Does God have a name?

[JoJo]

I think if we speak to God in reverence, He wouldn't care what name we used. (Some people call Him Daddy) God Knows who He is...I think names are for our convenience.

 

[Nick]

I think if we speak to God in reverence, He wouldn't care what name we used. (Some people call Him Daddy) God Knows who He is...I think names are for our convenience.

Great point!

 

[JudaicChristian]

If I say call me by my name Michael and everyone calls me by another name, then how is it that you have shown me any respect? Exodus 3:15. God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'Yahwah, the Elohiym of your fathers—the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. Isaiah 42:8.
"I am Yahwah; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
You have been told, and you have no excuse. Yahwah the Holy Spirit is our Heavenly Father. Yahwah is His personal name, He himself has said so. The fact that His name has been removed from scripture is no excuse for you. Do not listen to those who twist the truth > Jude:4. Because you are unaware that certain men have sneaked in, who are of a ancient order to their condemnation, these ungodly men turn the grace of our God into immorality, and deny that the only God is Yahwah, or that our lord Yahshua is the Messiah.
5. I will remind you although you once knew this, how Yahwah, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that did not believe.
6. Those messengers did not keep their first estate, and they were removed from their place, and He has reserved for them everlasting chains of darkness for that great day of judgment.

 

[rEVOLVEr]

If I say call me by my name Michael and everyone calls me by another name, then how is it that you have shown me any respect? Exodus 3:15. God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'Yahwah, the Elohiym of your fathers—the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. Isaiah 42:8.
"I am Yahwah; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
You have been told, and you have no excuse. Yahwah the Holy Spirit is our Heavenly Father. Yahwah is His personal name, He himself has said so. The fact that His name has been removed from scripture is no excuse for you. Do not listen to those who twist the truth > Jude:4. Because you are unaware that certain men have sneaked in, who are of a ancient order to their condemnation, these ungodly men turn the grace of our God into immorality, and deny that the only God is Yahwah, or that our lord Yahshua is the Messiah.
5. I will remind you although you once knew this, how Yahwah, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that did not believe.
6. Those messengers did not keep their first estate, and they were removed from their place, and He has reserved for them everlasting chains of darkness for that great day of judgment.

Very interesting point.
I just checked Isiah 42:8 and the name is different in KJV and in NWT. It says "I am the Lord..." (KJV) or "I am Jehovah..." (NWT).
Which version was the name Yahwah quoted from?

 

[Free]

Very interesting point.
I just checked Isiah 42:8 and the name is different in KJV and in NWT. It says "I am the Lord..." (KJV) or "I am Jehovah..." (NWT).
Which version was the name Yahwah quoted from?

Not many use Yahwah. In fact, that is the first I have ever seen that spelling; it is usually Yahweh. Technically, God's name is YHWH, but the pronunciation was lost a long time ago. So any attempt to spell it Yahweh or Yahwah or Jehovah is moot since we don't even know how it should be pronounced. It is all rather arbitrary.

And if you want to know what is correct, you're best to stay away from the NWT. That is not accepted as a Christian translation.

 

[JoJo]

May just be my own interpretation of God's Word, but I believe what He is saying is:

- He is God, the only God, the great I AM (He is)
- He will be remembered from generation to generation (He has)
- He will not tolerate glory or praise to idols (He doesn't)

I may be wrong, but I don't think this is about God's literal name. I think it is about who He is: the only Lord, God, Messiah.

 

[rEVOLVEr]

May just be my own interpretation of God's Word, but I believe what He is saying is:

- He is God, the only God, the great I AM (He is)
- He will be remembered from generation to generation (He has)
- He will not tolerate glory or praise to idols (He doesn't)

I may be wrong, but I don't think this is about God's literal name. I think it is about who He is: the only Lord, God, Messiah.

Thank you for your interpretation but my question is actually about the literal name of God.
Also, the name Messiah would refer to Jesus, wouldn't it?

 

[Free]

Also, the name Messiah would refer to Jesus, wouldn't it?

"Messiah" is a title that is given to Jesus. "Christ" is the English translation of the Greek Christos, which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning "anointed one".

 

[rEVOLVEr]

Also, the name Messiah would refer to Jesus, wouldn't it?

"Messiah" is a title that is given to Jesus. "Christ" is the English translation of the Greek Christos, which is itself a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning "anointed one".

That's exactly what I thought. Thank you.

 

[JoJo]

May just be my own interpretation of God's Word, but I believe what He is saying is:

- He is God, the only God, the great I AM (He is)
- He will be remembered from generation to generation (He has)
- He will not tolerate glory or praise to idols (He doesn't)

I may be wrong, but I don't think this is about God's literal name. I think it is about who He is: the only Lord, God, Messiah.

Thank you for your interpretation but my question is actually about the literal name of God.
Also, the name Messiah would refer to Jesus, wouldn't it?

Actually I was referring to mdo757's post. I suppose I should have indicated that.

If I say call me by my name Michael and everyone calls me by another name, then how is it that you have shown me any respect? Exodus 3:15. God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'Yahwah, the Elohiym of your fathers—the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. Isaiah 42:8.
"I am Yahwah; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
You have been told, and you have no excuse. Yahwah the Holy Spirit is our Heavenly Father. Yahwah is His personal name, He himself has said so. The fact that His name has been removed from scripture is no excuse for you. Do not listen to those who twist the truth > Jude:4. Because you are unaware that certain men have sneaked in, who are of a ancient order to their condemnation, these ungodly men turn the grace of our God into immorality, and deny that the only God is Yahwah, or that our lord Yahshua is the Messiah.
5. I will remind you although you once knew this, how Yahwah, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that did not believe.
6. Those messengers did not keep their first estate, and they were removed from their place, and He has reserved for them everlasting chains of darkness for that great day of judgment.

 

[JudaicChristian]

Very interesting point.
I just checked Isiah 42:8 and the name is different in KJV and in NWT. It says "I am the Lord..." (KJV) or "I am Jehovah..." (NWT).
Which version was the name Yahwah quoted from?

Not many use Yahwah. In fact, that is the first I have ever seen that spelling; it is usually Yahweh. Technically, God's name is YHWH, but the pronunciation was lost a long time ago. So any attempt to spell it Yahweh or Yahwah or Jehovah is moot since we don't even know how it should be pronounced. It is all rather arbitrary.

And if you want to know what is correct, you're best to stay away from the NWT. That is not accepted as a Christian translation.

The letter "E" into the Hebrew as a vowel is a late introduction. The word "weh" in Hebrew means nothing; however, the word "wah," the wa means holy or oath, and the entire word means "Beginning."

 

[JudaicChristian]

The hidden meaning to God's name is "Life Began," or "Life's Beginning."

 

[JohnEboy1983]

There is no such thing as a "J" in Hebrew.

You talking about Jehovah? I just read my King James version bible and if it says Jehovah-Jireh in there, what is the problem calling God Jehovah? It may not be in the Hebrew bible but the KJV bible I read has it there and thats what I am going to take it for. After all Abraham named the place that, meaning God will provide.

 

[Free]

The letter "E" into the Hebrew as a vowel is a late introduction. The word "weh" in Hebrew means nothing; however, the word "wah," the wa means holy or oath, and the entire word means "Beginning."

You're missing the point. Whether one uses Yahwah or Yahweh or Jehovah doesn't matter since they are transliterated words of the original YHVH (usually given as YHWH), an unpronounceable name.

http://www.abu.nb.ca/ecm/topics/theme2.htm

http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/YHWH.html

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YHVH/yhvh.html

 

[Free]

There is no such thing as a "J" in Hebrew.

You talking about Jehovah? I just read my King James version bible and if it says Jehovah-Jireh in there, what is the problem calling God Jehovah? It may not be in the Hebrew bible but the KJV bible I read has it there and thats what I am going to take it for. After all Abraham named the place that, meaning God will provide.

And you are essentially correct. It is a name, even if it isn't technically what His name is. But since we cannot know that name, what harm is there in transliterating it to be Jehovah or Yahweh? None, since it allows us to give voice to the God in whom we believe. It may not be correct but I'm sure God will get over it.

 

[rEVOLVEr]

On the contrary to mdo757's statement, the name Jehovah is not blasphemy at all. In fact, that's the real name of God.

It's a name. You're getting too hung up on this. Many translations do not even use Jehovah.

Which translation would be the most reliable?

 

[kenan]

Lord, this sure is a confusing thread:

My two cents: most of the names used for our God are generally acceptable: God, Yahweh, Jehovah, in a sense it's basically all good. The fact of the matter is that we don't know the name of God because the Tetragrammaton does not have any vowel points - a feature unique in the Hebrew alphabet is that the words only spell consonants, and little dots are used above and below letters to give us the correct pronunciation. We have long since lost these little dots in the Tetragrammaton because the Jews believed that the name of God was so sacred and holy that to speak his name would be blasphemy, so they substituted instead the words "Adonai" or "Ha-shem", with Adonai, meaning My Lord, being a little more formal than Ha-shem, which means The Name.

As for which translation to use, again, they're mostly all good. The KJV is typically presented as the most reliable translation, but all translations will inevitably have little errors scattered through out because of the nature of translation, i.e. they are two different languages, and English is a language which isn't as subtle as Hebrew or Greek - a quick example is the Greek word "logos", which although usually translated as "the word", doesn't have an exact English equivalent. I personally use the KJV, and I have copies of the NIV lying around (my Grandfather's bible was an NIV). I believe that, which ever translation you are using, the complete meaning cannot be obtained without appealing to God, so I believe that the intended meaning will be received by all believers who genuinely try to find meaning in God's word with his help no matter what translation they use, be it literal or dynamic.

 

[rEVOLVEr]

Lord, this sure is a confusing thread:

My two cents: most of the names used for our God are generally acceptable: God, Yahweh, Jehovah, in a sense it's basically all good. The fact of the matter is that we don't know the name of God because the Tetragrammaton does not have any vowel points - a feature unique in the Hebrew alphabet is that the words only spell consonants, and little dots are used above and below letters to give us the correct pronunciation. We have long since lost these little dots in the Tetragrammaton because the Jews believed that the name of God was so sacred and holy that to speak his name would be blasphemy, so they substituted instead the words "Adonai" or "Ha-shem", with Adonai, meaning My Lord, being a little more formal than Ha-shem, which means The Name.

As for which translation to use, again, they're mostly all good. The KJV is typically presented as the most reliable translation, but all translations will inevitably have little errors scattered through out because of the nature of translation, i.e. they are two different languages, and English is a language which isn't as subtle as Hebrew or Greek - a quick example is the Greek word "logos", which although usually translated as "the word", doesn't have an exact English equivalent. I personally use the KJV, and I have copies of the NIV lying around (my Grandfather's bible was an NIV). I believe that, which ever translation you are using, the complete meaning cannot be obtained without appealing to God, so I believe that the intended meaning will be received by all believers who genuinely try to find meaning in God's word with his help no matter what translation they use, be it literal or dynamic.

I agree. This is a confusing thread. I am even more confused than before I started.
Some say, it's important to know the name of God, some say, it isn't.
Some come with different names which others don't agree with but both sides can quote verses to back up their claim. :crazy

 

[Free]

The point is that God has several names throughout Scripture and it really isn't something to get so hung up over. I don't see what is so confusing about that.

 

[JudaicChristian]

The letter "E" into the Hebrew as a vowel is a late introduction. The word "weh" in Hebrew means nothing; however, the word "wah," the wa means holy or oath, and the entire word means "Beginning."

You're missing the point. Whether one uses Yahwah or Yahweh or Jehovah doesn't matter since they are transliterated words of the original YHVH (usually given as YHWH), an unpronounceable name.

http://www.abu.nb.ca/ecm/topics/theme2.htm

http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/YHWH.html

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/YHVH/yhvh.html

If a persons name should be misspelled or pronounced, then it is not that persons name. Jehovah is a result of a scribal error. Yahweh was produced as a result of ignoring the fact the the letter e was not used as a vowel. The letters J and v are modern day errors for God's name. Saying that His name is not speakable is also not correct. I don't have the history handy, but that comes from a translation error.