Jehovah or YHWH?

Question

jews say YHWH/YAHWEH an christians say JEHOVAH.

whats the difference?is this so that they aren't identified with each otha, the new covenant thing?

Answer 1

The Scriptures encourage us to use God's personal name.

The Hebrew name “Yahweh” (or “Yehowah”) does seem to accurately pronounce the divine name. Just as the Hebrew name “Yeshua” (or “Yehoshua”) is translated into “Jesus” in English, the Hebrew name “Yahweh” is translated into “Jehovah” in English.

The important thing is to use God’s personal name in whatever language you speak, rather than insisting upon the impersonal! The name “Yahweh” is certainly preferable to the non-name “God” or “Lord”. If you speak English, feel free to use "Jehovah".

(Psalms 83:18) That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth

(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them

Answer 2

"Jehovah" is based on a misunderstanding of the way the Hebrew was written.

In part because of the commandment "do not take the name of YHWH your God in vain", there is a very long history of treating the Hebrew name for God (now usually rendered by the letters YHWH, and probably to be pronounced "Yahweh") with special reverence. This is especially seen in how it was written (e.g., with more archaic letter forms than the text around it) and the practice of not speaking the name aloud but substituting another Hebrew word when it appeared in the text.

The usual word susbtituted was "Adonai", meaning "Lord". (This tradition was picked up by Greek translators and by most other Bible translations. English versions mostly use "LORD", with small caps.)

The medieval Masoretes, scribes who kept the tradition of how to read the Hebrew text of the Bible, continued this habit when they added vowel-markings to the Hebrew (which only used consonants). They would write the vowels of "Adonai" over the letters YHWH to remind them to SAY "Adonai".

But then Christian readers of the Hebrew text mistakenly read these vowels WITH the consonants, to create the new (non)form "Jehovah".

Note that in earlier times and in other European languages "Jehovah" would be pronounced "Yehowah". The reason the word now sounds SO different from the Hebrew is due to changes in how the ENGLISH consonants are now pronounced.

Of course, the mistake is now widely recognized, and recent translations are more likely to use "Yahweh" or to continue the practice of rendering it "the LORD", but the use of "Jehovah" is firmly entrenched in devotional literature.

Answer 3

They all mean the same - God.

The Jews (in the Old Testament) called God Yahweh.

However, the Jews back then were so fearful of God that they cannot utter his name openly. Therefore they spell it as YHWH (ie. without the vowels) whenever they want to mention God's name.

YHWH then became an acronym whose pronunciation evolved to Jehovah (the J being pronounced as a Y). Cheers.

Answer 4

The basis difference is that "Yahweh" is thought to be the closest pronunciation in Hebrew. "Jehovah" is the pronunciation in English and has been in use for so many centuries, that some Bible scholars feel it cannot be supplanted. The pronunciation of God's eternal name changes from language to language. Some apparently prefer to use the supposed Hebrew pronunciation for God's name and the English pronunciation for every other Bible name – such as Joseph, Moses, Jeremiah and so on.

Answer 5

Not at all. Jews believe that it is forbidden to actually say the name YHWH. The original Hebrew did not have vowels in it so when later on, the priests added vowels to aide in reading and copying manuscripts, when they came across YHWH, instead of saying the name of our Lord they added the vowels of "Elohim" to the name YHWH, and in Hebrew this leaves you with Jehovah, a name that Jews can speak aloud, and it carries the "I am that I am" name in its makeup.

Answer 6

No difference at all, the name is the same Almighty God, the One, the only living God of Israel, the God Abraham, Issac and Moses, Jehovah is the how we pronounce JHWH/YAHWEH

Answer 7

Not all Christians use the tern Jehovah because they don't want to be confused with Jehovah's Witnesses. I think the difference is mostly New and Old Testaments.

Answer 8

Jehovah is a mistaken transliteration from Hebrew to English. Yod He Vau He is pronounced "Yahweh". However, because many people have been used to "Jehovah", it has gotten a distinct character. But see http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiDEzCvGjACikL865nWca0Xsy6IX?qid=20060620035348AA2mkKt

Answer 9

Ask 100 different people speaking 100 different languages and you will get 100 different pronounciations for the name of God. The correct pronounciation varies among languages. The names of most people in the Bible are pronounced differently in English than they were in the original languages.
What matters with God's name is that we use and understand its meaning, glorify it, and sanctify it.

Answer 10

Jehova is a very bad English translation. The actual name of the God of Abraham, Issaic, and Jacob is: Yahweh (YHVH)