What prompted this blog were several comments made at JW.ORG. WT speak is in BLUE.
I recommend that
you start with this You Tube video here.
Especially note the translation of Exodus 9:16 and Numbers 6:24-27 which starts
at the 11:20 mark. I would entitle this video Hebrew 101.
(1) In an article entitled, "The Divine Name--Its Use and Its Meaning" here, the WT stated, "In replacing God’s name with titles, Bible translators make a serious mistake. They make God seem remote and impersonal, whereas the Bible urges humans to cultivate a “close friendship with Jehovah.” And what is the serious mistake Bible translators make. The translators substitute LORD and GOD for God's name. And what does the WT do to solve this problem? They insert the word Jehovah which comes from a three-syllable version of YHWH, YeHoWeH. The Y was then replaced with a J (although Hebrew does not even have a J sound) and the W with a V, plus change the vowel in the ending, resulting in JeHoVaH. Will this made-up name please God?
What do Jewish Theologians, Scholars think of the word Jehovah?
The Jewish Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" — a mispronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH the name of God. This pronunciation is grammatically impossible. The form 'Jehovah' is a philological* impossibility."
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What do Jewish Theologians, Scholars think of the word Jehovah?
The Jewish Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" — a mispronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH the name of God. This pronunciation is grammatically impossible. The form 'Jehovah' is a philological* impossibility."
_____________
*the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages
The New Jewish Encyclopedia: "It is clear that the word Jehovah is an artificial composite."
Encyclopedia Judaica: "the true pronunciation of the tetragrammaton, YHWH, was never lost. The name was pronounced Yahweh. It was regularly pronounced this way at least until 586 B.C., as is clear from the Lachish Letters written shortly before this date."
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: "JEHOVAH is an erroneous pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton a four lettered name of God, made up of the Hebrew letters Yod He Vav He. The word "JEHOVAH," therefore, is a misreading for which there is no warrant and which makes no sense in Hebrew."
The New Jewish Encyclopedia: "It is clear that the word Jehovah is an artificial composite."
Encyclopedia Judaica: "the true pronunciation of the tetragrammaton, YHWH, was never lost. The name was pronounced Yahweh. It was regularly pronounced this way at least until 586 B.C., as is clear from the Lachish Letters written shortly before this date."
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: "JEHOVAH is an erroneous pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton a four lettered name of God, made up of the Hebrew letters Yod He Vav He. The word "JEHOVAH," therefore, is a misreading for which there is no warrant and which makes no sense in Hebrew."
What do non-Jewish Theologians, Scholars think of the word Jehovah?
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: "Jehovah" — "False reading of the Hebrew YAHWEH."
Encyclopedia Americana: "Jehovah" — "erroneous form of the name of the God of Israel."
A Dictionary of the Bible by William Smith: "Whatever, therefore, be the true pronunciation of the word, there can be little doubt that it is not Jehovah."
Encyclopedia Britannica: "The pronunciation 'Jehovah' is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels of ADHONAY....The Masoretes who from the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai or Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah came into being."
Webster's Third New International Dictionary: "Jehovah" — "Intended as a transliteration of Hebrew YAHWEH, the vowel points of Hebrew ADHONAY (my lord) being erroneously substituted for those of YAHWEH; from the fact that in some Hebrew manuscripts the vowel points of ADHONAY (used as a euphemism for YAHWEH) were written under the consonants YHWH of YAHWEH to indicate that ADHONAY was to be substituted in oral reading for YAHWEH. Jehovah is a Christian transliteration of the tetragrammaton long assumed by many Christians to be the authentic reproduction of the Hebrew sacred name for God but now recognized to be a late hybrid form never used by the Jews."
New Catholic Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" — "false form of the divine name YAHWEH."
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" — "is an erroneous form of the divine name of the covenant God Israel."
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible: "Jehovah" — "is an artificial form."
Encyclopedia International: "Jehovah" —"the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as 'Jehovah.'"
(2) In the above article, "Divine Name", the WT continues. "Think of a close friend of yours. How close would you really be if you never learned your friend’s name?" How close would you really be if you DO KNOW your friend's name but decide to use a totally made up name. Suppose for your friend Sullivan you decide to call him Jellavon (Sullivan with the vowels from Geraldo and change the "S" to a "J".) OR
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: "Jehovah" — "False reading of the Hebrew YAHWEH."
Encyclopedia Americana: "Jehovah" — "erroneous form of the name of the God of Israel."
A Dictionary of the Bible by William Smith: "Whatever, therefore, be the true pronunciation of the word, there can be little doubt that it is not Jehovah."
Encyclopedia Britannica: "The pronunciation 'Jehovah' is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels of ADHONAY....The Masoretes who from the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai or Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah came into being."
Webster's Third New International Dictionary: "Jehovah" — "Intended as a transliteration of Hebrew YAHWEH, the vowel points of Hebrew ADHONAY (my lord) being erroneously substituted for those of YAHWEH; from the fact that in some Hebrew manuscripts the vowel points of ADHONAY (used as a euphemism for YAHWEH) were written under the consonants YHWH of YAHWEH to indicate that ADHONAY was to be substituted in oral reading for YAHWEH. Jehovah is a Christian transliteration of the tetragrammaton long assumed by many Christians to be the authentic reproduction of the Hebrew sacred name for God but now recognized to be a late hybrid form never used by the Jews."
New Catholic Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" — "false form of the divine name YAHWEH."
The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" — "is an erroneous form of the divine name of the covenant God Israel."
The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible: "Jehovah" — "is an artificial form."
Encyclopedia International: "Jehovah" —"the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as 'Jehovah.'"
(2) In the above article, "Divine Name", the WT continues. "Think of a close friend of yours. How close would you really be if you never learned your friend’s name?" How close would you really be if you DO KNOW your friend's name but decide to use a totally made up name. Suppose for your friend Sullivan you decide to call him Jellavon (Sullivan with the vowels from Geraldo and change the "S" to a "J".) OR
What if your friend, Sullivan, was from Germany. You decided to say he is actually from Yormuna (Germany with the vowels from Portugal and changing the "G" to "Y".) Is that being respectful?
(3) In the "Divine Name", the WT continues, "when people are kept in ignorance about God's name, how can they become truly close to God?" Who wants you NOT TO BE close to God? Who wants you to be ignorant of God's name? (That is besides the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.) Could it be THE DEVIL? So by promoting the false name for God, Jehovah, the WT is a tool of Satan.
In addition, the WT is withholding the following information:
#1. The hard "J" sound, as mentioned above, (like in the names Jesus, John and Jacob) has never been in the Hebrew language. "J" was not in general use in England until 1630. In the original 1611 King James Version of the Bible there was no “J” because it did not exist. James was spelled Iames. Jesus was spelled Iesous
CONCLUSION: The word "Jehovah" would be totally foreign to any speaker of Hebrew at any time in history.
#2. The first use of "Jehovah" was by a Catholic Spanish monk of the Dominican Order, C.E. Raymundus Martini, who used it in his book Pugeo Fidei in the year 1270 (this can be found in the WT book Aid to Bible Understanding page 884-885. However, in the updated Aid book, Insight on the Scriptures 1988, omitted the history of the name Jehovah.)
CONCLUSION: The word Jehovah would not be in any ancient Old Testament or New Testament manuscript.
#3. William Tydale, in 1526, was the first English translator to use the name "Jehovah" in an English Bible. " (WT Video "A Unique Bible Exhibit" here at 1:12.)
CONCLUSION: Only from 1526 to the present will one find the word "Jehovah" in any Bible.
Metamorphosis of The Tetagrammaton to Jehovah
Step 1
#3. William Tydale, in 1526, was the first English translator to use the name "Jehovah" in an English Bible. " (WT Video "A Unique Bible Exhibit" here at 1:12.)
CONCLUSION: Only from 1526 to the present will one find the word "Jehovah" in any Bible.
Metamorphosis of The Tetagrammaton to Jehovah
Step 1
The Tetagramaton יהוה God's name in Hebrew occurs
about 7,000 times in scripture. The 4 Hebrew letters
about 7,000 times in scripture. The 4 Hebrew letters
are (remember Hebrew is read from right to left)
Yod (4th letter) He (3rd letter) Waw (2nd letter) He (1st letter) = Yod He Waw He
Prior to the time of Jesus, mainline Judaism came to believe that the divine name of God, was too sacred to be uttered, and the ineffable name stopped being uttered aloud. Because written Hebrew contained consonants but no vowels, it was difficult to know exactly how the divine name was pronounced--difficult but not impossible.
Prior to the time of Jesus, mainline Judaism came to believe that the divine name of God, was too sacred to be uttered, and the ineffable name stopped being uttered aloud. Because written Hebrew contained consonants but no vowels, it was difficult to know exactly how the divine name was pronounced--difficult but not impossible.
Step 2
The Tetragrammaton translated into Latin Script yields YHWH. However, what vowels should be added to aid in pronunciation. The Masoretes, Jewish biblical scholars of the Middle Ages, placed the vowel signs of Adonai in-between YHWH. Thus, the artificial names YaHoWaH came into being.
Step 3
The artificial name YaHoWaH was then Latinized by changing Y to a J and W to V and that's how you end up with Jehovah.
GOOD ARTICLE: Understanding the Tetragrammaton and its Correct Pronunciation here. Also this article contains a good history of the Name JEHOVAH.
Is God's Name Jehovah? Part 3 is here.
My critique of the following WT publications:
Good News from God! Part 1 of 5 of is here.
What Can the Bible Teach Us? Part 1 of 4 is here.
What Does the Bible Really Teach? Part 1 of 25 is here.
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