Is there any evidence that the Tetragrammaton YHWH ever appeared in the original Nt documents.?

Question

If it did not then why have JW's added it despite dire Biblical warnings about adding to or taking away from scripture. If removed from the NT an entirely different light is cast upon the role and deity of Jesus. Has a grave sin been commited? I need to know because I am a doubting Jehovahs Witness. If the name of Jehovah has been added where it should not exist then most of what I believe can be called into question. JW's please don't bother telling me to speak to the elders, Iv'e already listened to their version of why it has been added. If there is any historical evidence of it being present in 1st/2nd century documents, before the supposed great apostacy that seemingly removed it in the 4th century then I will stand repentant.

Answer 1

No Curly Sue,

The Tetragrammaton has NEVER appeared in ANY New Testament document or Manuscript.



The assertion by the JW's on these Y/A pages that it must have been in the originals, or that Jesus and the Apostles must have used it is;

1) Either an outright lie

2) Supreme ignorance regarding the Manuscript Record

3) Willful Delusion



Probably number 3



There are over 25,000 Manuscripts and partial Manuscripts, and NOT ONE of them contain the Tetragrammaton.



So either God was not capable of preserving it, or He did not want it any manuscript because that is NOT His name.



Since Phillipians Chapter 2 says that "Jesus" is the Name that is above EVERY NAME, its obvious that God does not hold the Tetragrammaton in any special favor.



At the beginning of the Watchtower Org, Charles Taze Russell needed something "different" to attract followers.

He chose to highlight the name "Jehovah". It garnered a quick following.





....theBerean

Answer 2

The "Tetragrammaton YHWH" as you refer to it, is the original Aramaic naming of the Deity of Israel, also known as Elohim, or Emanuel, in some texts. It is not a Jewish invention, for the Jews are not descendents of the Israelites spoken of in Biblical times, but the children of Edom (Edomites) who had come onto the land of Israel when the children of Israel had be taken into banishment by Nebucadneser of the Babilonian Kingdom. Upon the return of the children of Israel to Jerusalem, they found their land settled by the Edomites, and incorporated them into the house of Israel as their wards, for the Edomites had no where else to turn to. Being prolific breeders, the Edomites had eventually outnumbered the Israelites, and when the Israelites due to their transgressians against YHWH had been sent forth into the world ahead of their enemies, the Edomites again took over the land of Israel, but also claimed the Israel culture as their own, begining a new "nation" known today as the Jews.

As to the name YHWH ever having appeared in the original text: Yes, that is the original version, before it was changed by numerous translation efforts throughout the ages. Unfortunately the worst attrocity in respect of the original text, took place with two historical events: 1: The "compilation/unifying" and similar translation of the original Israel/Aramaic texts under the guidance of Contstatine, by the - then newly formed - Catholic Church, which resulted in thousands of pages of these originals scriptures being "thrown out - because they did not comply with the doctrines of the Church"! This was the worst form of censorship ever committed; and 2: The burning and destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria (ironocally by bthe same church group!), in which thousands of pages of extremely valuable scriptures were burned to ashes. Thus ensuring that there is no way anyone can verify through the original texts whetther the subsequent translations were correct or not.

To err is human, and in translation after translation errors have crept in - and the end result that we see today, is little more than a compounding of errors upon errors . . .

Unfortunately very few of us can read and understand the original Aramaic text - what little is left of it.

Answer 3

In Revelation, YH appears which is translated as Hallelujah or Praise Jah. But as for YHWH, no, it doesn't appear in any of the thousands of original language manuscripts. There is only a theory that says it might have been there, but removed.



The fact that the Tetragrammaton doesn't appear in other early Christian writings or even in secular writings of that time period (see edit), however, make it seem pretty evident that it just wasn't being used at the time - right or wrong.



Edit , for clarification



I should have said that other Christian writings, and secular, of that time period didn't "use" the name in their writings, but I didn't mean to say that the Christians were unfamiliar with the Tetragrammaton. I'm saying this from memory, but if my memory is correct, I believe Origen (2nd or 3rd century, probably) was familiar with it, as was Jerome who said that God's name appeared in the ancient Scriptures (Old Testament) in ancient - not modern - Hebrew letters. There were no vowels used - only consonants - so the name was probably not pronounced, but the consonants could still be written.

Answer 4

Jehovah is another form of Yarweh. hebrew did not have vowels

when the OT was being written (NT is in greek)



jehovah does not appear in any Christian texts before the 16C. the name Yaweh was not pronounced out of respect for its holiness (from 3c on) In its plce hebrew readers used 'adonoy (lord). Vowels were added to Hebrew c.1000AD, at this time the consonants of Yahweh were preserved, but the vowels of'adonoy were used. Renaissance christian tradition erroneously combined the two to make Jehovah, which is occasionally found in KJV. more recent translations tend to use Lord

Answer 5

The four letter name of God Tetragrammaton YHVH was closely debated as Jehovah, later to be claimed as YHWH or Yahweh by Hebrew scholars. Neither appear in the NT. It derives from the Torah.

Answer 6

My suggestion to you is to learn enough Greek to be able to figure this one out for yourself--most of the answers you recieve here will be speculation that goes something like "well, MY bible says "lord" so yours must be wrong." I'm sure that just as with the Hebrew Bible there must be editions of the Christian bible that have the original Greek beside the English text. Also, if 1st-2nd century documents are still extant there are probably excerpts available online which you can examine.

Answer 7

Contrary to many of the answers here,



It is not just Jehovah's Witnesses that have placed Jehovah's name in the NT.



Please note these scholars comments:



Wolfgang Feneberg comments in the Jesuit magazine Entschluss/Offen (April 1985): “He [Jesus] did not withhold his father’s name YHWH from us, but he entrusted us with it. It is otherwise inexplicable why the first petition of the Lord’s Prayer should read: ‘May your name be sanctified!’” Feneberg further notes that “in pre-Christian manuscripts for Greek-speaking Jews, God’s name was not paraphrased with kýrios [Lord], but was written in the tetragram form [YHWH] in Hebrew or archaic Hebrew characters. . . . We find recollections of the name in the writings of the Church Fathers;



Professor George Howard of the University of Georgia wrote: “Since the Tetragram [four Hebrew letters for the divine name] was still written in the copies of the Greek Bible which made up the Scriptures of the early church, it is reasonable to believe that the N[ew] T[estament] writers, when quoting from Scripture, preserved the Tetragram within the biblical text.”—Journal of Biblical Literature, March 1977, p. 77.



“In pre-Christian Greek [manuscripts] of the O[ld] T[estament], the divine name (yhwh) was not rendered by ‘kyrios’ [lord] as has often been thought. Usually the Tetragram was written out in Aramaic or in paleo-Hebrew letters. . . . At a later time, surrogates [substitutes] such as ‘theos’ [God] and ‘kyrios’ replaced the Tetragram . . . There is good reason to believe that a similar pattern evolved in the N[ew] T[estament], i.e. the divine name was originally written in the NT quotations of and allusions to the OT, but in the course of time it was replaced by surrogates.”—“New Testament Abstracts,” 3, 1977, p. 306.



The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Volume 2, page 649) says: “One of the most fundamental and essential features of the biblical revelation is the fact that God is not without a name: he has a personal name, by which he can, and is to be, invoked.” Jesus certainly had that name in mind when he taught his followers to pray: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.”—Matthew 6:9.





Even the NKJV has "LORD" in caps in the NT, which is their way of rendering the 'YHWH' in English.



As to those who said the early christians didn't use God's name please read this quote from above.



"We find recollections of the name in the writings of the Church Fathers;"



.

Answer 8

Most every time this name appears in scripture it is translated "Lord". The word Jehovah is a new word used for the name of the Deity. It came down to us through some evolution.

"Jehova" in 1270 A.D. Latin.

"Iehouah" in 1530 A.D. English.

"Iehovah" in 1611 A.D. English.

"Jehovah" in 1769 A.D. English.

All Vowels were excluded from the original word making it unpronounceable. Use any word you want for it just understand Jesus claimed that position when He said " before Abraham was I AM... " Jim

Answer 9

If you want tons of ideas on how to eat Paleo, but do it in an exciting delicious manner where you enjoy mouth-watering meals and desserts every single day, you must try out this new Paleo cookbook here https://tr.im/WREON



You will really enjoy the meals in there! Plus, you’ll enjoy the improved energy levels, skin health, digestive health, brain clarity, and fat loss too.

Answer 10

The name of Jehovah does not appear in the NT because it was evidently removed by later copyists. That is evident by the fact that Jesus and the apostles frequently quoted from the Hebrew text where the YHWH appeared.



For example, when Jesus was tempted by the Devil three times, in each response Jesus quoted from the Jewish Law that contained the YHWH. It is inconceivable that when Jesus quoted from such texts containing the YHWH that he would not have pronounced his Father's name.



It does not undermine our confidence in God's Word that Jehovah-haters have always sought to erase or conceal the sacred Name of God. We know the Jewish scribes developed a superstition that forbade them from pronouncing the Name.



Likewise, modern translators have admitted to their bias in substituting LORD in the Hebrew text for the YHWH. It should come as no surprise that the early NT copyist were similarly over-reached by the Devil and influenced to erase God's name and replace it with LORD.



An abbreviated form of The Name does occur at Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6, in the expression "Alleluia" or "Hallelujah" in KJ, Dy, JB, AS, and RS.



The logic presented for the absence of the "full form" of the Divine Name in the NT had been that the inspired writers of the NT made their quotations from the Greek Septuagint version of the OT, which substituted Kyrios or Theos for the Tetragrammaton.



Commenting on the fact that the oldest fragments of the Greek Septuagintdo contain the divine name in its Hebrew form, Dr. P. Kahle says:



"We now know that the Greek Bible text [the Septuagint] as far as it was written by Jews for Jews did not translate the Divine name by kyrios; but the Tetragrammaton, written with Hebrew or Greek letters, was retained in such MSS [manuscripts]. It was the Christians who replaced the Tetragrammaton by kyrios, when the divine name written in Hebrew letters was not understood any more." (The Cairo Geniza, Oxford, 1959, p. 222)



When did Greek translators of O T stop using The Divine Name?



... evidently in the centuries following the death of Jesus and his apostles. In Aquila's Greek Version, dating from the second century C.E., the Tetragrammaton still appeared in Hebrew characters. Also, around 245 C.E., the noted scholar Origen produced his Hexapla, a six-column reproduction of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures:



"In Origen's Hexapla . . . the Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and LXX [Septuagint], all represented JHWH by PIPI, in the second column of the Hexapla the Tetragrammaton was written in Hebrew characters." (The Journal of Theological Studies, Oxford, Vol. XLV, 1944, pp. 158, 159)



Why would the early copiests substitute kyrios (Lord) or theos (God) for The Divine Name?



From 66 CE to 135 CE there were:



Several Jewish revolts fostered much persecution by Roman authorities upon any who appeared Jewish;



After the apostle's deaths, there was a great falling away from the true faith. (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 2 Peter 2:3);



Most Jewish Christians were killed by the Roman authorities, leaving mostly "Gentile" Christians. These Gentile Christians wanted to appease the Roman authorities and gain approval amongst Romans, in general, and therefore may have developed a propensity to discard almost anything that made them look Jewish, including The Divine Name.



Greek philosophies were put on par with the Holy Scriptures. (2 Timothy 6:20, 21)



No matter how you break it down, God Almighty revealed His name thousands of years ago as YAHWEH (Exd 6:3 - Jehovah), and quite emphatically declared that His name would never, ever change (Ex.3:15).



Yahshua (Jesus) said that God was His Father, and clearly proclaimed God the Father's name as distinct from His own. Even through the closing chapters of Revelation, God the Father's name remains an identifying feature between God's people and others.



Though it is true that Yahshua (Jesus) is to be given a new name (Rev 3:12), it is equally true that God Almighty's name was, is, and always will be YAHWEH (English: Jehovah).

Answer 11

specific, it somewhat is a (form of) made up pretend call for God. form of, in that it somewhat is a substitute. that is meant to be a properly ordinary substitute with a view to not each make the blunders of asserting the holy call frivolously (in ineffective.) purely because of the fact the Orthodox do not even say God, yet hashem fairly. It grew to become into executed to help the ignorant.

Answer 12

It is actually an OLD testament term.

'Jehovah' is a word composed of the Hebrew letters we show as YHWH with the vowels of Adonai, meaning 'Lord'

Therefore there is no such word as Jehovah. But most people know what is implied by it.

There are many stronger reasons for escaping from the Jehovah's Witnesses, though.

I promise to pray for you...feel free to contact me, if it would help.

Answer 13

Hello.

It really doesn't matter if they vvere or vvere not vvritten in the Autographs (Original) Scriptures (vvhich have long been destroyed), for the Nevv Testament Scriptures vvere vvritten in Greek. The N.T. (Nevv Testamet) are a collection of practices, sayings and doings of Christ and His follovvers. YhShVVh (Iesvs) used the TRUE TITLE of OD (g-d) in Hebrevv, vvhich is YHVVH/YHVH.



YhVVh/YhVh is

Yod/Yud

Hay

VVavv/Vav

Hay



Greek is a different language than Hebrevv (of course), and as such has different vvords/names. So the translation does not indicate the significance. And since In Hebrevv it is forbid to say the Name of OD (Ievvish tradition) in the Ancient times it vvas primarily lost until YhShVVh and then lost once again.



The VVord YhVh/YhVVh is from Ancient Hebrevv vvhich did not contain vovvels. Because of their tradition it vvas only spoken in the Temple during service by the Priest. Since most Ievvs reiected YhShVh they retained their tradition and only the fevv Priest handed dovvn may be avvare of its true pronounciation.

Ievvs and Mystics hold that the vvord has magical povvers, and must be pronounced accordingly, or risk iniury, or even death, since OD created the vvorld vvith OD's "VVord(s)"



"Yahvveh- The covenant G-d of Israel, YHVVH in the original Hebrevv. According to Ievvish custom, because of Reverence the Divine name vvas not to be spoken, so the Hebrevv vvords for Lord and G-d vvere substituted. VVhenever the vvords LORD and G-D appear in large and small capital letters, the Original Hebrevv reads YHVVH."

-Dictionary-Concordance in The Holy Bible SEASIDE EDITION for Children King Iames Version (1987 Edition)



Yah (English Jah) is a shortened form of Yahvveh.

As in "hallelujah". Hallelu-Y(J/I)AH, meaning praise YAH.

[Hebrew halləlû-yāh, praise Yahweh : halləlû, masculine pl. imperative of hillēl, to praise; see hll in Semitic roots + yāh, Yahweh; see hwy in Semitic roots.]

see hvvy in ancient semitic roots:

http://209.10.134.179/61/roots/S119.html



http://www.psyche.com/psyche/lex/sy/yhwh.html

"The Qabala knows that YHWH is not a deity but an immanence which can become alive and active when the two vitialities in us, the container and the contained, fecundate each other. Historically, those vitalities of Israel came into being when the mistaken expression, material and materializing, of the Temple and of Jerusalem, was destroyed. The Qabala, for the time being, obeyed the Law, and reciprocally the Law held the Qabala in great respect and honour."

CoG p43

"We want the psychological security of a protecting deity, whereas we can become as gods, knowing good and evil (Gen. iii, 22). YHWH-Elohim: the man is become as one of us (Gen. iii, 22). Rabbi Yhshwh, better known as Jesus, is supposed to have quoted that assertion; but, of course, he who referred to himself as Ben-Adam (mistranslated as "Son of Man") knew the meaning of the letter-numbers. Not even his disciples understood that sacred language, as they themselves said. This understanding is not easy, but it is one thing to make a serious attempt to understand a somewhat difficult code, and it is quite another to run away from it and to dream that the mystery of life-death and existence can reveal itself by means of a few legends."

Cog, p125

http://www.psyche.com/psyche/lex/yhswh.html



Take care.













The only true vvisdom is in knovving you knovv nothing.

-Socrates

Answer 14

I believe the tetragrammaton is only found in the Old Testament

Answer 15

as a witness i suggest the best way is to do personal study. use the CD ROM or look into the bible god's word or man's , the brochure the divine name that will endure forever. that alone should give you lots of out side support as well.

Answer 16

This is perhaps the saddest current question on Yahoo Answers.



Even children among Jehovah's Witnesses know that nearly EVERY edition of the so-called "New" Testament includes four instances of "Jah" at Revelation 19:1-6 (compare Ps 68:4 KJV). Of course, "Jah" is the shortened form of the Divine Name "Jehovah". Some bibles refuse to translate these expressions correctly as "Praise Jah", leaving the untranslated "Hallelu-jah" or "Alleluiah" without its obvious connection to "Jah Jehovah".



...(Isaiah 12:2) Jah Jehovah is my strength and my might



...(Isaiah 26:4) Trust in Jehovah, you people, for all times, for in Jah Jehovah is the Rock of times indefinite.





There are many ancient manuscripts from the first and second century after Christ and the apostles which translate the "New" Testament into (for example) the Hebrew language, and these ancient manuscripts repeatedly use the Tetragrammaton (the Divine Name; "Jehovah" in English).



But suppose such evidence as the bible book of Revelation and these ancient Hebrew translations of the "New" Testament did not exist. Would that make it sinful to conscientiously restore the Divine Name where it seems quite obviously to belong? Would the questioner suggest that it is less sinful to remove the Divine Name SEVEN THOUSAND TIMES from the "Old" Testament rather than restore it some two hundred times to the "New" Testament?



Essentially, the New World Bible Translation Committee believed that it is preferable to err (if that is what they did) on the side of magnifying the divine name, rather than share in perpetuating a superstition that hides it. Incidentally, by 2007 there are at least twenty-seven other bible translations which also restore the Divine Name in the "New" Testament.



Witnesses love NWT largely because they believe that Jesus, the apostles, and the other Christian bible writers were like the prophets Isaiah and Moses (e.g. Ps 83:18) and other bible writers in that they must have used the divine name in their speech and in their writings. Sadly, the original Greek manuscripts of the Christian Greek Scriptures (the so-called "New" Testament) have never been found.



...(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them



...(Matthew 6:8,9) God your Father knows what things you are needing before ever you ask him. 9 “You must pray, then, this way: “‘Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.





Think about it: Jesus and his apostles must have been extraordinarily familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures (the "Old" Testament), and the evidence is that they frequently quoted from these writings. The Hebrew Scriptures use the divine name SEVEN THOUSAND TIMES; would Jesus and his apostles have skipped over "Yahweh" or "Jehovah" when it appeared in the text they were quoting?



Do anti-YHWH activists actually believe that the apostle Paul, a great scholar of Judaism and Hebrew, misquoted the Psalms with such a preposterous mismash of confusion as that which later corrupted Paul's writings...?

...(Acts 2:34, KJV) The LORD said unto my Lord...

[which plainly quotes]

...(Psalm 110:1) The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is... [please note that ancient manuscripts ALL include the Tetragrammaton here in Psalms]



Look again at Psalm 110:1, and ignore how Paul (the Hebrew scholar) would certainly have quoted that verse.

Would JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD have ignored Psalm 110:1's use of the Divine Name? Does it seem even remotely logical that the Hebrew-speaking Jesus, disputing with the Hebrew-speaking Jews, would misquote a verse of the Hebrew Scriptures in a manner which would obfuscate Jesus' very point about the word "lord"? For that matter, would the gnat-straining Pharisees have tolerated ANY misquotes by Jesus, who was the very bane of their hypocrisy? Compare Christendom's unclear supposed translation with the clarity of a translation restoring the Tetragrammaton (as Psalm 110:1 does).

...(Matthew 22:44, KJV) The LORD said unto my Lord...

...(Matthew 22:43, NWT) Jehovah said to my Lord...



Here are those verses again, in context, from Youngs Literal Translation. Note that the central point by Jesus revolves around the word "lord":

...(Psalm 110:1, YLT) The affirmation of Jehovah to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.'

...(Matthew 22:41-45, YLT) And the Pharisees having been gathered together, Jesus did question them, saying, 'What do ye think concerning the Christ? of whom is he son?' They say to him, 'Of David.' [Jesus] saith to [the Pharisees], 'How then doth David in the Spirit call him lord, saying, The Lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand, till I may make thine enemies thy footstool? If then David doth call him lord, how is he his son?'

...(Matthew 22:41-45, NWT) Now while the Pharisees were gathered together Jesus asked them: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him: “David’s.” [Jesus] said to [the Pharisees]: “How, then, is it that David by inspiration calls him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘Jehovah said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet”’? If, therefore, David calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?”





As with Luke 4:16-21 (compare Isa 61:1,2), the New World Translation is quite careful to ONLY render the divine name when a verse or phrase in the Christian Greek (NT) Scriptures seems to quote or refer to a Hebrew (OT) Scripture with the divine Name. That is why the OT has almost 7000 occurrences of "Jehovah" while the NT has less than 300.



For centuries, most Jews have superstitiously refrained from pronouncing aloud any form of the divine Name. They base that superstition on the third of the Ten Commandments given to Moses:

...(Exodus 20:7) You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way

http://watchtower.co.uk/e/bible/ex/chapter_020.htm?bk=Ex;chp=20;vs=7;citation#bk7



What seems more surprising is that Christendom has largely joined with superstitious Jews in suppressing the use of "Yahweh" and "Jehovah". However, it seems that Christendom's anti-YHWH bias largely devolves from their hatred of Jehovah's Witnesses, the religion almost single-handedly responsible for the growing public recognition that the Almighty God of Judaism and Christianity actually does have a personal name.



Perhaps the questioner might ponder on whether it is preferable to be motivated by superstition and bigotry, or motivated by love of God (and His name).



Learn more:

http://watchtower.co.uk/e/na/index.htm?article=article_06.htm

http://watchtower.co.uk/e/20040122/





EDIT: The questioner has elsewhere clarified that she left Jehovah's Witnesses herself about 1991 because of her "own conscience".

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20070706093057AA5RHqh&cp=2&tp=2&tnu=35#all-answers

Answer 17

It seems there are many groups that get hung up on symbals rather than focusing on the living God.