Most translators [or translation committees] chose to omit the personal name of God from their translations. Usually, they provided some explanation of why they did so, or, they gave us some indication they did omit it. Examples of reasons given by those who chose to omit the divine name are listed below.
----- Note: The Hebrew name of our Creator is . We feel respect for God's name is due in part because יהוה inspired it recorded over 6000 times in the original Hebrew language of the Old Testament. In an effort to bring honor to the Divine Name, we have chosen to stop using the attempts by men or groups to translate God's Name into English and other languages. They have replaced variously with "Jehovah," "Yahweh," "YHWH," "LORD" or "Lord." Because of יהוה 's warning against misusing his name, (Deuteronomy 5:11 and Leviticus 24:16) I have become hesitant to use what amounts to an attempt to translate " יהוה " into any language other than the Hebrew He himself inspired it recorded in. It seems יהוה 's Personal Name should rise above the divisive language barriers common among men. Everyone alive should share a common recognition of the personal name of יהוה as the true God of the Bible. -----
Press the arrow to hear the pronunciation of .
For a more thorough consideration of our Creator's name, please visit: JustBibleTruth.com/DoesGodHaveAName.htmlFollowing, then, is a list of reasons given by some who chose to omit the name of God from their translation efforts. We do not support these excuses but present them for enlightenment.
1. We here Quote from the introduction of the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1999-2001 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry:
'LORD - Lord - The former [LORD in all capital letters] indicates the Old Testament verse from which the quote is taken has' [Jehovah or] 'Yahweh (Note by JustBibleTruth.com: The original Hebrew text actually contained יהוה and not the attempted English translations of "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" as the Hebrew proper name for God); the latter [Lord in partial lower case] indicates the OT has adonai (the general word for "lord").'
Here the translators indicate the fairly common practice of replacing God's personal name with "LORD" using all capitals, while they accurately translated adonai as "lord" or "Lord". Thus, they attempt to help their readers understand when they read "LORD" in their work of translation, it was actually God's personal name of יהוה in the original text; and when they read "lord" it was adonai (the English letters representing the Hebrew word which actually means lord) in the text they translated. Many translations choose to use Jehovah where God's personal name was used in the original text; as Jehovah is the most commonly used attempted English translation of the divine name of our Creator and Father. If this all seems confusing, just remember always, God's real and true name is .
2. The New International Version of the Holy Bible by Zondervan Bible Publishers and copyrighted by the International Bible Society says in it's preface:
'In regard to the divine name YHWH, [which was originally , of course] commonly referred to as the Tetragrammaton (a nonscriptural word made up to represent the four Hebrew characters [] that are God's name), the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as "LORD" in capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered "Lord," for which small letters are used. Wherever the two names stand together in the Old Testament as a compound name of God, they are rendered "Sovereign LORD."'
These translators also state they use "LORD" for (or for YHWH in the Greek language copies of the Hebrew text) and use "lord" or "Lord" for the word which actually means lord (adonai in the original language). Where the original language used "Adonai ," meaning "Lord ," they changed it to "Sovereign LORD." If they had followed true to the pattern of their translation, it would seem they should have rendered the Greek "Adonai YHWH" as "lord LORD". To retain the divine name, it should be rendered, of course, the Lord .
It seems much easier for us to understand what our Creator meant for us to understand when He inspired the Bible record, if the personal name He used in the original language is just never translated at all. We are certain you would not like it if those who knew you intimately, your own children let us say, called you mister, or sir, or even some name they had created for you. In a room of people, several might answer to any of those titles. Only the true God's name, however, is ! (Psalms 83:18)
3. Easton's Bible dictionary's definition for the English word Jehovah, which they believe, remember, to be a proper representation for . (We do not agree it is proper to represent with the English word Jehovah, but their definition of God's name is still interesting. All scriptural references are theirs.)
'Jehovah:
The special and significant name (not merely an appellative title such as Lord) by which God revealed himself to the ancient Hebrews (Exodus 6:2 & 3). This name, the Tetragrammaton [YHWH] of the Greeks, was held by the later Jews to be so sacred that it was never pronounced except by the high priest on the great Day of Atonement, when he entered into the most holy place. Whenever this name occurred in the sacred books they pronounced it, as they still do, "Adonai" (i.e., Lord), thus using another word in its stead. The Massorets gave to it the vowel-points appropriate to this word. This Jewish practice (of refusing to pronounce 's name) was founded on a false interpretation of Leviticus 24:16. The meaning of the word appears from Exodus 3:14 to be "the unchanging, eternal, self-existent God," the "I am that I am," a covenant-keeping God. (Compare Malachi 3:6 ; Hosea 12:5 ; Revelation 1:4 ; Revelation 1:8.)'
Though most chose to omit the Divine Name from their translations, that is clearly not what the author of the original language Bible intended when he used יהוה over six thousand times. That is not a misprint.
exists in the Hebrew Old Testament over 6000 times, each time in reference to our Creator! Translations that include יהוה 's name are thus to be preferred. While I don't know of any English language Bibles that are actually available using God's name(you would need to be able to speak and read Hebrew), you can still choose a near opposite course from the action by many Orthodox Jews. When they read יהוה, they utter "The Name" or "Adoni" instead of pronouncing God's name. When you see or read "Jehovah," "Yahweh," "LORD" or "YHWH," just know it should be יהוה. Recognizing the importance of God's Name, when you say it out loud, pronounce it as . Start now and continue forever to know and use the personal name of our Grand Creator!
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Most translators [or translation committees] chose to omit the personal name of God from their translations. Usually, they provided some explanation of why they did so, or, they gave us some indication they did omit it. Examples of reasons given by those who chose to omit the divine name are listed below.
.
For a more thorough consideration of our Creator's name, please visit: JustBibleTruth.com/DoesGodHaveAName.html
Following, then, is a list of reasons given by some who chose to omit the name of God from their translation efforts. We do not support these excuses but present them for enlightenment.
1. We here Quote from the introduction of the Analytical-Literal Translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1999-2001 by Gary F. Zeolla of Darkness to Light ministry: