Thank you for your comments. The argument from the book I largely quoted from is that Yahwism arose when Moses brought it from the south (Midian) and that it disappeared. The main proponent and contributor to monotheism being second Isaiah (chapters 40ff), written at the time of the Neo-Babylonian captivity and exile.
The Judaism that emerged from that period did not reflect the prior majority religious experience.
Thanks for pointing me to that book, Slim. At $100 (Australian), it will have to sit on the back burner until my Pension stretches that far. I managed to download a review, so I will see what that says.
Regarding the letter "J" - it was the last letter to make it into the English alphabet. In German, it is pronounced softly, as a "Y". I know this personally as my Viennese mother's surname was Jellinek, pronounced as "Y".
If the WTS wants to reflect the practices it touts, then it should use the ancient form of the Hebrew. That will show it was not meant to be pronoinced.
As for the name of "Jesus", this is a mangled form of "Yeshua", which should be anglicised as "Joshua". This name (Joshua) is the earliest name that contains a reference to YHWH.
I will look into the work by Emanuel Tov (one of my "heroes").
The god named EL came to the Hebrews from their northern neighbours. He was the main fatherly god alongside his wife Asherah. They produced 70 gods, including Ba'al, and the pantheon is known as the "Elohim". We encounter El and his brood in Genesis Chapter 1.
The god named YHWH came from the south. He was not part of the Elohim. Moses (an Egyptian name), who was influenced by his father-in-law, brought YHWH with him. Previously, the people had worshiped EL (as El-shadday).
Doug
