The Name Jehovah

The truth is, nobody knows for sure how the name of God was originally pronounced. The language used in writing the OT was Hebrew, and when the Hebrew language was written down, the writers wrote only consonants, not vowels. therefore, when the inspired writers wrote God’s name, they obviously did the same thing and wrote only the consonants. While ancient Hebrew was an everyday spoken language, this presented no problem. The pronunciation of the Name was familiar to the Israelites and when they saw it in writing they supplied the vowels. As time went by, the ancient Hebrew language itself ceased to be spoken in everyday conversation, and in this way the original Hebrew pronunciation of God’s name was eventually forgotten.

In order to make sure that the pronunciation of the Hebrew language would not be completely lost, Jewish scholars of the second half of the first millennium C.E. invented a system of points to represent vowels. These vowel points were placed around the consonants in the Hebrew Bible. Therefore, for the first time, both the vowels and consonants were written down, and the pronunciation as it was at that time was preserved. When it came to God’s name, we really have no way of knowing for sure if they used at least some of the proper vowel points, or if they used the vowel points from a completely different word, such as Adonai. However, the vowel points supply the same form that we get from theophoric names, which are YeHoWaH or Iehouah, and, eventually, Jehovah. Jehovah became the accepted pronunciation of the divine name in English for many years. This form retains the original consonants and the vowel points (right or wrong) of God’s name from the Hebrew manuscripts.

Many people prefer the pronunciation Jehovah because it has a familiarity that other names do not have. But what about all the arguments that have been put forth to abandon the use of Jehovah? Is it reasonable to abandon the use of the name Jehovah because it might not be the true pronunciation? No, it is not reasonable at all. Take for example the name Jesus, do we know how Jesus’ name was pronounced in Hebrew? The truth is, no one knows for certain, it may have been something like Yeshua or Yehoshua. In the Greek language, the inspired writers did not try to preserve that original Hebrew pronunciation. Rather, they rendered the name in Greek, Iesous. Interestingly, even though we have a pretty good idea of how Jesus name was pronounced in both Hebrew and Greek, we do not use either of these original pronunciations.

What makes this comparison even more relevant, is the fact that many Christians believe Jesus is God, equal in every way to YHWH. This would naturally imply that the names YHWH and Jesus are equal as well. If this is so, then all the arguments that have been put forth in opposition to the form Jehovah, must also apply to the name Jesus. For example, there is no “J” in the Hebrew language, Jesus is not the true Hebrew or Greek pronunciation, and finally, it was the same Jews who refused to pronounce God’s name, that rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah. Why do Christians follow these Jews in their opinion concerning God’s name, but do not follow these same Jews in their opinion of Jesus?

Therefore, should we stop using the name Jesus because most of us, do not really know its original pronunciation? Would we be showing respect to Jesus if we removed all mention of his name from the Bible and replaced it with a title like “Lord,” or “Christ”? No, we relate to Jesus when we use his name the way it is pronounced in our own language. Similar observations could be made regarding all the names we read in the Bible. We pronounce them in our own language and do not try to reproduce the original pronunciation. We say Jeremiah, not Yirmeyahu. We say Isaiah, not Yeshayahu. Even biblical scholars who speak Hebrew use these modern pronunciations, not the ancient. And the same is true with the name Jehovah. 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. It identifies the Creator, the living God, the Most High.