WT admitted "Jehovah" is not God's name...

by Watkins 24 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Watkins

  But where did they say that? If I remember right(unlikely, lol) it was a one-page article about the tetragrammaton which concluded by saying that even though "Jehovah" was 'probably' not an accurate pronunciation, it is a widely-recognized and accepted English transliteration of the divine name. I was thinking it was on the last page or maybe the back cover of a wt pub - maybe a WatchTower.

  Can someone please direct me to the publication it was in? I read it when I was still 'in' and it made me stop and think about how much emphasis the WT puts on that name, all while knowing it's not THE name. Every JW I've ever known, including myself, would've argued like crazy that it was THE All-Important Name... crazy stuff. But it's the crazy stuff that leads to the dissonance that leads you out... so, yay! :)

  Thanks - I appreciate it!

  ~watkins
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  InquiryMan

  I remember reading in WT literature that the transliteration Jehovah was first used by a Roman Catholic munk in a work called Pugeo Fidei, if my memory serves me right.
• 

  Gentledawn

  The Divine Name Brochure p.10, by the Watchtower Society states:

  "Even though the modern pronunciation Jehovah might not be exactly the way it was pronounced originally, this in no way detracts from the importance of the name. While many translators favor the pronunciation Yahweh, the New World Translation and also a number of other translations continue the use of the form Jehovah because of people's familiarity with it for centuries."

  copied from : http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/jehovah-yahweh.php
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  Apognophos

  It's been published in a few places. Look in the appendix of the new NWT.
• 

  InquiryMan

  My memory served me right:

  (from Wikianswers):

  Hebrew had no vowels. This was unsatisfactory to those who wanted to pronounce the unpronouncable name of God. Their solution? By combining the vowel signs of 'Adho.nay and 'Elo.him' with the four consonants of the Tetragrammaton the pronunciations Yeho.wah' and Yehowih' were formed. The first of these provided the basis for the Latinized form "Jehova(h)." The first recorded use of this form dates from the thirteenth century C.E. Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk of the Dominican Order, used it in his book Pugeo Fidei of the year 1270.

  As such, the form "Jehovah" is of late medieval origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an entirely different word.
• 

  vangogh

  If you are able to find a first copy of the NWT (the one that came out in sections ) you will find info there about God's Name in the front of it. An experience I had recently when two witnesses visited me, I explained to them how Jehovah could not have been God's name , I showed them from the article in their own 'Aid to Bible Understanding' what it said there. 'They mentioned something like, 'oh we dont use that now' so therefore it couldnt 'be trusted'.. I also showed them other publications but of course 'as they were man's writings they couldnt be trusted'. Actualy, I honestly felt that If they could have, I would have been stoned for blasphemy there and then, how dare I say that and bring doubt to Gods name. A week or two later when they returned, one of them said to me 'Oh last time we were here you were asking about God's name) I asked myself If I was hearing correctly, what they did was to turn the previous conversation completely around . They were telling me now that nobody knew Gods true name and that Jehovah had been used over the years because that was the name that most people knew God by. Truely I could not believe I was hearing this from two long serving witnesses(40 plus years each) I then asked them that if I were to go back to meetings, (i was brought up in the 'Truth' but never baptised thank goodness), that it would be completely alright if I were to call God Yaweh or if out in the ministry I could introduce myself as one of Yahweh Witnesses? They looked at each other and muttered 'oh well. I suppose so' , ..... I wonder how long I would have lasted, ... not very long and that I know!
• 

  Apognophos

  Funny story, vangogh.

  I then asked them that if [...] it would be completely alright if I were to call God Yaweh or if out in the ministry I could introduce myself as one of Yahweh Witnesses? They looked at each other and muttered 'oh well. I suppose so' , ..... I wonder how long I would have lasted, ... not very long and that I know!

  The elders would have been able to nail you on the technicality that you weren't representing yourself "as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization", as stated in the baptismal vow
• 

  EndofMysteries

  It's in the old "Aid to Bible Understanding" book under Jehovah.
• 

  sarahsmile

  Yes,the AID book! Also someone has a youtube video on God name.

  If you go door to door as Yahweh Witness that would make you from another religion. Might be fun! :-)

  Google Yahweh Witness see what you find..Hmm they might be an offshoot of JWs.
• 

  Turd Ferguson

  "...Similarly, the New World Bible Translation Committee feels that it is reasonable to use the form “Jehovah,” even though that rendering is not exactly the way the divine name would have been pronounced in ancient Hebrew." ( JW.org New,New World Trans. Appendix )

  They absolutly know it is not correct but it is their Corp. brand name now and their not about to change it. As stated by others, the word "Jehovah" was first introduced in 1278 by a spanish monk, Raymundo Martini, wrote the latin work PUGIO FIDEI (Dagger of faith). In it he used the name of God, spelling it Yohoua. Later printings of this work, dated some centuries later, used the spelling JEHOVA. He arrived at thie pronunciation inccorectly by wrongly assuming that the letters for "adoni" (Lord) were the missing vowel points for YHWH. Virtualy all scholars know this is how "Jehovah" originated and that it was and is incorrect. Here is a link to a good vid on the "Name". I like the way he sums it up at the end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRsbSLU9oFA

  (Hope my links work, i'm kind new at this site : )