Is the term "Jehovah" really the proper name of God?

  The God of the Israelites, revealed to Moses was four Hebrew consonants "YHWH" (Used in the Old Testament 6639 times) called the Tetragrammaton. After the exile (6th Century B.C.), and especially from the 3rd century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons. As Judaism became a universal religion through its proselytizing in the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun elohim, meaning "god," tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered; it was thus replaced vocally in the synagogue ritual by the Hebrew word Adonai ("My Lord"), which was translated as Kyrios ("Lord") in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.

"The name itself was considered by the Hebrews as too holy to utter so the world "Lord" (Heb. Adonai) was substituted when the text was read." (Harper’s Bible Dictionary, p. 1,036. 1985)

"Jews thought the name Yahweh was too holy to pronounce By the 200's B.C., they were using the word Adonai as a respectful substitute when reading from the scriptures." (World Book Encyclopedia 1999)

"JHWH: held by the Jews to be unutterable" (Eerdmans  Dictionary of the Bible © 2000, p. 682)

The term Jehovah, is a Erroneous Hybrid form for the divine name which originated in the mistaken idea that the consonants of Tetragrammaton, YHWH (really pronounced "Yahweh"), were to be read with the vowel points found with them in the MT, which really gives the vowels which are to be read with the substituted word ‘dny, (Adonai, "Lord"). The proper vowels for the latter word are a-o-a, but since the first consonant in YHWH is not a guttural, the vowel e is placed under it (to be read after it) instead of the vowel a; thus, by combining these vowels with the consonants of the Tetragrammaton, the mongrel form, "Yehowah," came into being, which with the English consonant j in place of y and with the German pronunciation of w as v, produced in turn the quaint form of "Jehovah." Even the Jews today such as Saul Lieberman, M.A., D.H.L., Ph.D. Late Distinguished Service Professor of Talmud and Rector of the Rabbinical School, Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Author of Greek in Jewish Palestine and Hellenism in Jewish Palestine. admit The name Jehovah was:

"ERRONEOUSLY TRANSLITERATED from the Masoretic Hebrew text." (For More information Please see the APPENDIX)

Jehovah was never used in the LXX., the Samaritan Pentateuch, the Apocrypha, or in the New Testament. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this pronunciation of the tetragrammaton was never really lost. .The evidence of the Greek church fathers shows the forms Jabe and Jâo to be traditional, as well as the shortened Hebrew forms of the words Jah (see Ps. 68:4, for example) and Jahu (in proper names). It indicates that the name was originally spoken Jaweh or Yahwe (often spelled Yahweh in modern usage).

It was The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. The word "Jehovah" appears five times in the 1611 King James Version (Genesis 22:14; Exodus 6:3; Exodus 17:15; Psalms 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4) As Harper’s Bible Dictionary, p. 1,036.Copyright 1985 explains:

"Its (i.e.The word Jehovah) appearance in the KJV was the result of the translators’ ignorance of the Hebrew language and customs."

In The original Preface to the King James Version of 1611 the translators themselves admitted there were meny Hebrew and Greek words (lexicons) and whole sentences They did not understand, They were forced to GUESS there meanings.

"REASONS MOVING US TO SET DIVERSITY OF SENSES IN THE MARGIN, WHERE THERE IS GREAT PROBABILITY FOR EACH; Some peradventure would have no variety of senses to be set in the margin, lest the authority of the Scriptures for deciding of controversies by that show of uncertainty should somewhat be shaken. But we hold their judgment not to be so sound in this point....It hath pleased God in His divine providence, here and there to scatter words and sentences of that difficulty and doubtfulness, not in doctrinal points that concern salvation (for in such it hath been vouched that the Scriptures are plain), but in matters of less moment, that fearfulness would better beseem us than confidence, ...There be many words in the Scriptures which be never found there but once (having neither brother nor neighbor [ipax legomena], as the Hebrews speak), so that we cannot be holden by conference of places. Again, there be many rare names of certain birds, beasts and precious stones, etc., concerning which the Hebrews themselves are so divided among themselves for judgment, that they may seem to have defined this or that rather because they would say something than because they were sure of that which they said, as St. Jerome somewhere saith of the Septuagint. Now in such a case, doth not a margin do well to admonish the reader to seek further, and not to conclude or dogmatize upon this or that peremptorily (I.E. Final; absolute)? For as it is a fault of incredulity, to doubt of those things that are evident, so to determine of such things as the Spirit of God hath left (even in the judgment of the judicious) questionable, can be no less than presumption...so diversity of signification and sense in the margin, where the text is not so clear, must needs do good--yea, is necessary, as we are persuaded."  [From the "THE TRANSLATORS TO THE READER" The Original Preface to the King James Version of 1611 (The familiar "Epistle Dedicatory" to King James I, printed at the beginning of many current K.J.V. editions, is often mistakenly thought to be the preface of this translation. In actuality, the true preface is a lengthy section entitled "The Translators to the Reader") The above text, modernized as to spelling and punctuation, has been checked and corrected against the reprint of the 1611 edition of the "King James Version of 1611" by Thomas Nelson.]

Appendix of Supporting Evidence

"Jehovah, name of the God of the Hebrew people as erroneously transliterated from the Masoretic Hebrew text. The word consists of the consonants JHVH or JHWH, with the vowels of a separate word, Adonai (Lord). What its original vowels were is a matter of speculation, for because of an interpretation of such texts as Exod. 20:7 and Lev. 24:11, the name came to be regarded as too sacred for expression; the scribes, in reading aloud, substituted 'Lord'...The evidence of the Greek church fathers shows the forms Jabe and Jâo to be traditional, as well as the shortened Hebrew forms of the words Jah (see Ps. 68:4, for example) and Jahu (in proper names). It indicates that the name was originally spoken Jaweh or Yahwe (often spelled Yahweh in modern usage)."(Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia © 1999-2000)

"Jehova, An artificial form of of the name of Yahweh which is obtained by using the consonants of the word Yahweh with the vowels of Adonai, which means "My Lord." Due to reverence for the Bible text the Jews would not make a correction even where there was an obvious error. Since to read the error as written would itself sound ridiculous they distinguished between kethibh, the text as written, and qere, what was to be read." (The New World Dictionary-Concordance to the New American Bible, © 1970, p. 295.)

Jehovah, (Heb. yehowah) A name of god, devised... by artifically combining the   consonants of the name Yehwah (JHWH: held by the jews to be unutterable), and the vowels of the substitute name Adonai ("The Lord"). (Eerdmans   Dictionary of the Bible © 2000, p. 682)

"Jehovah, a hybrid form for the divine name which originated in the mistaken idea that the consonants of Tetragrammaton, YHWH (really pronounced 'Yahweh'), were to be read with the vowel points found with them in the MT, which really gives the vowels which are to be read with the substituted word ‘dny, (Adonai, 'Lord'). The proper vowels for the latter word are a-o-a, but since the first consonant in YHWH is not a guttural, the vowel e is placed under it (to be read after it) instead of the vowel a; thus, by combining these vowels with the consonants of the Tetragrammaton, the mongrel form, 'Yehowah,' came into being, which with the English consonant j in place of y and with the German pronunciation of w as v, produced in turn the quaint form of 'Jehovah." (Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, p. 1110)

The name Jehovah was "erroneously transliterated from the Masoretic Hebrew text." (Saul Lieberman, M.A., D.H.L., Ph.D. Late Distinguished Service Professor of Talmud and Rector of the Rabbinical School, Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Author of Greek in Jewish Palestine and Hellenism in Jewish Palestine.)

"In the Old Testament various names for God are used, Elohim most commonly. The four-letter form YHWH is the most celebrated; the Hebrews considered it ineffable and in reading substituted the name Adonai [my Lord]. The reconstruction Jehovah was based on a mistake, and the form Yahweh is not now regarded as reliable."(The Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Third Edition Copyright © 1994, Columbia University Press)

"Jehovah, name of the God of the Hebrew people as erroneously transliterated from the Masoretic Hebrew text." (Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2000)

"It was The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai or Elohim. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being." (Encyclopedia Britannica © 1999-2000)

"Jehovah: English transliteration of the Divine name, based on a misunderstanding of the Hebrew text, which should probably be read Yahweh." (The Concise Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 277).

"... commonly represented in modern translations by the form "Jehovah", which, however is a philological impossibility." (The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 9: p. 160).

 

"Jehovah: A mispronunciation (introduced by Christian theologians, but most entirely disregarded by the Jews) of the Hebrew "YHWH," the (ineffable) name of God (the Tetragramrnaton or 'Shem ha-Meforash"). This pronunciation is grammatically impossible ... (The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 7: p. 87).

 

“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.  The sound of Y is represented by J and the sound of W by V, as in Latin.  The word ‘Jehovah’ does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew,” (the preface to the Revised Standard Version of the Bible p. 6-7.)

“The pronunciation Jehovah was unknown until 1520, when it was introduced by Galatinus; but was contested by Le Mercier, J. Drusius, against grammatical and historical propriety.”  Rotherham continues his analysis of this ghost word, “Erroneously written and pronounced Jehovah, which is merely a combination of the sacred Tetragrammaton and the vowel in the Hebrew word for Lord, substituted by the Jews for YHWH, because they shrank from pronouncing The Name…To give the name YHWH the vowels of the word for Lord (Heb. Adonai) and pronounce it Jehovah, is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal –viz., Gormuna” (In the introduction to The Emphasized Bible, editor Joseph Rotherham writes, p.24-25).