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The Librarian

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  1. http://forum.theworldnewsmedia.org/forum/83-king-james-version-1611/
  2. Another classic reference which has since been changed:
  3. JEHOVAH (YAHWEH 2), in the Bible, the God of Israel. " Jehovah " is a modern mispronunciation of the Hebrew name, resulting from combining the consonants of that name, Jhvh, with the vowels of the word ¢donay, " Lord," which the Jews substituted for the proper name in reading the scriptures. In such cases of substitution the vowels of the word which is to be read are written in the Hebrew text with the consonants of the word which is not to be read. The consonants of the word to be substituted are ordinarily written in the margin; but inasmuch as Adonay was regularly read instead of the ineffable name Jhvh, it was deemed unnecessary to note the fact at every occurrence. When Christian scholars began to study the Old Testament in Hebrew, if they were ignorant of this general rule or regarded the substitution as a piece of Jewish superstition, reading what actually stood in the text, they would inevitably pronounce the name Jehovah. It is an unprofitable inquiry who first made this blunder; probably many fell into it independently. The statement still commonly repeated that it originated with Petrus 1 These details are scarcely the invention of the chronicler; see Chronicles, and Expositor, Aug. 1906, p. 191. 2 This form, Yahweh, as the correct one, is generally used in the separate articles throughout this work. Galatinus (1518) is erroneous; Jehova occurs in manuscripts at least as early as the 14th century. The form Jehovah was used in the 16th century by many authors, both Catholic and Protestant, and in the 17th was zealously defended by Fuller, Gataker, Leusden and others, against the criticisms of such scholars as Drusius, Cappellus and the elder Buxtorf. It appeared in the English Bible in Tyndale's translation of the Pentateuch (1530), and is found in all English Protestant versions of the 16th century except that of Coverdale ('' 1 535) In the Authorized Version of 161 i it occurs in Exod. vi. 3; Ps. lxxxiii. 18; Isa. xii. 2; xxvi. 4, beside the compound names Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-nissi, Jehovah-shalom; elsewhere, in accordance with the usage of the ancient versions, Jhvh is represented by Lord (distinguished by capitals from the title " Lord," Heb. adonay). In the Revised Version of 1885 Jehovah is retained in the places in which it stood in the A. V., and is introduced also in Exod. vi. 2, 6, 7, 8; Ps. lxviii. 20; Isa. xlix. 14; Jer. xvi. 21; Hab. iii. 19. The American committee which cooperated in the revision desired to employ the name Jehovah wherever Jhvh occurs in the original, and editions embodying their preferences are printed accordingly. Several centuries before the Christian era the name Jhvh had ceased to be commonly used by the Jews. Some of the later writers in the Old Testament employ the appellative Elohim, God, prevailingly or exclusively; a collection of Psalms (Ps. xlii.- lxxxiii.) was revised by an editor who changed the Jhvh of the authors into Elohim (see e.g. xlv. 7; xlviii. 10; 1. 7; li. 14); observe also the frequency of " the Most High," " the God of Heaven," " King of Heaven," in Daniel, and of " Heaven " in First Maccabees. The oldest Greek versions (Septuagint), from the third century B.C., consistently use Kupcos, " Lord," where the Hebrew has Jhvh, corresponding to the substitution of Adonay for Jhvh in reading the original; in books written in Greek in this period (e. g. Wisdom, 2 and 3 Maccabees), as in the New Testament, Kupcos takes the place of the name of God. Josephus, who as a priest knew the pronunciation of the name, declares that religion forbids him to divulge it; Philo calls it ineffable, and says that it is lawful for those only whose ears and tongues are purified by wisdom to hear and utter it in a holy place (that is, for priests in the Temple); and in another passage, commenting on Lev. xxiv. 15 seq.: " If any one, I do not say should blaspheme against the Lord of men and gods, but should even dare to utter his name unseasonably, let him expect the penalty of death." 3 Various motives may have concurred to bring about the suppression of the name. An instinctive feeling that a proper name for God implicitly recognizes the existence of other gods may have had some influence; reverence and the fear lest the holy name should be profaned among the heathen were potent reasons; but probably the most cogent motive was the desire to prevent the abuse of the name in magic. If so, the secrecy had the opposite effect; the name of the god of the Jews was one of the great names in magic, heathen as well as Jewish, and miraculous efficacy was attributed to the mere utterance of it. In the liturgy of the Temple the name was pronounced in the priestly benediction (Num. vi. 27) after the regular daily sacrifice (in the synagogues a substitute - probably Adonay - was employed); 4 on the Day of Atonement the High Priest uttered the name ten times in his prayers and benediction. In the last generations before the fall of Jerusalem, however, it was pro nounced in a low tone so that the sounds were lost in the chant of the priests.' 3 See Josephus, Ant. ii. 12, 4.; Philo, Vita Mosis, iii. II (ii. §114, ed. Cohn and Wendland); ib. iii. 27 (ii. § 206). The Palestinian authorities more correctly interpreted Lev. xxiv. 15 seq., not of the mere utterance of the name, but of the use of the name of God in blaspheming God. 4 Siphre, Num. §§ 39, 43; M. Sotah, iii. 7; Sotah, 38a. The tradition that the utterance of the name in the daily benedictions ceased with the death of Simeon the Just, two centuries or more before the Christian era, perhaps arose from a misunderstanding of Menalioth, 109b; in any case it cannot stand against the testimony of older and more authoritative texts. 5 Yoma, 39b; Jer. Varna, iii. 7; Kiddushin, 71a. After the destruction of the Temple (A.D. 70) the liturgical use of the name ceased, but the tradition was perpetuated in the schools of the rabbis.' It was certainly known in Babylonia in the latter part of the 4th century, 2 and not improbably much later. Nor was the knowledge confined to these pious circles; the name continued to be employed by healers, exorcists and magicians, and has been preserved in many places in magical papyri. The vehemence with which the utterance of the name is denounced in the Mishna - " He who pronounces the Name with its own letters has no part in the world to come!" 3 - suggests that this misuse of the name was not uncommon among Jews. The Samaritans, who otherwise shared the scruples of the Jews about the utterance of the name, seem to have used it in judicial oaths to the scandal of the rabbis.4 The early Christian scholars, who inquired what was the true name of the God of the Old Testament, had therefore no great difficulty in getting the information they sought. Clement of Alexandria (d. c. 212) says that it was pronounced Iaoue.5 Epiphanius (d. 404), who was born in Palestine and spent a considerable part of his life there, gives Ia0e (one cod. lave). 6 Theodoret (d. c. 457), 7born in Antioch, writes that the Samaritans pronounced the name Ia(3e (in another passage, Ia(3ac), the Jews Ala. 8 The latter is probably not Jhvh but Eliyeh (Exod. iii. 14), which the Jews counted among the names of God; there is no reason whatever to imagine that the Samaritans pronounced the name Jhvh differently from the Jews. This direct testimony is supplemented by that of the magical texts, in which Ia(3e (Jahveh Sebaoth), as well as Iaf3a, occurs frequently.° In an Ethiopic list of magical names of Jesus, purporting to have been taught by him to his disciples, Yawe is found. 1 ' Finally, there is evidence from more than one source that the modern Samaritan priests pronounce the name Yahweh or Yahwa." There is no reason to impugn the soundness of this substantially consentient testimony to the pronunciation Yahweh or Jahveh, coming as it does through several independent channels. It is confirmed by grammatical considerations. The name Jhvh enters into the composition of many proper names of persons in the Old Testament, either as the initial element, in the form Jehoor Jo- (as in Jehoram, Joram), or as the final element, in the form -jahu or -jah (as in Adonijahu, Adonijah). These various forms are perfectly regular if the divine name was Yahweh, and, taken altogether, they cannot be explained on any other hypothesis. Recent scholars, accordingly, with but few exceptions, are agreed that the ancient pronunciation of the name was Yahweh (the first hsounded at the end of the syllable). Genebrardus seems to have been the first to suggest the pronunciation Iahue, 12 but it was not until the 10th century that it became generally accepted. Jahveh or Yahweh is apparently an example of a common type of Hebrew proper names which have the form of the 3rd pers. sing. of the verb. e.g. Jabneh (name of a city), Jabin, Jamlek, Jiptah (Jephthah), &c. Most of these really are verbs, the suppressed or implicit subject being 'el, " numen, god," or the name of a god; cf. Jabneh and Jabné-el, Jiptah and Jiptah-el. The ancient explanations of the name proceed from Exod. iii. 14, 15, where " Yahweh 13 hath sent me " in v. 15 corresponds to " Ehyeh hath sent me " in v. 14, thus seeming to connect the name Yahweh with the Hebrew verb hayah, " to become, to be." The Palestinian interpreters found in this the promise that 1 R. Johanan (second half of the 3rd century), Kiddushin, 71a. 2 Kiddushin, l.c. =Pesahim, 50a. 3 M. Sanhedrin, x. 1; Abba Saul, end of 2nd century. 4 Jer. Sanhedrin, x. r; R. Mana, 4th century. 5 Strom. v. 6. Variants: Ia ove, Ia oval.; cod. L. Iaov. 6 Panarion, Haer. 40, 5; cf. Lagarde, Psalter juxta Hebraeos, 154. Quaest. '15' in Exod.; Fab. haeret. compend. v. 3, sub fin. 8 Ala occurs also in the great magical papyrus of Paris, 1.3020 (Wessely, Denkschrift. Wien. Akad., Phil. Hist. Kl., XXXVI. p. 120), and in the Leiden Papyrus, xvii. 31. 9 See Deissmann, Bibelstudien, 13 sqq. 1° See Driver, Studia Biblica, I. 20. " See M ontgomery,Journal of BiblicalLiterature, xxv. (1906), 49-51. Chronographia, Paris, 1567 (ed. Paris, 1600, p. 79 seq.). This transcription will be used henceforth. God would be with his people (cf. v. r 2) in future oppressions as he was in the present distress, or the assertion of his eternity, or eternal constancy; the Alexandrian translation 'E-y., d i m6 Wv.. . `O cwv eur VTaXrciv µe 7rpos vµas, understands it in the more metaphysical sense of God's absolute being. Both interpretations, " He (who) is (always the same)," and " He (who) is (absolutely, the truly existent)," import into the name all that they profess to find in it; the one, the religious faith in God's unchanging fidelity to his people, the other, a philosophical conception of absolute being which is foreign both to the meaning of the Hebrew verb and to the force of the tense employed. Modern scholars have sometimes found in the name the expression of the aseity 14 of God; sometimes of his reality, in contrast to the imaginary gods of the heathen. Another explanation, which appears first in Jewish authors of the middle agesand has found wide acceptance in recent times, derives the name from the causative of the verb; He (who) causes things to be, gives them being; or calls events into existence, brings them to pass; with many individual modifications of interpretation - creator, lifegiver, fulfiller of promises. A serious objection to this theory in every form is that the verb hayah, " to be," has no causative stem in Hebrew; to express the ideas which these scholars find in the name Yahweh the language employs altogether different verbs. This assumption that Yahweh is derived from the verb "to be," as seems to be implied in Exod. iii. r4 seq., is not, however, free from difficulty. " To be " in the Hebrew of the Old Testament is not hawah, as the derivation would require, but hayah; and we are thus driven to the further assumption that hawah belongs to an earlier stage of the language, or to some older speech of the forefathers of the Israelites. This hypothesis is not intrinsically improbable - and in Aramaic, a language closely related to Hebrew, " to be " actually is hawa - but it should be noted that in adopting it we admit that, using the name Hebrew in the historical sense, Yahweh is not a Hebrew name. And, inasmuch as nowhere in the Old Testament, outside of Exod. iii., is there the slightest indication that the Israelites connected the name of their God with the idea of " being " in any sense, it may fairly be questioned whether, if the author of Exod. iii. r4 seq., intended to give an etymological interpretation of the name Yahweh," his etymology is any better than many other paronomastic explanations of proper names in the Old Testament, or than, say, the connexion of the name 'A7roXXcwv with airo?ovwv, 6.7roXuwv in Plato's Cratylus, or the popular derivation from eurOXXvµe. A root hawah is represented in Hebrew by the nouns howah (Ezek., Isa. xlvii. rr) and hawwah (Ps., Prov., Job) " disaster, calamity, ruin." 16 The primary meaning is probably " sink down, fall," in which sense - common in Arabic - the verb appears in Job xxxvii. 6 (of snow falling to earth). A Catholic commentator of the 16th century, Hieronymus ab Oleastro, seems to have been the first to connect the name " Jehova " with howah interpreting it contritio, sive pernicies (destruction of the Egyptians and Canaanites); Daumer, adopting the same etymology, took it in a more general sense: Yahweh, as well as Shaddai, meant " Destroyer," and fitly expressed the nature of the terrible god whom he identified with Moloch. The derivation of Yahweh from hawah is formally unimpeachable, and is adopted by many recent scholars, who proceed, however, from the primary sense of the root rather than from the specific meaning of the nouns. The name is accordingly interpreted, He (who) falls (baetyl, (3aLTvXos, meteorite); or causes (rain or lightning) to fall (storm god); or casts down (his foes, by his thunderbolts). It is obvious that if the derivation be correct, the significance of the name, which in itself denotes only " He falls" or "He fells," must be learned, if at all, from early Israelitish conceptions of the nature of Yahweh rather than from etymology. A-se-itas, a scholastic Latin expression for the quality of existing by oneself. is The critical difficulties of these verses need not be discussed here. See W. R. Arnold, " The Divine Name in Exodus iii. 14," Journal of Biblical Literature, (1905), 107 -165. Cf. also hawwah, " desire, Mic. vii. 3; Prov. x. 3. A more fundamental question is whether the name Yahweh originated among the Israelites or was adopted by them from some other people and speech.' The biblical author of the history of the sacred institutions (P) expressly declares that the name Yahweh was unknown to the patriarchs (Exod. vi. 3), and the much older Israelite historian (E) records the first revelation of the name to Moses (Exod. iii. 13-15), apparently following a tradition according to which the Israelites had not been worshippers of Yahweh before the time of Moses, or, as he conceived it, had not worshipped the god of their fathers under that name. The revelation of the name to Moses was made at a mountain sacred to Yahweh (the mountain of God) far to the south of Palestine, in a region where the forefathers of the Israelites had never roamed, and in the territory of other tribes; and long after the settlement in Canaan this region continued to be regarded as the abode of Yahweh (Judg. v. 4; Deut. xxxiii. 2 sqq.; i Kings xix. 8 sqq. &c.). Moses is closely connected with the tribes in the vicinity of the holy mountain; according to one account, he married a daughter of the priest of Midian (Exod. ii. 16 sqq.; iii. I); to this mountain he led the Israelites after their deliverance from Egypt; there his father-in-law met him, and extolling Yahweh as " greater than all the gods," offered (in his capacity as priest of the place?) sacrifices, at which the chief men of the Israelites were his guests; there the religion of Yahweh was revealed through Moses, and the Israelites pledged themselves to serve God according to its prescriptions. It appears, therefore, that in the tradition followed by the Israelite historian the tribes within whose pasture lands the mountain of God stood were worshippers of Yahweh before the time of Moses; and the surmise that the name Yahweh belongs to their speech, rather than to that of Israel, has considerable probability. One of these tribes was Midian, in whose land the mountain of God lay. The Kenites also, with whom another tradition connects Moses, seem to have been worshippers of Yahweh. It is probable that Yahweh was at one time worshipped by various tribes south of Palestine, and that several places in that wide territory (Horeb, Sinai, Kadesh, &c.) were sacred to him; the oldest and most famous of these, the mountain of God, seems to have lain in Arabia, east of the Red Sea. From some of these peoples and at one of these holy places, a group of Israelite tribes adopted the religion of Yahweh, the God who, by the hand of Moses, had delivered them from Egypt.2 The tribes of this region probably belonged to some branch of the great Arab stock, and the name Yahweh has, accordingly, been connected with the Arabic hawa, " the void " (between heaven and earth), " the atmosphere," or with the verb hawa, cognate with Heb. hawah, " sink, glide down " (through space); hawwa " blow " (wind). " He rides through the air, He blows " (Wellhausen), would be a fit name for a god of wind and storm. There is, however, no certain evidence that the Israelites in historical times had any consciousness of the primitive significance of the name. The attempts to connect the name Yahweh with that of an Indo-European deity (Jehovah-Jove, &c.), or to derive it from Egyptian or Chinese, may be passed over. But one theory which has had considerable currency requires notice, namely, that Yahweh, or Yahu, Yaho, 3 is the name of a god worshipped throughout the whole, or a great part, of the area occupied by the Western Semites. In its earlier form this opinion rested chiefly on certain misinterpreted testimonies in Greek authors about a god 'Iaco, and was conclusively refuted by Baudissin; recent adherents of the theory build more largely on the occurrence in various parts of this territory of proper names of persons ' See Hebrew Religion. 2 The divergent Judaean tradition, according to which the forefathers had worshipped Yahweh from time immemorial, may indicate that Judah and the kindred clans had in fact been worshippers of Yahweh before the time of Moses. 3 The form Yahu, or Yaho, occurs not only in composition, but by itself; see Aramaic Papyri discovered at Assuan, B 4, 6, I I; E 24; J 6. This is doubtless the original of 'Iaw, frequently found in Greek authors and in magical texts as the name of the God of the Jews. and places which they explain as compounds of Yahu or Yah.' The explanation is in most cases simply an assumption of the point at issue; some of the names have been misread; others are undoubtedly the names of Jews. There remain, however, some cases in which it is highly probable that names of nonIsraelites are really compounded with Yahweh. The most conspicuous of these is the king of Hamath who in the inscriptions of Sargon (722-705 B.C.) is called Yaubi'di and Ilubi'di (compare Jehoiakim-Eliakim). Azriyau of Jaudi, also, in inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser (745-728 B.C.), who was for merly supposed to be Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah, is probably a king of the country in northern Syria known to us from the Zenjirli inscriptions as Ja'di. Friedrich Delitzsch brought into notice three tablets, of the age of the first dynasty of Babylon, in which he read the names of Yaa'-ve-ilu, Ya-ve-ilu, and Ya-u- um -ilu (" Yahweh is God "), and which he regarded as conclusive proof that Yahweh was known in Babylonia before 2000 B.C.; he was a god of the Semitic invaders in the second wave of migration, who were, according to Winckler and Delitzsch, of North Semitic stock (Canaanites, in the linguistic sense).' We should thus have in the tablets evidence of the worship of Yahweh among the Western Semites at a time long before the rise of Israel. The reading of the names is, however, extremely uncertain, not to say improbable, and the far-reaching inferences drawn from them carry no conviction. In a tablet attributed to the 14th century B.C. which Sellin found in the course of his excavations at Tell Ta'annuk (the Taanach of the O.T.) a name occurs which may be read Ahi-Yawi (equivalent to Hebrew Ahijah); 6 if the reading be correct, this would show that Yahweh was worshipped in Central Palestine before the Israelite conquest. The reading is, however, only one of several possibilities. The fact that the full form Yahweh appears, whereas in Hebrew proper names only the shorter Yahu and Yah occur, weighs somewhat against the interpretation, as it does against Delitzsch's reading of his tablets. It would not be at all surprising if, in the great movements of populations and shifting of ascendancy which lie beyond our historical horizon, the worship of Yahweh should have been established in regions remote from those which it occupied in historical times; but nothing which we now know warrants the opinion that his worship was ever general among the Western Semites. Many attempts have been made to trace the West Semitic Yahu back to Babylonia. Thus Delitzsch formerly derived the name from an Akkadian god, I or Ia; or from the Semitic nominative ending, Yau; 7 but this deity has since disappeared from the pantheon of Assyriologists. The combination of Yah with Ea, one of the great Babylonian gods, seems to have a peculiar fascination for amateurs, by whom it is periodically " discovered." Scholars are now agreed that, so far as Yahu or Yah occurs in Babylonian texts, it is as the name of a foreign god. Assuming that Yahweh was primitively a nature god, scholars in the 19th century discussed the question over what sphere of nature he originally presided. According to some he was the god of consuming fire; others saw in him the bright sky, or the heaven; still others recognized in him a storm god, a theory with which the derivation of the name from Heb. hawah or Arab.hawa well accords. The association of Yahweh with storm and fire is frequent in the Old Testament; the thunder is the voice of Yahweh, the lightning his arrows, the rainbow his bow. The revelation at Sinai is amid the awe-inspiring phenomena of tempest. Yahweh leads Israel through the desert in a pillar of cloud and fire; he kindles Elijah's altar by lightning, and translates the prophet in a chariot of fire. See also Judg. v. 4 seq.; 4 See a collection and critical estimate of this evidence by Zimmern, Die Keilinschriften and das Alte Testament, 465 sqq. s Denkschriften d. Wien. Akad., L. iv. p. 115 seq. (1904).Babel and Bibel, 1902. The enormous, and for the most part ephemeral, literature provoked by Delitzsch's lecture cannot be cited here. 7 Wo lag das Paradies ? (1881), pp. 158-166. Deut. xxxiii. I; Ps. xviii. 7-15; Hab. iii. 3-6. The cherub upon which he rides when he flies on the wings of the wind (Ps. xviii. ro) is not improbably an ancient mythological personification of the storm cloud, the genius of tempest (cf. Ps. civ. 3). In Ezekiel the throne of Yahweh is borne up on Cherubim, the noise of whose wings is like thunder. Though we may recognize in this poetical imagery the survival of ancient and, if we please, mythical notions, we should err if we inferred that Yahweh was originally a departmental god, presiding specifically over meteorological phenomena, and that this conception of him persisted among the Israelites till very late times. Rather, as the god - or the chief god - of a region and a people, the most sublime and impressive phenomena, the control of the mightiest forces of nature are attributed to him. As the God of Israel Yahweh becomes its leader and champion in war; he is a warrior, mighty in battle; but he is not a god of war in the specific sense. In the inquiry concerning the nature of Yahweh the name Yahweh Sebaoth (E. V., The Lord of Hosts) has had an important place. The hosts have by some been interpreted of the armies of Israel (see I Sam. xvii. 45, and note the association of the name in the Books of Samuel, where it first appears, with the ark, or with war); by others, of the heavenly hosts, the stars conceived as living beings, later, perhaps, the angels as the court of Yahweh and the instruments of his will in nature and history (Ps. lxxxix.); or of the forces of the world in general which do his bidding, cf. the common Greek renderings, Kuptos Svv uccov and K. 7ravroKparwp, Universal Ruler). It is likely that the name was differently understood in different periods and. circles; but in the prophets the hosts are clearly superhuman powers. In many passages the name seems to be only a more solemn substitute for the simple Yahweh, and as such it has probably often been inserted by scribes. Finally, Sebaoth came to be treated as a proper name (cf. Ps. lxxx. 5, 8, 20), and as such is very common in magical texts. LITERATURE. - Reland, Decas exercitationum philologicarum de vera pronuntiatione nominis Jehova, 1707; Reinke, " Philologisch-historische Abhandlung fiber den Gottesnamen Jehova," in Beitrc ge zur Erklcirung des Alten Testaments, III. (1855); Baudissin, " Der Ursprung des Gottesnamens 'Iaw," in Studien zur semitischen Religionsgeschichte, I. (1876), 179-254; Driver, " Recent Theories on the Origin and Nature of the Tetragrammaton," in Studia Biblica, I. (1885), 1 -20; Deissmann, " Griechische Transkriptionen des Tetragrammaton," in Bibelstudien(1895), 1 -20; Blau, Das altji dische Zauberwesen, 1898. See also HEBREW RELIGION. (G. F. Mo.) See also:
  4. Jehovah in the Bible, the God of Israel who dwells in an established place called heaven, a spirit realm outside the physical heavens and is not omnipresent or "residing" in a human's heart. "Jehovah" at Exodus 6:3(1611 King James Version) Jehovah /dʒɨˈhoʊvə/ is a Latinization of the Hebrew יְהֹוָה, a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible, which has also been transcribed as "Yehowah" or "Yahweh". יְהֹוָה appears 6,518 times in the traditional Masoretic Text, in addition to 305 instances of יֱהֹוִה (Jehovih).The earliest available Latin text to use a vocalization similar to Jehovah dates from the 13th century. Relationship of Jehovah with the rest of the Universe Think of Jehovah as the Architect of the Universe and Jesus Christ as his "Master Builder" (Proverbs chapter 😎 through whom everything else was created. His first Creation was Jesus Christ himself Billions of years ago before the physical universe ever existed.Michael the Archangel (later called Jesus Christ) used God's Holy Spirit in order to create our Universe and later perform miracles related in the Gospels. All energy in the Universe sources with Jehovah God's Holy Spirit and later the exalted and enthroned Jesus Christ enthroned as King would be given "Life within himself" thereby also being given immortality and having his own spirit. (source needed) See also Where does God reside? Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah in various languages around the world / Jehovah in Sign Language"Jehovah" by Judge Rutherford
  5. Here is another explanation by someone who thinks he knows:
  6. Most "scholars" believe "Jehovah" to be a late (c. 1100 CE) hybrid form derived by combining the Latin letters JHVH with the vowels of Adonai, but there is some evidence that it may already have been in use in Late Antiquity (5th century). The consensus among scholars is that the historical vocalization of the Tetragrammaton at the time of the redaction of theTorah (6th century BCE) is most likely Yahweh, however there is disagreement. The historical vocalization was lost because in Second Temple Judaism, during the 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE, the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton came to be avoided, being substituted with Adonai ("my Lord"). Hebrew had no vowels. This was unsatisfactory to those who wanted to pronounce the unpronouncable name of God. Their solution? By combining the vowel signs of 'Adho.nay and 'Elo.him' with the four consonants of the Tetragrammaton the pronunciations Yeho.wah' and Yehowih' were formed. The first of these provided the basis for the Latinized form "Jehova(h)." The first recorded use of this form dates from the thirteenth century C.E. Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk of the Dominican Order, used it in his book Pugeo Fidei of the year 1270. As such, the form "Jehovah" is of late medieval origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine Name and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an entirely different word. ...
  7. Examining the rules of pronunciation and grammar as it applies to the name יהוה. Addendum #1: Another passage that is frequently used in the discussion of the name YHWH is "call upon his name" as can be seen in Psalm 105:1. The Hebrew word translated as "call" is קרא (QRA), which can mean "call," but is the same word meaning "meet." And as discussed in the video, the word "name" can mean "character," so the phrase "call upon his name," can also mean "meet with his character." Also note that the phrase following this in Psalm 105:1 is "make known his deeds among the people." This is a parallel (a common form of Hebrew poetry found throughout Psalms) with "meet with his character," much more so than "call upon his name." Addendum #2: DasWORTanDICH called me on my claim that the character of YHWH can be summed up with the word "unity" (Good job DasWORTanDICH) In Zech 14:9, the end of the verse literally reads "and his name/character is one." The Hebrew for "one" more literally means "unit" or "unity." Throughout the Bible we see God working in unity with himself, even when his actions are in opposition to each other. For instance, in Genesis 1 we see God "creating," but in Genesis 6 we see God "destroying." Two opposites, but working together in unity to bring about order. In the desert God is seen as a cloud by day (bringing coolness and shade), but at night a cloud by fire (bringing heat and light). These two manifestations are in opposition to each other, but work together to protect the people.
  8. Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses > M. Stephen Lett Talks by Stephen Lett Started as pioneer on December, 1966.From 1967 to 1971 served in Brooklyn Bethel. In October 1971 married to Susan and entered in the special pioneer service.From 1979 to 1998 served as circuit overseer.In April 1998 was called to Brooklyn Bethel.On October 2, 1999 was appointed to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. Source: w2000 1/1 29. Fun Fact: He sports a "pinkie ring" just like Prince Not sure if Watchtower Attorney Adam Lett is his son or not. If you know please leave a comment below
  9. Does John 6:53, 54 indicate that only those who do partake will gain everlasting life? How often does Memorial (Nisan 14) also land on the 14th of April or March?When was the last time our Memorial was not within a day of the Jewish passover?
  10. 2015 April 3rd (Friday) - after sundown 2015 Memorial InvitationMemorial Talk Outline2015 Memorial Announcement (and Special Talk Announcement)A Promise Of Perfect Family HappinessPosts on the Main page tagged 2015 Memorial 2014 April 14 - after sundown In 2014, the number of persons who partook worldwide was 14,121, whereas the number who attended was 19,950,019.2014 - Memorial Invitation - for printingInvitation to the Memorial of Jesus Christ's Death - April 14th 2014Find a location near youBlood Red Moon is planned for this year!!!Possibly our LAST Memorial according to Our Kingdom MinistryFacebook Memorial Invitation2014 news article:Shroud of Turin depicts Y-shaped crucifixionThe Memorial for 2015 will be Friday April 3, 2015. - This may not happen!!! 2013 March 26 - after sundown 2013 Memorial Statistics Finalized US Branch2013 Memorial Invitation2013 Memorial Invitation -Sign Language2013年耶稣受難紀念聚邀請單The Last Week of Jesus life. 2012 2012 Memorial Invitation 2011 In 2011, the number of persons who partook worldwide was 11,824, whereas the number who attended was 19,374,7372011 Memorial Invitation
  11. Memorial Bible Reading - Events After Sunset Nisan 9Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 9Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 10Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 11Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 12.Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 13 and Events After Sunset Nisan 14.Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 14Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 15 and Events After Sunset Nisan 16Memorial Bible Reading - Daytime Events Nisan 16 - Thanks to the hard work of our now deceased and dear Miss MoneyPenny Memorial Week Bible Reading for 2016.mp3
  12. 2016 - Wednesday, March 23, 2016 - Facebook Event Page Why does the Jewish Calendar say Nisan 14 this year is in April?We will sing two new songs for this memorialMemorial InvitationUpdated Memorial Talk OutlineLetter regarding Memorial and Special Talk
  13. http://www.jw-archive.org/post/130293709883/the-memorial-for-2017-will-be-tuesday-april-11
  14. Jehovah's Witnesses observe the Memorial of Christ’s death (also called “the Lord’s Evening Meal” - 1 Corinthians 11:20) because Christians are commanded to. Jesus said to "Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:24) But how often? The Memorial of Jesus’ death is truly a memorial, and memorials are usually observed annually. Additionally, when Jesus was on Earth, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his apostles, and then instituted the Lord’s Evening Meal. Because this meal replaced the Jewish Passover it is appropriate to observe it just once a year. Does Paul's use of the word "often" mean that the Lord’s Evening Meal should be celebrated more often than once a year? Referring to the institution of the Memorial of Jesus’ death, Paul wrote: “As often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.” (1 Corinthians 11:25, 26) So what did Paul mean here? Did he really mean for Christ's death to be commemorated frequently - more often than once a year? Notice this excerpt from the w03 1/1 p. 31; Questions From Readers; par. 2: "In the context of 1 Corinthians 11:25, 26, Paul was discussing, not how often, but how the Memorial should be observed. In the original Greek, he did not use the word pol·la′kis, which means “often” or “frequently.” Rather, he used the word ho·sa′kis, which means “as often as,” an idiom meaning “whenever,” “every time that.” Paul was saying: ‘Every time that you do this, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord.’"
  15. Today we surpassed the 800 idioms for our site... What an extraordinary milestone! In just a month it increased by 30 and a couple of days ago it was in 798 Will we reach 1000?
  16. Jehovah's Witnesses believe salvation is a free gift from God attained by being part of "God's organization" and putting faith in Jesus' ransom sacrifice. They do not believe in predestination or eternal security. They believe in different forms of resurrection for two groups of Christians. One group, the anointed, go to heaven while the other group, "the other sheep" or "the great crowd" will live forever on earth. Basis Jehovah's Witnesses teach that salvation is possible only through Christ’s ransom sacrifice[1] and that individuals cannot be saved until they repent of their sins and call on the name of Jehovah.[2] Salvation is described as a free gift from God, but is said to be unattainable without good works that are prompted by faith. The works prove faith is genuine.[3][4] Preaching is said to be one of the works necessary for salvation, both of themselves and those to whom they preach.[5] They believe that people can be "saved" by identifying God's organization and serving God as a part of it.[6] The Witnesses reject the doctrine of universal salvation,[7] as well as that of predestination or fate. They believe that all intelligent creatures are endowed with free will. They regard salvation to be a result of a person's own decisions, not of fate.[8] They also reject the concept of "once saved, always saved" (or "eternal security"), instead believing that one must remain faithful until the end to be saved.[9] Regarding whether non-Witnesses will be "saved", they believe that Jesus has the responsibility of judging such ones, and that no human can judge for themselves who will be saved. Based on their interpretation of Acts 24:15, they believe there will be a resurrection of righteous and unrighteous people. They believe that non-Witnesses alive now may attain salvation if they "begin to serve God".[10][11] The 'anointed' Based on their understanding of scriptures such as Revelation 14:1-4, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that exactly 144,000 faithful Christians go to heaven to rule with Christ in the kingdom of God. They, with Jesus, will also perform priestly duties that will bring faithful mankind to perfect health and 'everlasting life'.[12]They believe that most of those are already in heaven, and that the "remnant" at Revelation 12:17 (KJV) refers to those remaining alive on earth who will be immediately resurrected to heaven when they die. The Witnesses understand Jesus’ words at John 3:3—"except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"—to apply to the 144,000 who are "born again" as "anointed" sons of God in heaven.[13] They teach that the New Testament, which they refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures, is primarily directed to the 144,000, and by extension, to those associated with them.[14] They believe that the terms "Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16), "little flock" (Luke 12:32), "New Jerusalem," and "the bride, the Lamb's wife" (Revelation 21:2,9) in the New Testament also refer to the same group of "anointed" Christians.[15][16][17] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that being 'anointed' involves a personal revelation by God's spirit which "gives positive assurance of adoption" to the individual alone.[18] Members who claim to be anointed are not given special treatment by other congregation members.[19] However, only those in the anointed class partake of the unleavened bread and wine at the yearly commemoration of Christ's death, or Memorial. Were all the anointed resurrected to heavenly life in 1918? Jesus Christ is their mediator "CONGREGATION OF GOD" Also called: 144,000 Anointed Body of Christ Bride of Christ Chosen Ones Elect Holy Nation Israel of God Kingdom Class Members of the Household of God Little Flock New Creation New Nation Royal House Royal Priesthood Sanctuary Class Sons of Levi Spirit Begotten Spiritual Israel Spiritual Sons Rebekah Class Elisha Class Elijah Class New Jerusalem Little Flock Lamb's Wife The 'other sheep' and the 'great crowd' Watch Tower Society literature states that Jesus' use of the term "other sheep" at John 10:16 was intended to indicate that the majority of his followers were not part of the 144,000 and would have an earthly, rather than heavenly, hope.[20][21] In the resurrection, those who died faithful to God are included in the 'other sheep' and will receive the "resurrection of the righteous" ("just" KJV) mentioned in Acts 24:15.[22] Those who died without faithfully serving God will receive the "resurrection of the ... unrighteous" ("unjust" KJV). They will be given an opportunity to gain God's favor and join Jesus' 'other sheep' and live forever in an earthly paradise.[23][24] Individuals unfavorably judged by God are not resurrected, and are said to be in Gehenna, which they consider to be a metaphor for eternal destruction.[25] Those of the 'other sheep' who are alive today, some of whom survive through Armageddon without needing a resurrection, are referred to as the 'great crowd'.[26][27] Jesus is not the mediator for the other sheep. Remnant The word ‘remnant’ is used to indicate the living members of the 144,000. List of title variants given to the living ‘anointed ones’ in the book: Revelation. Its Grand Climax At Hand! (1988) Anointed Christians. God’s zealous slaves on earth. Remnant of the 144,000 integrity keepers. Those of the little flock that have been begotten by God’s spirit. His congregation of anointed ones. Anointed remnant. Anointed conquerors. Genuine anointed Christians. Anointed brothers. Anointed over-comers. Remnant of the completed bride of 144,000. Remnant of the 24 elders enthroned and crowned like kings. God’s anointed people. Remnant of the 144,000 under-priests. Remaining ones of the son’s of spiritual Israel. Remnant of a kingdom of priests - to rule as kings over the earth. Chosen anointed ones. World-wide congregation of anointed Christians that in time would number 144,000. The remaining ones of the 144,000. The anointed heirs to the heavenly kingdom. Remnant of the sealed 144,000 still remaining in the flesh. The kingdom class. The holy ones on earth. Remnant on earth of the 144,000 anointed ones. The remaining holy ones. The anointed witnesses on earth. Remnant of the woman’s seed. Remnant of the anointed ones. The remaining ones of the woman’s seed. The remaining ones of the seed of God’s woman. The remaining ones of the 144,000 anointed ones. The remaining ones of the 144,000 fellow heirs of the heavenly kingdom. The loyal ones. The remaining ones of the chosen heirs of God’s kingdom. A new creation, serving God with heavenly life in view. Those from the 144,000 who live on earth during the last days. Congregation of anointed Christians on earth. Jesus’ brothers, the remaining ones of the woman’s seed. Anointed followers still on earth. Remnant of the 144,000 of spiritual Israel. Remnant of the 144,000 of the bride class. Remaining ones on earth of the 144,000. Anointed ones who survive on earth. Anointed ones of the heavenly bride. Remnant of the anointed bridal company. Remnant of the 144,000 followers here on earth. Remnant of the 144,000 royal brides. Anointed remnant of the 144,000. Anointed remnant of the spiritually adopted sons of God. Remnant of Jesus’ 144,000 under-priests. Remnant of the 144,000 members of the Lamb’s wife. Remnant of the anointed Christians still alive on earth today. Anointed fellow slaves. Anointed bride class. See also: How Does One Know if They Are of the Anointed Or Called to Heavenly Life? How is it that Anointed Christians judge angels? "Appointed" = "Anointed"? If Disfellowshipped and then reinstated, are they still "Anointed" by Jehovah? Are the Kings and prophets of old have the same heavenly hope as the anointed of today? They were anointed by Jehovah directly. Did the first million or so professed "Anointed Christians" really just end up in Gehenna? Albert Schroeder's 1968 talk regarding the Spiritual Temple and the Anointed Is it true that some of the 144 000 are already in heaven? References The Watchtower 6/1/00 p. 11 par. 6 Keep Your “Hope of Salvation” Bright! The Watchtower, March 15, 1989, p. 31 Call on Jehovah’s Name and Get Away Safe! “The Way of Salvation” "James Urges Clean and Active Worship,", The Watchtower 3/1/83 p. 13, "Faith that does not prompt us to do good works is not genuine and will not result in our salvation." "Meetings to Help Us Make Disciples", Our Kingdom Ministry, January 1979, p. 2. The Watchtower, May 15, 2006 pp. 28-29 par. 12 The Watchtower 2/15/83 p. 12 You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth—But How? The Watchtower 4/15/60 p. 229 Does the Bible Teach What You Believe? Awake! 5/07 p. 13 Is Your Life Predestined? You Can Endure to the End The Watchtower October 1, 1999, p. 17. Do You Feel That You Are the Only People Who Will Be Saved?. "Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe That They Are the Only Ones Who Will Be Saved?". The Watchtower: 28. 1 November 2008. Revelation—Its Grand Climax at Hand! chap. 29 p. 200 par. 8 "Singing the Triumphal New Song " The Watchtower 11/1/96 p. 10 Look to Jehovah for Comfort: “One of the main operations of God’s spirit upon first-century Christians was to anoint them as adopted spiritual sons of God and brothers of Jesus. (2 Corinthians 1:21, 22) This is reserved for only 144,000 disciples of Christ. (Revelation 14:1, 3)” Worldwide Security Under the “Prince of Peace” chap. 13 p. 110 par. 10 The “Prince of Peace” Turns to Those Outside the New Covenant Survivors Out of All the Nations, ©1984 Watch Tower, page 65 "Congregation of God", Watchtower Publications Index 1930–1985, "CONGREGATION OF GOD (Also called 144,000; Anointed; Body of Christ; Bride of Christ; Chosen Ones; Elect; Holy Nation; Israel of God; Kingdom Class; Little Flock; New Creation; New Nation; Royal House; Royal Priesthood; Sanctuary Class; Sons of Levi; Spirit Begotten; Spiritual Israel; Spiritual Sons)" Chryssides, George D (2008). Historical Dictionary Of Jehovah's Witnesses. Scarecrow Press. pp. 3, 122,. ISBN 9780810860742. “United In Worship Of The Only True God” chap. 14 pp. 112-113 ‘I Make a Covenant With You for a Kingdom’: “Spiritual Sons—How Do They Know? ... God’s spirit gives positive assurance of adoption as spiritual sons to baptized Christians who have received the heavenly calling. The Watchtower 5/1/07 p. 31: “They do not believe that they necessarily have more holy spirit than their companions of the other sheep have; nor do they expect special treatment or claim that their partaking of the emblems places them above the appointed elders in the congregation” The Watchtower 2/1/98 p. 20 par. 7 The Other Sheep and the New Covenant "Awake" 1/8/95 p. 27 Who Go to Heaven? The Watchtower 2/15/95 p. 11 par. 12 'There Will Be a Resurrection of the Righteous: “Men and women of old who exercised strong faith in Jehovah and his promises and remained faithful to the death were declared righteous by Jehovah on the basis of their faith, and they will without doubt share in the ‘resurrection of the righteous.’ The Watchtower 6/15/06 p. 6 A Sure Guide to Happiness: “Acts 24:15 ... “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” So even “the unrighteous,” many individuals who did not know and serve Jehovah, will get a future opportunity to gain God’s favor.” You Can Believe in a Paradise Earth The Watchtower November 15, 2003, p. 4. The Watchtower 3/15/06 p. 6 The Only Remedy!: “Some committed sins for which there is no forgiveness. They are not in Hades (mankind’s common grave) but in Gehenna, a symbolic place of eternal destruction. (Matthew 23:33) The Watchtower 4/15/95 p. 31 Questions From Readers: “In summary, we might remember “other sheep” as the broader term, encompassing all of God’s servants having the hope of living forever on earth. It includes the more limited category of sheeplike ones today who are being gathered as a “great crowd” with the hope of living right through the impending great tribulation”. Ankerberg, John (2003). Fast Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses. Harvest House Publisher. pp. 51–53. ISBN 9780736910811.
  17. This particular aspect of Ezekiel chapter 9 has not changed with the New Light. See also Ezekiel chap 9
  18. New understanding is now found in: See also Ezekiel chapter 9 KJV / NWT We first reported some changes a few months back here It appears we have returned to the Type / Antitype prophetical analysis.
  19. Jehovah's Witnesses > WTBTS of Pennsylvania > Archive of Publications > 2016 C.E. Regular PDF w_E_201606.pdf Large Print w_f-lp-1_E_201606.pdf w_f-lp-2_E_201606.pdf Audio w_E_201606.mp3.zip
  20. Added today: NWT in Chitonga (released in 2014). http://download-a.akamaihd.net/files/media_bible/4d/nwt_CG.pdf
  21. "I heard from our young sister. Sounds like there have been deaths with the friends. Food and crops gone. Jehovah's organization is there, helping. They need our prayers, and my donation will be little more personal this time. A bit extra." - Sent in via email
  22. Jehovah's Witnesses > WTBTS of Pennsylvania > Archive of Publications > 1907 C.E. It was replaced by yearbook comments in with the 1927 Yearbook, published late in 1926. dailyheavenlyman00seib.pdf Another version
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