I like this thought.
Do You Believe Gods name is Jehovah and why?
by sarahsmile 76 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
*lost*
How can you translate important Hebrew Scriptures, world history, and insert a name that should not even be there and say 1,000 yrs later, oh in english we spell/pronounce it this way. totally different to what it is or should be ? it becomes something else. Something it is not and connot be.
How could Abraham or anyone else call on the name of jehovah if it didn't exist and wasn't used ?
there is a big difference with using ''I Am'' and the essence of God, all that He stands for, and giving Him and using a name that
1. did not even exist and wasn't used commonly until the spiritistic monk decided it should go in there.
2. is tied up in paganism, the very things the Bible and God's word and identify are set in opposite to, and we are constantly warned not to follow.
-
Pistoff
SO the WT's best defense of the name Jehovah is that everyone mispronounces Jesus, so referring to god by the wrong name is OK too?
-
mP
@rawe
Then God said once more to Moses: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to YOU .’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation . - Exodus 3:15
Here I imagine an ancient Israelite reading this and say, "ah, oh, 'Jehovah' was the God of Abraham, therefore 'Jehovah' is my God too." Perhaps one of the strongest clues is this explanation given to Moses...
mP:
If you read a few verses earlier it says that Abrahams god was not calle djehovah but had a diff name. The text you mention is only saying this because god had a diff name earler.
-
rawe
Hi Phizzy,
"The original God that appears in Genesis is El. The exponents of Yahweh retrojected the name into the texts probably post-exile (Babylonian)."
That is a good way of expressing what is most likely true. I tend to think of Jehovah as one of the Gods that has gone through death and restoration cycles. Thus it is possible some original Bible authors and redactors saw Jehovah as the original God and thus injected him in the text. That would make the text read the way it does, "this is my name... I was not known, now I am... it was 'Jehovah' that said..." If this is the correct view, they would have done this against a backdrop Elohim already holding a position in much of the text and a superstition that one should not say "Jehovah" aloud.
I think of this as the first restoration cycle. Convinced Jehovah was the original, these authors and redactors restored him to the text the near 7000 times we now see, right along side Elohim whose position could not be removed. But it wouldn't last, Jehovah would die off so completely that by the time Bible writing starts up again in the Christian era he is nowhere in sight, save JAH (Hallelujah) references in Revelation...
After these things I heard what was as a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven. They said: “Praise Jah, YOU people! The salvation and the glory and the power belong to our God - Revelation 19:1
Jehovah's Witnesses have in modern times attempted another restoration of Jehovah based on the belief he is the one true and original God. However, by doing so, they've created a confusing mix of pre-Christian and Christian ideas.
I know that it has been said on this thread already, but it bears repeating. This is just no evidence Paul, the gospel writers or other NT authors ever wrote "Jehovah". The 237 times Jehovah appears in the NT portion of NWT is simply without support. That is a minor point that backups up a much larger one... namely the focus of the NT is not Jehovah at all, but entirely aimed at establishing Jesus as the Christ. God and Father of course appear in the NT, so the NT is not a departure of received OT text and religion of the day, but rather an expansion that focuses on the role of Jesus. Jehovah is not there, because... he had died in the centuries proceeding this era. Indeed the Greek translation used by NT authors already had "Jehovah" removed from the text in much the same way as many Bible translations do today.
Cheers,
-Randy
-
rawe
Hi mP,
"If you read a few verses earlier it says that Abrahams god was not calle djehovah but had a diff name. The text you mention is only saying this because god had a diff name earler."
What verse are you referring to? It sounds like we may be in agreement. My argument of couse is the author of this material in Exodus is plainly saying Jehovah was the God of their forefathers and it is possible that would be a new thought to the Israelites of the time period. This attempt in Exodus to explain who Jehovah is, to me, shows the idea must have been unfamiliar.
Cheers,
-Randy
-
sarahsmile
Thank you for all of this information! Wow! thank you for your time and hard work. I loved reading this wealth of information. Just to let you know I will forward this on to publishers.
WTBTS is just screwed up.
Personally I think all bibles should place the tegtagramanon back.
-
Vidqun
I agree. I have done a long study of the subject and it is impossible to establish Mosaic pronunciation of the Tertragrammaton. Safest would be to put the Tetragrammaton back to where it belongs. Each one must then decide for himself how he wants to pronounce it.
-
Heaven
To me, the only thing that makes any sense about 'god' is the scripture that states 'God is Love'. I think if anything can be classified 'divine' then it is Love.
Outside of that, I don't see anything supporting the existence of a patriarchal, sky-daddy, spirit being watching your every move and keeping score for later. And taking into consideration that 'Jehovah' is phonetically impossible to pronounce in Hebrew says that it didn't come from these people.
LOL @ Amelia! And ... what notsurewheretogo and parakeet said.
-
mP
@rawe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Shaddai
Shaddai as a theonym [edit]
According to Exodus 6:2, 3, Shaddai ( ??????? ) is the name by which God was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The name Shaddai is again used as a name of God later in the Book of Job.
-
mP:
The god of the bible evolved just like judaism evolved over time and circumstances. Early on, they are prsented and powerful, killing those who are pagans. While Peter is very much jewish he doesnt attempt to preach such hatred. Also polygamy disappears.
God has many names inthe OT, because there were many gods. Just like the Catholic church adopted many gods and made them saints, so did the jews. Look at Samson whose name means sun. hes story is very much a story about the travels of the Sun.