With all the different jewish names for God in the Bible,?

Question

Why do Jehovah's Witnesses think JEHOVAH is the only proper name for God? Scripture reference from the "original" bible please.

Maybe the right wording is Hebrew names.

Answer 1

In Exodus, Moses was commanded to go to the Hebrews and tell them that God had told them to leave Egypt and go to the Promised Land, which He would lead them to. Moses asked, "When they say 'Who is God that we should follow Him?' what shall I say?" God's response was YHWH (in the Hewbrew), pronounced Yah-way, or Yahweh. This is what God has given as His Personal Name. Other names given to God, such as el shaddai, and many others, identify aspects of God's character, but this is the name God gives as His personal Name, just as I am Stephen. Yahweh, over time, has come to be pronouced Jehovah.

Answer 2

Jehovah's Witnesses certainly do NOT pretend that "Jehovah" is the only acceptable spelling or pronunciation of the Divine Name, but merely the Name's honest English translation that has already been in use for hundreds of years.

Perhaps the questioner has heard of the "Authorized Version of 1611", otherwise known as the "King James Version" of the bible.

The name "Jehovah" is used in KJV a mere four times, although it appears nearly SEVEN THOUSAND times in the original Hebrew, in the form known as "the Tetragrammaton".

"The Tetragrammaton" is the term used to describe the four Hebrew characters (" הוהי ") of the Divine Name. The four characters are generally transliterated (that is, a Roman character familiar to readers of English is shown for the sound of each Hebrew character) as "YHWH" and pronounced something similar to "Yahweh" or "Yehowah". It is relatively straightforward to guess how the Hebrew pronunciation "Yehowah" became translated into the English pronunciation "Jehovah" more than 400 years ago.


The King James Version uses the name "Jehovah" at Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; Isaiah 12:2 and 26:4. A few place-names which include "Jehovah" are also left intact (see Genesis 22:14; Exodus 17:15; Judges 6:24).

The shortened form of "Jehovah" is "Jah". KJV uses "Jah" at Psalm 68:4, and within the exclamation "Hallelu-jah" (or "Alleluia"), which literally means "praise Jah" (see Revelation 19:1-6).

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm?article=diagram_04.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm?article=article_05.htm
http://watchtower.org/e/20040122/article_02.htm

Answer 3

According to the Oxford Bible Commentary:

“Jehovah (YHWH) is the God, throughout the OT as the God who created the world.”

“But all our texts imply or affirm that for Israel, there can in the end be only Jehovah (YHWH).”

Jehovah is the only name for God.

All others are titles that discribe something about Jehovah.

1 Jehovah is God Almighty
2 Jehovah is the Lord

In English if you can add the article 'The' infront of it, it is a title.

The God, The Lord, The Ancient of Days, etc.

Only proper names can not have the article 'the' infront of it.

'The John' is not the name of a person, but something else.

.

Answer 4

Because they (incorrectly) translate the tetrogrameton into JHVH and use the (incorrect) vowel points to add E, O, and A... to make Jehovah. It should be YHWH because the J comes from hebrew- Greman- English... the closest we can get to the original is Yahweh. Yehovah is the correct way to say Jehovah in English, although nobody knows the original way to say it.

Answer 5

There is no "original Bible". The Bible was put together in the fifth century by the Roman Catholic Church out of several texts collected over many centuries. Which is why when evidence of some of that text are found to be quite ancient, it proves nothing. They intentionally selected old material.

Answer 6

God has different Names in the Bible, each one descriptive of His nature. Jehovah-Rapha means he is our Healer. Jehovah-Shalom means He is our peace. Jehovah-Tsidkenu means He is our righteousness. Jehovah-Roi means He is our Shepherd, Jehovah-Jireh means He provides, Jehovah-Shammah means He is there. JEHOVAH is one of four basic Names for God and is found 5500 times in the Old Testament and is seen as LORD (in caps) in the Bible. This expresses His everlasting covenant with His people.
ELOHIM is also used and is found 25 times in the O.T. and is seen as 'God' in our versions. This tells of God's strength and power.
SHADDAI is rendered 'Almighty' and refers to God's grace and power to supply His people's needs.
ADONAI literally means 'Lord' and refers to God's lordship over our lives.
I hope this clarifies things a bit for you. The study of God's Names and qualities is a very interesting one! Blessings to you. A Google search might help you more than I can with such limited space!

Answer 7

Jehovah is a description of God..

Jehovah Jireh=God is our provider
Jehovah shalom=God is our peace

Answer 8

God also said to Moses, "Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

Answer 9

Because it is the most common one used...ie the 4-letter ineffable name....which, by the way, is not pronounced at the JWs claim it to be. (The real pronounciation is generally not known...left to only a few who have retained the knowledge and passed it down).

Answer 10

They are God's because we called them God's