The Names of Jehova in the Bible
So many people are familiar with the term Jehova, also spelled Jehovah. You have an entire religious sect called the Jehova’s Witnesses. But what is the origin of this word? Do its roots tie into the ancient language of the scriptures? We will briefly examine the names of Jehova in the Bible.
The title “Jehova” is a transliteration of the Aramaic/Hebrew word Yahuwah, also spelled Yahweh. This title is derived from the Hebrew letters called a tetragrammaton. People who call themselves Jews don’t have a correct pronunciation of the title so they refer to the being with that title as Hashem, The Name. This is because there were no vowels in the title.
Now the first letter of this title is the Hebrew letter yod. As you can see, yod begins with and is pronounced with a “y” sound. So how in the heck did they get a “j” sound from? It is because certain people of European descent who tried to speak the Hebrew language could pronounce the letters correctly. Their accent caused a different pronunciation. Think of how Dracula (there is a deeper meaning to why I used Dracula) pronounced his words in the movies. His “y” sounds were “j” sounds. His “w” sounds were “v” sounds, as the third letter in the title is waw which became pronounced as a “v”.
So what does this title really mean? It is first used in Genesis 2:4, translated as Lord. It is followed by the word God, translated from the word Eloheem. Prior to this verse it just says God did this or that. This word Eloheem which translates to mean God is really a plural word, not a singular. This is why you read in Genesis 1:26, “Let US make man in OUR image…” There you see the plural usage because it is a plural word.
When you get to Genesis 2:4, it is just one of these beings from Genesis chapter 1. You see, that title Jehova simply means “Oh He who is”. This stems from when Moses asked who should I say you are when talking to God. God supposedly said, “I am that I am.” Moses said God was “Oh He who is”. There’s nothing deep about it.
What’s funny is many different religious groups and denominations are formed out of mistranslations and plain old misinformation. The names of Jehova are so widely misinterpreted that it is ridiculous. There are no “j” sounds in the ancient Aramaic/Hebrew language. So when you call on “God” using “Jehova”, who are you really calling on, Dracula?