exactemondo!! what heaven said
using the name "jehovah"
by finallyfree! 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Joliette
I've always found it weird that Jesus never said Jehovah but we're suppose to use it?
Then again, in watchtowerland, there are a lot of weird things that we do: Ex: veil over a woman's head, women not facing the audience, etc.
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factfinder
I don't see why some do not think we should use the pronounciation Jehovah when they have no trouble using Jesus.
For those who believe in the trinity, Jesus is God, one of three persons who are God anyway. That I don't get. But anyway- if Jesus is God- is it not disrespectful to use the name Jesus?
And since we know 'Jesus' is NOT the correct way to say his name, and we know his name is Yehoshua or as some shorten it to-Yeshua, why is everyone ok with using the wrong pronounciation Jesus?
Moses=Moshe
David=Daveed
Abraham (My Grandfather's name)=Ahvram.
We also know or can find out the correct pronunciation of other Bible names- but we use the English ones instead.
My relatives refer to God as G-D, or as Ha Shem. But he is a mystery to them. How are you supposed to form an intimate, close relationship with someone who is a mystery to you? As a result, my Aunt once said she did not understand God or know much about him but that thats the way it is supposed to be.
I felt closer to God by using his name Jehovah, then I ever did by just calling him God. And as for Lord- I never did call him Lord in my prayers. To me "Lord" is someone in England. It is an alien phrase to me.
I view things much different than many of those who post here do. Using Jehovah's name made me feel closer to him than just saying God. And Jehovah is not his "first name".
I was born and raised in the Jewish religion. My whole family and my relatives are Jews. I never could see why I should call God Adonai or Lord or Ha-Shem (the name) when we know his name is Jehovah. It was never disrespectful to me, or my jw brother , to call God by his personal name.
I am surprised by some of the views of some who post here.
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doubtful
Yes, without assigning God a personal name, he takes on a distant, impersonal character. The whole "we don't know how it was originally pronounced in ancient Hebrew" argument is rather weak if you ask me. I consider there to be only two logical arguments against using the divine name:
1. - Having to use a "differentia" implies that it is necessary to distinguish him from other gods, as if to acknowledge the existence of rival deities, which could be construed as disrespectful to his exclusive Godship. He is THE God, so there's no need for qualifications.
2. - His name is not recorded as having been used in all the extant copies of the New Testament.
The first is probably the stronger of the two. I believe his name was used by Jesus and the primitive christians for a number of reasons. For one, Jesus repeatedly said that he made his father's name known..surely he wasn't claiming that his father's name was "father" or "abba", as those were merely titles. Also, I believe it was Paul or one of the apostles who said that the christian congregation was the fulfillment of the prophecy whereby Jehovah would "take out from the nations a people for his name" (I'm not sure if that's how it's worded in English). Third, whenever Jesus or the new testament writers quoted from the Hebrew canon, they surely would've quoted their sacred texts accurately, and they would have used the divine name.
I think the reason why it isn't specifically recorded in the gospels that Jesus used the divine name Jehovah, is most likely because of the prevailing superstition of his day in the culture in which he was raised, regarding the use of the name. Maybe he was sensitive to the cultural custom of avoiding the use of the name, and rather than shocking his potential followers or stumbling them, he politely refrained from using the name. Or maybe he constantly referred to God as the "Father" to emphasize that role played by God, that quality of a loving, personal father who we could turn to for comfort, (in stark contrast to the sometimes cruel, violent, jealous and vindictive God of the Old Testament) and to emphasize his unique relationship to him as the only-begotten son of God. He wanted to reiterate how he was the Son of God, a divine being, the firstborn of all creation.
Personally, if I believed in the power of prayer, I would refer to God by his name, Jehovah or Yahweh or Yehoawah, or any other form we might imagine to be closest to the original form. (There is evidence that his name contained three syllables, meaning that "Yahweh" is not a close approximation of his name, but probably something closer to "Yehoawa"). It makes him seem more real, and consider the meaning. If the society's etymological research is anywhere near correct, and I hope it is, then per what I've read, Jehovah is taken from the verb root which means "(to become, or come to be", and it is the causative form of the verb, meaning that "he causes to become"...I personally think this is simply another way of saying "The Creator", as it means "he who causes things to come into existence". So to me, the most probable meaning of the name means "Creator". And if I prayed to anybody, it would only because they created me.
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factfinder
@doubtful-
thank you for your post!
The Hebrew scriptures contain God's name over 6,000 times. If his name was not that important why would Jehovah have it written 6,000 times?
I agree with you that when quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures the writers of the NT did accurately do so , thus including Jehovah's name. And Jesus did say he made his fathers name known and would make it known.
I remember reading too, that God's name contains 3 syllables, not 2.
The WTS teaches that Jehovah does mean "He causes to become". They say Jehovah causes HIMSELF to become whatever is needed to accomplish his purposes.
While I do hear certain ones say we should not use the name Jehovah because we are uncertain of its original pronounciation , I have never recieved an answer as to why they feel it ok to use the names, Jesus, David, Moses, Abraham, etc when we know: These are NOT the original way to say those names either and we KNOW the correct pronounciations of those names but do not use them.
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doubtful
@factfinder - Yeah I'm pretty much in agreement with you on the matter. But I still don't understand why the society claims his name means "he causes HIMSELF to become"..the verb is not reflexive, so I don't know where they get this idea that the word "himself" is an intrinsic part of the name. To me, such a definition paints a picture of a "jack of all trades" or "man of many hats" who constantly changes himself. I could just picture him taking a bow and tipping his hat, and saying "come back next time! I'm here every night of the week!". To me the Creator definition is more plausible, but then again I am by no means a Hebrew scholar, so I'm just shooting from the hip here.
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factfinder
@doubtful
I don't remember why they say "He causes HIMSELF to become...". They gave examples such as judge, father, warrior, savior,etc.
I was surprised too that they applied it in that way too, that is "himself to become'.
The root verb signifies "causes to become" , I originally thought that means he causes other things to become, that is, he creates them.
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doubtful
@factfinder,
Exactly! I would logically assume the name meant that he causes other things to become..but the society has their own form of logic sometimes. They have a very strange way with definitions. A couple weeks back at the watchtower study, we were asked to define what "calling on the name of Jehovah" meant. Of course all this means is to call upon him for aid in times of trouble, but they gave their EXPANDED edition definition which was a 4 step process. The poor brothers don't realize that the other steps are only necessary steps to take in order to be able to call upon his name, and not part of the definition in any way.
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PSacramento
Jesus is a translation/transliteration of Joshua/Jaeshua.
IF YHWH name was YeHoVaH, then yes, yous Jehovah would be fine, like Jesus.
The issue is that we do NOT know what the name was other than the first part- YAH/JAH
If a person choose to use JAH, for example, they are at least following what is written in the NT, but since it has been shown that Jehovah is NOT the name of God but an hybrid term combining YHWH with Adonai, then the comparisions with using the name Jesus do NOT apply here.
Of course there is also that small little thing of Jesus telling us to pary by using Father rather than any personal name or title, but since when has the WT ever though about what Jesus said?
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Nobleheart
I think that even though Yahweh or Jehovah (or any other more correct pronunciation) is God's name, which he himself declared to Moses, it's not obligatory for Christians to use it for a number of reasons.
1 - If it was meant to be used by Christians, it would be present in extant copies of the NT. After all Christians are supposed to follow Christ's example. If Jesus isn't recorded referring to his Father as Jehovah, I don't see it as a requirement for any person.
2 - If Jesus used the Divine Name (no reason why he would not), but he did not employ it due to the prevailing superstition thus showing respect for the cultural custom, why do JW use the Divine Name frequently even when talking to other non-JWs? I know from personal experience that other people found the repeated mentioning of "Jehovah" as weird to say the least, and off-putting.
3 - If God took out from the nations a people for his name, he surely did not select Jehovah's witnesses (though they claim to bear his name). But Acts 11:26 says that the disciples were by divine providence simply called Christians. Romans 10:13 applies the Joel 2:32 to Jesus "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved". The entire context in Romans 10 speaks about Jesus.
4 - Another thing I've been thinking about lately about the importance of using the Divine name are the last expressions Jesus uttered before dying. In those 7 last sayings, 3 of them are referring to God. He uses "God" in 1 of them, "Father" in 2.
For example: Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani? (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)
If this name was vital to be used and God meant us to say "Jehovah" in our prayers, otherwise he would not be listening; this would be a time for Jesus to do so.
Personally I feel much closer referring to God as "Father", it truly creates a feeling of closeness and family affection.