In Hebrew, God’s name is written as YHWH. Because ancient Hebrew did not include written vowels, the original pronunciation is unclear. However, there are Greek records that do include vowels, suggesting that the name was probably pronounced as “Yahweh.”
Around the beginning of the first century A.D., many Jews started to refrain from pronouncing the divine name due to concerns about misusing it and violating the second commandment, which states, “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain” (Deut. 5:11). When reading Scripture aloud, they would replace the divine name with the Hebrew term “Adonai,” meaning “Lord” or “my Lord.”
Over time, Hebrew introduced written vowels, represented by small symbols known as vowel points, which were positioned above and below the consonants in a word. In the sixth or seventh century, some Jewish scholars started adding these vowel points for “Adonai” above the consonants of “Yahweh” to prompt readers to pronounce “Adonai” instead of “Yahweh” when reading Scripture.
Around the 13th century, the name “Jehovah” emerged when Christian scholars combined the consonants of “Yahweh” with the vowels of “Adonai.” This led to the pronunciation “Yahowah,” which was later Latinized to “Jehovah.” The earliest known use of this spelling was by a Spanish Dominican monk named Raymundus Martini in 1270.
Notably, this acknowledgment appears in many publications by Jehovah’s Witnesses, including their Aid to Bible Understanding (p. 885) and Insight in the Scriptures (Volume 2, pp 7-8).
By combining the vowel signs of ʼAdho·nayʹ and ʼElo·himʹ with the four consonants of the Tetragrammaton the pronunciations Yeho·wahʹ and Yeho·wihʹ were formed. The first of these provided the basis for the Latinized form “Jehova(h).” The first recorded use of this form dates from the thirteenth century C.E. Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk of the Dominican Order, used it in his book Pugeo Fidei of the year 1270. … Hebrew scholars generally favor “Yahweh” as the most likely pronunciation. – Aid to Bible Understanding
Interestingly, Raymundus Martini, a Spanish monk of the Dominican order, first rendered the divine name as “Jehova.” This form appeared in his book Pugeo Fidei, published in 1270 C.E.—over 700 years ago.
In time, as reform movements developed both inside and outside the Catholic Church, the Bible was made available to the people in general, and the name “Jehovah” became more widely known. – Watchtower, February 1, 1980, p. 11
Let’s look at some secular references:
“The pronunciation ‘Jehovah’ is an error resulting among Christians from combining the consonants YHWH with the vowels of ‘adonai’, ‘Lord’, which the Jews, in reading the Scriptures, substituted for the sacred name (YHWH), commonly called ‘the tetragrammaton’ as containing four consonants. It is first found in manuscripts of Martini’s Pugio, belonging to the 14th century.” – Britannica Encyclopedia, Volume 12
Thus the name ‘Jehovah’ could not have been the true name Almighty God revealed to Moses almost 4,000 years ago. Because this name was invented by men over than 700 years ago! Let’s look at another authority on the name “Jehovah”.
“Jehovah (properly ‘Yahweh’), a name of the God of Israel. now widely regarded as a mispronunciation of the Hebrew YHWH. The form ‘Jehovah’ appears to have been introduced as late as the 16th century by Christian theologians. Ry the Jews the actual pronunciation of the name of God was from time immemorial avoided, and was uttered in ancient times only during the temple service, principally on the Day of Atonement. In the reading of the true Name in Hebrew, the vowels of the word Adonai (Lord) are attached to the letters YHWH.” – The New American Encyclopedia’:
These sources and others clearly demonstrate that the name ‘Jehovah’ is not the name of Almighty God and that it was created by theologians only a few centuries back. So, what is the actual name that God disclosed to Moses? The evidence indicates that the true name of Almighty God, prior to any alterations made by theologians, is represented by the four consonants ‘YHWH’, which are referred to as the “tetragrammaton”.
Let’s look at some quotations on the word ‘tetragrammation’:
“The four consonants forming the Hebrew ‘incommunicable name’ of the Supreme Being. The four consonants are YHWH.” – Webster Collegiate Dictionary
“The letters YHWH used in the original Hebrew Bible to represent the name of God.” – The New Concise Encyclopedia
Around the beginning of the first century A.D., many Jews started to refrain from pronouncing the divine name due to concerns about misusing it and violating the second commandment, which states, “You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain” (Deut. 5:11). When reading Scripture aloud, they would replace the divine name with the Hebrew term “Adonai,” meaning “Lord” or “my Lord.”
Over time, Hebrew introduced written vowels, represented by small symbols known as vowel points, which were positioned above and below the consonants in a word. In the sixth or seventh century, some Jewish scholars started adding these vowel points for “Adonai” above the consonants of “Yahweh” to prompt readers to pronounce “Adonai” instead of “Yahweh” when reading Scripture.
Around the 13th century, the name “Jehovah” emerged when Christian scholars combined the consonants of “Yahweh” with the vowels of “Adonai.” This led to the pronunciation “Yahowah,” which was later Latinized to “Jehovah.” The earliest known use of this spelling was by a Spanish Dominican monk named Raymundus Martini in 1270.
This is unexpected since Jehovah’s Witnesses strongly oppose the Catholic Church and have worked hard to remove any influence of Catholicism from their beliefs. Ironically, the name of their group includes a term that originated in Catholicism: “Jehovah.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses criticize traditional Christianity for concealing God’s name by substituting “Jehovah” with “the Lord” in the Bible. They claim this practice is a Jewish “superstition” that disrespects God, although it does not. Ironically, their own organization has a name that originated from the same mindset that led to the use of “the Lord.”