A friend of mine has been in conversation with a JW and the question has arisen concerning the texts, (ESV, KJV, NKJV etc.) not using the word Jehovah but using words such as Lord or LORD.

This is apparently a sticking point if you will, for this person. What is the reason behind the substitution of Jehovah, Yahweh, with Lord, LORD? Is this a good way to ask this question? Where can I find online helps for these types of questions?

Thank you all for any help

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Michael P Doyle
Waukesha WI
Member of http://www.cornerstone-pca.com/
Attending http://www.lampseminary.org/

Michael, you won't have to look far, as the answer is actually quite simple: YHWH is translated "LORD," because the New Testament translates it that way. Whenever it quotes the Old Testament saying YHWH, the New Testament says, ho kurios, or "The Lord."

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Paul Korte
OPC
Flint, MI

They who perceive in themselves discoveries of the divine goodness, so full and absolutely perfect, and who make them the subject of earnest meditation, will never embrace new doctrines, by which the very grace they feel so powerfully in themselves is thrown into the shade. --John Calvin

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The reasoning for using LORD is the Jewish practice of saying Adonai whenever the text read YHWH. This is also the practice of the New Testament writers who use kurios (Lord) in place of YHWH. Jehovah is a rather bad transliteration of Yahweh, so there is no reason to retain its usage other than its use is commonplace. I would argue that LORD is a better word to use in translation, because LORD is understood in a wide variety of cultural contexts. Furthermore, the JW's say that Jehovah is God's name. It is true God calls himself YHWH, but, really, can we say that God has a name? YHWH and all the other names God uses of himself are more revelations of his being and character than his actual names. We in our finite capacities need to name things, so God gave to us finite words that best describe him.

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Steven J. Carr (Sven)
http://beholdingthebeauty.blogspot.com/
Eagan, MN
PCA
"Weak is the effort of my heart / And cold my warmest thought / But when I see thee as thou art / I'll praise thee as I ought."--John Newton
Trophy Wife/Arm Candy: Crystal Ann Children: Steven Jr. and Hannah Grace

The translation of YHWH by the loosly transliteration Jehovah is a very big deal to JW's. This is why they have been fond of the 1901 ASV.

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Bob, elder, RBC Louisville. 1689 LBCF

"... Of such also, or of those who make a credible profession of being such, all those particular churches consist, which constitute our Lord's visible kingdom. ... Consequently, all the subjects of His government must have spiritual dispositions, , and yield spiritual obedience- obedience proceeding from an enlightened understanding, an awakened conscience, and a renewed heart."- Abraham Booth 1788

Very good explanation. To add to your explanation: the occurrence of Jehovah comes from the German where the J = Y in pronunciation. So actually Jehovah (due to its German roots) should be pronounced Yehovah.

The Hebrew vowel pointing below the YHWH makes the word so it cannot be pronounced, that prevents the reader in Hebrew from absentmindedly pronouncing the sacred name of God. When the Hebrew reader hit that confusing combination of consonants and vowels, he was to substitute adonai as the word spoken.

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Lance G. Marshall
Pastor
Georgetown, Indiana

This is good and helpful. Thank you guys. I actually was pretty sure the word Yahweh was translated, LORD. Why do they ask then for our reasoning as to why we don't just use the term Jehovah? Is there the implication that we are somehow corrupting the text?

-----Added 7/7/2009 at 11:17:01 EST-----

This is good and practical information. It speaks plainly to me and don't see where the hitch is to the JW`s

Most Bibles will tell you in the preface that LORD is how YHWH is rendered.

The Jews would not even utter the name of YHWH at the risk of using it in vein, so Adonai, or Lord in English, was substituted when reading aloud. Now many English translations follow in this practice by putting in the text.

Now, because YHWH was never pronounced, we do not know the vowels (these are not written in Ancient Hebrew). Thus, Jehovah is made by putting the vowels from Adonai into the YHWH, resulting in the word Yehovah. I am not quite sure where the J came from. This was once believed to be the correct Engilsh translation. Some older translations of the Bible, such as the American Standard Version (used by the JW once upon a time simply because of the use of Jehovah) and Young's Literal Translation.

I do not know the reasoning, but now the correct translation is generally considered Yahweh. Some modern translations use Yahweh for LORD, such as the World English Bible.

Minus the information about translations, this information was summarized and paraphrased from my reading of the ESV preface. The first part of The Translation of Specialized Terms explains it pretty well.

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Jake; Hold to Original WCF, member of SBC; Greater Atlanta, Georgia Area

The cross does not give us a minor shift or two with regard to a few of our ethical and moral and religious values; the cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self to Christ. —Albert N. Martin