord") in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.

The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century AD (Anno Domini= In the Year of the Lord) worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai (Lord) or Elohim (God). Thus, the name JEHOVAH (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the 19th and 20th centuries, biblical scholars again began to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH should be pronounced Yahweh.

*Should the Name Jehovah be used in Scripture to refer to God*? 

  “The time did come, however, when in reading the Hebrew Scriptures in the original language, the Jewish reader substituted either ‘*Adho-nai’ (Sovereign Lord) or ‘Elo-him’ (God) rather than pronounce the divine name represented by the Tetragrammaton [YHWH]*. …*the Jewish copyists inserted the vowel points for either ‘Adho-nai’ or ‘Elo-him’ into the Tetragrammaton*, evidently to warn the reader to say those words in place of pronouncing the divine name. …In the second half of the first millennium AD, Jewish scholars introduced a system of points to represent the missing vowels in the consonantal Hebrew text. When it came to God’s name, instead of inserting the proper vowel signs for it, they put other vowel signs to remind the reader that he should say ‘Adho-nai’ (meaning ‘Sovereign Lord’) or ‘Elo-him’ (meaning ‘God’).”

 However, Hebrew scholars generally favor ‘Yahweh’ as the most likely pronunciation. …Since certainty of pronunciation is not now attainable, there seems to be no reason for abandoning in English the well-known form ‘Jehovah’ in favor of some other suggested pronunciation.”

 “The normal word for Master is Lord, a rendering of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (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 was consistently pronounced and 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.”

*What is the Septuagint Text*? It is the Greek version of both the Old Testament of the Sacred Scriptures. Remember that Old Testament is written in Hebrew and New Testament written in Greek and Aramaic. About 72 Jewish scholars were involved in that first written translation of the Scriptures from Hebrew into Greek. Later, the round figure 70 began to be used. Hence, *the version was called the Septuagint*, meaning “70,” and is designated LXX, the Roman numeral for 70. By the end of the second century AD, all books of the Hebrew Scriptures could be read in Greek. Thus, *the name Septuagint came to refer to the entire Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek*.”

© Rev Utazi Prince Marie Benignus SFDPM

 

 

*WHAT IS THE ORIGINAL NAME OF GOD*?

God is referred to in the Bible by many names, but the primary three are:

Elohim
Translation: “God,” as in Genesis 1:1: “in the beginning God created…”

Yahweh
Translation: “Lord,” as in Psalm 23:1: “The Lord is my Shepherd…”

Adonai
Translation: “Ruler, Master, Lord,” as in Psalm 35:23: “my God (Elohim) and my Lord (Adonai).”

We need to understand the rendering of these three names of God as we find them in our Bibles today, whether in English, Spanish, and all other modern translations. But we must first understand some things about the development of the Hebrew language.

First of all, ancient Hebrew was distinctive, in that there were two traditions which were involved in the handing down of the Hebrew text as we know it today. One was written (Kethiv), and the other was oral, spoken (Qere). Up until the 10^th century A.D., all Hebrew written texts in existence and available (for study, worship) had one distinguishing feature: the text consisted of consonants only. In other words, there were no vowels! But since there was also an oral tradition, the Jews who spoke Hebrew knew what the vowels were and just supplied them as they read the text.

Examples in English: McDnlds=McDonalds; Bt= But.

Around 906 A.D., a group of Hebrew scholars at Tiberias (on the Sea of Galilee) known as the Massoretes developed a system of little “dots” and “dashes” representing all of the vowel sounds. These were superimposed upon the written Hebrew text at that time. The Massoretes were concerned that the Hebrew language would be lost, as fewer and fewer people knew and spoke it. So these scholars took steps to make sure that all future generations of Jews would be able to speak the language accurately since they would now have a written record of the ancient vowel sounds. All of our modern Hebrew translations are based upon the work of the Massoretes.

*Now let’s look back at our three names of God*. The term Elohim has always meant “God,” but is not relevant to our discussion now. The issue of Jehovah is derived from the other two primary names of God. The term Yahweh is always translated by the word “Lord.” But we must understand that every time a Rabbi or any Jew was reading any portion of the Old Testament and came upon this written word “YHWH”, he orally said “Adonai,” not “Yahweh.” The reason for this is that the Jews considered the written term YHWH so sacred that it should never be spoken or expressed with the lips. That is the reason why, when they were reading (speaking) and came to “YHWH,” they always substituted “Adonai” and spoke it instead. This has been practiced by the Jews back to Jesus’ time, and long before.

Now, where does “Jehovah” come from? Well, what were the Massoretes to do when they were adding their vowel-system to the written Hebrew text and they came upon the word, “YHWH?” Since no Jew had ever heard or known the true pronunciation of this most sacred of names for the Hebrew God, they put there the identical vowel-pointings which are rendered for Adonai! In reality, the Jews were just doing what they had always done: they spoke “Adonai” every time they read “YHWH” in the text.

The vowel sounds in Adonai are “OH” and “AH.” Thus, “Yahweh” becomes “YHO VAH” (rendered in English as “Jehovah”).

Most scholars have concluded that the term “YHWH” is actually based upon the “to be” verb in Hebrew, “HYH” (HAYAH). The future tense of this verb is YHWH (Yahweh). They refer back to the passage in Exodus where God is actually asked His name. Moses says, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now, they may say to me, ‘What is His Name?’ What shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM;” and He said, “Thus you shall say to the Sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.'”

You can see from this explanation that the issue was not that someone translated it wrong. It was done with reverent intention.

The question about the relationship of YHWH, Adonai, and Jehovah have to do with the tradition of the Jews and their reverence for the name of Yahweh, which comes from Exodus 3:13 when Moses asked God to tell him what he should say when Pharoah and the Egyptians inquired as to who had sent him (Moses) on his mission of deliverance. Remember, the Lord told Moses to take his shoes off because he was on “holy ground.” God’s answer was, “I AM THAT I AM.” Actually, the word YHWH is a form of the “to be” verb in Hebrew, “eyeheyeh.” It ties into the idea in the New Testament where Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Before Abraham was (existed), I AM (that is, I continually exist)” (John 8:58-59). The Hebrew translation is “underived existence.”

Unger’s Bible Dictionary says that “this custom which had its origin in reverence, and has almost degenerated into a superstition, was founded upon an erroneous rendering of Lev. 24:16, from which it was inferred that the mere utterance of the name constituted a capital offense. According to Jewish tradition, it was pronounced but once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement when he entered the Holy of Holies; but on this point there is some doubt.” (p. 565). This reverence carried over into the Jewish thinking about the awe, fear, and reverence to which God was entitled. The Jews scrupulously avoided every mention of it. The true pronunciation of it was known to the Hebrews, but has been entirely lost. They continued to write YHWH in the text, but when pronouncing the text always substituted another name for God, usually Adonai.

In summary, the action of substituting Adonai for YHWH had little to do with the vowel, and has everything to do with an ancient practice of the Jews (in respect or perhaps superstition) not to utter the sound of the “ineffable Tetragrammaton” (YHWH cf. Websters Dictionary). The practice is not, in reality, a “hybrid” of the two names, but rather a substitution of the one for the other.

© Rev Utazi Prince Marie Benignus SFDPM