Jehovah's Witnesses. If instead, you used the name "Yahweh" when pronouncing or writing the Tetragrammaton, would that be okay ...?
2017-05-06T01:53:08Z
... in your church? As you well know, ancient Hebrew did not have vowels and the spoken language went dead after the exile to Babylon, therefore no one really knows for sure what ancient Hebrew words and names sounded like. Also as you know, the Hebrew "W" can sound like a "W" or "V", thus when you consider all the permutations of possible sounds of the Tetragrammaton, the name YHWH could have been pronounced as Yohovoho, Yahweehee, Yeeheeweehee, Yuhuvuhu or who knows what.
2017-05-06T01:53:27Z
Since we know that the ancient Hebrew did not contain a J sound, would a JW get in trouble for "independent thinking" for using possible alternate pronunciations and spellings for YHWH that did not include that sound?
2017-05-06T01:55:51Z
Is going around saying "Yahweh" (or something other than "Jehovah") just too big of a risk because you could get shunned?
2017-05-06T08:22:30Z
Please note that my question was NOT "JWs, how do you defend your use of the word 'Jehovah'?" It seems like a lot of answers are defending the use of the word "Jehovah". That is not my question. My question is in regard to using other pronunciations for YHWH instead; would that be okay by the WBTS GB, or could you be shunned? By avoiding answering my question, and instead substituting red herrings, it appears the real answer is "Yes we would be shunned, but we don't want to admit to it".
2017-05-06T08:26:12Z
So far, it appears that there is only JW, Jest, who has answered my yes-no question with either a yes or no. Do the rest of you JWs agree with his answer of "yes"? If so, please edit your answer.
?2017-05-06T09:57:03Z
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I have only just come upon this question and I am also, like Jest, a witness.
I would only use Yahweh if I felt that the person was offended by Jehovah and I have met a few who are, because of the connotation.
As to the shunning. Well, let's put it this way. Every single witness has had intense study before even getting to the stage of being an unbaptised publisher and so, at the point of baptism, that one is in complete accord with what they have learned and already has been happily going around talking about Jehovah. So, if after baptism, they decide that the reasoning from ones against the usage of Jehovah, is more sound and start going around using Yahweh, then, they will be questioned by the elders and if the person insisted that Jehovah is incorrect and insisted on telling other witnesses, then and only then, will disfellowshipping be thought about. Because they are causing distention in the congregation.
Of course we defend the use of Jehovah. He certainly has no issue with us calling him by this name, otherwise, we would have faded away a long time ago, considering how unpopular we are.
Just last night, I called out to JEHOVAH and He replied. I was going through mental anguish and my husband was not helping the situation and so, I cried out to Jehovah and said: it is enough, Jehovah, I cannot cope anymore and suddenly, my husband appeared and what came out of his mouth, told me that it was Jehovah helping me.
Of course, Jehovah is not a Hebrew name; but Jehovah is not Hebrew. He is the God of the entire world; He is our Creator and so, I will continue to use Jehovah, because I feel closer to Him, over using Yahweh.
Interestingly enough, Jewish brothers and sisters use: Jehovah!
I use Yahweh all the time. I have used it here on Yahoo Answers too (although it was none too pleasing to professed Christians who answered the same question. It made absolutely no difference to them - I got no approval of any degree for using it and I am here speaking of non-Jehovah’s Witnesses). I hear Yahweh used in my congregation as well - not anywhere near as often as Jehovah, of course, but I hear it used. Would I get in trouble or shunned if I used Yahweh? Again, I use it and I have never gotten into trouble for it. And I have never been shunned for using it so the answer to that is No. Is it a big risk to use it? No. Are we afraid to admit we would be shunned if we used it? No. There is no basis for any such admission because we would not be shunned or risk being shunned if we use it.
We understand that there is no “J” in Hebrew. That being so, the absence of a J in Hebrew does not obligate a Christian to refrain from using Jehovah, just as it does not obligate a Christian to refrain from using Jeremiah, or Joshua, or Joel, or Jonah or Jehoshaphat or Joiakim or Joiada or Jokim or Jokshan or Joram or Josiah or Jotham or Josiphia or Jubal or Jozabad or Jehozadak or Jacob or Jadon or Jaddai or Jair or Jalon or Jathniel or Jared or Javan.
If you mean would it be okay if all 8 million plus Jehovah's Witnesses world-wide just stopped using Jehovah and started using Yahweh, I do not see why such would be unacceptable. But I am not certain what, if anything, would be sufficient motivation for doing such.
Jehovah is the accepted English translation for the Hebrew word Yahweh, each language has their own translation of it. Did you know Jehovah was used by many religions years ago and was accepted as God's name? Satan has managed to take Jehovah's name out of circulation except for Jehovah's Witnesses. Watch Disney's Pollanna, they use it all thru that movie. It also was used in the Ten commandments, if you watch the uncut version.
Although their own leaders admitted that Jehovah isn't the correct pronunciation, they won't stop using it. They have far too much invested in marketing using that word.