WX1. Moderns are now told that the name of the Lord in the Old Testament is Jehovah or Yahweh. That's because Christian scholars eventually discovered that the Jewish Masoretic text uses that name in many places. The name is thought to mean something close to I Am or He Is.
The early non-Jewish Christians did not use that name. In fact, neither did a great many Jews of the period.
When Paul exclaimed that "Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13) he was quoting the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures (Joel 2:32) which substitutes the word Lord whenever the Hebrew has the letters often sounded out as Yahweh. But Paul was expressly saying that Jesus is Lord. Now the name Jesus can be pronounced in English Joshua, or Jah-shua, meaning Yahweh saves or Yahweh is salvation.
A similar situation occurs with the word appearing in English-language as "hallelujah" which stems from the Hebrew "Hail to Jah (or Yah)." So the name Jesus enfolds the name of the God of the Hebrews.
And yet, "there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Now even though many Jewish names of the period contained the abbreviated Yah or Jah, as in Elijah, there is no reason to think that most foreigners realized that. In fact, that may have been a murky point among many Jews.
Why so? The so-called J-writer whose work is found in the old testament was very interested in demonstrating the power of the God of the Israelites, so he used that name often. When he was writing, few could read and so there was little concern that foreigners would overhear that very special name. That name was kept secret from foreigners in order to prevent its misuse for impure purposes. This situation changed when Alexander conquered Palestine, and even more so when a Greek potentate named Antiochus Epiphanes IV tried to outlaw the Hebrew religion.
It became important for the Jewish leaders to indoctrinate the populace in the principles of their religion, which had been mostly centered in the Temple. They set up synagogues (assembly halls) and generally used a Greek translation of the scriptures which omitted the name Yahweh, so that the many Greeks and other foreigners would be kept in the dark on that special name. That Greek translation had been compiled in Egypt for the large Jewish community there.
Still, as Christians in the age of grace we need not worry about pronouncing the holy name of Yahweh or Jehovah. But a question is, why do we use it? We already have the name of Jesus, which is all we need.
One might argue that if God gave Jesus for our salvation, then he gave Jehovah for our salvation. But The name Jehovah does not refer directly to a particular human being who was sacrificed on a cross for our sake.
The early non-Jewish Christians did not use that name. In fact, neither did a great many Jews of the period.
When Paul exclaimed that "Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13) he was quoting the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures (Joel 2:32) which substitutes the word Lord whenever the Hebrew has the letters often sounded out as Yahweh. But Paul was expressly saying that Jesus is Lord. Now the name Jesus can be pronounced in English Joshua, or Jah-shua, meaning Yahweh saves or Yahweh is salvation.
A similar situation occurs with the word appearing in English-language as "hallelujah" which stems from the Hebrew "Hail to Jah (or Yah)." So the name Jesus enfolds the name of the God of the Hebrews.
And yet, "there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Now even though many Jewish names of the period contained the abbreviated Yah or Jah, as in Elijah, there is no reason to think that most foreigners realized that. In fact, that may have been a murky point among many Jews.
Why so? The so-called J-writer whose work is found in the old testament was very interested in demonstrating the power of the God of the Israelites, so he used that name often. When he was writing, few could read and so there was little concern that foreigners would overhear that very special name. That name was kept secret from foreigners in order to prevent its misuse for impure purposes. This situation changed when Alexander conquered Palestine, and even more so when a Greek potentate named Antiochus Epiphanes IV tried to outlaw the Hebrew religion.
It became important for the Jewish leaders to indoctrinate the populace in the principles of their religion, which had been mostly centered in the Temple. They set up synagogues (assembly halls) and generally used a Greek translation of the scriptures which omitted the name Yahweh, so that the many Greeks and other foreigners would be kept in the dark on that special name. That Greek translation had been compiled in Egypt for the large Jewish community there.
Still, as Christians in the age of grace we need not worry about pronouncing the holy name of Yahweh or Jehovah. But a question is, why do we use it? We already have the name of Jesus, which is all we need.
One might argue that if God gave Jesus for our salvation, then he gave Jehovah for our salvation. But The name Jehovah does not refer directly to a particular human being who was sacrificed on a cross for our sake.
