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[RRD]

In Isaiah 43 and 44, several times Yahweh speaks to Israel as His witnesses. These references are indeed references to natural Israel rather than to spiritual Israel, and thus, if applied to spiritual Israel, can only be done so by viewing spiritual Israel as the antitype of natural Israel. In this connection, someone pointed out that the holy name of God does not appear in the New Testament. Evidently, the holy name of the God of Jesus was originally in the New Testament, but was removed by copyists.

It was prophesied that the prophet like Moses (Jesus) was to come in the name of Yahweh (Jehovah), that is, as one sent by and acting in the authority of Yahweh, and the New Testament attests to this. -- Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Isaiah 61:1; Matthew 22:32; 23:39; Mark 11:9,10; 12:26; Luke 13:35; 20:37; John 3:2,17,32-35; 4:34; 5:19,30,36,43; 6:57; 7:16,28; 8:26,28,38; 10:25; 12:49,50; 14:10; 15:15; 17:8,26; 20:17; Acts 2:22,34-36; 3:13,22; 5:30; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 11:31; Colossians 1:3,15; 2:9-12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:1.

We do not find anything in the scriptures that says that the God of Jesus, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has presented Himself with another name to Christians, or that His name was changed. It is true that in the NT Greek manuscripts, as we have them, someone has changed the holy name to forms of KURIOS (Lord), THEOS (God), DUNAMIS (Power), etc., but none of these are actually the holy name of the God of Jesus, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If He has presented Himself with a different name to Christians, then we might wonder, what is that name? There is no record of Yahweh giving anyone authority to change the name of Yahweh (Jehovah) to Kurios, or any other word or name. Jesus never claimed such an authority.

The prophecy states that the Messiah would come in the name/authority of Yahweh, not the name/authority of a God by the name of Kurios. Yahweh said to Moses concerning the Messiah: "He shall speak in my name." (Deuteronomy 18:19) That the very name is involved is shown in Deuteronomy 18:20, since it speaks of a prophet who would speak in the name of other gods. Thus, it is indeed vital that Jesus be recognized as coming in the name and authority of Yahweh, not Kurios. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh!" (Psalm 118:26) "Kurios" (Lord) does not identify the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is a common title used not only of men, but also of false gods. Thus, if Jesus said he came in the name of Kurios, one could wonder who he meant. Consequently, I have no doubt in mind that that Jesus did not join with the rebellious Jews by substituting and taking away from his scriptural reference the most important name in universe in Matthew 23:39, or any other place. No one in the scriptures has ever been given authority to change the name of the Most High to Kurios, or Theos, or Dunamis, etc.

The holy name is preserved in various names (for example, Jesus, meaning Yahweh saves, and Elijah, meaning "Yahweh is my God.") given in the extant manuscripts of the New Testament, as well as in the term Hallelujah.
http://tinyurl.com/36o23a

In stating this, however, I do not mean to say that all the prophecies related exclusively to natural Israel can be transferred to spiritual Israel. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament can only relate to natural Israel. The prophecy of Ezekiel 16, for example.

Nevertheless, I believe that Christians are also witnesses for the God of Jesus, much more so than natural Israel, as well as witnesses for Jesus who was sent by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For example, Peter said to the unbelieving Israel: "Acts 3:14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, Acts 3:15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses." In doing this, he was bearing testimony concerning the God of Jesus, that He had raised Jesus from the dead. Peter also said: "Acts 5:31 God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. Acts 5:32 We are His witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." Thus Peter speaks of the believers as witnesses for Yahweh (Jehovah), it that they testify that Yahweh had exalted Jesus. Likewise, we should do the same, and, as such, we are witnesses for Yahweh (Jehovah). -- See also: 1 Corinthians 15:15.

Indeed, one cannot be a witness for Jesus without also being a witness for the God of Jesus.

Christian love,
Ronald

[composer]

The Jewish Encyclopaedia contains a large article on the subject, of which I shall only present a brief summary:


JEHOVAH

A mispronunciation (introduced by Christian theologians, but almost entirely disregarded by the Jews) of the Hebrew 'Yhwh,' the (ineffable) name of God (the Tetragrammaton or 'Shem ha-Meforash'). This pronunciation is grammatically impossible; it arose through pronouncing the vowels of the "ḳere" (marginal reading of the Masorites: = 'Adonay') with the consonants of the 'ketib' (text-reading: = 'Yhwh')—'Adonay' (the Lord) being substituted with one exception wherever Yhwh occurs in the Biblical and liturgical books.

<...>

'Jehovah' is generally held to have been the invention of Pope Leo X.'s confessor, Peter Galatin ('De Arcanis Catholicæ Veritatis,' 1518, folio xliii.), who was followed in the use of this hybrid form by Fagius (= Büchlein, 1504-49). Drusius (= Van der Driesche, 1550-1616) was the first to ascribe to Peter Galatin the use of 'Jehovah,' and this view has been taken since his days (comp. Hastings, "Dict. Bible,' ii. 199, s.v. 'God'; Gesenius-Buhl, 'Handwörterb.' 1899, p. 311; see Drusius on the tetragrammaton in his "Critici Sacri, i. 2, col. 344). But it seems that even before Galatin the name 'Jehovah' had been in common use (see Drusius, l.c. notes to col. 351). It is found in Raymond Martin's 'Pugio Fidei.' written in 1270 (Paris, 1651, iii., pt. ii., ch. 3, p. 448; comp. T. Prat in 'Dictionnaire de la Bible,' s.v.). See also Names of God."



The only accurate pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is Yahveh (sometimes spelt Yahweh), and the misnomer "Jehovah" is considered unsuitable because it is (a) grammatically impossible, and (b) just plain wrong.

[dreese]

composer,

Since your mind is made up on all of the topics you have posted is there any reason to have a discussion with you?

dreese

[joyful]

Dreese,

you can ask him questions if you think something is wrong about his statements.

[dreese]

Hi joyful,

I'd be glad to discuss anything with this person, he or she could have responded to my question and said yes! Let's talk, so far nothing.  Let's hope we can have encouraging and upbuilding interchanges.

agape

dreese

Dreese,

you can ask him questions if you think something is wrong about his statements.

[RRD]

The Jewish Encyclopaedia contains a large article on the subject, of which I shall only present a brief summary:


JEHOVAH

A mispronunciation (introduced by Christian theologians, but almost entirely disregarded by the Jews) of the Hebrew 'Yhwh,' the (ineffable) name of God

The problem is that YHWH is not Hebrew letters, but English letters.

Ineffable -
1. Incapable of being expressed; indescribable or unutterable. See Synonyms at unspeakable.
2. Not to be uttered; taboo: the ineffable name of God.

The Bible never says that the holy name of the true God is ineffable. This is the working of man, and is one of those Jewish 'traditions of men' that actually violates the commandments of Yahweh. (Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-8; Titus 1:14) It was man, not God, who declares that the holy name is ineffable.
http://reslight.net/nameinot.html

However, how could one read the scriptures without giving some utterance where the holy name appears? To not give any utterance for the holy name would mean that the following scriptures would be read like this:

Genesis 12:8 - There he built an altar to , and called on the name of .

Genesis 22:14 - Abraham called the name of that place  -jireh. As it is said to this day, "In 's mountain it will be provided.

Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"
Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "" and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: " has sent me to you."
Exodus 3:16 - God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, ', 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, and this is my memorial to all generations."

1 Kings 18:24 - Call you on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of ; and the God who answers by fire, let him be God. All the people answered, It is well spoken.

Isaiah 42:8 - I am , that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to engraved images.

If anything is used as a substitute, that substitute, in effect, become the pronunciation given to the holy name. Most Jews do make sure that mispronounce the holy name by substituting "Ha-Shem", "Adonai", "the Lord", or some term for the holy name. Whatever they would put into scriptures, such Isaiah 42:8, would be what those men have made the holy name to become, and the pronunciation that they would give to that holy name, whether it be "the Lord", "the Name", "Ha_Shem", "Adonai", or whatever.

(the Tetragrammaton or 'Shem ha-Meforash'). This pronunciation is grammatically impossible; it arose through pronouncing the vowels of the "ḳere" (marginal reading of the Masorites: = 'Adonay') with the consonants of the 'ketib' (text-reading: = 'Yhwh')—'Adonay' (the Lord) being substituted with one exception wherever Yhwh occurs in the Biblical and liturgical books.

Well, that is the theory. There are those who argue against that theory, and claim that the Masoretes did not borrow their vowel points for the tetragrammaton from any other words.

The "grammatically impossible" idea presented, in effect, takes the pronunciation of the holy name in English as "Jehovah" and then reads that pronunciation back into the Hebrew, evidently assuming certain rules of pronunciation for the Biblical Hebrew (which is still a dead language), and then claiming, based on those assumptions, that the English rendering of "Jehovah" is "grammatically impossible." How this English pronunciation of the holy name is supposed to "grammatically impossible" is not stated. Please not that the modern Hebrew is not a revival of the forgotten Biblical Hebrew, as many have assumed, and although there are a lot of similarities, they are not the same.

Add to this that at the time when Masoretes added the vowels points to the Hebrew words, the Hebrew language was already a dead language for several centuries. Thus, as one "Jewish" Bible scholar told me, we cannot be 100% sure that they got the vowel points absolutely correct for any of the Hebrew words of the Old Testament.

<...>

'Jehovah' is generally held to have been the invention of Pope Leo X.'s confessor, Peter Galatin ('De Arcanis Catholicæ Veritatis,' 1518, folio xliii.), who was followed in the use of this hybrid form by Fagius (= Büchlein, 1504-49). Drusius (= Van der Driesche, 1550-1616) was the first to ascribe to Peter Galatin the use of 'Jehovah,' and this view has been taken since his days (comp. Hastings, "Dict. Bible,' ii. 199, s.v. 'God'; Gesenius-Buhl, 'Handwörterb.' 1899, p. 311; see Drusius on the tetragrammaton in his "Critici Sacri, i. 2, col. 344). But it seems that even before Galatin the name 'Jehovah' had been in common use (see Drusius, l.c. notes to col. 351). It is found in Raymond Martin's 'Pugio Fidei.' written in 1270 (Paris, 1651, iii., pt. ii., ch. 3, p. 448; comp. T. Prat in 'Dictionnaire de la Bible,' s.v.). See also Names of God."

There is only one "holy name" of the true God revealed in the Bible, and that holy name is usually rendered into English as either "Jehovah" or "Yahweh". These two words in English are but variations used in English to represent the "one" holy name.
http://tinyurl.com/yqxw8d
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-7NMryvAjfrUDGdpZP_AvOQ--?cq=1&p=23

The only accurate pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is Yahveh (sometimes spelt Yahweh), and the misnomer "Jehovah" is considered unsuitable because it is (a) grammatically impossible, and (b) just plain wrong.

This seems to contradict the earlier assumption that the holy name is ineffable. At any rate, the pronunciation "Yahweh" is based on certain ancient Greek manuscripts (Yahveh is derived from the same Greek, but it adds the the assumption that there was no "w" sound in the Hebrew, and thus claims the "v" sound instead), and probably both the English Yahweh/Yahveh and the English Jehovah may fall short of the original Hebrew pronunciation, which, in reality, we do not know.

In reality, however, most, if not all, Jewish authors or scholars do not really employ the pronunciation of "Yahveh" or "Yahweh" when reading the scriptures. They most often make sure that they mispronounce the holy name with substitutes. The JPS translation routinely gives the mispronunciation of the holy name as "the Lord."
http://name.reslight.net

See also:
http://reslight.net/forum/index.php/topic,501.0.html
http://reslight.net/forum/index.php/topic,169.0.html

Christian love,
Ronald

[joyful]

Hi joyful,

I'd be glad to discuss anything with this person, he or she could have responded to my question and said yes! Let's talk, so far nothing.  Let's hope we can have encouraging and upbuilding interchanges.

agape

dreese

That's too bad, that kind of witness is not so good as Jesus' followers, IMO.

thank you Ronald for reminders.

hitomi