the divine name

@plddre79 (161)
United States
May 20, 2009 4:53pm CST
jehovah-- the name of the sovereign lord of the universe. it is the name by which he himself chose to be identified. the tetragrammaton (as the four hebrew letters of god's name are known) occurs in the hebrew text of the bible nearly 7,000 times- far more often than does any descriptive title for god. that name is no mere label. it distinguishes the true god from all other gods. including man-made gods. it is the name that all intelligent creatures should know, honor, and sanctify. the name jehovah identifies the creator of heaven and earth the god and father of jesus christ, the one who has promised to establish new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will prevail. surprisingly, many bible translations today do not con- tain the divine name at all. why? a superstitious idea arose among the jews that it was wrong to pronounce that name. this resulted first in avoiding spoken use of the divine name among the jews, then in removal of god's personal name from greek man- uscripts of the holy scriptures. eventually, in most translations of the bible the divine name was completely replaced by expressions such as lord and god. it is note- worthy that only the most vital name of all-jehovah- was tampered with; other bible names were not. yet, it is vital for all mankind to know the divine name. this in= volves much more than just knowing what god's personal name is. it includes knowing also the person represented by the name and living in a way consistent with the pur- pose connected with that name. it is thr responsibility of all who worship the true god to be diligent in making his name known to others, as jesus did. jehovah god promises to bless those who know, use, and honor his great name
3 responses
@Joreim (2)
• Philippines
25 May 09
I do believe that God's name is Jehovah and I do agree that it appeared more than 7000 times in the Old Testament. We should use his name because the prophets and even Jesus gave importance to it. The prophet Joel was inspired to write these words: "Whoever calls in the name of JeHoVaH shall be saved."
• United States
7 Mar 10
"And everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah shall be saved" (Joel 2:32 ) "And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21, compare with 4:10-12) "For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) Johovah in the Old Testament became Jesus in the New Testament through incarnation.
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
20 May 09
I don't know where you got your information, but it is way off course. The Jews do not use to name jehovah because that is not what ???? stands for. The name of G'd is unpronounceable. It is as the sound of the wind. They do not cater to superstitions, because it is totally against their beliefs. The reason they do not use the name of G'd when it is not necessary, is out of respect not out of superstition. The name of G'd is only used in teaching, and in prayer, and the study of Torah. Jews do not prosletize, so they do not go around praying in public and doing penance in public, and pushing others into their beliefs. They are more stoic and yet they have people constantly wishing to convert. It takes years of study to be able to convert, but people still do. Don't spread info if you do not know anything about what you are talking about please. Shalom~Adoniah
@Adoniah (7513)
• United States
20 May 09
It is a shame that Mylot cannot accept the hebrew script. I wrote the name of G'd in hebrew and the Lot put ???? instead. Shalom
@Philbo (578)
• Canada
27 May 09
The tetragrammaton is the biblical name of God. Unfortunately it was very unlikely pronounced Jehovah. The j sound as we know it today was not a sound used in the Hebrew language. Many scholars believe it was pronounced Yahweh, Yahveh or something along those lines. I don't think knowing the exact pronunciation of God's name is as important as some Christian groups claim. If it was I think God would have made sure that the exact pronunciation would have been preserved. Besides that if you study your bible carefully you will note the the Hebrews in Egypt apparently did not know God's "personal" name. Moses at the burning bush had to ask. The interesting thing about that is that when Moses asked, God did not answer with the tetragrammaton. He told Moses "I am that I am... say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you."(Exodus 3:14). Studying God's biblical names is a terrific bible study and for the believe will teach you a great deal about God. I just don't believe that your salvation relies on that bit of biblical understanding.