The main problem is that Jehovah isn’t actually in the Bible. It is a mistake of translation that ended up being used in songs, translations of the Bible, and common parlance. Let’s see how it happened.

How Was the Old Testament Written?

To start with, we need to understand how the Jewish people wrote and read their scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. In Exodus, God gives as close to a name as we get. The letters YHWH. It is unpronounceable on purpose.

It’s not Yahweh. That’s another made up version, although it’s closer. The whole point is that you are not meant to be able to pronounce the name of God. To this day, most orthodox Jews will write G-d rather than God. They will use the word Hashem or Adonai to refer to God (which mean Lord) rather than pronounce the sacred and unpronounceable name YHWH.

This means when Jewish people read their scriptures outloud, rather than say YHWH they said Adonai. This became so common that when they introduced vowels into the Hebrew alphabet, they inserted the vowels of Adonai subscript to YHWH, to remind people to say Adonai rather than YHWH.

This is why in most translations of the Bible, in the Old Testament you will find the word LORD all in small capitals to refer to God. This is the translator’s way of capturing the idea of using Adonai (Lord) to refer to God. It is also the reason why in the New Testament they call God kyrios which means Lord. This is also why it’s such a big deal that they call Jesus Lord.

From Lord to Jehovah

Well, that comes down to a mistake, probably in the sixteenth century by a monk named Galatinus, although no one really knows for sure. During this period people were going back to the original languages to make translations of the Bible. This had been done before by specialists, but was becoming increasingly common amongst translators. However, Galatinus did not understand how the Jews had written their scriptures.

When Galatinus saw YHWH with the vowels of Adonai, he did not know that the vowels were for a different word altogether. He put them together. YaHoWaH. In Latin, there is no Y or W. So it became Iovah. Which, when translated into vernacular languages such as the King James Version, it became Jehovah.

As one of my training college tutors once said, calling God Jehova is the equivalent to calling God Fellulah. It’s not God’s name. It means nothing.

But, it has become quite common in some parts of Christianity, especially those that depend on the KJV, or who like lots of older songs. The heterodox Jehovah’s Witnesses go out of their way to justify using the word to refer to God. The word has gained a meaning over time that it never had before the 16th and 17th century.

Does It Matter?

Ultimately, it’s one of those things that doesn’t really matter. People know what you mean if you say Jehovah. It was in Indiana Jones after all. But, if we want to be faithful to scripture, then it’s worth remembering that there is a problem with Jehovah – it doesn’t mean anything!

I hope you found that interesting or helpful, preferably both!

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