Which is correct: Jehovah or Yahweh?

As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses it has always troubled me (more now than ever), that the reasoning for choosing Jehovah over Yahweh is because Jehovah was the more common, accepted, known, familiar. JW's generally go contrary to what is popular; especially when it comes to what is accepted by the "world"! However “Yahweh” is closer to God's name that Jehovah.

What is your "take" on that?


As you no doubt are aware, God’s name was originally written in the Hebrew Scriptures in the form on an abbreviation using the four letters YHWH called the Tetragrammaton. No doubt back when the Bible writers used the YHWH they knew how it ought to be pronounced.

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Unfortunately, over the ages the true pronunciation has been lost due to the fact that no one can say with certainty which vowels ought to be inserted into YHWH. We may be sure, though, that the name “Jehovah” is not the Hebrew way of pronouncing the Divine name. The reason being, obviously, that the YHWH does not contain a “J.”

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How did it come about that YHWH came to have a J-sound?

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Under the topic of Tetragrammaton Wikipedia says: “The "J" in "Jehovah" is a result of Martin Luther's rendering of the Biblical Hebrew name יְהֹוָה in his German translation of the Masoretic Text first published in 1534. Due to the fluid position of the letters J and I in English before the 17th century Luther's convention fit with earlier English transcriptions and thus was retained in early English translations. The Encyclopedia Americana states: The form of J was unknown in any alphabet until the 14th century. Either symbol (J,I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year. Gradually, the two symbols (J,l) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.”

So, evidently the English invention of the letter “J” originally had a “Y” sound, but gradually it changed. That’s the nature of languages – they change over time. But, the argument could be made that keeping the “J” spelling of Jehovah is consistent with the fact that all proper Hebrew names that were originally spelled with a “Y” are spelled with a “J” in English. Names like Jeremiah, Joshua, and Jehoshaphat and so on, were written in Hebrew with a “Y.”

As for the name Yah-weh, there are reasons to object to that pronunciation. True, the “Y” is in keeping with the original consonant of the Tetragrammaton, but it falls short in not reflecting the fact that YHWH probably was pronounced using three syllables – not two. The same Wikipedia article goes on to point out that the 1st century Jewish historian, Josephus, stated that YHWH was pronounced with four vowels. But, there are valid reasons to believe that it was three, and the middle syllable had an “O” sound.

This is reflected in the many Hebrew names that incorporated parts of the Divine name either as a prefix or suffix. Proper Hebrew names like Je-ho-ram, Je-hoi-da, Je-hoi-a-chin, Je-hoi-a-kim, Je-hon-a-than and others, apparently incorporated the first two syllabic sounds of YHWH, which indicates that the middle vowel sound was “HO.” The pronunciation of “Jehovah” is in keeping with the pronunciation of numerous derivatives of the Divine name. Yahweh is lacking in that regard.

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In my opinion, what's important is not so much trying to imitate an unknowable Hebrew pronunciation, but rather, using a form of the name that is consistent with the way other biblical Hebrew names are pronounced in English. The name "Jehovah" fits that criteria.

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