How can we be sure that Gods Name is Jehovah?

[Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης]

Hi am writing from Greece. i read the bible so many times, both Hebrew and Greek and i cannot find the name Jehovah... just four letters YHWH. How can we be sure that Gods name isnt Yahawaha? i read in wikipedia "The Hebrew vowel points of Adonai were added to the Tetragrammaton by the Masoretes"

[Evacuated]

Do you have access to the New World Translation 2013? Appendices A4 and A5, page 1731 to 1743 provides a reasonable answer to this question.

[Ann O'Maly]

'Jehovah' is just the anglicized version of the Name which was adapted from the Latin version of it. Many other languages don't have the hard English 'J' sound anyway - they have a 'Y' (ya) sound instead (like the Hebrew letter 'yod'). The 'W' is from the Hebrew letter which is pronounced 'vav.'

Whether the original Hebrew Name consisted of two or three syllables, and which are the correct vowels ... that's for people with far better knowledge than I to debate. But what we have is an approximation.

Imho, sometimes people can become too obsessed with trying to figure out the 'correct' pronunciation. If pronouncing the Name 'just so' was that important, you'd think the method would have been preserved in the Bible for posterity.

[John Houston]

You yourself see as we do the letters are YHWH, are we trying to be perfect in this matter? NO!!!! The fact is no on wants to use his name at all. We have not clue what it sounded like when he spoke to Adam and Adam called him by name, or how even Moses pronounced his name. But we will not use fear and superstitious reasonings to stop us from calling God, our God by his personal name. This sets him apart from the other gods whose names are written and preserved in scripture. So when we pray and shout in praise we know who it is directed to, Jehovah, the owner of those letter YHWH, characters which are linked to the Most High!

[Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης]

8 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

Do you have access to the New World Translation 2013? Appendices A4 and A5, page 1731 to 1743 provides a reasonable answer to this question.

Thank you Eoin Joyce, May God bless you.
In page 1731 the bible ( New World Translation 2013 ) tells us that the name of God occurs some 7000 times as YHWH in the old testament. NOT AS JEHOVAH !
In page 1732 the Bible NWT2013 show us a picture of the dead sea scrolls where we can see again YHWH but we cannot see JEHOVAH anywhere again.
In page 1733 the Bible NWT2013 gives us the example of Jesus by saying that we also do not know its original pronunciation. But this is a BIG LIE.
The new testament was written in Greek, not Hebrew. and everything is pronounced the way the apostles pronounced it 2000 years ago !
In page 1734 the Bible NWT2013 gives us the reason why we do not know how the Name of God was pronounced. The reason is superstition. Again not only I see no proof of using the substitute name JEHOVAH. but in the middle of the 1734 page I read: "However, there is no reason to be dogmatic. We simply don't know how God’s ancient servants pronounce this name". So the bible you suggested to me agrees with me not with you Eoin Joyce.
In the end of the page 1734 we read :only in "1530 William Tyndale’s translation of the Pentateuch used the form Iehouah" I don't know the reasoning here really. So if William Tyndale used that Name that It must be ??? NO proof again.
In page 1735 we read about the meaning of the divine name and that many scholars disagree and have various opinions.... But AGAIN NO PROOF of the word JEHOVAH that is preferred to be used by NWT2013.
In page 1736 the Translation Committee of the NWT2013 Bible goes further than just translating. Because there are no existing manuscripts to support the use of God's Name in the New Testament ( for a Name that we still don't know how to pronounce) the Committee invented them by imagining that in the 2nd century the name was erased.
In page 1737 the Committee concludes that if Jesus referred to God’s name The Committee is free to decide where to put God's Name in the New Testament. And yes yes... they decided to use It some 237 times arbitrarily
In pages 1738 and 1739 again pictures of the Name in ancient manuscripts in the form of YHWH and one picture of the 1950's New World Translation.And personal opinions of some scholars. Opinions are no proof because for every opinion you can find another 10 opposite. SADLY NO PROOF !
In page 1740 we have a picture of the Name JEHOVAH from the Emphatic Diaglott of the year 1864, but again NO PROOF of how from the 4 letters YHWH we got that the best pronunciation is JEHOVAH.
In page 1741 we have a very strong proof: so many other translators do it, why not us? says the Translation Committee of the NWT2013 Bible. Sorry but this is NO PROOF !
In page 1742 finally the Translation Committee of the NWT2013 Bible gives us an example of the IMAGINARY name JEHOVAH in every language. I urge you to look how the same Committee translates this Name in Hebrew. Oh is very very interesting. and the name of God is.... YHWH not Jehovah ... 

sorry Eoin Joyce but the answer your Bible gives is no reasonable at all.

In coclusion I would like to add that if the Almighty God don't want us to know how to pronounce His Name, we must respect that and not to make up with our minds fake pronunciations. It is also notable that the Translation Committee dont say anything about Masoretes and that Hebrew vowel points of Adonai were added to the Tetragrammaton by them.

 

[Evacuated]

 but in the middle of the 1734 page I read: "However, there is no reason to be dogmatic. We simply don't know how God’s ancient servants pronounce this name". So the bible you suggested to me agrees with me not with you  Eoin Joyce.

You don't know what I agree with

In page 1733 the Bible NWT2013 gives us the example of Jesus by saying that we also do not know its original pronunciation

Can't find that statement

In the end of the page 1734 we read :only in "1530 William Tyndale’s translation of the Pentateuch used the form Iehouah" I don't know the reasoning here really. So if William Tyndale used that Name that It must be ??? NO proof again. 

You missed the point made in that paragraph completely

Unfortunately, 3 strikes and out ...........

Goodbye  Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης 

[Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης]

26 minutes ago, Eoin Joyce said:

 but in the middle of the 1734 page I read: "However, there is no reason to be dogmatic. We simply don't know how God’s ancient servants pronounce this name". So the bible you suggested to me agrees with me not with you  Eoin Joyce.

You don't know what I agree with

In page 1733 the Bible NWT2013 gives us the example of Jesus by saying that we also do not know its original pronunciation

Can't find that statement

In the end of the page 1734 we read :only in "1530 William Tyndale’s translation of the Pentateuch used the form Iehouah" I don't know the reasoning here really. So if William Tyndale used that Name that It must be ??? NO proof again. 

You missed the point made in that paragraph completely

Unfortunately, 3 strikes and out ...........

Goodbye  Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης 

Hey Eoin don't be mad at me because I want to learn. And what is this ""Unfortunately, 3 strikes and out""  some kind of game in American schools? surely is not scriptural. because you say goodbye and you don't care for my answer. It is so important for you to be right all the time? What if you make some mistakes? you don't need correction...never?
Anyway goodbye and may God be with you.
 1st strike ... "You don't know what I agree with" ... ok why don't you tell me !
 2st strike ... " Can't find that statement "  Is there they say that we don't know how to pronounce the name "Yehoshua", when already the name "Ιησούς" was given to us in the new testament.
 3rd strike ... "You missed the point made in that paragraph completely" ... like a good Christian you are why you don't help me find the point ?

[Γιαννης Διαμαντιδης]

5 hours ago, John Houston said:

You yourself see as we do the letters are YHWH, are we trying to be perfect in this matter? NO!!!! The fact is no on wants to use his name at all. We have not clue what it sounded like when he spoke to Adam and Adam called him by name, or how even Moses pronounced his name. But we will not use fear and superstitious reasonings to stop us from calling God, our God by his personal name. This sets him apart from the other gods whose names are written and preserved in scripture. So when we pray and shout in praise we know who it is directed to, Jehovah, the owner of those letter YHWH, characters which are linked to the Most High!

Who spoke about superstition? you are speaking. not me... 
I asked you what is the pronunciation of the Holly Name. Do you know, or you don't know?

[AnonymousBrother]

The exact pronunciation is not known anymore. So, as to the validity of "Jehovah".

It only applies in the languages it was defined as. How, you wonder? Let's take "fire".

Is that the original pronunciation of what we know as fire by the being that first mentioned it? We can 99.999999999999999% guarantee it is *not*. So. Is "fire" the incorrect word for fire? By the reasoning some want to apply, the answer is "yes." Which means, pretty much, no-one in he world knows what they are talking about and are speaking gibberish.

That is where we have "transliteration" and "translation". YHWH is incorrect. Why? The Tetragrammaton is *not written in modern Romanized characters.* YHWH is *not* God's name, *by any means.* 

It is an attempt to use existing character combinations with an aproximate sound to the word in another language. In the case of YHWH, this is even *more* incorrect, since the pronunciation is not being transliterated, but raw characters, whose pronunciation in that particular combination in their native language *no longer exists.* This brings us to "translation". To use an example, if you ever meet a Korean with the name "Lee", "Lee" is *not* his name. It is a *translation*. His real name, in accurate *transliteration* is "Ee". Lim is really "Him" without the "H" sound. Mr. Park has no "r" in his real name. I am sure you also have many examples.

Which, now, brings us back to Jehovah and English.

Until the time of Tyndale, no one had translated the original Hebrew texts into English. Yet, there is a word there that occurs about 7000 times, the concept and exact match of which the English language *does not have*.  Now, since *no one alive then or now* knows *how* that word is pronounced, Tyndale could have written Spongebob with a notation on the front that "Spongebob" is how he will represent the Tetragrammaton in his *translation*, because, with the pronunciation of the original *not known* he *cannot* transliterate. But, instead, he noticed that "Jeova" was being used elsewhere and why, so, rather than pick "Spongebob" he picked Jehovah (modern spelling. It was with an "i" before) and maintained some sort of reasoning for the translation.

And, of course, the reason Tyndale had to make a translation in the first place has its origins *with God.*

(ASV) Genesis 11:9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

As God did not reveal His Name until *after* the Babel episode, those who eventually learned English *had no native concept* of the meaning of God's name, therefore no equivalent word to the Tetragrammaton. They would have to come up with them when they ran into the concept. And, when Tyndale did, he coined

"Jehovah" 

to represent the Hebrew Tetragrammaton in the English language about 500 years ago. And, this fact is attested to, still, in dictionaries:

• British

"Jehovah" in British English

 See all translations

Jehovahnoun

 UK   /dʒəˈhəʊ.və/  US   /dʒəˈhoʊ.və/

      

› the name of God used in the Old Testament of the Bible

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/jehovah

Now, you can call out "Korean Dude!" or "Mr. Lee!". But, Mr. "Ee" will appreciate you using his name, which, in English, is Mr. "Lee."

And that is how we view Jehovah, which, in Korean, is Yohowah, which, in ancient Hebrew is . . . The Tetragrammaton. But, you can use Yahweh (or one of the 50 different variations claiming to be the True Pronunciation) if you want: It is *still* wrong. When the New Kingdom arrives for good, I am sure the True Name will be in wide use, and all will have the correct pronunciation. But, until then, we are left with Jesus's words at John 17:26

(CEB) I’ve made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that your love for me will be in them, and I myself will be in them.”

And that is a *critical* reason to be using God's Name, *however* it may have been translated into the language *God Himself* gave you.

[Evacuated]

Good post AnonymousBrother.

I'm just unsure about your meaning here: " As God did not reveal His Name until *after* the Babel episode "

 

[AnonymousBrother]

6 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

Good post AnonymousBrother.

I'm just unsure about your meaning here: " As God did not reveal His Name until *after* the Babel episode "

 

References Exodus:

Exodus 6:2-4 (ASV) And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojournings, wherein they sojourned.

[Ann O'Maly]

If the Bible teaches that YHWH is God and God is our Father, is it appropriate to address Him with His name all the time? If I addressed my parents by their names, I would have been told off!