Can you even stomach the name "Jehovah"?

logansrun

I can't. In the few times I have prayed since leaving the Dubs I notice I catch myself -- "Dear Heavenly God Jeh----......" There's just so much emotional baggage connected to the name. I wish to leave it behind altogether.

B.

logansrun

Not to mention it's a medevil mistake.

B.

donkey

It feels so good to be able to say stuff like "Chist!!" or "Jesus" and use them as cuss words now. Try it its very freeing.

Scully

I hate using the name "Jehovah" now. It makes me cringe and I feel like I should go and wash my mouth out with soap if I do say it now. I used to feel the same way when I was a JW, whenever I said "Christmas" or "Easter" or "birthday". I'm all better now.

VM44

The New Jerusalem Bible uses the name Yahweh, which might be the closer to what was used in the Old Testament.

--VM44

Ranch

Not after reading this 2-1-1999 Watchtower article! I had forced that name on people all my life and then find out that there is no way to know how to say it.

Jehovah"

or "Yahweh"?

"MONGREL," "hybrid," "monstrous." What would cause Biblical Hebrew scholars to use such emphatic terms? At issue is whether "Jehovah" is a proper English pronunciation of God?s name. For over one hundred years, this controversy has raged. Today, most scholars seem to favor the two-syllable "Yahweh." But is the pronunciation "Jehovah" really so "monstrous"?

At

the Root of the Controversy

According to the Bible, God himself revealed his name to humankind. (Exodus 3:15) Scriptural evidence shows that God?s ancient servants freely used that name. (Genesis 12:8; Ruth 2:4) God?s name was known by other nations as well. (Joshua 2:9) This was especially true after the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon came into contact with peoples of many nations. (Psalm 96:2-10; Isaiah 12:4; Malachi 1:11) The Interpreter?s Dictionary of the Bible says: "There is considerable evidence that in the postexilic period many foreigners were attracted to the religion of the Jews." However, by the first century C.E., a superstition about God?s name had developed. Eventually, not only did the Jewish nation stop using God?s name openly but some even forbade pronouncing it at all. Its correct pronunciation was thus lost?or was it?

What

Is in a Name?

In the Hebrew language, God?s name is written יהוה. These four letters, which are read from right to left, are commonly called the Tetragrammaton. Many names of people and places mentioned in the Bible contain an abbreviated form of the divine name. Is it possible that these proper names can provide some clues as to how God?s name was pronounced?

According to George Buchanan, professor emeritus at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., the answer is yes. Professor Buchanan explains: "In ancient times, parents often named their children after their deities. That means that they would have pronounced their children?s names the way the deity?s name was pronounced. The Tetragrammaton was used in people?s names, and they always used the middle vowel."

Consider a few examples of proper names found in the Bible that include a shortened form of God?s name. Jonathan, which appears as Yoh·na·than´ or Yehoh·na·than´ in the Hebrew Bible, means "Yaho or Yahowah has given," says Professor Buchanan. The prophet Elijah?s name is ´E·li·yah´ or ´E·li·ya´hu in Hebrew. According to Professor Buchanan, the name means: "My God is Yahoo or Yahoo-wah." Similarly, the Hebrew name for Jehoshaphat is Yehoh-sha·phat´, meaning "Yaho has judged."

A two-syllable pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton as "Yahweh" would not allow for the o vowel sound to exist as part of God?s name. But in the dozens of Biblical names that incorporate the divine name, this middle vowel sound appears in both the original and the shortened forms, as in Jehonathan and Jonathan. Thus, Professor Buchanan says regarding the divine name: "In no case is the vowel oo or oh omitted. The word was sometimes abbreviated as ?Ya,? but never as ?Ya-weh.? . . . When the Tetragrammaton was pronounced in one syllable it was ?Yah? or ?Yo.? When it was pronounced in three syllables it would have been ?Yahowah? or ?Yahoowah.? If it was ever abbreviated to two syllables it would have been ?Yaho.?"?Biblical Archaeology Review.

These comments help us understand the statement made by 19th-century Hebrew scholar Gesenius in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures: "Those who consider that י ה ו ה [Ye-ho-wah] was the actual pronunciation [of God?s name] are not altogether without ground on which to defend their opinion. In this way can the abbreviated syllables י ה ו [Ye-ho] and י ו [Yo], with which many proper names begin, be more satisfactorily explained."

Nevertheless, in the introduction to his recent translation of The Five Books of Moses, Everett Fox points out: "Both old and new attempts to recover the ?correct? pronunciation of the Hebrew name [of God] have not succeeded; neither the sometimes-heard ?Jehovah? nor the standard scholarly ?Yahweh? can be conclusively proven."

No doubt the scholarly debate will continue. Jews stopped pronouncing the name of the true God before the Masoretes developed the system of vowel pointing. Thus, there is no definitive way to prove which vowels accompanied the consonants YHWH (יהוה). Yet, the very names of Biblical figures?the correct pronunciation of which was never lost?provide a tangible clue to the ancient pronunciation of God?s name. On this account, at least some scholars agree that the pronunciation "Jehovah" is not so "monstrous" after all.

[Pictures

on page 31]

VM44

From:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh

--VM44

The Tetragrammaton, literally means the four-letter word. The word in question is the Hebrew word יהוה spelled using the Hebrew alphabet : yodh י heh ה waw ו heh ה. (Note that Hebrew text is written from right to left). This is the ineffable name of God in Hebrew, and it is believed to be so holy by observant practitioners of Judaism that they ritually read it as "[Adonai]" to mean "My Lord" in their prayers and when learning and studying the Torah or Talmud . When they refer to the name in conversation or in a non-textual context such as in a book, newspaper or letter, they call the name "Hashem" which means simply "The Name".
A reading from the Tanakh when Moses was faced with the burning bush on Mount Sinai , interprets the Tetragrammaton as I am what I am or I shall prove to be what I shall prove to be (Exodus 3:13). Because of the strictures in Judaism, the pronunciation is controversial.
Yahweh is thought by some to be the most accurate equivalent of the Tetragrammaton (rendered YHWH or YHVH) in English. It is the Memorial name of God divine personal names in the Tanakh (or Old Testament ). When first translated into English by Tyndale in 1525, it was rendered IEHOUAH. Later it came to written as Jehovah (see below). There are other representations, including Yahwe, Yahveh, Jave and Yehowah.
According to one variant of Jewish tradition, the Tetragrammaton is related to the causative form, the imperfect state, of the Heb. verb ha·wah´ (become); meaning ?He Causes to Become?. This particular name for God is rendered as THE LORD (in small caps) in many modern translations of the Bible ; two notable exceptions are the American Standard Version (1901)and The New Jerusalem Bible (1966). In strict Jewish tradition, the Tetragrammaton is a taboo word, and it is blasphemy to utter it. Thus, except for the rare leaders of a few ultra-orthodox Jewish sects, no one claims with absolute certainty just how it was pronounced ? but that the Heh's in YHWH are silent. In the end, it is impossible to state definitively how it was pronounced.
In recent years, a debate has grown over the derivation and meaning of this name. In this tradition, Yahweh is often rendered as meaning "I am the One Who Is." Indeed, this last fits nicely with the admonition from Yahweh of the Burning Bush to Moses to tell the sons of Israel that "I AM has sent you." Some suggest: "I AM the One I AM". This may also fit the interpretation of Yahweh as "He Causes to Become." Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning may be "He Brings Into Existence Whatever Exists" (Yahweh-Asher-Yahweh).
The first English representation of the Tetragrammaton (that is, the actual four Hebrew letters Yod, He, Vau, He) appeared on the title page of William Tyndale 's translation of 1525 as "IEHOUAH." Subsequent translations in English, including Miles Coverdale's (1535), the Great Bible (1539), The Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop's Bible (1568) and the Authorized Version of 1611 also used IEHOUAH in several places, while most occurences of the Tetragrammaton were rendered as THE LORD. Some aver that this practice reflects the Jewish tradition that it is blasphemy to utter this name of God.

onacruse

The relatively infrequent times that I choose to direct my thoughts toward god, I refer to it as Prime Cause.

Interesting that I still get the same (non)-answers as always.

At least, no longer using the false-god name of Jehovah (or Yahweh, or whatever), makes me feel like I'm getting closer to the real meaning of my existence.

Craig

Nosferatu

I can stomach the name Jehovah, but I can't stand it when my mother says it, "Jeeeeeehoovah"

Mulan

I cringe when I hear it too. But............when talking to my mother I say it, because if I just say "god" she would freak. So, out of consideration for her, I say it only with her. I avoid it if possible though and call him "he".

To me, god is not Jehovah..............that is the god of JW's, and I want no part of him.

Can you even stomach the name "Jehovah"?

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