Does your bible have God's true name in it?

Question

Some bibles I have seen have had the name "Jehovah" replaced with "Lord" or "God" or "Father" or some other name of a position. Do you think it was right for somebody to come along and change that?

Answer 1

Yeah my Bible has Jehovah's name in it.

The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever
http://watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm
God's Name—Its Meaning and Pronunciation

ONE of the Bible writers asked: "Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of both hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in a mantle? Who has made all the ends of the earth to rise? What is his name and what the name of his son, in case you know?" (Proverbs 30:4) How can we find out what God's name is? That is an important question. The creation is a powerful proof that God must exist, but it does not tell us his name. (Romans 1:20) In fact, we could never know God's name unless the Creator himself told us. And he has done that in his own Book, the Holy Bible.

On one celebrated occasion, God pronounced his own name, repeating it in the hearing of Moses. Moses wrote an account of that event that has been preserved in the Bible down to our day. (Exodus 34:5) God even wrote his name with his own "finger." When he had given Moses what we today call the Ten Commandments, God miraculously wrote them down. The record says: "Now as soon as [God] had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai he proceeded to give Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone written on by God's finger." (Exodus 31:18) God's name appears eight times in the original Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-17) Thus God himself has revealed his name to man both verbally and in writing. So, what is that name?

In the Hebrew language it is written Four Hebrew letters. These four letters, called the Tetragrammaton, are read from right to left in Hebrew and can be represented in many modern languages as YHWH or JHVH. God's name, represented by these four consonants, appears almost 7,000 times in the original "Old Testament," or Hebrew Scriptures.

The name is a form of a Hebrew verb ha·wah' (Three Hebrew letters), meaning "to become," and actually signifies "He Causes to Become." * Thus, God's name identifies him as the One who progressively fulfills his promises and unfailingly realizes his purposes. Only the true God could bear such a meaningful name.

Do you remember the different ways that God's name appeared in Psalm 83:18, as set out in the previous section? Two of those translations had mere titles ("the LORD," the "Eternal") as substitutes for God's name. But in two of them, Yahweh and Jehovah, you can see the four letters of God's name. However, the pronunciation is different. Why?
How Is God's Name Pronounced?

The truth is, nobody knows for sure how the name of God was originally pronounced. Why not? Well, the first language used in writing the Bible was Hebrew, and when the Hebrew language was written down, the writers wrote only consonants—not vowels. Hence, when the inspired writers wrote God's name, they naturally did the same thing and wrote only the consonants.

While ancient Hebrew was an everyday spoken language, this presented no problem. The pronunciation of the Name was familiar to the Israelites and when they saw it in writing they supplied the vowels without thinking (just as, for an English reader, the abbreviation "Ltd." represents "Limited" and "bldg." represents "building").

Two things happened to change this situation. First, a superstitious idea arose among the Jews that it was wrong to say the divine name out loud; so when they came to it in their Bible reading they uttered the Hebrew word 'Adho·nai' ("Sovereign Lord"). Further, as time went by, the ancient Hebrew language itself ceased to be spoken in everyday conversation, and in this way the original Hebrew pronunciation of God's name was eventually forgotten.

In order to ensure that the pronunciation of the Hebrew language as a whole would not be lost, Jewish scholars of the second half of the first millennium C.E. invented a system of points to represent the missing vowels, and they placed these around the consonants in the Hebrew Bible. Thus, both vowels and consonants were written down, and the pronunciation as it was at that time was preserved.

When it came to God's name, instead of putting the proper vowel signs around it, in most cases they put other vowel signs to remind the reader that he should say 'Adho·nai'. From this came the spelling Iehouah, and, eventually, Jehovah became the accepted pronunciation of the divine name in English. This retains the essential elements of God's name from the Hebrew original.

Which Pronunciation Will You Use?

Where, though, did pronunciations like Yahweh come from? These are forms that have been suggested by modern scholars trying to deduce the original pronunciation of God's name. Some—though not all—feel that the Israelites before the time of Jesus probably pronounced God's name Yahweh. But no one can be sure. Perhaps they pronounced it that way, perhaps not.

Nevertheless, many prefer the pronunciation Jehovah. Why? Because it has a currency and familiarity that Yahweh does not have. Would it not, though, be better to use the form that might be closer to the original pronunciation? Not really, for that is not the custom with Bible names.

To take the most prominent example, consider the name of Jesus. Do you know how Jesus' family and friends addressed him in day-to-day conversation while he was growing up in Nazareth? The truth is, no human knows for certain, although it may have been something like Yeshua (or perhaps Yehoshua). It certainly was not Jesus.

However, when the accounts of his life were written in the Greek language, the inspired writers did not try to preserve that original Hebrew pronunciation. Rather, they rendered the name in Greek, I·e·sous'. Today, it is rendered differently according to the language of the reader of the Bible. Spanish Bible readers encounter Jesús (pronounced Hes·soos'). Italians spell it Gesù (pronounced Djay·zoo'). And Germans spell it Jesus (pronounced Yay'soos).

Must we stop using the name of Jesus because most of us, or even all of us, do not really know its original pronunciation? So far, no translator has suggested this. We like to use the name, for it identifies the beloved Son of God, Jesus Christ, who gave his lifeblood for us. Would it be showing honor to Jesus to remove all mention of his name in the Bible and replace it with a mere title like "Teacher," or "Mediator"? Of course not! We can relate to Jesus when we use his name the way it is commonly pronounced in our language.

Similar comments could be made regarding all the names we read in the Bible. We pronounce them in our own language and do not try to imitate the original pronunciation. Thus we say "Jeremiah," not Yir·meya'hu. Similarly we say Isaiah, although in his own day this prophet likely was known as Yeshae·ya'hu. Even scholars who are aware of the original pronunciation of these names use the modern pronunciation, not the ancient, when speaking about them.

And the same is true with the name Jehovah. Even though the modern pronunciation Jehovah might not be exactly the way it was pronounced originally, this in no way detracts from the importance of the name. It identifies the Creator, the living God, the Most High to whom Jesus said: "Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified."—Matthew 6:9.

'It Cannot Be Supplanted'

While many translators favor the pronunciation Yahweh, the New World Translation and also a number of other translations continue the use of the form Jehovah because of people's familiarity with it for centuries. Moreover, it preserves, equally with other forms, the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, YHWH or JHVH.#

Earlier, the German professor Gustav Friedrich Oehler made a similar decision for much the same reason. He discussed various pronunciations and concluded: "From this point onward I use the word Jehovah, because, as a matter of fact, this name has now become more naturalized in our vocabulary, and cannot be supplanted."—Theologie des Alten Testaments (Theology of the Old Testament), second edition, published in 1882, page 143.

Similarly, in his Grammaire de l'hébreu biblique (Grammar of Biblical Hebrew), 1923 edition, in a footnote on page 49, Jesuit scholar Paul Joüon states: "In our translations, instead of the (hypothetical) form Yahweh, we have used the form Jéhovah . . . which is the conventional literary form used in French." In many other languages Bible translators use a similar form, as indicated in the box on page 8.

Is it, then, wrong to use a form like Yahweh? Not at all. It is just that the form Jehovah is likely to meet with a quicker response from the reader because it is the form that has been "naturalized" into most languages. The important thing is that we use the name and declare it to others. "Give thanks to Jehovah, you people! Call upon his name. Make known among the peoples his dealings. Make mention that his name is put on high."—Isaiah 12:4.

Let us see how God's servants have acted in harmony with that command through the centuries.


God's Name and Bible Translators
http://watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm

EARLY in the second century, after the last of the apostles had died, the falling away from the Christian faith foretold by Jesus and his followers began in earnest. Pagan philosophies and doctrines infiltrated the congregation; sects and divisions arose, and the original purity of faith was corrupted. And God's name ceased to be used.

As this apostate Christianity spread, the need arose to translate the Bible from its original Hebrew and Greek into other languages. How did the translators render God's name in their translations? Usually, they used the equivalent of "Lord." A very influential version of that time was the Latin Vulgate, a translation of the Bible by Jerome into everyday Latin. Jerome rendered the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) by substituting Dominus, "Lord."

Eventually, new languages, such as French, English and Spanish, began to emerge in Europe. However, the Catholic Church discouraged the translating of the Bible into these new languages. Thus, while Jews, using the Bible in the original Hebrew language, refused to pronounce God's name when they saw it, most "Christians" heard the Bible read in Latin translations that did not use the name.

In time, God's name came back into use. In 1278 it appeared in Latin in the work Pugio fidei (Dagger of Faith), by Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk. Raymundus Martini used the spelling Yohoua.* Soon after, in 1303, Porchetus de Salvaticis completed a work entitled Victoria Porcheti adversus impios Hebraeos (Porchetus' Victory Against the Ungodly Hebrews). In this he, too, mentioned God's name, spelling it variously Iohouah, Iohoua and Ihouah. Then, in 1518, Petrus Galatinus published a work entitled De arcanis catholicae veritatis (Concerning Secrets of the Universal Truth) in which he spells God's name Iehoua.

The name first appeared in an English Bible in 1530, when William Tyndale published a translation of the first five books of the Bible. In this he included the name of God, usually spelled Iehouah, in several verses,# and in a note in this edition he wrote: "Iehovah is God's name . . . Moreover as oft as thou seist LORD in great letters (except there be any error in the printing) it is in Hebrew Iehovah." From this the practice arose of using Jehovah's name in just a few verses and writing "LORD" or "GOD" in most other places where the Tetragrammaton occurs in the Hebrew text.

In 1611 what became the most widely used English translation, the Authorized Version, was published. In this, the name appeared four times in the main text. (Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4) "Jah," a poetic abbreviation of the name, appeared in Psalm 68:4. And the name appeared in full in place-names such as "Jehovah-jireh." (Genesis 22:14; Exodus 17:15; Judges 6:24) However, following the example of Tyndale, the translators in most instances substituted "LORD" or "GOD" for God's name. But if God's name could appear in four verses, why could it not appear in all the other thousands of verses that contain it in the original Hebrew?

Something similar was happening in the German language. In 1534 Martin Luther published his complete translation of the Bible, which he based on the original languages. For some reason he did not include the name of God but used substitutes, such as HERR ("LORD"). However, he was aware of the divine name, since in a sermon on Jeremiah 23:1-8, which he delivered in 1526, he said: "This name Jehovah, Lord, belongs exclusively to the true God."

In 1543 Luther wrote with characteristic frankness: "That they [the Jews] now allege the name Jehovah to be unpronounceable, they do not know what they are talking about . . . If it can be written with pen and ink, why should it not be spoken, which is much better than being written with pen and ink? Why do they not also call it unwriteable, unreadable or unthinkable? All things considered, there is something foul." Nevertheless, Luther had not rectified matters in his translation of the Bible. In later years, however, other German Bibles did contain the name in the text of Exodus 6:3.

In succeeding centuries, Bible translators went in one of two directions. Some avoided any use of God's name, while others used it extensively in the Hebrew Scriptures, either in the form Jehovah or in the form Yahweh. Let us consider two translations that avoided the name and see why, according to their translators, this was done.
Why They Left It Out

When J. M. Powis Smith and Edgar J. Goodspeed produced a modern translation of the Bible in 1935, readers found that LORD and GOD had been used in most places as a substitution for God's name. The reason was explained in a preface: "In this translation we have followed the orthodox Jewish tradition and substituted 'the Lord' for the name 'Yahweh' and the phrase 'the Lord God' for the phrase 'the Lord Yahweh.' In all cases where 'Lord' or 'God' represents an original 'Yahweh' small capitals are employed."

Then, in an unusual reversal of the tradition of the Jews who read YHWH but pronounced it "Lord," the preface says: "Anyone, therefore, who desires to retain the flavor of the original text has but to read 'Yahweh' wherever he sees LORD or GOD"!

On reading this, the question immediately comes to mind: If reading "Yahweh" instead of "LORD" retains the "flavor of the original text," why did the translators not use "Yahweh" in their translation? Why did they, in their own word, 'substitute' the word "LORD" for God's name and thus mask the flavor of the original text?

The translators say that they were following orthodox Jewish tradition. Yet is that wise for a Christian? Remember, it was the Pharisees, the preservers of orthodox Jewish tradition, who rejected Jesus and were told by him: "You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition." (Matthew 15:6) Such substitution truly weakens the Word of God.

In 1952 the Revised Standard Version of the Hebrew Scriptures was published in English, and this Bible, too, used substitutions for God's name. This was noteworthy because the original American Standard Version, of which this was a revision, used the name Jehovah all through the Hebrew Scriptures. Hence, the omission of the name was an outstanding departure. Why was it done?

In the preface to the Revised Standard Version, we read: "For two reasons the Committee has returned to the more familiar usage of the King James Version [that is, omitting the name of God]: (1) the word 'Jehovah' does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew; and (2) the use of any proper name for the one and only God, as though there were other gods from whom he had to be distinguished, was discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era and is entirely inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church."

Are these sound arguments? Well, as discussed earlier, the name Jesus does not accurately represent the original form of the name of God's Son used by his followers. Yet this did not persuade the Committee to avoid using that name and to use instead a title such as "Mediator" or "Christ." True, these titles are used, but in addition to the name Jesus, not instead of it.

As to the argument that there are no other gods from whom the true God had to be differentiated, that is simply not true. There are millions of gods worshiped by mankind. The apostle Paul noted: "There are many 'gods.'" (1 Corinthians 8:5; Philippians 3:19) Of course, there is only one true God, as Paul goes on to say. Hence, one great advantage of using the name of the true God is that it keeps him separate from all the false gods. Besides, if using the name of God is "entirely inappropriate," why does it appear almost 7,000 times in the original Hebrew Scriptures?

The truth is, many translators have not felt that the name, with its modern pronunciation, is out of place in the Bible. They have included it in their versions, and the result has always been a translation that gives more honor to the Bible's Author and hews more faithfully to the original text. Some widely used versions that include the name are the Valera translation (Spanish, published in 1602), the Almeida version (Portuguese, published in 1681), the original Elberfelder version (German, published in 1871), as well as the American Standard Version (English, published in 1901). Some translations, notably The Jerusalem Bible, also consistently use God's name but with the spelling Yahweh.

Read now the comments of some translators who included the name in their translations and compare their reasoning with that of those who omitted the name.
Why Others Include the Name

Here is the comment of the translators of the American Standard Version of 1901: "[The translators] were brought to the unanimous conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine Name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English or any other version of the Old Testament . . . This Memorial Name, explained in Ex. iii. 14, 15, and emphasized as such over and over in the original text of the Old Testament, designates God as the personal God, as the covenant God, the God of revelation, the Deliverer, the Friend of his people . . . This personal name, with its wealth of sacred associations, is now restored to the place in the sacred text to which it has an unquestionable claim."

Similarly, in the preface to the original German Elberfelder Bibel we read: "Jehova. We have retained this name of the Covenant God of Israel because the reader has been accustomed to it for years."

Steven T. Byington, translator of The Bible in Living English, explains why he uses God's name: "The spelling and the pronunciation are not highly important. What is highly important is to keep it clear that this is a personal name. There are several texts that cannot be properly understood if we translate this name by a common noun like 'Lord,' or, much worse, by a substantivized adjective [for example, the Eternal]."

The case of another translation, by J. B. Rotherham, is interesting. He used God's name in his translation but preferred the form Yahweh. However, in a later work, Studies in the Psalms, published in 1911, he returned to the form Jehovah. Why? He explains: "JEHOVAH.—The employment of this English form of the Memorial name (Exo. 3:18) in the present version of the Psalter does not arise from any misgiving as to the more correct pronunciation, as being Yahwéh; but solely from practical evidence personally selected of the desirability of keeping in touch with the public ear and eye in a matter of this kind, in which the principal thing is the easy recognition of the Divine name intended."

In Psalm 34:3 worshipers of Jehovah are exhorted: "O magnify Jehovah with me, you people, and let us exalt his name together." How can readers of Bible translations that omit God's name respond fully to that exhortation? Christians are happy that at least some translators have had the courage to include God's name in their renderings of the Hebrew Scriptures, and thus preserve what Smith and Goodspeed call the "flavor of the original text."

However, most translations, even when they include God's name in the Hebrew Scriptures, omit it from the Christian Greek Scriptures, the "New Testament." What is the reason for this? Is there any justification for including God's name in this last portion of the Bible?


"The LORD"—Equivalent of "Jehovah"?
http://watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm

To remove God's distinctive personal name from the Bible and substitute a title such as "Lord" or "God" makes the text weak and inadequate in many ways. For example, it can lead to meaningless combinations of words. In its foreword, The Jerusalem Bible says: "To say, 'The Lord is God' is surely a tautology [a needless, or meaningless, repetition], as to say 'Yahweh is God' is not."

Such substitutions can also lead to awkward phrases. Thus in the Authorized Version, Psalm 8:9 reads: "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" What an improvement when the name Jehovah is restored to such a text! Thus, Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible reads here: "Jehovah, our Lord, how honourable Thy name in all the earth!"

Removing the name can also lead to confusion. Psalm 110:1 says: "THE LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." (Authorized Version) Who is talking to whom? How much better the rendering: "The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is: 'Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies as a stool for your feet.'"—New World Translation.

Additionally, substituting "Lord" for "Jehovah" removes something of pivotal importance from the Bible: the personal name of God. The Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Volume 1, page 572) states: "Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only 'name' of God."

The Imperial Bible-Dictionary (Volume 1, page 856) describes the difference between "God" (Elohim) and "Jehovah," stating: "[Jehovah] is everywhere a proper name, denoting the personal God and him only; whereas Elohim partakes more of the character of a common noun, denoting usually, indeed, but not necessarily nor uniformly, the Supreme."

J. A. Motyer, principal of Trinity College, England, adds: "Much is lost in Bible reading if we forget to look beyond the substitute word [Lord or God] to the personal, intimate name of God himself. By telling his people his name, God intended to reveal to them his inmost character."—Eerdmans' Handbook to the Bible, page 157.

No, one cannot render a distinctive proper name by a mere title. A title can never convey the full, rich meaning of the original name of God.


Why We Must Know God's Name
http://watchtower.org/e/na/index.htm

"EVERYONE who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved." (Romans 10:13) With these words the apostle Paul stressed how vital it is for us to know God's name. His statement brings us back to our original question: Why did Jesus put the 'hallowing,' or 'sanctifying,' of God's name at the very beginning of his Model Prayer, ahead of so many other important matters? To understand this, we need to grasp a little better the meanings of two key words.

First, what does the word 'hallow,' or 'sanctify,' really mean? Literally it means: "to make holy." But is not God's name already holy? Of course it is. When we sanctify God's name, we do not make it more holy than it is. Rather we recognize it as holy, set it apart, hold it in the highest esteem. When we pray for God's name to be sanctified, we are looking forward to the time when all creation will respect it as holy.

Second, exactly what is the implication of the word "name"? We have seen that God has a name, Jehovah, and that his name appears thousands of times in the Bible. We have discussed, too, the importance of restoring that name to its rightful place in the Bible text. If the name is not there, how can the psalmist's words be fulfilled: "Those knowing your name will trust in you, for you will certainly not leave those looking for you, O Jehovah."—Psalm 9:10.

But does 'knowing God's name' involve merely an intellectual knowledge that God's name in Hebrew is YHWH, or in English, Jehovah? No, it means more than that. When Moses was in Mount Sinai, "Jehovah proceeded to come down in the cloud and station himself with [Moses] there and declare the name of Jehovah." What did this declaring of the name of Jehovah entail? A description of his qualities: "Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth." (Exodus 34:5, 6) Again, shortly before his death, Moses said to the Israelites: "I shall declare the name of Jehovah." What followed? Mention of some of His grand attributes, and then a review of what God had accomplished toward Israel for the sake of His name. (Deuteronomy 32:3-43) Hence, knowing God's name means learning what that name represents and worshiping the God who possesses it.

Since Jehovah has linked his name with his qualities, purposes and acts, we can see why the Bible says that God's name is holy. (Leviticus 22:32) It is majestic, great, fear-inspiring and unreachably high. (Psalm 8:1; 99:3; 148:13) Yes, God's name is more than a mere label. It represents him as a person. It was not merely a temporary name to be used for a time and then to be superseded by a title such as "Lord." Jehovah himself said to Moses: "'Jehovah . . .' This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation."—Exodus 3:15.

Try as he will, man will never eliminate God's name from the earth. "'From the sun's rising even to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place sacrificial smoke will be made, a presentation will be made to my name, even a clean gift; because my name will be great among the nations,' Jehovah of armies has said."—Malachi 1:11; Exodus 9:16; Ezekiel 36:23.

Hence, the sanctification of God's name is far more important than any other issue. All of God's purposes are linked to his name. Mankind's problems began when Satan first profaned Jehovah's name by calling Him, in effect, a liar and unfit to rule the human race. (Genesis 3:1-6; John 8:44) Only when God's name is properly vindicated will mankind enjoy complete relief from the disastrous effects of Satan's lie. That is why Christians pray so fervently for the sanctification of God's name. But there are things that they can do, also, to sanctify it.
How Can We Sanctify God's Name?

One way is to talk to others about Jehovah and point to his Kingdom by Christ Jesus as mankind's only hope. (Revelation 12:10) Many are doing this, in a modern fulfillment of these words of Isaiah's prophecy: "In that day you will certainly say: 'Give thanks to Jehovah, you people! Call upon his name. Make known among the peoples his dealings. Make mention that his name is put on high. Make melody to Jehovah, for he has done surpassingly. This is made known in all the earth.'"—Isaiah 12:4, 5.

Another way is to obey God's laws and commands. Jehovah told the nation of Israel: "You must keep my commandments and do them. I am Jehovah. And you must not profane my holy name, and I must be sanctified in the midst of the sons of Israel. I am Jehovah who is sanctifying you."—Leviticus 22:31, 32.

How did the Israelites' keeping of Jehovah's Law sanctify his name? The Law was given to the Israelites on the basis of his name. (Exodus 20:2-17) Hence, when they kept the Law, they were showing proper honor and esteem for that name. Furthermore, Jehovah's name was on the Israelites as a nation. (Deuteronomy 28:10; 2 Chronicles 7:14) When they acted properly, this brought praise to him, just as a child who acts in a proper manner brings honor to his father.

On the other hand, when the Israelites failed to keep God's Law, they profaned his name. Thus, sins such as sacrificing to idols, swearing to a lie, oppressing the poor and committing fornication are described in the Bible as 'profaning God's name.'—Leviticus 18:21; 19:12; Jeremiah 34:16; Ezekiel 43:7.

Similarly, Christians have been given commands in God's name. (John 8:28) And they, too, are associated with 'a people for Jehovah's name.' (Acts 15:14) Hence, a Christian who sincerely prays, "Hallowed be your name" will sanctify that name in his own life by obeying all of God's commands. (1 John 5:3) This would include also obeying the commands given by God's Son, Jesus, who always glorified his Father.—John 13:31, 34; Matthew 24:14; 28:19, 20.

The night before his execution, Jesus highlighted the importance of God's name to Christians. After saying to his Father: "I have made your name known to them and will make it known," he goes on to explain, "in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in union with them." (John 17:26) The disciples' learning the name of God involved their personally coming to know the love of God. Jesus had made it possible for them to become acquainted with God as their loving Father.—John 17:3.
How It Affects You

At a first-century meeting of the Christian apostles and older men in Jerusalem, the disciple James said: "Symeon has related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the nations to take out of them a people for his name." Could you be identified with those whom God takes out to be a "people for his name" if you fail to use or bear that name?—Acts 15:14.

Although many are reluctant to use the name Jehovah, and many Bible translators leave it out of their translations, millions of people around the world have gladly accepted the privilege of bearing God's name, of using it not only in worship but in everyday speech, and of declaring it to others. If somebody spoke to you about the God of the Bible and used the name Jehovah, with which religious group would you associate him? There is but one group in the world that uses God's name regularly in their worship, just as his worshipers of ancient times did. They are Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Bible-based name Jehovah's Witnesses identifies these Christians as a 'people for God's name.' They are proud to bear that name, for it is one that Jehovah God himself gave to true worshipers. At Isaiah 43:10, we read: "'You are my witnesses,' is the utterance of Jehovah, 'even my servant whom I have chosen.'" Who was God discussing here? Consider some of the preceding verses.

In verses 5 to 7 of the same chapter, Isaiah says: "Do not be afraid, for I am with you. From the sunrising I shall bring your seed, and from the sunset I shall collect you together. I shall say to the north, 'Give up!' and to the south, 'Do not keep back. Bring my sons from far off, and my daughters from the extremity of the earth, everyone that is called by my name and that I have created for my own glory, that I have formed, yes, that I have made.'" In our day, those verses refer to God's own people that he has collected from all nations to praise him and to be his witnesses. Thus God's name not only identifies him but also helps to identify his true servants on earth today.

The Blessings From Knowing God's Name

Jehovah protects those who love his name. The psalmist said: "Because on me he has set his affection, I shall also provide him with escape. I shall protect him because he has come to know my name." (Psalm 91:14) He also remembers them: "At that time those in fear of Jehovah spoke with one another, each one with his companion, and Jehovah kept paying attention and listening. And a book of remembrance began to be written up before him for those in fear of Jehovah and for those thinking upon his name."—Malachi 3:16.

Thus, the benefits from knowing and loving God's name are not limited to this life only. To obedient mankind Jehovah has promised everlasting life in happiness on a Paradise earth. David was inspired to write: "Evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."—Psalm 37:9, 11.

How will this be possible? Jesus gave the answer. In the same Model Prayer where he taught us to pray, "Let your name be sanctified," he added: "Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth." (Matthew 6:9, 10) Yes, God's Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ will sanctify God's name and also bring good conditions to this earth. It will eliminate wickedness and take away war, crime, famine, sickness and death.—Psalm 46:8, 9; Isaiah 11:9; 25:6; 33:24; Revelation 21:3, 4.

You can enjoy everlasting life under that Kingdom. How? By coming to know God. "This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ." (John 17:3) Jehovah's Witnesses will be delighted to help you take in that life-giving knowledge.—Acts 8:29-31.

It is hoped that the information in this brochure has convinced you that the Creator has a personal name that is very precious to him. It should be very precious to you too. May you realize the importance of knowing and using that name, especially in worship.

And may you be determined to say as the prophet Micah boldly said many centuries ago: "All the peoples, for their part, will walk each one in the name of its god; but we, for our part, shall walk in the name of Jehovah our God to time indefinite, even forever."—Micah 4:5.

Answer 2

yes my Bible has the one and only true god's name in it. Jehovah. Actually all of my Bible translations have it and I have 30+ bibles.

Answer 3

yes my bible has Jehovah's name in my bible in all the places that his name should be. people think that Jehovah is another name for Jehovah, but it is not. Jehovah is God Almighty and Jesus Christ is the son. read ps 83 verse 18 in the king james bible. Jehovah is your God. Jesus never said he was God. who was he praying to? not himself. Jesus said he cannot do anything without the Father in heaven. in Pharaoh knew Jehovah's name. I AM is not God's name

Answer 4

Read the King James Version of Bible. theres lot of true name of God in the bible, includes, Word, I am, Most High, Comforter, Jehova, Bright and Morning Star, and the list go on.

Answer 5

Blasphemy it is to change a Name by its translation. It could be the curse of God,"Dare you speak My Name". Some in the West are just allergic to the Glorious Name ALLAH and they disrespect those Bible-believers who read their Bible only in Arabic. There, the Glorious Word ALLAH appears for thousands of time, beginning from the very first line. * Jehova has a spelling dispute with Yahweh with strong arguments on both sides. Y H W H could also be spelled as YaHuWaH and becomes close to the Quranic Name Ya Howa meaning O The Him or O The He ... It is important to know His Name as spoken by my lord Jesus whose vernacular was Aramaic, not English nor Hebrew. Translating it is improper.
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Answer 6

The actual Hebrew name for God is YHWH since they had so much reverence for Him they excluded vowels making it impossible to use His name in disrespect. Jehovah is an adaptation. Bibles that have the translation LORD, all in caps are an accurate translation of the original Hebrew.

Answer 7

There are many new translations of the Bible out there that were done just in the interest of making money. Some of them have left out whole verses and passages just because the translator did not like what they said. I disagree with that practice very much.
I am careful of which translation I use because some are just wrong.

Jehovah was replaced in much of the OT with YHWH because the scribes felt unworthy to write (or say) the whole name of God. I guess in that way it sort of became his nickname.

Answer 8

Jehovah is really a made up name. The problem is that there are no vowels in the Hebrew language, so the name of God which was YHWH is unpronounceable. To make it pronouncable they had to add vowels so they took the vowels out of the word Adonai meaning Lord and added them to YHWH and came up with Jehovah in English. Do you have a better suggestion?

Answer 9

Name or sound are only SYMBOL of respresentative. The translator think the words can telling his feeling that was why he used the word. (Jehova, Lucifey, Ala, Krisna, Guanapati, budha,) They are the same symbols of tools. To cross the river, we are useing different kind of tools. If you are already cross the river, will you still carry your boat on shoulder?
People usually do not know what he want.
They are easily be puzzy by visions and follow the images to go same as a donkey run toward the hanging carot.

Answer 10

Um, because there are other names used for God in the OT. Father is "abba", Lord is "Addonai". They didn't think it was right to even use YHWH in writing becuase it was so holy. Most often, the word translated as "God" in the OT is actually "Elohim". So, not even your Bible has what you consider to be the 'true' name of God in it.

Answer 11

Yes!!!

About 7,000 times.