Does God have a name?

[epistemaniac]

God has a a number of names, often they are meant to emphasize a particular attribute of God, such as "Father" or "Provider" or "our peace" or Wonderful Counselor", or "Everlasting Father"... Given that Jesus is God, as well as the Holy Spirit, calling God by those names seems appropriate as well, thus "Blessed Trinity" works too... In any case, I am pretty sure that God knows English as well as Hebrew and Greek ;) and since God knows our minds, he knows when we are referring to Him in our thoughts. Not that just any name will do of course, but the Bible uses many names and phrases to refer to Him and any of these would be permissible.

blessings,
ken

 

[Free]

It really doesn't matter whether one uses Yahweh, Jehovah, or something else.

What is the real point of this discussion rEVOLVEr?

 

[rEVOLVEr]

It really doesn't matter whether one uses Yahweh, Jehovah, or something else.

What is the real point of this discussion rEVOLVEr?

Well, I think it does matter. I've been interested about this question for quite a while and people on this forum should know the answer.
For example. Jehovah's Witnesses use the name Jehovah God and they can back up their claim for that name with the Bible. I don't know the exact scripture but I can get it from a friend.
However, I just learned from mdo757 that the name Jehovah is blasphemy to God. That's why I'm a bit confused.
Since this is a Christian forum, there should be a number of Jehovah's Witnesses here and probably they can chime in with an answer too.

 

[Free]

However, I just learned from mdo757 that the name Jehovah is blasphemy to God. That's why I'm a bit confused.

That confuses me too. I do not see how that is blasphemy.

Since this is a Christian forum, there should be a number of Jehovah's Witnesses here and probably they can chime in with an answer too.

Actually, since this is a Christian forum, there are no JWs here. The odd one comes in once in a while though.

 

[Nick]

I admit to not reading much of this thread, but I will put my in.

I would just think that God is God. How can us humans possibly grasp the very nature of God? How can us mere humans, mortals, sinners possibly describe God? It's impossible.

God did say "I am what I am" or something like that. I have also heard God described or named as YAHWEH. I'm OK with going to that name.

Also, God is LOVE! I recommend everyone here read a book that I am currently reading. It is by Don A Carson, and is titled "The difficult doctrine of the love of God". Excellent read.

 

[rEVOLVEr]

However, I just learned from mdo757 that the name Jehovah is blasphemy to God. That's why I'm a bit confused.

That confuses me too. I do not see how that is blasphemy.

Since this is a Christian forum, there should be a number of Jehovah's Witnesses here and probably they can chime in with an answer too.

Actually, since this is a Christian forum, there are no JWs here. The odd one comes in once in a while though.

Wow. I thought, JWs are also frequent here. I know it's going to be an off topic question but can anybody tell me why they don't come here? They are also Christians. Do they feel differently?
Maybe I should check out the "Other religions" forum to learn about JWs.
Sorry for the side track but this is an interesting point to me.

 

[Nick]

However, I just learned from mdo757 that the name Jehovah is blasphemy to God. That's why I'm a bit confused.

That confuses me too. I do not see how that is blasphemy.

Since this is a Christian forum, there should be a number of Jehovah's Witnesses here and probably they can chime in with an answer too.

Actually, since this is a Christian forum, there are no JWs here. The odd one comes in once in a while though.

Wow. I thought, JWs are also frequent here. I know it's going to be an off topic question but can anybody tell me why they don't come here? They are also Christians. Do they feel differently?
Maybe I should check out the "Other religions" forum to learn about JWs.
Sorry for the side track but this is an interesting point to me.

This is a Christian forum. JW's are not Christians.We have had a few here in the past, but I can't think of any specific ones The Other Religions section could be a good place to check if there are any here at the present time.

 

[JudaicChristian]

It really doesn't matter whether one uses Yahweh, Jehovah, or something else.

What is the real point of this discussion rEVOLVEr?

Well, I think it does matter. I've been interested about this question for quite a while and people on this forum should know the answer.
For example. Jehovah's Witnesses use the name Jehovah God and they can back up their claim for that name with the Bible. I don't know the exact scripture but I can get it from a friend.
However, I just learned from mdo757 that the name Jehovah is blasphemy to God. That's why I'm a bit confused.
Since this is a Christian forum, there should be a number of Jehovah's Witnesses here and probably they can chime in with an answer too.

Jah is a corruption of Yah in Hebrew. And Hovah is a Hebrew word for: The Hovah part of Je-hovah means RUIN and MISCHIEF in Hebrew, according to Strong's Concordance #1943. Hovah is another form form #1942; RUIN and MISCHIEF. SEE: STRONG'S CONCORDANCE.

 

[JudaicChristian]

Yahwah is God’s personal name based upon the ancient Semitic language. Take note that the letter ? in Biblical Hebrew was known as waw and pronounced as w, as in Yhwh, “Yahwah.†In Modern Hebrew ? is known as vav and pronounced as v. The derivation of Yahwah is from the ancient Semitic words HaYah and HaWah. HaYah means “The Life or The Living.†HaWah means “The Beginning or The happening.†This is a partial list of words associated HaWah: Be, is, was, became, happened and appeared.


This scripture here is an example of how it would read if translated into English.

Yahwah reveals His name to Moses
Exodus 3:13-15. 13 And Moses said to Elohiym, “Suppose I go to the siblings of the Israelites and say to them, 'The Elohiym of your forefathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?†(Elohiym means, “God of The Living.†It can also be translated as “god-s of the living†or “god-s of life,†for those who have life immortal.) 14 And Elohiym said to Moses, "The Living that Lives." This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "The Living has sent me to you." (HaYah) in the ancient Semitic language means: The Living, or The Life.) 15 And Elohiym also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, Yahwah, the Elohiym of your forefathers; the Elohiym of Abraham, the Elohiym of Isaac and the Elohiym of Jacob has sent me to you.' That’s my name forever, the name by which I’m to be remembered, from generation to generation.â€


Deuteronomy 6:4. 4 Hear, O Israel: Yahwah our Elohiym, Yahwah is only.

Psalm 66:4. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Selah. (Selah means to pause and consider.)


Psalms 83:16-18. 16 Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O Yahwah. 17 May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. 18 Let them know that you, whose name is Yahwah, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.


Isaiah 63:16. For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us or Israel acknowledge us; you, Yahwah, are our Father; our Redeemer from old is your name.


Isaiah 52:5-6. 5 And now what do I have here declares Yahwah? For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock, declares Yahwah. And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I.


Isaiah 42:8. I’m Yahwah; that’s my name! I will not give my glory to another…


Jeremiah 15:16. When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, Yahwah, Elohiym of Host.


Joel 2:26-32. 26 You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of Yahwah your Elohiym, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. 27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am Yahwah your Elohiym, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed. 28 "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahwah. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of Yahwah will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as Yahwah has said, among the survivors whom Yahwah calls.


A brief history lesson

After 300 B.C. Adonai became more frequently used than Yahwah. And the Books of Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon do not use the name Yahwah. The title “Lord†(Adonai) is usually a substitute for the divine name: Yahwah.
Origen reported that when Jews read the name Yahwah, they would pronounce it Adonai, while non Jews would pronounce it Kurios.
Later on, Christian scribes replaced the Hebrew characters in the Greek Bible with Kurios. Scribes translating the Hebrew Bible showed that Yahwah should not be pronounced, but read as Adonai by substituting the Hebrew vowels of Adonai for those of Yahwah when writing the divine name. Later on, readers who did not know this history did not pronounce Yahwah; but neither did they pronounce Adonai, as the scribes intended. As a result the Middle Ages readers of the Hebrew Bible began pronouncing precisely what was written, and the mixture of consonants from Yahwah and vowels from Adonai, producing the pronunciation of Jehovah, a word that never existed for speakers of ancient Hebrew.


The word "Jehovah" comes from the fact that ancient Jewish texts used to put the vowels of the Name "Adonai" (the usual substitute for YHWH) with the consonants of YHWH to remind people not to pronounce YHWH as written. A sixteenth century German Christian scribe, while transliterating the Bible into Latin for the Pope, wrote the Name out as it appeared in his texts, with the consonants of YHWH and the vowels of Adonai, and came up with the word JeHoVah. In Hebrew the word Jahovah can be interpretated as "God's destructive evil desires."


The number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, their order, their names, and their phonetic values are virtually identical to those of the Aramaic alphabet, as both Hebrews and Arameans borrowed the Phoenician alphabet for their uses during the end of the 2nd millennium BC. The modern script used for writing Hebrew (usually called the Jewish script by scholars, and also traditionally known as the square script, block script, or Assyrian script; not to be confused with the Eastern variant of the Syriac alphabet) evolved during the 3rd century BC from the Aramaic script, which was used by Jews for writing Hebrew since the 6th century BC. Prior to that, Hebrew was written using the old Hebrew script, which evolved from the 10th century BC Phoenician script.


The original pictograph used in the Early Semitic script is a Y shape, a picture of a tent peg. The tent pegs were made of wood and may have been Y-shaped to prevent the rope from slipping off.


The Modern Hebrew name for this letter is “vavâ€, a word meaning “peg†or “hookâ€. This letter is used in Modern Hebrew as a consonant with a “v†sound and as a vowel. If the Modern Hebrew letter appears as (??), it is the vowel sound “ow†and if it appears as (??), it is the vowel sound “uwâ€. When used as a vowel the ancient pronunciation was also an “ow†or “uwâ€. In each consonant, vowel letters of the Ancient Hebrew language the pronunciation of the consonant is closely related to the pronunciation of the vowel such as the letter “hey†is “h†and “eh,†and the pronunciation of the letter “yud†is “y†and “iyâ€. For this reason, it is probable that the original pronunciation of the letter Y was with a “wâ€. In Modern and Ancient Arabic language, this letter is also pronounced with a “wâ€. Therefore, the original name of this letter would have been “waw†instead of “vavâ€.


In regards to the consonant “W†in the name YHWH


W?w serves several functions in the Arabic language. Perhaps foremost among them is that it is the primary conjunction in Arabic, equivalent to "and"; it is usually prefixed to other conjunctions, such as ???? wa-lakin, meaning "but". Another function is the "oath", by preceding a noun of great significantly valued by the speaker. It is often literally translatable to "By..." or "I swear to...", and is often used in the Qur'an in this way, and also in the generally fixed construction ????? wallah ("By Allah!" or "I swear to God!").


An oath (from Anglo-Saxon ?ð, also called plight) is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually a god, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact.


Chapter 69 of Enoch

This requested Michael, to show him the hidden name that he might enunciate it in the oath, so that those might quake before that name and oath who revealed all that was in secret to the children of men. And this is the power of this oath, for it is powerful and strong, and he placed this oath (Akae) in the hand of Michael. (Akae) is not a word, it is most likely an authors note, it could mean, “Also Known As Elohiym†or €œAlso Known As Eagle.†Michael’s seal could be the double winged eagle found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The four winged Cherubim in Ezekiel may also have a relationship.

 

[JudaicChristian]

Important link to Hebrew language: http://www.adath-shalom.ca/history_of_hebrew2a.htm#orth

 

[jasoncran]

It really doesn't matter whether one uses Yahweh, Jehovah, or something else.

What is the real point of this discussion rEVOLVEr?

Well, I think it does matter. I've been interested about this question for quite a while and people on this forum should know the answer.
For example. Jehovah's Witnesses use the name Jehovah God and they can back up their claim for that name with the Bible. I don't know the exact scripture but I can get it from a friend.
However, I just learned from mdo757 that the name Jehovah is blasphemy to God. That's why I'm a bit confused.
Since this is a Christian forum, there should be a number of Jehovah's Witnesses here and probably they can chime in with an answer too.

thanks for asking i used to be one(JW) and no it isnt, while i dont think that jehovah is a blasphemous, i think that it was attempt to seek the lost pronunaciation of YHWH. the jw's get that name from the psalms 83:18 Praise Yah, ye all my people, if i recall my correclty, the bible they used has been modified so that they can say hey its in the bible. But if you read their own bible it denies what they are saying.

 

[JudaicChristian]

The early bird gets worms. :biglaugh Lol

 

[rEVOLVEr]

thanks for asking i used to be one(JW) and no it isnt, while i dont think that jehovah is a blasphemous, i think that it was attempt to seek the lost pronunaciation of YHWH. the jw's get that name from the psalms 83:18 Praise Yah, ye all my people, if i recall my correclty, the bible they used has been modified so that they can say hey its in the bible. But if you read their own bible it denies what they are saying.

You're right.

KJV Psalms 83:18
"That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth."

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

 

[Free]

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.

 

[epistemaniac]

I agree free... Jehovah is certainly not inherently blasphemous, or, if it is, I would really like to know exactly why, based on the Scripture itself and not just an opinion. On the other hand, God is known by many names, so contrary to the JW's it is not THE name of God. I don't mean by this that God is known by "Allah" or "Shiva" or whatever... I am not saying that God is known by many names in a Pluralistic sense, but rather that according to the Scriptures themselves, God is called many names. Yahweh, Jehovah, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior, etc etc. Obviously, if we are all referring to the English language here any way, and God's names and attributes were originally revealed in Hebrew and Greek, so what...? if we are going to get really picky here do have to learn how to exactly pronounce and refer to God in only Hebrew or Greek? Of course not. So we should not get too hung up about this imho, after all, God knows English pretty well so He understands the Christian (or soon to be Christian) if they are crying our to Him.

blessings,
ken

 

[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.

OK, so which translation should count as the most reliable?

 

[JudaicChristian]

You're right.

KJV Psalms 83:18
"That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth."

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

The introduction of the letter "J" into the English language is about 500 yrs ago. In about 800AD The Hebrew Waw was changed to Vav.
Jah is a corruption of Yah in Hebrew. And Hovah is a Hebrew word for: The Hovah part of Je-hovah means RUIN and MISCHIEF in Hebrew, according to Strong's Concordance #1943. Hovah is another form form #1942; RUIN and MISCHIEF. SEE: STRONG'S CONCORDANCE.

 

[JudaicChristian]

Matthew 4:10
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "

Luke 4:8
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.' "

John 5:41
"I do not accept praise from men,

Hebrews 1:6
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."

N.I.V. Foot note:
Deuteronomy 32:43. Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Septuagint) people, / and let all the angels worship him

Holman Bible foot note:
Deuteronomy 32:43 LXX reads: Rejoice, you heavens, along with Him, and let all the sons of God worship Him; rejoice, you nations, with His people, and let all the angels of God strengthen themselves in Him; DSS reads: Rejoice, you heavens, along with Him, and let all the angels worship Him;...

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Deuteronomy 32:39. See now that I alone am He; there is no God but Me.
It seems that someone changed the words of Paul in Hebrews 1:6.

 

[JudaicChristian]

Hebrews 1:6
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,Rejoice you nations, with His people, and let all the messengers of God strengthen themselves in him.

 

[jasoncran]

even though i dont to use the name jehovah, i dont get hung on it when others do use it.