BART EHRMAN answers my question (page 2)

OrphanCrow

I dont think the King James version used Jehovah ??

Yes, the King James version does use 'Jehovah'.

'Jehovah' appears 7 times in the KJV (all in the Old Testament).

http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/search.php?q=jehovah&hs=1

davidmitchell

About the middle of the first century C.E., the disciple James said to the elders in Jerusalem:

James said no such thing. Acts was composed towards the close of the first century CE. It is a work of fiction.

Apparently, the God-dishonoring tradition of removing the divine name from Greek manuscripts developed only later.

Manuscript evidence? Any physical evidence at all?

The AnchorBible Dictionary makes this comment...

Once again, where is the evidence of what is stated here? This is supposition. After 70CE and the church concentrated on preaching to the Gentiles, the Jewish name for God would be an obstacle to such preaching apart from being meaningless.

And finally, even if the 'divine name' were in use in the 1st century CE, it certainly was not the direct Greek/Hebrew equivalent of the word 'Jehovah' which is a made-up word.

Finkelstein

Did Rutherford use the KJV of the bible when he took over the WTS ?

Prior to the development of the NWTL ?

davidmitchell

I dont think the King James version used Jehovah ?

In the KJV, the word Jehovah is included in four texts:
Exodus 6:3
Psalm 83:18
Isaiah 12:2
Isaiah 26:4.

davidmitchell

OrphanCrow: 'Jehovah' appears 7 times in the KJV (all in the Old

You will find the actual word occurs four times:

Exodus 6:3
Psalm 83:18
Isaiah 12:2
Isaiah 26:4.

OrphanCrow

Did Rutherford use the KJV of the bible when he took over the WTS ?

Yes. I believe that the KJV was used right up until the NWT was published in the 1960s. My dad's old JW bible is a KJV.

davidmitchell: You will find the actual word occurs four times:

Okay. Thanks. :)

Juan Viejo2

Orphan Crow, et al -

Yes, the KJV Bible was used by JWs up and through most of the 1950s. The first segment of the New World Translation was released in 1950, and then segments of the Hebrew Scriptures were released at International Assemblies over the next 8 years. I got my first leather bound NWT in 1960 that had all of the segments and a concordance and footnotes. Even though it was my pride and joy at the time, one day while out in field service I traded my leather bound copy of the NWT for an even nicer and far more valuable leather bound copy of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare." I've loved the Bard ever since.

There were problems using the NWT in field service and during new Bible studies. Since most people had the KJV, if they grabbed their Bible and wanted to read along with you (just to make sure you weren't trying to sneak something by them), the two versions did not match in many places (John 1:1). The accuracy of the KJV was so ingrained in the public's mind, that hearing verses read from the NWT made them suspicious that we were trying to "change the Bible." Of course, at the time we thought that was ridiculous. It was only later that we discovered that those suspicions were actually quite accurate and the NWT should have been titled, "The Fred Franz Authored and Authorized Version of the 1850 King James Version of the Bible."

JV

BluesBrother

Excellent , Terry. I liked his clear and readable answer to the origins of "Jehovah" . I would really like to see his response to the recent WTS statements that early copies of the Septuagint did contain the Divine Name.

Please keep us posted

cofty

Brilliant Terry. Marking to read carefully later. Thanks.

bsmart

I remember when the green NWT came out (as a teenager) I was under the impression the writers had access to the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were a recent discovery and it made sense to me. I dont recall it ever being said at an assembly or from the podium. I am pretty sure I heard it in the car while we were going door to door.

Now of course, I know different; no Jehovah in the dead sea scrolls either.

BART EHRMAN answers my question

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