Post by ResLight on Jan 21, 2015 22:39:09 GMT -5
Jehovah is Not a Word?
Someone posted a photocopy of two pages from the book, Everyday Light, by Selwyn Hughes, in one of the Facebook forums, evidently in response to something I had stated. The book is described as: "365 daily reflections by Selwyn Hughes organized into six themes and complemented by a special Bible reading guide for added insights." (Amazon.com) I do not have a copy of this book, but I did respond to much that appears, especially on page 149, which is entitled, "Jehovah - No Such Word". Page 148 is included in the photocopy graphic and it is entitled, "What's in a Name?"
I am somewhat in agreement with what is presented on page 148 of the book. God's Holy Name means that He is Who He is; this expresses, not just that God is eternal (as many claim), but all his attributes of being and character. Like his son, God cannot deny Himself. This expresses the trust that one can place in God's Holy Name.
On page 149, however, it is obvious that the English form "Jehovah" is an English form and that it is false that the English form "Jehovah" is not a word.
It is stated that the "ancient Israelites attached such a sacredness to the Name of God that they would not say it aloud." This statement could be misleading, since there is no indication that the Israelites in Biblical times would NOT say God's Holy Name out loud. Indeed, the evidence is overwhelming that the Israelites in Old Testament times DID pronounce the Holy Name. I did a study on this several years ago, and it is online at:
jesus-rlbible.com/?p=249
Did God's People in the Old Testament Times Utter the Holy Name Aloud?
The apostate Jews did later forbid God's Holy Name to be pronounced, based a false interpretation of some scriptures. To some extent this was evidently happening before Jesus came; the actual forbidding by Jewish law however, evidently came a few decades after Jesus' death and resurrection. Nevertheless, I have yet to see a Jew or anyone else who, when reading the Bible aloud, does not give some kind of utterance as representative of the Holy Name. Many Jews read the JPS translation, which has Isaiah 42:8 as:
I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.
Using this an example of over 6,000 instances in the Old Testament, many who claim that they DO NOT pronounce the Holy Name, ACTUALLY DO pronounce the Holy Name, in this instance, as "the LORD". Thus they would have God saying that his name is "the LORD", which does not at all represent what God DID say. The tetragrammaton of the Holy Name is a active verb in Hebrew, not a titular noun, although the verb is used as though it is a noun. Nevertheless, the point is that if they were to not actually say the name aloud at all, they would have to leave out the Holy Name altogether, as "I am --, that is may My Name", etc. Likewise, in reading Exodus 3:14,15, one would have speak it as: "And God said unto Moses: '--'; and He said: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: -- hath sent me unto you.'[15] And God said moreover unto Moses: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: --, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.
See my study on my website:
jesus-rlbible.com/?p=44
Should God's Holy Name Be Pronounced?
The book states: "One great Hebrew scholar points out that there is no such word as Jehovah in the Hebrew language."
This is partly true, if by "word" one means the English spelling using English characters that is the English form "Jehovah", but stating this could be deceptive, since it has nothing at all to do with the idea that the English form "Jehovah" is not a word. It appears to be based on the false idea that if the English form is not pronounced exactly like it was pronounced in the original Hebrew this would in some way mean that the English form is a not a word! Regardless, based on this line of reason, if one is consistent, then neither is there any such word as Jesus, Jacob, Joshua, Yahweh, or Elijah, since none of these forms are in the Hebrew language. Nevertheless, nothing in this provides any basis for the claim that the English form Jehovah used to represent the name expressed in the Hebrew tetragrammaton of the Holy Name is not a word.
The book goes on to say: "The Name of God in Exodus 3:14, where the Almighty gives His Name to Moses, I AM WHO I AM, is Yahweh the English equivalent of which is Jehovah." This appears to be saying that the Hebrew in the name "I AM WHO I AM" is "Yahweh". There are two things wrong with this statement.
First, the English form "Yahweh", like "Jehovah", is not in the Hebrew. This form, Yahweh, is somebody's formation that many have claimed expresses in English the original phonemes of the Hebrew tetragrammaton of God's Holy Name as presented in the four Hebrew characters often called JOD-HE-VAV-HE or YOD-HE-WAW-HE. The English form "Yahweh", however, is actually based on an ancient Greek form of the Holy Name, which has to be read back into the Hebrew, and then which has to be formed into the English "Yahweh". It would be misleading to say that "Yahweh" IS Hebrew.
The second thing that is wrong in the above quote is that the expression, "I AM WHO I AM", is not translated from the tetragrammaton of the Holy Name. The tetragrammaton of the Holy Name is the third person conjugation of the active Hebrew "to be", that is, its direct meaning is "He is", or "He will be", or if causative, "He causes to be", or something similar. Many translations do render the tetragrammaton as Jehovah or Yahweh in English, but Exodus 3:14 does not contain the tetragrammaton. The form of the Holy Name that appears in Exodus 3:14, however, is in the first person: this form is often given in English as EHYEH ASHER EHYEH or EHJEH ASHER EHJEH. Some may argue about the proper consonants or vowels as presented in English, but this is irrelevant, as far the Bible itself is concerned. God has never told anyone that His Name must be pronounced as it was originally pronounced in Hebrew. Until more recent times, names did change in pronunciation and spelling was adopted that would harmonize with the general usage in the target language. This does not mean that each form of the name in each language was a different name, or that, if one did not pronounce the name as it was originally pronounced in its original language, that it was a false word or name.
Names, however, are not usually translated from one language to another but rather are rendered into the target language by adopting and adapting, which may be based on transliteration as well formation of words and use of phonemes as is common to the target language. "Jehovah", in English, does actually correspond to the form most commonly used in the Masoretic text of God's Holy Name.
With this in mind, both English forms, Yahweh and Jehovah, are not different "names" -- they are both English linguistic forms of the same one name as given in the Hebrew tetragrammaton of the Holy Name, similar to the way that English forms Joshua and Jesus are the same name, only expressed with different linguistic backgrounds. Nevertheless, we should note that neither of the forms, Jesus or Joshua, are in the original Hebrew, since they are both English forms; this does not mean that either of these, however, do not express the name as found in Hebrew.
The book continues: "The Israelites would not say the word Yahweh, and eventually the vowels were taken out and mixed with consonants of another Hebrew word to form the word Adonai. This was done to as a device to avoid having to say the real word 'Yahweh.' How ridiculous can you get?"
The Israelites in the Old Testament times, and I believe also in the times of Jesus, did say the Holy Name, although it may have been frowned upon by the Jewish leaders in Jesus' day.
The next statement, although the wording is not accurate, is evidently referring to the traditional claim that the Masoretes took vowels from their superlative form of the Hebrew word often transliterated as Adonai, and put them into the tetragrammaton. There is no real evidence that this ever happened.
The Masoretes did, however, form the word often transliterated as "Adonai" or "Adonay" by adding a vowel point to the instances which they believed the form transliterated as adoni (my lord) referred to God. They did not form the word "Adonai" from any vowels from any other word, as stated in the book, other than by just adding the vowel point to form the plural of "adoni", giving "adoni" a superlative (plural intensive) form.
Nevertheless, as regarding the Holy Name, the usual claim is that the Masoretes used the vowel points of Adonai (or, from another word often transliterated as Elohim) in their forms of the Holy Name; the usual claim is that from this was formed the word that provides the basis for the English forms Yehowah, Jehovah, or Iehouah, etc. As best I have been able to determine, this idea that vowels point were taken from either Adonai or Elohim, however, does not come from the Jewish Masoretes, but rather from later Christian writers. The idea has been repeated over and over as fact, although, in reality, there does not appear to be any evidence that the Masoretes did actually do this. Indeed, the vowels of neither "Adonai" or "Elohim" actually fit the vowels that the we find in the Masoretic text of the Holy Name.
The book does not actually come to much of conclusion, at least not on the two pages presented. I don't have a copy of this book, so I am not sure how it represents the Holy Name elsewhere in the book. Is it saying that one should read the scriptures so as to make the Holy Name "the Lord" or "God"? Regardless, there is nothing presented that justifies changing God's eternal Holy Name to other words that do not mean the same thing, or to allegedly 'not pronouncing' the Holy Name.
God willing, this will eventually be moved to:
jesus-rlbible.com/?p=6558
Someone posted a photocopy of two pages from the book, Everyday Light, by Selwyn Hughes, in one of the Facebook forums, evidently in response to something I had stated. The book is described as: "365 daily reflections by Selwyn Hughes organized into six themes and complemented by a special Bible reading guide for added insights." (Amazon.com) I do not have a copy of this book, but I did respond to much that appears, especially on page 149, which is entitled, "Jehovah - No Such Word". Page 148 is included in the photocopy graphic and it is entitled, "What's in a Name?"
I am somewhat in agreement with what is presented on page 148 of the book. God's Holy Name means that He is Who He is; this expresses, not just that God is eternal (as many claim), but all his attributes of being and character. Like his son, God cannot deny Himself. This expresses the trust that one can place in God's Holy Name.
On page 149, however, it is obvious that the English form "Jehovah" is an English form and that it is false that the English form "Jehovah" is not a word.
It is stated that the "ancient Israelites attached such a sacredness to the Name of God that they would not say it aloud." This statement could be misleading, since there is no indication that the Israelites in Biblical times would NOT say God's Holy Name out loud. Indeed, the evidence is overwhelming that the Israelites in Old Testament times DID pronounce the Holy Name. I did a study on this several years ago, and it is online at:
jesus-rlbible.com/?p=249
Did God's People in the Old Testament Times Utter the Holy Name Aloud?
The apostate Jews did later forbid God's Holy Name to be pronounced, based a false interpretation of some scriptures. To some extent this was evidently happening before Jesus came; the actual forbidding by Jewish law however, evidently came a few decades after Jesus' death and resurrection. Nevertheless, I have yet to see a Jew or anyone else who, when reading the Bible aloud, does not give some kind of utterance as representative of the Holy Name. Many Jews read the JPS translation, which has Isaiah 42:8 as:
I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.
Using this an example of over 6,000 instances in the Old Testament, many who claim that they DO NOT pronounce the Holy Name, ACTUALLY DO pronounce the Holy Name, in this instance, as "the LORD". Thus they would have God saying that his name is "the LORD", which does not at all represent what God DID say. The tetragrammaton of the Holy Name is a active verb in Hebrew, not a titular noun, although the verb is used as though it is a noun. Nevertheless, the point is that if they were to not actually say the name aloud at all, they would have to leave out the Holy Name altogether, as "I am --, that is may My Name", etc. Likewise, in reading Exodus 3:14,15, one would have speak it as: "And God said unto Moses: '--'; and He said: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: -- hath sent me unto you.'[15] And God said moreover unto Moses: 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: --, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.
See my study on my website:
jesus-rlbible.com/?p=44
Should God's Holy Name Be Pronounced?
The book states: "One great Hebrew scholar points out that there is no such word as Jehovah in the Hebrew language."
This is partly true, if by "word" one means the English spelling using English characters that is the English form "Jehovah", but stating this could be deceptive, since it has nothing at all to do with the idea that the English form "Jehovah" is not a word. It appears to be based on the false idea that if the English form is not pronounced exactly like it was pronounced in the original Hebrew this would in some way mean that the English form is a not a word! Regardless, based on this line of reason, if one is consistent, then neither is there any such word as Jesus, Jacob, Joshua, Yahweh, or Elijah, since none of these forms are in the Hebrew language. Nevertheless, nothing in this provides any basis for the claim that the English form Jehovah used to represent the name expressed in the Hebrew tetragrammaton of the Holy Name is not a word.
The book goes on to say: "The Name of God in Exodus 3:14, where the Almighty gives His Name to Moses, I AM WHO I AM, is Yahweh the English equivalent of which is Jehovah." This appears to be saying that the Hebrew in the name "I AM WHO I AM" is "Yahweh". There are two things wrong with this statement.
First, the English form "Yahweh", like "Jehovah", is not in the Hebrew. This form, Yahweh, is somebody's formation that many have claimed expresses in English the original phonemes of the Hebrew tetragrammaton of God's Holy Name as presented in the four Hebrew characters often called JOD-HE-VAV-HE or YOD-HE-WAW-HE. The English form "Yahweh", however, is actually based on an ancient Greek form of the Holy Name, which has to be read back into the Hebrew, and then which has to be formed into the English "Yahweh". It would be misleading to say that "Yahweh" IS Hebrew.
The second thing that is wrong in the above quote is that the expression, "I AM WHO I AM", is not translated from the tetragrammaton of the Holy Name. The tetragrammaton of the Holy Name is the third person conjugation of the active Hebrew "to be", that is, its direct meaning is "He is", or "He will be", or if causative, "He causes to be", or something similar. Many translations do render the tetragrammaton as Jehovah or Yahweh in English, but Exodus 3:14 does not contain the tetragrammaton. The form of the Holy Name that appears in Exodus 3:14, however, is in the first person: this form is often given in English as EHYEH ASHER EHYEH or EHJEH ASHER EHJEH. Some may argue about the proper consonants or vowels as presented in English, but this is irrelevant, as far the Bible itself is concerned. God has never told anyone that His Name must be pronounced as it was originally pronounced in Hebrew. Until more recent times, names did change in pronunciation and spelling was adopted that would harmonize with the general usage in the target language. This does not mean that each form of the name in each language was a different name, or that, if one did not pronounce the name as it was originally pronounced in its original language, that it was a false word or name.
Names, however, are not usually translated from one language to another but rather are rendered into the target language by adopting and adapting, which may be based on transliteration as well formation of words and use of phonemes as is common to the target language. "Jehovah", in English, does actually correspond to the form most commonly used in the Masoretic text of God's Holy Name.
With this in mind, both English forms, Yahweh and Jehovah, are not different "names" -- they are both English linguistic forms of the same one name as given in the Hebrew tetragrammaton of the Holy Name, similar to the way that English forms Joshua and Jesus are the same name, only expressed with different linguistic backgrounds. Nevertheless, we should note that neither of the forms, Jesus or Joshua, are in the original Hebrew, since they are both English forms; this does not mean that either of these, however, do not express the name as found in Hebrew.
The book continues: "The Israelites would not say the word Yahweh, and eventually the vowels were taken out and mixed with consonants of another Hebrew word to form the word Adonai. This was done to as a device to avoid having to say the real word 'Yahweh.' How ridiculous can you get?"
The Israelites in the Old Testament times, and I believe also in the times of Jesus, did say the Holy Name, although it may have been frowned upon by the Jewish leaders in Jesus' day.
The next statement, although the wording is not accurate, is evidently referring to the traditional claim that the Masoretes took vowels from their superlative form of the Hebrew word often transliterated as Adonai, and put them into the tetragrammaton. There is no real evidence that this ever happened.
The Masoretes did, however, form the word often transliterated as "Adonai" or "Adonay" by adding a vowel point to the instances which they believed the form transliterated as adoni (my lord) referred to God. They did not form the word "Adonai" from any vowels from any other word, as stated in the book, other than by just adding the vowel point to form the plural of "adoni", giving "adoni" a superlative (plural intensive) form.
Nevertheless, as regarding the Holy Name, the usual claim is that the Masoretes used the vowel points of Adonai (or, from another word often transliterated as Elohim) in their forms of the Holy Name; the usual claim is that from this was formed the word that provides the basis for the English forms Yehowah, Jehovah, or Iehouah, etc. As best I have been able to determine, this idea that vowels point were taken from either Adonai or Elohim, however, does not come from the Jewish Masoretes, but rather from later Christian writers. The idea has been repeated over and over as fact, although, in reality, there does not appear to be any evidence that the Masoretes did actually do this. Indeed, the vowels of neither "Adonai" or "Elohim" actually fit the vowels that the we find in the Masoretic text of the Holy Name.
The book does not actually come to much of conclusion, at least not on the two pages presented. I don't have a copy of this book, so I am not sure how it represents the Holy Name elsewhere in the book. Is it saying that one should read the scriptures so as to make the Holy Name "the Lord" or "God"? Regardless, there is nothing presented that justifies changing God's eternal Holy Name to other words that do not mean the same thing, or to allegedly 'not pronouncing' the Holy Name.
God willing, this will eventually be moved to:
jesus-rlbible.com/?p=6558
