Is God's Name "Jehovah"?

by Charlie Campbell Director of The Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry

Jehovah's Witnesses insist that God has a name and "Jehovah" is it. So persuaded are they about this, they believe that they are the only ones who have earned God's favor, because they are the only ones who use this name. Jewish and Christian scholars, who are absolutely familiar with the Hebrew language and Hebrew spelling of God's name (YHWH), clearly state that this word (YHWH) was and is to be pronounced Yahweh. Here is what scholars say about the name or pronunciation Jehovah: The Jewish Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" -- a mispronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH the name of God. This pronunciation is grammatically impossible. The form 'Jehovah' is a philological impossibility." The New Jewish Encyclopedia: "It is clear that the word Jehovah is an artificial composite." Encyclopedia Judaica: "the true pronunciation of the tetragrammaton YHWH was never lost. The name was pronounced Yahweh. It was regularly pronounced this way at least until 586 B.C., as is clear from the Lachish Letters written shortly before this date." The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: "JEHOVAH is an erroneous pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton a four lettered name of God, made up of the Hebrew letters Yod He Vav He. The word "JEHOVAH" therefore is a misreading for which there is no warrant and which makes no sense in Hebrew" Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: "Jehovah" -- "False reading of the Hebrew YAHWEH." Encyclopedia Americana: "Jehovah" -- "erroneous form of the name of the God of Israel." A Dictionary of the Bible by William Smith: "Whatever, therefore, be the true pronunciation of the word, there can be little doubt that it is not Jehovah." Encyclopedia Britannica: ""The pronunciation 'Jehovah' is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels of ADHONAY....The Masoretes who from the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of Adonai or Elohim. Thus the artificial name Jehovah came into being." Webster's Third New International Dictionary: "Jehovah" -- "Intended as a transliteration of Hebrew YAHWEH, the vowel points of Hebrew ADHONAY (my lord) being erroneously substituted for those of YAHWEH; from the fact that in some Hebrew manuscripts the vowel points of ADHONAY (used as a euphemism for YAHWEH) were written under the consonants YHWH of YAHWEH to indicate that ADHONAY was to be substituted in oral reading for YAHWEH. Jehovah is a Christian transliteration of the tetragrammaton long assumed by many Christians to be the authentic reproduction of the Hebrew sacred name for God but now recognized to be a late hybrid form never used by the Jews." New Catholic Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" -- "false form of the divine name YAHWEH. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia: "Jehovah" -- "is an erroneous form of the divine name of the covenant God Israel."

The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible: "Jehovah" --"is an artificial form." Encyclopedia International: "Jehovah" --"the vowels of one word with the consonants of the other were misread as 'Jehovah.' Merits Students Encyclopedia: --"is an inaccurate reconstruction of the name of God in the Old Testament." Encyclopedia Judiacia: "YHWH" -- "When Christian scholars of Europe first began to study Hebrew, they did not understand what this really meant, and they introduced the hybrid name 'Jehovah'...THE TRUE PRONUNCIATION OF THE NAME YHWH WAS NEVER LOST. Several early Greek writers of the Christian church testify that the name was pronounced 'YAHWEH.' This is confirmed, at least for the vowel of the first syllable of the name, by the shorter form Yah, which is sometimes used in poetry (e.g. Exodus 15:2)... The personal name of God of Israel is written in the Hebrew Bible with the four consonants YHWH and is referred to as the 'Tetragrammaton.' At least until the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. this name was regularly pronounced with its proper vowels, as is clear from the Lachish Letters, written shortly before that date." Nelson's Bible Dictionary: "Jehovah" -- "The divine name Yahweh is usually translated Lord in English versions of the Bible, because it became a practice in late Old Testament Judaism not to pronounce the sacred name YHWH, but to say instead "my Lord" (Adonai) - a practice still used today in the synagogue. When the vowels of Adonai were attached to the consonants YHWH in the medieval period, the word Jehovah resulted. Today, many Christians use the word Yahweh, the more original pronunciation, not hesitating to name the divine name since Jesus taught believers to speak in a familiar way to God." Ron Rhodes (Christian apologist and author ): "If the Jehovah's Witnesses are correct that God must always be called by the name Jehovah, then Jesus was way out of line, for He never used this name when referring to the Father." [The Ten Most Important Things You Can Say to a Jehovah's Witness, p. 36] Ron goes on to explain tha even though the Bible that the Watchtower Society publishes, the New World Translation, sometimes puts the word "Jehovah" in Jesus' mouth in the New Testament, the reality is that the word Jehovah does not occur a single time in any legitimate manuscript copy of the New Testament.