Is God's name Jehovah?
WHEN MOSES STOOD on holy ground at Mount Sinai, he asked God:
“Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses: ‘I AM WHO I AM… you shall say to the children of Israel: “The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” (Exod. 3:13-15 New King James Version, Emphasis Mine)
Moses asked God this question because he knew the Israelites would ask him what God’s name is.
There are certain religious organizations popularizing the use of the term “Jehovah,” claiming that the said term is God’s name. They teach that a person is not righteous in God’s sight if he does not believe that Jehovah is the name of God. Is this true? Is it biblically correct to use “Jehovah” when referring to the one true God?
NAMES OF GOD
Aside from the name God declared to Moses at Mount Sinai, the book of Exodus recorded more than one name identifying the true God, thus:
“For you I shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God,”
(Reference: Exod. 34:14 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
In the Douay-Rheims Version of the Bible, a Hebrew term is used to identify the name of God:
“That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty: and my name ADONAI I did not shew them.”
(Reference: Exod. 6:3 Douay-Rheims, Emphasis Mine)
During the time of the prophets, God was again called by many other names, such as those found in the books of Isaiah and Amos:
“I am the LORD, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.”
(Reference: Isa. 42:8 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
“‘Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,’ Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.”
(Reference: Amos 5:27 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
In certain versions of the Bible, some Hebrew names pertaining to God have been retained, such as this one used in the Revised Standard Version:
“There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.
fn: “That is God, the God of Israel.”
(Reference: Gen. 33:20 RSV and footnote, Emphasis Mine)
The 1917 edition of the Scofield Reference Bible on page 983 has the following table that shows how God, through many names, had been revealed in the Old Testament with the only word not found from the Hebrew text is the hybrid word “Jehovah,” or “Yahweh” which Scofield pointed out as only a “Hebrew Equivalent”:
CLASS
Primary
Compound with El = God
Compound with Jehovah = LORD
ENGLISH FORM
God
LORD
Lord
Almighty God
Most High, or
most high God
everlasting God
LORD God
Lord GOD
LORD of hosts
HEBREW EQUIVALENT
El, Elah or Elohim (Gen. 1. 1, note) Yahweh (Gen. 2. 4, note)
Adon or Adonai (Gen. 15. 2, note)
El Shaddai (Gen. 17. 1, note)
El Elyon (Gen. 14. 18, note)
El Olam (Gen. 21. 33, note)
Jehovah Elohim (Gen. 2. 7, note) Adonai Jehovah (Gen. 15. 2, note) Jehovah Sabaoth (1 Sam. 1. 3, note)
The New Testament, in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, shows an Aramaic term for “my God”:
“And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying Eli, Eli, lemana, shabaktani! which means, My God, my God, for this I was spared!”
(Reference: Mark 15:34 Lamsa Translation, Emphasis Mine)
AN ERRONEOUS NAME
According to Bible scholars, is the name Jehovah also a biblical name of God? In The Emphasized Bible, these historical facts about the origin of the said name are revealed:
“What are the facts? And first as to age. ‘The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but was contested by Le Mercier, J. Drusius, and L. Capellus, as against grammatical and historical propriety.’ Next, as to formation. ‘Erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah, which is merely a combination of the sacred Tetragrammaton and the vowels in the Hebrew word for Lord, substituted by the Jews for JHVH, because they shrank from pronouncing The Name, owing it an old misconception of the two passages, Ex. xx. 7 and Lev. xxiv. 16. . . . To give the name JHVH the vowels of the word for Lord (Heb. Adonai) and pronounce it Jehovah, is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal―viz., Gormuna. The monstrous combination Jehovah is not older than about 1520 A.D.’ From this we may gather that the Jewish scribes are not responsible for the ‘hybrid’ combination. They intentionally wrote alien vowels―not for combination with the sacred consonants, but for the purpose of cautioning the Jewish reader to enunciate a totally different word, viz., some other familiar name of the Most High.”
(Reference: The Emphasized Bible By Joseph Bryant Rotherham, pp. 24-25, Emphasis Mine)
Galatinus was a Catholic priest, philosopher, and theologian. As the source mentions, he introduced the term ‘Jehovah,’ which is an “erroneously written and pronounced” hybrid word, combining the consonants of the Hebraic tetragrammaton, JHVH, and the vowels of the word ‘Adonai.’ More historians have proven this, as written in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VI:
“JEHOVAH, je-hō′vᾱ: An erroneous form of the divine name of the covenant God of Israel which appears first about 1520 A.D. The error arose from the fact that the utterance of the divine name, in original quadrilateral form (the tetragrammaton) YHWH, became unlawful in the Jewish usage as early as the third Christian century and probably much earlier, at least outside the sacred precincts (cf. Ex. xx. 7; Lev. xxiv. 16, the Septuagint of which reads ‘name the name’ for ‘blaspheme the name’).”
(Reference: The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. VI, p. 116, Emphasis Mine)
This hybrid word is not found in the original biblical text. Religious scholars and historians have proven that it is an erroneous term. Therefore, the term ‘Jehovah’ should not be used or identified with God at all.
Moreover, the name of God represented as YHWH has also been rendered as “Yahweh.” There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament and not one contains either “Jehovah” or “Yahweh.” This translation of “Yahweh” also introduces vowels that were not originally present in the name and should not be equated with God. This is what modern scholars have to say:
“Modern scholars can only guess (from the Hebrew text, which omitted vowels) that the Jewish deity’s name is ‘Yahweh.’ When reading the Torah aloud, religious Jews replace YHWH, the four letters of God’s name, with adonai, ‘Lord.’ Elsewhere, they simply refer to him as haShem: the name. Jews are famous for revering their holy books; less famously but just as fervently, they revere the language itself, too. They once revered it so much that they resisted its revival: to see it spoken in the street would inevitably mean seeing it profaned
(Reference: You Are What You Speak Grammar Grouches, Language Laws, and the Politics of Identity by Robert Lane Greene, Pub: 2011, p. 22, Emphasis Mine)
HOW CHRISTIANS OUGHT TO CALL GOD
Some may wonder and ask, “How, then, should people call the one true God when there are so many names by which He is called in the Bible?” One only needs to learn from the Son of God on how He called the Almighty One during His prayer to Him:
“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored.”
(Reference: Matt. 6:9 Good News Bible, Emphasis Mine)
The Lord Jesus Christ taught His disciples how to pray and address the Almighty God through His prayer. Notice how Christ called God “our Father in heaven.” Thus, this is how members of the Church Of Christ call God for doing so gives honor to Him. Aside from Christ, the apostles also taught how else true Christians call on God during their prayers:
“So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: ‘Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them’.”
(Reference: Acts 4:24 NKJV)
Church Of Christ members firmly believe that God’s name ought to be worshiped and glorified (Matt. 6:9-10; Ps. 86:9). Thus, they use God’s name with utmost respect and humility, not only in their prayers but all throughout their lives, for it is the Lord God Himself Who commanded:
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
(Reference: Exod. 20:7 NKJV)
Thus, Members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) address the Almighty God as “Father” or “Lord.”
IN CONCLUSION
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There are many names by which God has been called in scripture, but Jehovah or Yahweh is not one of them that is found in the original manuscripts. It was not until 1520 A.D. that this erroneous name (Jehovah) first appear. “Erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah, which is merely a combination of the sacred Tetragrammaton and the vowels in the Hebrew word for Lord, substituted by the Jews for JHVH.” Therefore, the term ‘Jehovah’ should not be used or identified with God at all.
“To give the name JHVH the vowels of the word for Lord (Heb. Adonai) and pronounce it Jehovah, is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal―viz., Gormuna.” … “They intentionally wrote alien vowels…”
2
WE KINDLY EXTEND our visitors an invitation to explore the pristine, unadulterated teachings of Christ and His apostles as they were taught in the first-century Church Of Christ. Learn the importance of who the true God is and how this truth means “eternal life.”:
The Truth about God and Jesus Christ
SUPPORTERS OF THE BELIEF in the divinity of Christ, also known as the Christ-is-God or the God-man doctrine, assert that God exists as a trinity consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although they are three in nature and considered distinct beings, proponents maintain that they form a single God. The concept of the Trinity lacks explicit biblical endorsement; thus, proponents often argue that it represents a profound mystery beyond human comprehension and should be accepted by faith alone.
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