Jehovah's Witnesses, What is the correct spelling of God's proper name "Yahweh" or "Jehovah"?

Yahweh is transliterated from the Hebrew YHWH [a form of I am](they didn't have vowels at that time. A devout Jew would not say YHWH so they they tended to either skip over it or say "that word" or some such phrase. Later vowel points were added to Hebrew to help with pronouncing words. To keep the uninformed from saying YHWH it was vowel pointed with the vowels from the word el oheme (god). The resulting word would sound like ya hova. Thus Jehovah. A totally fabricated word that has worked its way into our language. In the Bible God is given many different names to emphasize his various attributes.

Master in Divinity (6 sem hr Hebrew)

Because they did not know that the letter “J” did not exist until many centuries after the New Testament was written. The name “Jehovah” is an attempt to transliterate the Hebrew consonants YHWH, the sacred “tetragrammaton” that is found in the Hebrew Text which the Old Testament of the King James Bible is based on. As God's name was understood by Jews to be too holy to be pronounced, the letters YHWH were used, and the word “Adonai,” meaning “Lord” was written below it, or substituted for it, and is generally held by scholars that in time, the vowels from Adonai became inserted into YHWH, the “a” becoming an “e” and the “y” becoming “j” and “v” being used for “w”. The letter “J” did not exist until many centuries after the New Testament was written, and Yahweh is often held to be the more correct attempt at transliteration. However, God does used translations, as the New Testament has words translated into Greek, and the name name that God has declared souls are saved by, baptized by, healed by, and called by, is Jesus Christ, or Yehoshua Māšîaḥ from Hebrew, and Iēsoûs. Khristós from Greek.

The bible itself mentions exactly one personal name of Almighty God, with two forms:

1. יהוה (typically transliterated from Hebrew as "YHWH")

...and...

2. יה (a shortened form of the same, typically transliterated from Hebrew as "YH").

The organization perhaps most closely identified with the Divine Name is the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, and they have literature published in hundreds of languages (their website alone has articles in over 300). This extensive translating work has moved Jehovah's Witnesses to detail several dozen different respectful spellings and pronunciations of the Divine Name, all of which are honestly derived into various lingual tendencies from the original Hebrew יהוה ("YHWH") and יה ("YH").

http://watchtower.org/languages.htm

Ten interesting variations of the Divine Name are shown on this webpage, in large print along the right side of the page:

http://watchtower.org/e/20040122/article_01.htm

In English, both "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" have a long tradition of representing the Divine Name ("YHWH", also known as "the Tetragrammaton"). At first glance, it might seem that Yahweh (which undeniably includes Y, H, W, and H) would more accurately pronounce the Tetragrammaton as it was pronounced by the ancient Hebrews. However, there is an enormous "but"...

Other common Hebrew names actually include the divine name WITHIN them, giving hints as to its original pronunciation. Increasingly, scholars are leaning toward a pronunciation similar to the three-syllable "Yehowah" rather than two-syllable "Yahweh". If "Yehowah" is close to the correct pronunciation, then it becomes a much more subjective answer about whether "Yehowah" is more similar to "Jehovah" or "Yahweh". Many or most English speakers are likely to embrace the pronunciation which their predecessors embraced at least four hundred years ago.

http://watchtower.org/e/na/

"Jehovah".

Thus, in English, the three most common Biblical names for God (in order of usage) are Jehovah, Yahweh, and Yehowah.

I have no problem with the spelling of Jehovah as it was written in the KJV Bible four times. However I do have a problem with careless people who do not revere such a Holy Divine Name. Such a Name should not be habitually practiced as a constant verbal and textual routine, it should be personally cherished as Holy. The NWT Bible should not be using such a Holy Divine Name in the New Testament, where it simply does not exist in the original Greek New Testament. The Qumrannites prohibited the actual pronunciation of YHWH in the Old Testament long before the birth of Christ, even in its original textual form with vowels. It is wrong to go against what the God-fearing people wrote and spoke before, during and after the preachings of Christ, especially when taking into account of the writings of the Qumrannites, the Masoretes and the Apostles. Even Jesus never used this Holy Divine Name, nor the Apostles, it's nowhere in the New Testament.

Well my name Paul is "Pablo" in Spanish and I'd much rather a Spanish person call me "Pablo" than "man".

How do you think God feels about people just calling him "Lord"; a title that can be given to anyone in authority?

We cannot refuse to use what we think may be God's name just because we don't want to get all dogmatic about it and because we’re not 100% sure.

We feel that Jehovah is the English translation of the Hebrew Yahweh, but if this is wrong, it's better to have placed value on God's name than it is to have removed it because of some dogmatic issues and man made fears of misusing it...which by the way, has nothing to do with mispronouncing it.

TeeM gave a great answer

The name of God is important! Both pronunciation and spelling. Jehovah is a accepted english translation. Now how long was the name Jehovah accepted and used? By now if God Almighty knows it to be wrong; He would have correct it already. Don't you agree? His name is important to Him that's why it is in the Ten Commandments. I will accept it as correct until IF proven wrong.

I am very glad that you asked this question.

And, the people on this forum that are legitimately Jehovah's witnesses I am sure will give you the information that you need.

But, I would like to add that here in our 21st-century nobody, and I do mean nobody knows the exact pronunciation or spelling of God's name. And to even take this whole idea further, nobody knows the exact spelling or pronunciation of God's sons name, Jesus.

So, does that mean that we should not use the name Jehovah or Jesus because we do not know the exact pronunciation or spelling of them.

As the apostle Paul said in one of his letters in the Christian Greek Scripture BOOK of Romans "NEVER MAY THAT HAPPEN" !

The biggest mistake that any person alive can make is to not use God's name.

In the English language, for example, the name Jehovah has been used and known for centuries. For example when the King James authorized version of the Bible was produced in the year 1611 A.D. the name Jehovah was used four times in it. And as a matter of fact, the name of Jehovah was known and being used before the year 1611A.D.

So, as always, if you are really interested in WHY Jehovah's Christian witnesses use the name Jehovah then I would welcome you heartily REQUEST & GET a free home Bible study with them.

This free home Bible study could really change your life for the best.

I know from personal experience that the very best decision of my life was accepting a free home Bible study with Jehovah's Christian witnesses; and the rest was history.

And to you and to all a good night !

Let us do a breakdown.

"God" is just a title, just like Doctor or Sargent is a title. Many people say that God has many names. However, the Bible says otherwise.

In the KJV of an Old English Bible, at Psalms 83:18, you will read, "That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth." (There are bibles who have removed God's name in it's entirety from the Bible. They may have replaced it with LORD, GOD, YAH or JAH. Note that when choosing a Bible, it will be more beneficial to you to choose a Translation, over a Version. Versions tend to be changed drastically, while translations are often a direct translation from the original texts. According to many Bible Scholars- The New World Translation is most accurate. The Byington, American Standard Version, or Kingdom Interlinear are also good for comparison when studying/reading the scriptures.) [The KJV contains God's name only 4 times while the NWT contains His name some 7,000 times as found in the original manuscripts]

Notice that the verse in Psalms calls God, Jehovah, saying that is his name alone. Jehovah is the "common English rendering of the Tetragrammaton (the four Hebrew letters for the personal name of God), which appears over 7,000 times" in the NWT. In English, the letters of the Tetragrammaton are YHWH, for in the Hebrew alphabet there are no vowels; but they appropriately added them as they read aloud or spoke. Over time, they developed a system of pronunciation points for when they were to use vowels when reading... But by that time, the Jew had developed the superstition that it was bad to say God's name. (To connect this fact with the earlier statement regarding the removal of God's name in Newer translations, many use that reason. However, although Jews felt it wrong to verbally say God's name, they never removed it from manuscripts dating even before Christ's presence.)

Now let us reason.

Take a look at 1 Kings 11:33. There it goes to mention other gods. Note that they all have names! So if these idols own names, couldn't we reason that God too has a name?

Take a look at James 4:8. There is says that if we draw close to God, he will draw close to us. Meaning, we can have a friendship with God. Can you have a friendship, a good one, with someone and you not know their name? For example, suppose you are meeting someone for the first time. One of the first things you tell them is your name, and vice versa. As years go by, the person is introducing you to one of their associates but is unable to tell them your name- not because they forgot, but because they never knew it. How would you feel? Could you really call them a friend?

1 Corinthians 8:5, 6 says there are many gods and many lords, but there is only one TRUE God (Jehovah), and one TRUE Lord, Jesus. Knowing that there are many gods, each of them have a name... If you keep saying "god", to which are you referring? For example, say you are walking down the street and someone from behind shouts out to get someone's attention and says, " hey you!" or " Guy!" or "Hey lady!"... Every 'you', 'guy', or 'lady' will turn around... But if he specifically says, "John!'', or ""Hey Lucy!", only John and Lucy merit the greeting and they will turn around.

Finally, Romans 10:13 says, "for "everyone who calls one the name of Jehovah will be saved."" Salvation lies within the knowing of God, and that includes his name.

-Many dispute the pronunciation of God's name. In English it's Jehovah. In Spanish it's Yehovah. In Hebrew it's Yahweh. In Creole it's Jewova etc.. They are all the same, but with a different pronunciation. Just like Juan and John are the same name, but in a different language.

Think of it this way- when immigrants came to America, they Americanized their names. It is similar with Yahweh and Jehovah. Just like Yeshua is the same as Jesus. And, there is no "j" sound in Hebrew. I have a neighbor whose mom is from Israel. His mom calls him BinYamin, instead of Benjamin. It is still him, just different pronunciations based on the different langauges.

It depends on the LANGUAGE it is written in. Besides, no one, including you, knows the true pronunciation of God's name anyway. You don't have a case to argue...unless you know the true name, the correct way to pronounce his name.