Who Be Jehovah?
The answer wey Bible give
Jehovah na the true God, na e get Bible, and na e make everything. (Revelation 4:11) Prophets like Abraham and Moses worship Jehovah, and Jesus still worship Jehovah. (Genesis 24:27; Exodus 15:1, 2; John 20:17) Jehovah no be just the God of one group of people, but na the God of “the whole earth.”—Psalm 47:2.
Bible talk say Jehovah na the special name wey only God get. (Exodus 3:15; Psalm 83:18) The name come from one Hebrew word wey e mean “to become,” and plenty people wey de study about Bible talk say this name mean “E De Make to Become.” This meaning really fit Jehovah because na e make everything and e de make everything wey e don promise to happen. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) Bible de help us know the kind person wey Jehovah really be, especially the kind love wey e get.—Exodus 34:5-7; Luke 6:35; 1 John 4:8.
Jehovah na the name of God for English wey they translate-am from the four Hebrew letters יהוה (YHWH). Them de call this four letters Tetragrammaton. We no know how them be de pronounce the name for Hebrew language that time. But they don de use this name for English language for long time. The first time wey they use the name na for the Bible wey William Tyndale translate for 1530. a
Why we no know how them be de pronounce the name of God for the Hebrew language wey them de speak that time?
When them de write Hebrew language that time them no de put vowel letters, na only consonant letters them de use. But when person de read-am, e de put the vowels as e de read. But after they write the Hebrew Scriptures (“Old Testament”) finish, some Jew people get one lie-lie belief say e no correct to use the name of God. When them de read any scripture and e get the name of God, they go remove-am and use “Lord” or “God.” As time de go, this lie-lie belief spread and after some time, people no know how them de pronounce the name again. b
Some people feel say them de pronounce the name of God as “Yahweh,” and other people de talk different things. One part of the book wey them de call Dead Sea Scroll get one part of the book of Leviticus, and for inside, they call the name of God for Greek language say lao. Some people wey de write Greek language that time still talk say them de pronounce the name as Iae, I·a·beʹ, and I·a·ou·eʹ, but they no fit prove say na so them de pronounce the name for Hebrew. c
Wrong ideas about the name of God for Bible
Wrong idea: Bibles wey the name “Jehovah” dey inside, na add they add the name.
The truth: The four Hebrew letters wey they use for the name of God dey for Bible around 7,000 times. d For plenty Bibles wey they translate, they don remove the name of God and put title like “Lord.”
Wrong idea: Almighty God no need one special name.
The truth: Na God use holy spirit move people to write e name thousands of times for Bible, and e tell e servants to use e name. (Isaiah 42:8; Joel 2:32; Malachi 3:16; Romans 10:13) God vex for lie-lie prophets when them de try to make people forget e name.—Jeremiah 23:27.
Wrong idea: If we follow the tradition of Jew people, they suppose remove the name of God from Bible.
The truth: Na true say some Jew people wey copy the scriptures no gree pronounce the name of God. But they no remove the name from the Bibles wey they copy. No matter wetin they do, God no want make we de follow the tradition of people if e dey against wetin e de tell us for Bible.—Matthew 15:1-3.
Wrong idea: They no suppose use the name of God for Bible because we no know how them be de pronounce the name for Hebrew language.
The truth: If we de reason like this, e go mean say God want make people de pronounce e name for the same way no matter the language wey them de speak. But Bible show say servants of God before-before wey speak different language no de pronounce name for the same way.
Make we see one example of one judge for Israel wey e name na Joshua. Christians for the time of the apostles wey de speak Hebrew go don pronounce the name as Yehoh·shuʹaʽ, and the Christians wey de speak Greek go don call the name I·e·sousʹ. Bible record the Greek translation of the Hebrew name of Joshua, this one show say Christians follow the correct way to call names for their language.—Acts 7:45; Hebrews 4:8.
They follow the same way to translate the name of God. The one wey dey important pass na to put the name of God for place wey e suppose dey for Bible, no be how them de pronounce-am.
a Tyndale write the name as “Iehouah” for the first five books of the Bible wey e translate. After some time, the way them de speak English language change and they change the way them de spell the name of God. For example, for the year 1612, Henry Ainsworth write the name as “Iehovah” for the whole book of Psalms wey e translate. When e translate-am again for the year 1639, e write-am as “Jehovah.” Na the same thing wey the American Standard Version Bible wey they translate for 1901 do. This Bible use the name “Jehovah” for place wey the name of God dey for the old Bible wey they write for Hebrew language.
b The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, Volume 14, page 883-884, talk say: “After the Jew people come back from Babylon, they start to give the name Yahweh special respect, and na that time they start to use words like ADONAI or ELOHIM instead of Yahweh.”
c If you want know more, check appendix A4 under the topic, “The Divine Name in the Hebrew Scriptures,” for New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
d Check the Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, Volume 2, page 523-524.
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