Jehovah's Witnesses; Regarding the Divine Name?

Jehovah's Witnesses are scrupulously fixated on the concocted word "Jehovah". Their insistence that one must use the personal name to please God is practically superstitious.

You are right in what you say. Neither "Jehovah" nor "Lord" are accurate representations of YHWH. However, a case can be made that "Lord" is a more legitimate substitution on the grounds that the bible, both in the Hebrew and the Greek text, actually does call God by the title Lord.

The Jehovah's Witnesses are being ridiculous to think that God prefers one erroneous substitution over another. They're both erroneous and so it's foolish to think that God plays favorites, approving of one error and rejecting the other.

The reality of the matter is that God did not think it necessary to preserve the original pronunciation of YHWH. That fact in and of it self should teach JWs something. It is not so much the specific appellation that matters as much as it is the reputation behind the person.

Very often when the bible speaks about God's name it is not actually referring to the appellation YHWH but rather, the character or reputation of God. JWs conveniently ignore this fact to fixate on their pet concoction "Jehovah". They twist many scripture that use the word "name" in reference to the reputation or character of God, to suggest that it is referring to the need to use the appellation "Jehovah". Everyone who studies the bible and comes to understand the character or reputation of God, does come to know the name of God - whether or not they know of YHWH or the word "Jehovah". "Jehovah" is just a string of letters. It means nothing by itself. It is the character of the person that counts.

So the JWs are behaving like pharisaic sticklers superstitiously focusing on the use of a concocted appellation as if that is the most important thing to God - as if God is an animal or robot who only responds to the sound of his appellation. Such behavior on their part reveals that, paradoxically, they don't know God's name - his character. For if they knew is actual name - his character - they would realize how foolishly immature they are behaving. They would realize that God would be far more pleased with someone who knows his personality and character while not knowing the name YHWH; than he would be with someone who knows of YHWH and uses the form "Jehovah" while not fully knowing his character or worse yet, painting him as an immature, snobbish stickler, just as the JWs are actually doing.

The JWs are spiritually infantile. They're focusing on the use of a word instead of the more important issue of God's character. That is the name that God is more interested in people knowing - his character, not a mere word.

Jehovah is Not a name made up by Jehovah's Witnesses! As a matter of fact: The Random House Dictionary of the English Language says that “Hallelujah” is from the Hebrew for “Praise (ye) Jehovah. If you look up the name Jehovah in any dictionary there you would find Jehovah being the definition of God's name. Are the Editors of the dictionaries Jehovah's Witnesses? Was King James one of Jehovah's Witnesses? Because the Older version of the King James Bible has Jehovah's name written four times in the scriptures.(Psalms 83:18; Exodus 6:3; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4) Many consider that version to be the "Original English" Bible. However, the newer version of the Kings James Bible were rewritten and Jehovah's name appear only one time. Even so, Jehovah God made sure that His divine name was not erase out of the bible completely! Hmm, interesting...

With that being said; it is correct for other translations, such as the American Standard Version, the King James Version, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, and others, to use “Jehovah” in English. Translations in many other languages use the Divine Name in their own tongues as well. Why, even some Churches are saying the name of Jehovah. Oh, by the way, when you are saying "Praise Jah." You are saying a poetic shortened form of Jehovah, the name of the Most High God. (Ex 15:1, 2) This abbreviated form is represented by the first half of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH), that is, the letters yohdh (י) and heʼ (ה), the tenth and fifth letters of the Hebrew alphabet respectively.

No human today can be certain how It was originally pronounced in Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew was originally written with only consonants, no vowels. The Divine Name is YHWH. Many scholars favor the spelling "Yahweh," but it is uncertain and there is not any agreement among them. On the other hand, "Jehovah" is the form of the name that is most readily recognized, because it has been used in English for centuries and preserves, equally with other forms, the four consonants of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, YHWH.

Because there is uncertainty as to the exact pronunciation of God's name, some clergymen say you should not use it at all, but instead simply say "God" or "Lord." However, they do no insist that you should not use the names "Jesus" or "Jeremiah." And yet these commonly used pronunciations are quite different from the Hebrew pronunciations "Yeshua" ad "Yirmiah." The vital point is not what pronunciation you use for the Divine Name, whether "Jehovah", "Yahweh," or some other, as long as the pronunciation is common in your language.

Hello, it is not our idea to introduce that particular rendering, it's the most commonly known one in the English-speaking world. Besides which none of us know how to correctly pronounce ANY old Hebrew names, including the name of Jesus.

What is important, however: if God has revealed His Name in the Bible over 7,000 times, do you think He wants us to know it? To use it? Or listen to humans?

(Exodus 3:14, 15)

Kind greetings, Gunter

I find it interesting that the word Jehovah was coined by a Catholic monk in the Middle Ages who was trying to find a new way to pronounce YHWH. It didn't catch on and everyone went back to saying Yahweh. Then a couple thousand years later an extremely anti-Catholic group latches on to it.

the word jehovah does not exist since day 1. When the source is in error from the beginning, it will NEV ER be corrected. It remain an error... thus the word jehovah is in error and the Jw could never stand on its own.. it is always in error.

Yahweh the tribal god of the Hebrew is not the God of love Jesus introduced us to. Yahweh was served out of fear, not love and He taught the Hebrew people about cruelty to animals, racism, sexism, genoside and human sacrifice.

Gods name cannot be spoken or written because no one knows it. That's why so many explanatory words are used to describe Him. He prefers to be called I AM. In the New Testament He calls Himself love.

Truth is ...

The teragram is a hoax. In Hebrew, and in every christian text, GOD is called The Great I AM. In Hebrew the word for mom is Ima (pronounced Ema). Mix the letters up. I AM = ima.

Argument ended.

God often calls Himself Lord, or God...not a proper name. Jesus said to call God 'Father', like He did. I think it would be perfectly acceptable to use these forms. Calling my dad by his first name would be unacceptable, because it's a lack of respect.

I recently watched a secretly recorded judicial committee. In it, the one being disfellowshipped refers to God several times and the elder asked him why he isn't using the name Jehovah, that they hadn't heard him use that name in a while. The elder asked this because it's a *requirement*. It's one of the very first things you learn when having a Bible (literature) study. God has a personal name, it's Jehovah, use it. Why is that? That's a good question, and Jehovah is certainly their most sacred word. It's also the most sacred word in Freemasonry. See what I did there?

Here are some very simple truths from the Bible; why it isn't necessary to know what YHWH stands for; why LORD is acceptable.

"Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name {Jesus} that is above every name." Phil. 2:9

"...that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." Eph. 1:20, 21

"And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved {Jesus}.” Acts 4:12

"...so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (YHWH), to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:10, 11 (Quote from Isa. 45:23, 24)

"It is written: “As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’" Rom. 14:11 (Phil. 2:10, 11)

You see...Jesus is the name above ALL names and every knee will bend, every tongue will confess that He is the LORD God, to the glory of the Father.

The New Testament writers wouldn't have used YHWH, because they were writing *under inspiration* that the most important name in existence is Jesus.

The NWT at Rom. 10:13 states, "For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah* will be saved.” It's quoted from Joel 2:32. The problem here is that by reading the context, this verse is very clearly talking about calling on the name of Jesus to be saved, but instead of calling on the Lord Jesus, it says Jehovah. And they're mistaken about 'who' Jehovah is.

Perhaps that is why they require all to use the name of Jehovah. Because "whoever calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved". They don't want people to, or even know about, calling on the name of Jesus Christ to be saved, the only name by which you can be saved. I'm not sure how they believe calling on a guess of a name Jehovah and putting their trust in an organization is going to help them.

Personally, I don't use a particular name for YHWH...but if I ever do, I prefer Yahweh - which is still, at best, a guess. I certainly don't prefer Jehovah, which is an invention by a Catholic monk in the 13th century and was definitely not in existence at the time of Christ. And to the claim that people try to remove the divine name from the Bible... it was being removed about 250 years before the Incarnation and in its place, they used LORD or Adonai. It was considered disrespectful to use it, and if Jesus had - like everything else - they would have found fault with it. It most likely would be recorded somewhere in the Gospels...just like it is when they criticized Him for other things. So, it's doubtful He used YHWH, whatever that is, because He, unlike the JWs, knew that His name would be the name to know. It is entirely false to claim that we must know what YHWH stands for and it is completely irrelevant to salvation. The only name we must know *for sure* is Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Hebrews 10:12

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;

13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED."

14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?…

Compare with Joel 2:32

And it hath come to pass, Every one who calleth in the name of Jehovah is delivered, For in mount Zion and in Jerusalem there is an escape, As Jehovah hath said, And among the remnants whom Jehovah is calling!

The real question is why Trinitarians like you want to bury the divine name.