The titles LORD and God are translated from the Hebrew and Greek words, Elohim and Jehovah. Other titles used by God in the Scriptures are, Elahh, El, Adhonai, I Am, Theos, etc.
The first time we see the name “God” in Scripture is Genesis 1:1. “In the beginning God created.” Here it’s the Hebrew word “Elohim.”
Elohim is not God’s proper name, but describes God’s real essence. Elohim is a compound word which signifies that God is Almighty; omniscient; omnipresent; a pure and perfect Spirit who preserves and governs all things; “The one who is, who was, and who will be.”
Is Jehovah a proper name for God? This Hebrew word is an English rendering of the tetragrammation YHWH. Its original pronunciation is unknown. Jehovah is derived from the verb “to be.” and implies that God is eternal, that He is Absolute, the Uncaused One; this describing God’s real essence.
When the Jews read the Scriptures they made no attempt to pronounce Y.H.W.A. because of its sacredness, taking seriously the third commandment written in,
Exodus 17:15, “Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain.”
It is written that God will hold those who do take his name in vain, guilty. Also, after their captivity in Babylon the true pronunciation was lost.
Because “Yahweh,” was also considered a sacred name for God, the Jews replaced it with LORD and God. Yet in the English Bibles we can find the name Jehovah written seven times.
How did the Hebrew Y.H.W.H. become Yahweh, then Jehovah? Two vowels, A and E were added for easier reading and pronunciation, rendering it YaHWeH or Yahweh.
Let’s talk about the English translation for Jehovah. In the English alphabet until 1600 hundred, there was no letter “J”. The name Jehovah was written in English as, “Yahweh.” The letter J was introduced later into our alphabet for an easier pronunciation of words.
The W, in early English is the union of two Vs. This V being in the form of the Roman capital letter we call “U” today. The W is properly a vowel, but does not retain that distinction today.
To conclude, Y was changed to J, and W was changed to V, or J.H.V.H. The vowels were added for pronunciation purposes, and now rendered in the English as Jehovah. Later when the English Bible was published, Jehovah was written Lord, LORD, or God.
Phil Laspino www.seekfirstwisdom.com