History
of the Word Jehovah*
It is
interesting to understand how the word Jehovah was derived, as the history of
the word shows why the word is incorrect. The Watchtower Society, in 1931,
chose to adopt Jehovah as the correct rendition of YHWH without doing any
research as to how Jehovah came to be. Had they done the research they would
have not selected Jehovah because they would have found the following:
The
original text of the Old Testament had no vowels – only consonants. This may
seem awkward, but y cn ndrstnd ths, rght? The original Hebrew reader would have
known just what vowels to supply – like you do with English.
In
order to preserve the pronunciation of the Hebrew language, the Masoretes
during the ninth century A.D. created a system for introducing vowels into the
Hebrew language. However, when it came to YHWH, rather than putting in the
correct vowels, the Masoretes put in vowels for Adonai (Lord) or Elohim (God),
in order to remind the reader to pronounce the word Lord or God instead of the name
of God.
NOTE: The
vowels inserted, at this point, ARE NOT THE CORRECT VOWELS.
Adonai
(Lord) was predominantly used, however, in passages where Adonai and YHWH
appeared together, Elohim was used instead, to avoid repetition of the word
Lord.
*****IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT*****
In
neither case was it the intent for the reader to pronounce the consonants YHWH
with the vowels of Adonai or elohim, but rather a reminder NOT TO
PRONOUNCE YHWH at all! Many years later, it was through people mistakenly
reading YHWH with the vowels for Adonai that the pronunciation ‘Jehovah’
came about.
Combining
YHWH with Adonai is referred to as interlacing, fusing or superimposing. It
could hardly be considered accurate or respectful. The illogical fusion of the
sacred name with the vowel points of another name is shown in the preface
to The J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible pgs 22-29. A PDF copy
is here.
The
Watchtower argues that Jehovah is acceptable as it is a translation. "'Yahweh'
is obviously a transliteration, whereas 'Jehovah' is a translation, and Bible
names generally have been translated rather than transliterated." Awake! 1973
March 22 p.27.
It is apparent that the writer of
this Awake! article has no idea what constitutes a translation
vs a transliteration or how names are handled in various Bible
translations.
At this point you need to understand the
difference between a translation and a transliteration. A translation
tells you the meaning of words in another language. A transliteration doesn't
tell you the meaning of the words, but it helps you pronounce them. A
transliteration changes the letters from one alphabet or language into the
corresponding, similar sounding characters of another alphabet. For example,
consider this Hebrew word: שַׁבָּת
Translation into English—Rest—This
is what the Hebrew word means.
Transliteration—Sabbath—This
is how the Hebrew word sounds when spoken.
Error #1 in the Awake! article states
"Bible names generally have been translated rather than
transliterated." However, "From the
beginning, Bible translators decided to transliterate almost all
proper names, only occasionally translating them according to
their etymological meaning or cultural determinants," citation here.
Error #2 in the Awake! article. "'Jehovah' is a translation." However, since 'Jehovah' (a fusing of the tetragrammaton 'YHWH' with the vowels of Adonia then
changing the Y to J and W to V) is a made-up word it cannot be a translation. The closest one can come is a translation of YHWH which would be "I AM." Go here for a good article on the Divine Name.
It is interesting to understand how the word Jehovah was derived, as the history of the word shows why the word is incorrect. The Watchtower Society, in 1931, chose to adopt Jehovah as the correct rendition of YHWH without doing any research as to how Jehovah came to be. Had they done the research they would have not selected Jehovah because they would have found the following:
The original text of the Old Testament had no vowels – only consonants. This may seem awkward, but y cn ndrstnd ths, rght? The original Hebrew reader would have known just what vowels to supply – like you do with English.
In order to preserve the pronunciation of the Hebrew language, the Masoretes during the ninth century A.D. created a system for introducing vowels into the Hebrew language. However, when it came to YHWH, rather than putting in the correct vowels, the Masoretes put in vowels for Adonai (Lord) or Elohim (God), in order to remind the reader to pronounce the word Lord or God instead of the name of God.
NOTE: The vowels inserted, at this point, ARE NOT THE CORRECT VOWELS.
Adonai (Lord) was predominantly used, however, in passages where Adonai and YHWH appeared together, Elohim was used instead, to avoid repetition of the word Lord.
*****IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT*****
In neither case was it the intent for the reader to pronounce the consonants YHWH with the vowels of Adonai or elohim, but rather a reminder NOT TO PRONOUNCE YHWH at all! Many years later, it was through people mistakenly reading YHWH with the vowels for Adonai that the pronunciation ‘Jehovah’ came about.
Combining YHWH with Adonai is referred to as interlacing, fusing or superimposing. It could hardly be considered accurate or respectful. The illogical fusion of the sacred name with the vowel points of another name is shown in the preface to The J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible pgs 22-29. A PDF copy is here.
The Watchtower argues that Jehovah is acceptable as it is a translation. "'Yahweh' is obviously a transliteration, whereas 'Jehovah' is a translation, and Bible names generally have been translated rather than transliterated." Awake! 1973 March 22 p.27.
It is apparent that the writer of this Awake! article has no idea what constitutes a translation vs a transliteration or how names are handled in various Bible translations.
At this point you need to understand the difference between a translation and a transliteration. A translation tells you the meaning of words in another language. A transliteration doesn't tell you the meaning of the words, but it helps you pronounce them. A transliteration changes the letters from one alphabet or language into the corresponding, similar sounding characters of another alphabet. For example, consider this Hebrew word: שַׁבָּת
Translation into English—Rest—This is what the Hebrew word means.
Transliteration—Sabbath—This
is how the Hebrew word sounds when spoken.
Error #1 in the Awake! article states
"Bible names generally have been translated rather than
transliterated." However, "From the
beginning, Bible translators decided to transliterate almost all
proper names, only occasionally translating them according to
their etymological meaning or cultural determinants," citation here.
Error #2 in the Awake! article. "'Jehovah' is a translation." However, since 'Jehovah' (a fusing of the tetragrammaton 'YHWH' with the vowels of Adonia then
changing the Y to J and W to V) is a made-up word it cannot be a translation. The closest one can come is a translation of YHWH which would be "I AM." Go here for a good article on the Divine Name.
The WT Conclusion. "Thus it is
evident that the original pronunciation of God's name is no longer known. Nor
is it really important. If it were, then God Himself would have made sure that
it was preserved for us to use. The important thing is to use God's name
according to its conventional pronunciation in our own language." The
Divine Name That Will Endure Forever p.7.
My Critique of the WT Conclusion. The pronunciation of God's name IS KNOWN. See my blog, Is God's Name Jehovah, Part 2 here. The WT, in 1931, committed to changing their name from International Bible Students to Jehovah's Witnesses neglecting to research the question "Is God's Name Jehovah?" Now stuck with the name Jehovah's Witnesses they must stubbornly cling to the false fact that "God's name is unknown."
Excellent
video on "Yahweh or Jehovah" here.
____________
*The thorough work on this subject is here at JWfacts.com
The WT Conclusion. "Thus it is
evident that the original pronunciation of God's name is no longer known. Nor
is it really important. If it were, then God Himself would have made sure that
it was preserved for us to use. The important thing is to use God's name
according to its conventional pronunciation in our own language." The
Divine Name That Will Endure Forever p.7.
My Critique of the WT Conclusion. The pronunciation of God's name IS KNOWN. See my blog, Is God's Name Jehovah, Part 2 here. The WT, in 1931, committed to changing their name from International Bible Students to Jehovah's Witnesses neglecting to research the question "Is God's Name Jehovah?" Now stuck with the name Jehovah's Witnesses they must stubbornly cling to the false fact that "God's name is unknown."
Excellent video on "Yahweh or Jehovah" here.
____________
*The thorough work on this subject is here at JWfacts.com
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