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Evanescence
Guest
Sorry if this topic has already been done, but I am just curious how did people come to believe that God’s name is Yahweh or Jehovah?
Evanescence
Evanescence
- Status
K
Kristina_P
Guest
Um, that’s the Jewish name for God (the really special name, not the more common Elohim) in the Old Testament? Did you want something more specific?
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Evanescence
Guest
Why doesn’t Catholics/Christians call God, Yahweh?
Evanescence
Evanescence
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RyanL
Guest
From the CA Archives…
**Q: I heard that God’s name is supposed to be “Yahweh.” Why do people call him “Jehovah” instead? One sect, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, has even used this word in its name. **
A: In Hebrew the name of God is spelled YHWH. Since ancient Hebrew had no written vowels, it is uncertain how the name was pronounced originally, but there are records of the name in Greek, which did have written vowels. These records indicate that in all likelihood the name should be pronounced “Yahweh.”
Shortly before the first century A.D., it became common for Jews to avoid saying the divine name for fear of misusing it and breaking the second commandment (“You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain,” Deut. 5:11). Whenever they read Scripture aloud and encountered the divine name, they substituted another Hebrew word, “Adonai” (which means “Lord” or “my Lord”), in its place.
Eventually Hebrew developed written vowels, which appeared as small marks called vowel points and were placed above and below the consonants of a word. In the sixth or seventh century some Jews began to place the vowel points for “Adonai” over the consonants for “Yahweh” to remind the reader of Scripture to say “Adonai” whenever he read “Yahweh.”
About the thirteenth century the term “Jehovah” appeared when Christian scholars took the consonants of “Yahweh” and pronounced it with the vowels of “Adonai.” This resulted in the sound “Yahowah,” which has a Latinized spelling of “Jehovah.” The first recorded use of this spelling was made by a Spanish Dominican monk, Raymundus Martini, in 1270.
Interestingly, this fact is admitted in much Jehovah’s Witness literature, such as their Aid to Bible Understanding (p. 885). This is surprising because Jehovah’s Witnesses loathe the Catholic Church and have done everything in their power to strip their church of traces of Catholicism. Despite this, their group’s very name contains a Catholic “invention,” the name “Jehovah.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses blast orthodox Christendom for “hiding the name of God” by replacing “Jehovah” with “the Lord” whenever “Jehovah” appears in Scripture. They charge this is a Jewish “superstition” that dishonors God (which it does not). Yet their own organization has a name that was invented as a result of the same thinking that produced use of “the Lord.”
God Bless,
RyanL
**Q: I heard that God’s name is supposed to be “Yahweh.” Why do people call him “Jehovah” instead? One sect, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, has even used this word in its name. **
A: In Hebrew the name of God is spelled YHWH. Since ancient Hebrew had no written vowels, it is uncertain how the name was pronounced originally, but there are records of the name in Greek, which did have written vowels. These records indicate that in all likelihood the name should be pronounced “Yahweh.”
Shortly before the first century A.D., it became common for Jews to avoid saying the divine name for fear of misusing it and breaking the second commandment (“You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain,” Deut. 5:11). Whenever they read Scripture aloud and encountered the divine name, they substituted another Hebrew word, “Adonai” (which means “Lord” or “my Lord”), in its place.
Eventually Hebrew developed written vowels, which appeared as small marks called vowel points and were placed above and below the consonants of a word. In the sixth or seventh century some Jews began to place the vowel points for “Adonai” over the consonants for “Yahweh” to remind the reader of Scripture to say “Adonai” whenever he read “Yahweh.”
About the thirteenth century the term “Jehovah” appeared when Christian scholars took the consonants of “Yahweh” and pronounced it with the vowels of “Adonai.” This resulted in the sound “Yahowah,” which has a Latinized spelling of “Jehovah.” The first recorded use of this spelling was made by a Spanish Dominican monk, Raymundus Martini, in 1270.
Interestingly, this fact is admitted in much Jehovah’s Witness literature, such as their Aid to Bible Understanding (p. 885). This is surprising because Jehovah’s Witnesses loathe the Catholic Church and have done everything in their power to strip their church of traces of Catholicism. Despite this, their group’s very name contains a Catholic “invention,” the name “Jehovah.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses blast orthodox Christendom for “hiding the name of God” by replacing “Jehovah” with “the Lord” whenever “Jehovah” appears in Scripture. They charge this is a Jewish “superstition” that dishonors God (which it does not). Yet their own organization has a name that was invented as a result of the same thinking that produced use of “the Lord.”
God Bless,
RyanL
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St.Curious
Guest
RyanL Great explanation.
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Kristina_P
Guest
RyanL,
Wow. That’s some good researchin’.
Wow. That’s some good researchin’.
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Liberian
Guest
Interestingly, many Orthodox Jews use the word “Hashem” when they refer to God. “Hashem”–perhaps more properly “ha-Shem”–is literally Hebrew for “the Name,” meaning the Name of God. The emphasis is on the second syllable.
Also, in much Orthodox Jewish literature the word “God” is often spelled “G-d”. As with the use of “Hashem,” this is to avoid taking God’s Name in vain.
Also, in much Orthodox Jewish literature the word “God” is often spelled “G-d”. As with the use of “Hashem,” this is to avoid taking God’s Name in vain.
- Liberian
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JimG
Guest
In the OT, this is the name (YHVH) that God reveals to Moses when Moses asks to know His name.
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awalt
Guest
Actually, I can’t resist - I heard this joke and I thought it was really funny:
“Did you know that God’s real name is Howard”?
“No! - how do you know that?”
“The Bible says so!”
“Really? Where?”
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name”
“Did you know that God’s real name is Howard”?
“No! - how do you know that?”
“The Bible says so!”
“Really? Where?”
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name”
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Evanescence
Guest
Thanks very much for the replies but what still confuses me is why don’t we call god Yahweh? if that is his name, why do we call him God instead.
And why is it YHVH instead of YHWH?
Evanescence
How come my bible and other bibles say “I am who I am” instead?
And why is it YHVH instead of YHWH?
Evanescence
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allhers
Guest
I heard that Forrest Gump thinks God’s name is Andy, when asked why he thought that he said because he learned it from a song,Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am His own.Actually, I can’t resist - I heard this joke and I thought it was really funny:
“Did you know that God’s real name is Howard”?
“No! - how do you know that?”
“The Bible says so!”
“Really? Where?”
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name”
S
silverwings_88
Guest
Even in the usage of Yahweh, alot of Jews are still offended by calling upon the name of God through Yahweh… I have no answer why we don’t call God Yahweh, but he IS transcendent of names, is he not?
Yahweh is supposedly a form of the verb, ‘to be,’ and thus the name in itself stands in his transcendental existence. I’ll have to do more research on that…
And the whole JHVH YHWH are just spelling conventions. The native sounds ‘dj’ and ‘v’ do not actually exist in Hebrew, the ‘dj’ I am sure of, and ‘y’ and ‘w’ are semi-vowels.
Think Latin: J and V were introduced to distinguish the sounds ‘i’ and ‘w’ from vowels into semi-vowels. From Iesu to Jesu, the sound did not change, but spelling did.
Same with the name Elias to Elijah; we now pronounce the name with a soft ‘j’ (‘zh’) that is non-existent in the Hebrew
.Correct or add if I’m wrong or missing information
God bless!
K
Kristina_P
Guest
As for “I am who I am,” as far as I know it’s how you would normally translate that line. The name Yahweh means “I am.” God was both giving a sacred name for Himself and making the statement, “I am who I am.”
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JimG
Guest
Yes, YHVH means “I AM.”
Although I have also heard it said that it means “I Am Who Am.”
Because it is the name of God, it bacame so sacred that Jews did not pronounce it.
But when Jesus said, “I solemnly assure you, before Abraham was, I AM,.” they recognized what he was saying and immediately accused him of blasphemy.
But in the New Testament, God also told us His name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And that is the name we now use. Although we do continue to use “Yahweh” as well.
Although I have also heard it said that it means “I Am Who Am.”
Because it is the name of God, it bacame so sacred that Jews did not pronounce it.
But when Jesus said, “I solemnly assure you, before Abraham was, I AM,.” they recognized what he was saying and immediately accused him of blasphemy.
But in the New Testament, God also told us His name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And that is the name we now use. Although we do continue to use “Yahweh” as well.
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Liberian
Guest
Evanescence,
Well, I don’t because there has been enough filth coming out of my mouth that His Name is too holy for me to pronounce. It’s part of the Jewish influence in me and may count as superstition.
Hebrew has its own alphabet. In the Hebrew alphabet, the Name of God is written yodh-he-vav-he. The “yodh” looks a lot like our apostrophe and is the equivalent of our letter “i” or “y”. The “he” is the equivalent of our letter “h”. The “vav” looks like a yodh with the lower part extended down to the line on which the letters are being written, and is the equivalent of our “o”, “u”, “v”, or “w”. So the Holy Name can be transliterated into English as “YHWH” or “YHVH”; there’s not really a reason to prefer one over the other that I know of.
The future tense of the verb “to be” in modern Hebrew is conjugated in part as follows:
aleph-he-yodh-he (pronounced “eh-hi-yeh”) - I will be
tav-he-yodh-he (pronounced “ti-hi-yeh”) - you will be
yodh-he-yodh-he (pronounced “yi-hi-yeh”) - he will be
I don’t remember how to spell “she will be” but it is pronounced “ti-hi-yeh-na”.
Ancient Hebrew is a good bit wilder and woolier than modern Hebrew, and the form for “I am who I am” in Exodus 3:14 is “eh-hi-yeh a-sher eh-hi-yeh.” But elsewhere in the Hebrew Old Testament the YHWH Name of God is spelled as yodh-he-vav-he.
Interestingly, the letters in the Hebrew alphabet all stand for numbers and the ancient Israelites did not have separate numerals. The value for yodh is ten and for he is five. The number 14 is written as yodh-daled (daled being four) but the number 15 is written as tet-vav (tet being nine and vav being six) because to write yodh-he would be to start writing out God’s Name. Sixteen is written as yodh-vav.
- Liberian
- Status