by ruffian 56 Replies latest jw friends
Please can someone shed light on the claim that when the Bible was originaly written it had the name Jehovah in it over 7000 times but it was changed because of superstition? Why do they say this? How do you dispute it? Exactly where did they get that crazy version of their bible anyway? And the BIG question- of it IS true that the name Jehovah was changed to Go and Lord, then why was it done? Hope someone can help.
GodBless
SusanH
The name Jehovah did not appear in the ancient Hebrew sacred writings. Instead, what appeared in nearly 7,000 places is the so-called tetragrammaton, which are the 4 hebrew letters equivelent to our YHWH. At the time, the Hebrews knew how to pronounce the name when they read what amounted to an abbreviation of the divine name. The fact is, most Bible versions acknowledge the fact that the YHWH represented the unique proper name of God but that they decided to translate the name in the generic form of God or Lord. Oftentimes the translators used the device of captializing all the letters of such generic terms so that you might find this type of rendering: LORD instead of merely Lord. That's why you might find a clumsily translated verse like Psalms 110:1, which says: "The LORD said to my Lord..." Obviously there are two lords in that verse. The 1st Lord was originally designated by the YHWH which we render as Jehovah. / You Know
Sue,
The name Jehovah is Hebrew and was represented by the letters YHWH, called the tetragramaton. No vowels were used in Hebrew, so no one knows how it was pronounced. A more accurate pronounciation in English is probably Yaweh. The Jews considered the name so sacred that only the priests could pronounce (as I recall, it has been awhile). The tetragramaton is found only four times in the Old Testement and not at all in the New Testement. All other scriptures used the Hebrew (OT) or Aramaic (NT) words for Lord or God, not Jehovah. Therefore, the Witnesses New World Translation of the Bible does not correctly reflect the anceint manuscripts. It is just one glaring example of them taking great liberites in their translation.
Certainly, the Jews did not witness or procalaim the name. They never spoke it.
I am sure others can provide more detail, and possibly some web sites that discuss the technical aspects of this subject.
I dont want to sound ignorant, but what is the YHWH?
The original Hebrew and Aramaic parts of the Bible (as shown by the oldest of the Masoretic texts, circa 1100 A.D., and the Dead Sea Scrolls, circa 100-200 B.C.) certainly used the word "YHWH" (or "JHVH") for the personal name of God. This does appear around 7000 times. Modern English Bible translations usually render this as "Yahweh" (cf. New Jerusalem Bible) and olders ones often render it as "Jehovah". Most modern translations don't render it as a name at all, but as "LORD" or "God". Such translations do a disservice, I think, to the original texts.
There are no New Testament texts that contain any form of "YHWH", either in the Hebrew form or in translation. Thus, any translation that uses "Jehovah" or something similar in the NT, in place of "Lord" or "God ("kyrios" or "theos") is not being true to the text.
There is some evidence that the early versions of the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew bible used "YHWH" written directly in the ancient Hebrew letters. However, almost all extant manuscripts do not contain it, but use "theos" or "kyrios" instead.
By the time of Christ it appears that most Jews did not use "YHWH" in their worship, but used other words instead. This was due to a reverence for the divine name that perhaps went beyond common sense to the point that the name became more of a magical talisman than a useful name for God. It is virtually certain (according to most scholars) that by about 100 A.D. no Jew or Christian used "YHWH" in normal worship. All Greek manuscripts of either the NT or the LXX after about that date did not use "YHWH".
When the Jewish Masoretes, who ended up being the keepers of the Hebrew bible, added "vowel pointing" to their manuscripts beginning around the 7th century A.D., they generally "pointed" "YHWH" with vowels that were nonsensical in terms of regular Hebrew usage. Sometimes they used the vowels of "adonai" (Lord) and sometimes of "elohim" (God) and sometimes something else. It was understood that when the reader encountered the pointed "YHWH" when reading, he mentally or orally substituted "Lord". This was all due to the long established practice of avoiding pronouncing the divine name.
AlanF
A more accurate pronounciation in English is probably Yaweh.
Definitely not true. We know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the YHWH was originally pronounced with 3 syllables, and that the middle syllable had a "O" vowel sound. We know this because of all the many Hebrew names that incorporated parts of the YHWH as suffixes or prefixes or otherwise. Names such as JeHOsapaht, JeHOram, JeHOram, JeHOachin, JeHOash, JeHOahaz, and others, reveal that the 1st two syllables were modified with the vowels "E" & "O." Yahweh is not even close. / You Know
AlanF,
Thank you for the added detail.
Sue, it is used about 7,000 times, not four as I mentioned. It appears only four times in the King James Version. Please note one point that Alan made. The Hebrew word, YHWH, for God's name is not found in the New Testement. Thus, the JWs are mistranslating the New Testement to promote their religion.
LO, Alan,
Yes, on the LXX/Septuagint. I am reading daily from a Samuel Bagster Interlinear LXX, circa 1851. It's a new reprint, as Bagster is still in business. So far, its all ho Theos & Kyrios.
Haven't started on the Kohler's NIV Interlinear Hebrew yet.
Mustang
who is brushing up on his Greek
I dont want to sound ignorant, but what is the YHWH?
Go to the link I provided and it will answer your question. / You Know
Sue,
Per Alan, the name wasn't in the NT/Greek Scriptures(tm) as Larc pointed out. My brother discovered (during the family home Bible study) some comment in the foreward of the Kingdom Interlinear that the name wasn't originally included, but WTS added because they felt it should be there. Can anybody verify this or quote such, if present?
Mustang
who needs a copy of the purple book
