Jehovah is in fact a man-made name.
Because the name YHWH cannot be pronounced, the vowels of the words Adonai (Lord) and Elohim (God) are connected with the 4 letters of the tetragram (YHWH). This is how the pronunciation of Jehovah or Jehowi came into existence.
The first of these formed the basis for the latinized form of Jehovah
The first documented use of this form dates from the 13th century by GT Raymundus Martini, a Spanish Dominican monk, who used it in his book “Pugio fidei” from the year 1270.
Hebrew language scholars generally prefer Yahweh as the most likely pronunciation. (This is also my preference)
They point out that the abbreviated form of the name is Jah, as it appears in Psalm 89: 8, – “O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? “
and it also appears in the expression “hallelujah”.
Proponents of the pronunciation of the name as Jehovah state that there is currently no certainty about the pronunciation of the name, and therefore there seems to be no reason to replace the name Jehovah for another suggested name.
According to them, one should to be consistent, also need to change the spelling and the pronunciation of many other names in the scriptures.
About Author
1 thought on “Q&A – Jehovah or Yahweh?”