https://www.ucg.org/united-news/is-a-christian-required-to-use-the-sacred-na
There are many names and titles of God in the pages of the Bible.
Thanks for
admitting right at the onset of your article, that there is a definitive
difference in a, “name” and a, “title”. Hence your opening statement of many
names and many titles.
Some people believe that humans must use only one name when addressing
God—the Hebrew word YHWH. This is known as the Tetragrammaton,
Greek for "the four letters" or "the four characters."
However, there are many other names and titles of God in the pages of the
Bible.
How can there be
many titles of another title that is God? It would be rather right to say that
there are many titles for the Creator.
Some people still insist that this name is unique.
Yet it can be clearly demonstrated that other names for God are also identified
as unique, and identified by God as such, in Scripture.
Definition of
Unique: being the only one of its
kind; unlike anything else.
Please show me any title used for representing the Hebrew
Covenant Elohim (God) more than 5000 times in the Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek
scriptures? Only one only one distinctive name is represented by the Hebrew
letters Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh (YHVH) more than 5500 times in the Bible.
So those some people you are referring to, are 100% accurate
in considering YHVH as unique.
In Matthew 1 we find the story of Joseph and Mary. An angel appears to
Joseph to tell him that he need not fear to take Mary as his wife, for she has
become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Then in Matthew 1:21 the angel
says, "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins."
Jesus is not the
name of our Messiah. First you
don’t want to use the unique name of YHVH, for reasons considered valid by you.
With one erring judgement, you move on to the second more serious error of
calling our Saviour’s name as Jesus. This is 100% wrong and false. The
etymology of the name Jesus does not mean - for He will save His people from
their sins. Jesus has no meaning to its name. The name Yahshua means Yah Saves
or Salvation is with Yahweh or Yahweh saves. Matthew 1:21 – “And she shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name YAHSHUA: for he shall save his people from their
sins”.
God could have easily allowed Joseph to name Jesus with whatever name
struck Joseph and Mary as desirable. That’s exactly
what you are doing and have done. Almighty Elohim named his son Yahshua a
distinctive Hebrew name which has the name of Yah attached to the Saviour’s
name
Yet we see God deliberately intervened and chose the name to be given to
His Son. So we see the name of God in the flesh—Jesus the Christ—was
significant and warranted direct intervention by God. Then why do you
do this unwarranted action of reinventing a duplicate and meaningless name as
Jesus? Before the 14th
Century when the alphabet “J” never existed people like you were calling our
saviour “Ieous”. Far more further from the truthful name of Yahshua and more
closer sounding to the pagan God named Zeus. Zeus, Ieous, Jesus!!!!!
In Acts 4:12 the apostle Peter tells us just how unique and
special this name Jesus Christ truly is: "Nor is there salvation in any
other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must
be saved." Certainly, this name is more important and significant than any
other.
Since you are
first comfortable in using any of the many titles instead of the Creator’s
unique name, then
furthermore it becomes easier for you to use whatever name you wish, using
language as an excuse. Does your name on your passport Sir Ken Graham change
when you travel to an Islamic country or Buddhist country or Hindu country or
any country whatsoever? NO. Your name in any of the hundreds of countries
speaking over thousands of languages, your name on your passport still remains
the same. KEN GRAHAM.
Then in your
words I repeat, verbatim, “Certainly, this name is more important and
significant than any other”. Then what gives you the authority to change
the name that the Creator gave to his Son our Saviour when he was born on
earth. Elohim’s word was not inspired in Latin, Greek or English. It was
inspired and written in Hebrew and Aramaic. Our Saviour Yahshua was a Jew. How
would you feel if your name was changed in every language and in every country
you visited? And every name was disastrously different from Ken. How about calling
you Ba Ba Black Sheep instead of Ken?
But God makes it clear that He can be called by many names in the
Scriptures. After all, it is God who first confounded the languages at Babel
in Genesis 11:9. If He had not wished for the correct pronunciation and
usage of the name YHWH to be lost in history, He could have
seen to it that the word remained the same in all the languages of the peoples
leaving Babel. Yet the all-powerful God did not choose to do so.
Wow. Ken, you are
using the BLAME GAME ARGUMENT that Adam and Eve used in the Garden of Eden for
eating the forbidden fruit. So you are in effect blaming Elohim for causing the
pronunciation of his one sacred name to be lost. You don’t feel that humans
like you in the present and many more in the past are to be blamed for this
confusion?
Yes, names are important. The Bible places great significance on names.
And we find God changing the names of individuals whom He chose. Abram's name
was changed in Hebrew to Abraham, which meant "a father of many
nations." Jacob's name, which meant "supplanter," was changed to
Israel, meaning "prevailer with God." But both were changed within their
native tongue, not into another language.
Yes. But you have
changed the Jewish and Hebrew name that was directly given by the Creator via
the heavenly angel from Yahshua to Jesus. Yahshua is a direct transliteration
of the original Hebrew name of Jesus (Hebrew: יהושע), considered by Messianic Christians and
Messianic Jews to be the Messiah. The name means Yahweh (Yah) is salvation
(Shua).
The Son, Jesus Christ, came in His Father's name (John 5:43). What is
that name? Unless you, too, bear the name of your Heavenly Father, you are not
His son and heir. Jesus refers to Him as "My Father" in the Greek
language throughout the New Testament. And that Greek word is pater or
Father.
In your country
and culture Sir Ken do your children call out directly to you in your first
name? Do they
lovingly and respectfully not call out to you as Father, Papa, Daddy etc.? Even
in my country, India, it is considered extremely disrespectful to call out your
Father’s name when speaking directly to him. That does not mean, that I do not
know my earthly fathers name who gave me birth. That does not mean that I do
not use my father’s name when speaking about him to others. In the same way,
Yahshua (Jesus for you) referred to YHVH, lovingly as Father or Abba.
Think about
this: Not many of us
go around calling our parents by their first name. But out of respect for our
parent(s) when addressing them, we say terms of endearment such as: “daddy”,
“dad”, “father”, and “yes sir” when referring to our father. And when it came
to our mother, we use terms like: “mommy”, “mom” “mama”, “mother”, “madear” and
“yes mam”. We know our parents name and if need be, we are able to give others
their name in an emergency if they can't speak for themselves.
Yahshua
ABSOLUTELY knew his Heavenly Father’s name and used it to. Yahshua called his
heavenly Father, by whatever pronunciation that was used for the Tetragrammaton
of YHVH. Yahshua knew what his Father's name was and he made that name known to
his followers and others (JOHN 17:26,
PSALMS 83:18). It stands to reason that if Yahshua made his heavenly
Father's name known to others he would have to know and be familiar with the
pronunciation of that name and what his heavenly Father's name stood for.
Just as the Old Testament books were almost all written in Hebrew, the
New Testament books were preserved in Greek. God inspired the Greek version to
be preserved and canonized for us today.
Sir Ken, there
is sufficient evidence that the original autographs were written in Hebrew and
Aramaic only. The texts were
mainly written in Biblical Hebrew, with some portions (notably in Daniel and
Ezra) in Biblical Aramaic. Biblical Hebrew, sometimes called Classical Hebrew,
is an archaic form of the Hebrew language. The very first translation of the
Hebrew Bible was into Greek language which we call the Septuagint or LXX as
there were 70 Translators involved in this project.
FALSE STATEMENT
OF YOURS: “God inspired
the Greek version to be preserved and canonized for us today”.
We find much evidence today that the most common language of the people
of the Roman Empire of Jesus and Paul's day was Greek. Greek was the language
of commerce and common to almost everyone. In John 1:41, we find that the
Greek-speaking audience was not generally familiar with the meaning of the
Hebrew word Meshiach, which means "the anointed." Messias is
the Greek spelling of the Hebrew word Meshiach. Most Greeks were
not familiar with that word, so John translates it into the Greek word Christos here,
which means "the anointed one."
Yes. Christ comes from Christos in
Greek language meaning Saviour. Messias comes from Meshiach which is totally
similar to Messiah in English. But
Yahshua (Jesus) did not speak in Greek language with the common people of the
land that he walked on earth. Even his last words before dying are in
Aramaic, “Eli, Eli lama Sabachtani” – My Elohim, My Elohim, why have you
forsaken me? Or My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Names for God Other Than YHWH
Both Testaments of the Bible contain many names for God. Some people use
the argument that the Creator's only true name is the tetragrammaton YHWH in
the Hebrew, and that it is the only name we must use in referring to Him. This
argument focuses on the English word "LORD" used in the Old Testament
to translate YHWH.
The title of the LORD is derived from old English, being one who had
aristocratic rank and had control over a portion of land granted from a king.
The Land – LORD was subject to that king and would bow the knee before the king
in subservience to his authority. Yet as believers, we know that the Almighty
Creator of all things neither bows nor is subject to anyone!
The title of the LORD, by its origin and implication is totally
blasphemous. The whole of Christianity is guilty through the lack of use of
bringing the Name of YAHWEH to nothingness.
Not only that, but if you look up, “Baal” in a good dictionary you will
find that it is Hebrew and means, LORD.
Baal: A male
fertility god whose cult was widespread in ancient Phoenician and Canaanite
lands. Origin: From Hebrew
ba‘al‘lord’. Source of Information
(Oxford Dictionary): https://www.lexico.com/definition/baal
However, the other names for God that occur in the Old Testament and New
Testament are not just titles, as is sometimes alleged. God was also known by
another "name" before Exodus 3:15, when He revealed Himself
as YHWH to Moses. And it was a "name," according to
the Bible, not a title. Notice Exodus 6:3. God tells Moses that He was not
known by the name YHWH to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but by the
name El Shaddai or El Shaddee.
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac,
and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh was I not
known to them. – Exodus
6:3 (Restoration Study Bible 04th Edition)
Why do you ignore the
scripture where Elohim mentions his name and says it will remain so FOREVER?
And Elohim said moreover unto Moses, Thus
shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Yahweh Elohim of your fathers, the
Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, hath sent me
unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all
generations. – Exodus
3:15 (RSB 04th Edition)
Before the
Almighty deciding to declare his personal name, he did not mind Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob calling him out as the El Shaddai (Almighty). But then he mentions so clearly at Exodus 3:15, “THIS IS MY NAME FOR EVER,
AND THIS IS MY MEMORIAL UNTO ALL GENERATIONS”. (Caps are mine for emphasis)
Those who insist that Christians today use the name YHWH in
reference to God do not, for whatever reason, insist that we must use the
earlier name, the covenant name by which He made Himself known to our covenant
father Abraham. It is, after all, through Abraham (ultimately through Christ,
of course) that our blessings flow.
Christians argue
that Jesus is God since he is said to be the Savior whereas Scriptures in the
Old Testament says Yahweh is the only Savior (Isaiah 43:11; 45:21; Hosea 13:4). This argument overlooks the fact
that although Yahweh is the only Savior he does use agents to accomplish his
purposes. For instance, the Old Testament says that Yahweh used an Israelite
named Othniel to deliver his people Israel. He is even called savior! (Judges 3:9; Obadiah 1:21)
The above shows,
that when it says that Yahweh is the only Savior it really means that he is the
only Source of salvation and others can be used as Saviours but connected to
the same source of salvation that is in Yahweh itself.
In reference
with the above, even Yahshua (Jesus) is referred to as Saviour. Let’s read Acts 4:12 for another enlightening and eye opening understanding
how the Messiah Yahshua being called as Savior does not conflict with Yahweh
being earlier called as our only Saviour too.
There is
salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that
is given among men, by which we must be saved!" – Acts 4:12
FIRSTLY please
note that most of the above statements are made by Almighty Creator Yahweh long
before the Messiah was born into Flesh as Son of Man and Son of God on Earth.
So from a TIME STANDPOINT before Yahshua being born on Earth, all the Scripture
references referring to Yahweh as Only One Savior is 100% accurate.
SECONDLY, the
confusion created by Trinitarians and Binatarians is that because Yahshua
(Jesus) is called as Savior by Yahweh’s inspired word that too in the New
Testament, they make the wrong claim that Yahshua is Yahweh.
We all know that
Almighty Creator resides in Heaven which is outside this earth and universe. So
there is one and only one Yahweh as Savior from that Heavenly abode. But when
Yahshua came on Earth as the Only begotten Son of Yahweh, then as Son or Agent
of Yahweh he was the Only Saviour on Earth.
Yahweh – Only Savior
– From Heaven Domain
Yahshua – Only
Savior – From Earth Domain
There is
salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven that
is given among men, by which we must be saved!" – Acts 4:12
See the Emphasis
of mine in the above same Acts Scripture again. The answer is right in front of
your eyes itself.
Keywords
Yahshua’s is the
Saviours name UNDER HEAVEN. And AMONG MEN.
Yahweh, before
sending his Son Yahshua thousands of years ago mentioned that at THAT MOMENT OF
TIME, he Yahweh was the ONLY SAVIOR. This is so right. Isn’t it? Also this
Saviours name is from THE HEAVENS ABOVE.
If we are only to address God by YHWH, then apparently
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will not be saved, because the name YHWH had
not been revealed to them! They knew God not only as El Shaddai,
but also by the name Elohim, as is proven in Exodus 3:15, when
we look at the verse word by word in Hebrew. The name for God in this verse
is Elohim throughout (although the word LORD in
the King James Version is the Hebrew word YHWH by which Moses
knew God).
In the Hebrew
Bible, the Tetragrammaton occurs 6828 times, as can be seen in Kittel's Biblia
Hebraica and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. In addition, the marginal
notes or masorah indicate that in another 134 places, where the received text
has the word Adonai, an earlier text had the Tetragrammaton.
(YHWH is used in the book of Genesis, but this is apparently
because Moses, who wrote the book, was inspired by God to use it in relating
the stories of the patriarchs.)
Aramaic
In the later books of the Old Testament (like Ezra and Nehemiah), we do
not find God referred to by the name YHWH at all. We find that
by this time the language of the Israelite peoples was Aramaic. And so the Aramaic
names Elah, Eloah or Elaw are used and no
longer Elohim or YHWH.
The Jews during
this period of the book of Nehemiah had voluntarily gone away from the one true
Elohim Yahweh. The book covers the period from the fall of Babylon in 539 BC to
the second half of the 5th century BC, and tells of the successive missions to
Jerusalem of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and their efforts to restore the
worship of Elohim Yahweh of Israel and to create a purified Jewish community. So how do you expect a people who have
abandoned the one true worship of their one true god to truly use his sacred
name in such conditions?
Again, in the New Testament we have many passages like Mark 9:38,
where John told Jesus of "someone who does not follow us casting out
demons in Your name." It is likely that the spoken language was Aramaic
much of the time. And Jesus does say that they did these miracles in His name.
Few paragraphs
above in this article of yours, you claim that Yahshua (Jesus) was speaking the
common language of Rome that was Greek. Now here you are contradicting yourself
by jumping back to claim that Yahshua (Jesus) was speaking the common language
Aramaic. Really? Sir Ken. Please do get your facts right.
Someone who verbalized the name YHWH at this time would
have been arrested, tried and perhaps stoned by order of the Sanhedrin (backed
up and supported by the Romans).
How is it possible that God would perform miracles in this (undoubtedly
Aramaic) name if He only honors the name YHWH? Would Christ have
allowed such a thing in a name of His, other than YHWH, or would
His Father back up and support such a thing if God the Father did not want to
be honored and called by any name other than YHWH? This example is
repeated many times in the New Testament.
Make up your
mind please. For your
requirements, when you want, Yahshua (Jesus) spoke in Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.
Hebrew Pronunciation Lost
The Old Testament text was preserved for centuries with only consonants.
The exact pronunciation of the words, with their vowels, was preserved only by
oral usage. They were passed down from one generation to the next.
These vowel sounds were not written down until sometime around the sixth
or seventh century. At that time, the Jewish scholars of the day, known as
Masoretes, created symbols to represent the vowels that they were using by oral
tradition. They added these symbols or points to the text of
the Old Testament, which had only contained consonants up to that time.
Unfortunately, the tetragrammaton YHWH, the name of the Creator,
considered too sacred to be uttered, ceased to be pronounced by the Jews long
before the Masoretes.
Whenever the Jews recited the text of the Hebrew Old Testament orally,
they substituted the word Adonai ("Lord" in
English). (The King James Version uses LORD in small caps for YHWH.)
Later on the Masoretes, whenever they encountered the word YHWH,
inserted the vowel points for Adonai or Elohim into
the word YHWH. Hence, the original vowel points for YHWH are
not found in any text.
This gave the synagogue ruler or reader of the text the cue to pronounce
either Adonai or Elohim instead of YHWH.
Most Hebrew scholars today admit that the exact vowel sounds and pronunciation
of YHWH are not certain. Even the consonants are uncertain
and YHVH or JHVH could be possible. If people
tell you that they know how to pronounce it, they are only making a random
decision. Most feel that Yah-weh is a close approximation of
the way the word was probably pronounced. Other scholars disagree and feel it
is pronounced Yaho, Yahwo or Yahu. There is no way
to be certain, unless God reveals it.
The Jews in Jeremiah's time understood the pronunciation of YHWH.
But the dreams of their false teachers misled them into believing that YHWH should
not be pronounced! Thinking that it was too holy a word to be uttered, they
stopped using it. And after the centuries its true pronunciation was lost.
If it were essential that we know the exact pronunciation, we would need
to know exactly how the Creator pronounced it to Moses when He introduced
Himself to him. Even Ezra, who later edited and compiled Moses' writings, would
have only had tradition as his source for pronouncing the word Moses wrote
(which contained no vowels).
Even today, Jews in different parts of the world have different
pronunciations for the Hebrew vowels and even some consonants. Judges
12:6 indicates that there were variations in dialect at the time in the
area between the Nile and the Euphrates.
The ancient Jews
then and many modern day Jews today do not use YHWH name in their regular
conversations because of superstitious manmade ideology. Others say that
the correct pronunciation of the Divine Name is unknown, thus they feel it
improper to use the Creator’s name at all. What's interesting is that no one
knows where certain vowels go or the correct pronunciation of Jesus’ name, nor
Jeremiah's name, nor Joshua's name, to mention a few, yet these names are still
used and mentioned by those who claim to know their Bibles. If so called
religious persons like Sir Ken Graham refuse to use the Creator’s name Yahweh because of not knowing where the
correct vowels go in YHWH, why are they still using other names like Jesus,
Jeremiah and other faithful men of old names if they don't know where the
vowels were placed in their ones names either?
Names for God in Languages of the Day
Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to use only the Hebrew form of His
name. In fact, we are given many positive examples of these names and titles
being translated into other languages. There are portions of the Old Testament
where Aramaic is the original language rather than Hebrew (Daniel
2:4 through 7:28; Ezra 4:8 through 6:18; 7:12-26). Nowhere in
these portions of Aramaic do we find the Hebrew words for the Deity, but
instead we find the Aramaic form Elah.
If we examine the New Testament, we find a similar story. No Hebrew
names are to be found.
The Greek terms Theos (God) and Kurios (Lord)
are used. When passages from the Old Testament are quoted in the New Testament,
the word Kurios is substituted for what would have been YHWH in
the Old Testament. An example would be Matthew 3:3, quoted
from Isaiah 40:3.
Restoration Study Bible (04th
Edition - http://m.restorationstudybible.com/)
Isaiah 40:3 - The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Yahweh, make
straight in the desert a highway for our Elohim.
Matthew 3:3 - For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way of Yahweh, make his paths straight.
Sir Ken Graham, Please use an
accurately translated English version of the Hebrew & Greek Scriptures.
Otherwise you full faith and theology and teachings will be in great error,
claiming to be based on the inspired word of God.
Unfortunately, there are some who present impressive-sounding arguments
that the New Testament is corrupted (and therefore unreliable) and that the Old
Testament Hebrew name of God (YHWH) has been removed from all 5,500 or
more manuscripts of the Greek New Testament (not to mention more than 8,000
manuscripts of the New Testament in Latin). This would have been a greater task
than was humanly possible. The editors would have had to gather all of these
manuscripts from all over the civilized world and carefully remove all trace of
the Hebrew tetragrammaton, substituting the Greek Kurios or Theos in
its place.
Kurios occurs 665 times in the New Testament
and Theos occurs 1,345 times.
The editing necessary is beyond the realm of possibility, especially
without leaving behind any evidence of edits having been made anywhere.
Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by
no means pass away" (Matthew 24:35). If the name YHWH had
been used, it would have remained in the texts of the New Testament.
Should the Name
Jehovah Appear in the New Testament?
Article source
of information: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2008567
DOES it matter whether God’s name appears in the
Bible? God obviously felt so. His name, as represented by the four Hebrew
characters known as the Tetragrammaton, appears almost 7,000 times in the
original Hebrew text of what is commonly called the Old Testament.*
Bible scholars acknowledge that God’s personal name
appears in the Old Testament, or Hebrew Scriptures. However, many feel that it
did not appear in the original Greek manuscripts of the so-called New Testament.
What happens, then, when a writer of the New
Testament quotes passages from the Old Testament in which the Tetragrammaton
appears? In these instances, most translators use the word “Lord” rather than
God’s personal name. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures does not
follow this common practice. It uses the name Jehovah 237 times in the
Christian Greek Scriptures, or New Testament.
What problems do Bible translators face when it
comes to deciding whether to use God’s name in the New Testament? What basis is
there for using God’s name in this part of the Holy Scriptures? And how does
the use of God’s name in the Bible affect you?
The divine name
in original Bible texts : A Translation
Problem
The manuscripts of the New Testament that we possess
today are not the originals. The original manuscripts written by Matthew, John,
Paul, and others were well used, and no doubt they quickly wore out. Hence,
copies were made, and when those wore out, further copies were made. Of the
thousands of copies of the New Testament in existence today, most were made at
least two centuries after the originals were penned. It appears that by that
time those copying the manuscripts either replaced the Tetragrammaton with Kuʹri·os or Kyʹri·os, the Greek
word for “Lord,” or copied from manuscripts where this had been
done.*
Knowing this, a translator must determine whether
there is reasonable evidence that the Tetragrammaton did in fact appear in the
original Greek manuscripts. Is there any such proof? Consider the following
arguments:
When Jesus quoted the Old Testament or read from
it, he used the divine name. (Deuteronomy 6:13, 16; 8:3; Psalm 110:1; Isaiah
61:1, 2; Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; 22:44; Luke 4:16-21) In the days of Jesus and his
disciples, the Tetragrammaton appeared in copies of the Hebrew text of what is
often called the Old Testament, as it still does today. However, for centuries
scholars thought that the Tetragrammaton was absent from manuscripts of the
Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, as well as from manuscripts
of the New Testament. Then in the mid-20th century, something remarkable came
to the attention of scholars—some very old
fragments of the Greek Septuagint version that existed in Jesus’ day had been
discovered. Those fragments contain the personal name of God, written in Hebrew
characters.
Jesus used God’s name and made it known to others.
(John 17:6, 11, 12, 26) Jesus plainly stated: “I have come in the name of my
Father.” He also stressed that his works were done “in the name of [his]
Father.” In fact, Jesus’ own name means “Jehovah Is Salvation.”—John 5:43; 10:25.
The divine name appears in its abbreviated form in
the Greek Scriptures. At Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6, the divine name is embedded
in the expression “Alleluia,” or “Hallelujah.” This expression literally means
“Praise Jah, you people!” Jah is a contraction of the name Jehovah.
Early Jewish writings indicate that Jewish
Christians used the divine name in their writings. The Tosefta, a written
collection of oral laws completed by about 300 C.E., says with regard to
Christian writings that were burned on the Sabbath: “The books of the
Evangelists and the books of the minim [thought to be Jewish Christians] they
do not save from a fire. But they are allowed to burn where they are, . . .
they and the references to the Divine Name which are in them.” This same source
quotes Rabbi Yosé the Galilean, who lived at the beginning of the second
century C.E., as saying that on other days of the week “one cuts out the
references to the Divine Name which are in them [the Christian writings] and
stores them away, and the rest burns.” Thus, there is strong evidence that the
Jews living in the second century C.E. believed that Christians used Jehovah’s
name in their writings.
The divine name
in original Bible texts: How Have
Translators Handled This Issue?
Is the New World Translation the only Bible that
restores God’s name when translating the Greek Scriptures? No. Based upon the
above evidence, many Bible translators have felt that the divine name should be
restored when they translate the New Testament.
For example, many African, American, Asian, and
Pacific-island language versions of the New Testament use the divine name
liberally. (See chart on page 21.) Some of these translations have appeared
recently, such as the Rotuman Bible (1999), which uses the name Jihova 51 times
in 48 verses of the New Testament, and the Batak-Toba version (1989) from
Indonesia, which uses the name Jahowa 110 times in the New Testament. The
divine name has appeared, too, in French, German, and Spanish translations. For
instance, Pablo Besson translated the New Testament into Spanish in the early
20th century. His translation uses Jehová at Jude 14, and nearly 100 footnotes
suggest the divine name as a likely rendering.
Below are some
examples of English translations that have used God’s name in the New
Testament:
A Literal Translation of the New Testament . . .
From the Text of the Vatican Manuscript, by Herman Heinfetter (1863)
The Emphatic Diaglott, by Benjamin Wilson (1864)
The Epistles of Paul in Modern English, by George
Barker Stevens (1898)
St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, by W. G.
Rutherford (1900)
The Christian’s Bible—New Testament, by George N. LeFevre (1928)
The New Testament Letters, by J.W.C. Wand, Bishop
of London (1946)
Recently, the 2004 edition of the popular New
Living Translation made this comment in its preface under the heading “The
Rendering of Divine Names”: “We have generally rendered the tetragrammaton
(YHWH) consistently as ‘the LORD,’ utilizing a form with small capitals that is
common among English translations. This will distinguish it from the name ʹadonai, which we
render ‘Lord.’” Then when commenting on the New Testament, it
says: “The Greek word kurios is consistently translated ‘Lord,’ except that it
is translated ‘LORD’ wherever the New Testament text explicitly quotes from the
Old Testament, and the text there has it in small capitals.” (Italics ours.)
The translators of this Bible therefore acknowledge that the Tetragrammaton
(YHWH) should be represented in these New Testament quotes.
Interestingly, under the heading “Tetragrammaton in
the New Testament,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary makes this comment: “There is
some evidence that the Tetragrammaton, the Divine Name, Yahweh, appeared in
some or all of the O[ld] T[estament] quotations in the N[ew] T[estament] when
the NT documents were first penned.” And scholar George Howard says: “Since the
Tetragram was still written in the copies of the Greek Bible [the Septuagint]
which made up the Scriptures of the early church, it is reasonable to believe
that the N[ew] T[estament] writers, when quoting from Scripture, preserved the
Tetragram within the biblical text.”
Two Compelling
Reasons
Clearly, then, the New World Translation was not
the first Bible to contain the divine name in the New Testament. Like a judge
who is called upon to decide a court case for which there are no living
eyewitnesses, the New World Bible Translation Committee carefully weighed all
the relevant evidence. Based on the facts, they decided to include Jehovah’s
name in their translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Note two
compelling reasons why they did so.
(1) The translators believed that since the
Christian Greek Scriptures were an inspired addition to the sacred Hebrew
Scriptures, the sudden disappearance of Jehovah’s name from the text seemed
inconsistent.
Why is that a reasonable conclusion? About the
middle of the first century C.E., the disciple James said to the elders in
Jerusalem: “Symeon has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his
attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name.” (Acts
15:14) Does it sound logical to you that James would make such a statement if nobody
in the first century knew or used God’s name?
(2) When copies of the Septuagint were discovered
that used the divine name rather than Kyʹri·os (Lord), it
became evident to the translators that in Jesus’ day copies of the earlier Scriptures in Greek—and of course those in Hebrew—did contain the divine name.
Apparently, the God-dishonoring tradition of
removing the divine name from Greek manuscripts developed only later. What do
you think? Would Jesus and his apostles have promoted such a tradition?—Matthew 15:6-9.
Call “on the Name of Jehovah”
Really, the Scriptures themselves act as a
conclusive “eyewitness” statement that early Christians did in fact use
Jehovah’s name in their writings, especially when they quoted passages from the
Old Testament that contain that name. Without a doubt, then, the New World
Translation has a clear basis for restoring the divine name, Jehovah, in the
Christian Greek Scriptures.
How does this information affect you? Quoting the
Hebrew Scriptures, the apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Rome: “Everyone
who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” Then he asked: “How will they
call on him in whom they have not put faith? How, in turn, will they put faith
in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:13, 14; Joel 2:32) Bible
translations that use God’s name when appropriate help you to draw close to
God. (James 4:8) Really, what an honor it is for us to be allowed to know and
to call upon God’s personal name, Jehovah.
A TRANSLATOR WHO RESPECTED GOD’S NAME
Hiram Bingham II
In November 1857, Hiram Bingham II, a 26-year-old
missionary, arrived with his wife in the Gilbert Islands (now called Kiribati).
The missionary ship on which they had traveled was sponsored by meager
donations from American Sunday School children. It had been named the Morning
Star by its sponsors to reflect their belief in the coming Millennium.
“Physically, Bingham was not strong,” states Barrie
Macdonald in his book Cinderellas of the Empire. “He suffered from frequent
bowel ailments, and from chronic throat trouble which affected his ability to
speak in public; his eyesight was so weak that he could only spend two or three
hours a day reading.”
However, Bingham set his mind to learning the
Gilbertese language. This was not an easy task. He started by pointing at
objects and asking their names. When he had collected a list of some two
thousand words, he paid one of his converts a dollar for every one hundred new
words he could add to the list.
Bingham’s
Gilbertese Bible
Bingham’s perseverance paid off. By the time he had
to leave the Gilbert Islands in 1865 because of his deteriorating health, he
not only had given the Gilbertese language a written form but had also
translated the books of Matthew and John into Gilbertese. When he returned to the
islands in 1873, he brought with him the completed translation of the New
Testament in Gilbertese. He persevered for a further 17 years and by 1890
completed the translation of the entire Gilbertese Bible.
Bingham’s translation of the Bible is in use in
Kiribati to this day. Those reading it will notice that he used Jehovah’s name
(Iehova in Gilbertese) thousands of times in the Old Testament as well as over
50 times in the New Testament. Truly, Hiram Bingham was a translator who
respected God’s name!
LIST OF 99
LANGUAGES THAT USE A VERNACULAR FORM OF THE TETRAGRAMMATON IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
CHIHOWA: Choctaw
IÁHVE: Portuguese
IEHOUA: Mer
IEHOVA: Gilbertese; Hawaiian; Hiri Motu; Kerewo;
Kiwai; Marquesas; Motu; Panaieti (Misima); Rarotongan; Tahitian; Toaripi
IEHOVAN: Saibai
IEOVA: Kuanua; Wedau
IHOVA: Aneityum
IHVH: French
IOVA: Malekula (Kuliviu); Malekula (Pangkumu);
Malekula (Uripiv)
JAHOWA: Batak-Toba
JAHUÈ: Chacobo
JAKWE: (Ki)Sukuma
JAHVE: Hungarian
JEHOBA: Kipsigis; Mentawai
JEHOFA: Tswana
JEHOVA: Croatian; German; Kélé (Gabon); Lele (Manus
Island); Nandi; Nauruan; Nukuoro
JEHOVÁ: Spanish
JEHÔVA: Fang; Tsimihety
JEHOVAH: Dutch; Efik; English; Kalenjin; Malagasy;
Narrinyeri; Ojibwa
JEOVA: Kusaie (Kosraean)
JIHOVA: Naga (Angami); Naga (Konyak); Naga (Lotha);
Naga (Mao); Naga (Ntenyi); Naga (Sangtam); Rotuman
JIOUA: Mortlock
JIOVA: Fijian
JIWHEYẸWHE: Gu (Alada)
SIHOVA: Tongan
UYEHOVA: Zulu
YAHOWA: Thai
YAHVE: Ila
YAVE: Kongo
YAWE: Bobangi; Bolia; Dholuo; Lingala; Mongo
(Lolo); (Lo)Ngandu; (Lo)Ntumba; (Ke)Sengele
YEHÓA: Awabakal
YEHOFA: Southern Sotho
YEHOVA: Chokwe; Chuana (Tlapi); (Ki)Kalanga; Logo;
Luba; Lugbara; (Chi)Luimbi; (Chi)Lunda (Ndembu); (Chi)Luvale; Santo (Hog
Harbor); Tiv; Umbundu; (Isi)Xhosa
YEHOVAH: Bube; Mohawk; Nguna (Efate); Nguna (Tongoa)
YEHOWA: Ga; Laotian; (Ki)Songe; Tshiluba
YEKOVA: Zande
YEOBA: Kuba (Inkongo)
YEOHOWA: Korean
YHWH: Hebrew
YOWO: Lomwe
ZAHOVA: Chin (Haka-Lai)
The Tetragrammaton refers to the four letters,
YHWH, that represent God’s name in Hebrew. It is commonly translated as Jehovah
or Yahweh in English.
Although the apostle Paul spoke Hebrew, he didn't use the Hebrew YHWH in
any of his 14 letters. The apostle Peter uses the Greek form Yesous
Christos for Jesus Christ in Acts 4:10. Salvation is only
through the name Jesus Christ! The Hebrew word Yehoshua or Yahshua is
not used here at all. The Holy Spirit inspired these words to be written in
Greek, not Hebrew.
Joel 2:32 - And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of
Yahweh shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be
deliverance, as Yahweh hath said, and in the remnant whom Yahweh shall call.
Romans 10:13 - For
whosoever shall call upon the name of Yahweh shall be saved.
God's Word nowhere says that it is wrong for people to read the Bible,
which includes His name, in their own language.
Ken your name of
a mere mortal human being, on your
Passport should not get changed and does not get changed when you travel to foreign
language speaking countries. But the original
author of the Bible, his one and only holy and sacred personal name designated
by the creator himself, you and other humans have the liberty and right to
change in different language bible translations. WOW!!!!
Nor is it wrong for them to refer to their Creator in their own language
in preaching or prayer. Salvation is not based upon a secret or mysterious word
or pronunciation.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of
Yahweh shall be saved. – Romans
10:13
There is authority and power in the name of Jesus Christ. Whether the
name is in Greek or English or any other language does not matter. People were
healed and demons were cast out in His name.
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord,
Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven.
Many will tell me in that day, 'Lord,
Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in
your name do many mighty works?'
Then I will tell them, 'I never knew you.
Depart from me, you who work iniquity.' Matthew 7:21 to 23
So Ken it does
not matter to you what Yahshua calls people like you who abuse the name of
Jesus in any language and in many types of names other than the true &
original Hebrew name of our Messiah. Yahshua (Jesus) calls them workers of
LAWLESSNESS, workers of INIQUITY, workers of Sin.
Jesus said that He came to reveal the Father to His followers (John
1:18; 17:6, 26). Yet in all that the apostles wrote of Jesus in the New
Testament, we find no trace of any reference to the Hebrew word YHWH.
Jesus revealed to His disciples the way of life that the Father would have been
pleased for them to lead: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,'
shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in
heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
Please read
above. You are passing
judgement on yourself on your wrong teachings.
The Name in Other Languages
Perhaps the strongest evidence against the sacred name theory in the New
Testament is the fact that on the Day of Pentecost, everyone understood the
preaching in his own language. So when Peter spoke and used the name of God,
everyone heard it in his own language.
Getting the name "just right" seems to have been very
important in paganism. If we study the Bible carefully, we find that the
Creator has many names and titles and provides no restriction or command not to
translate those names and titles into other languages.
Jesus prayed that the Father would keep those whom He had given to
Jesus, in the Father's name. The Father's family name is God in
English. In Greek, it is Theos. Twelve times in the New Testament
the name of the Church is stated to be the Church of God (Theos). Jesus
called Himself the Son of God (Theos) numerous times in the New
Testament. Many times He said He came in His Father's name.
Please get your
English right Sir Ken Graham. There is a big difference in Titles and Names.
Definition of
Title: The main
difference between Title and Name is that the Title is a prefix or suffix. For
Example: Doctor is a title and there are many doctors everywhere. But Doctor
Ken Graham is one specific doctor whose name is Ken Graham. Same with Elohim
(God). There are many God’s but one and only one True God Yahweh.
Definition of
Name: A name is a term
used for identification. For though there are things that are
called "gods," whether in the heavens or on earth; as there are many
"gods" and many "lords;" 1 Corinthians 8:5
Yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him;
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through
him. 1
Corinthians 8:6
Before we accept the theories of some that it is wrong to use anything
but the Hebrew word YHWH, or that salvation is only possible
through the correct use of one name, we need to recognize the overwhelming
evidence that is contained in the New Testament to the contrary. UN
I
leave this discussion with the above overwhelming evidence, but if truth is not
in you, then the truth of Elohim’s (God’s) word will also not be sufficient to
set you free. John 8:32