true name of GOD ?

[sette]

I was told that Jews dont call God jehova and some brothers in truth i.e (catholics) told me its not the true name of God so what is ? Is it Abba , Elohim Sabaoth , Yaweh. i know that God is love and that Jesus is lord and that the spirit gives life Im just wondering also how do jehova/W deal with this I know they belive a lie but one so profound ????

[Tmaque]

Originally Posted by sette

I was told that Jews dont call God jehova and some brothers in truth i.e (catholics) told me its not the true name of God so what is ? Is it Abba , Elohim Sabaoth , Yaweh. i know that God is love and that Jesus is lord and that the spirit gives life Im just wondering also how do jehova/W deal with this I know they belive a lie but one so profound ????

I've heard that the Hebrews called God Yahweh...or YHWH because when you say it in a whisper it's really just breath. They specifically did not call him anything. When Moses asked his name God replied "I AM". I've always taken that as "I exist"....meaning God didn't want to be named. That's my take for whatever it's worth.

[space ghost]

when Moses ask God his name so he could answer the questions that his people would surely ask, and that is who or what is God's name....

God replied (according to Genesis)... my name is "I AM".

[Scott_Lafrance]

Originally Posted by space ghost

when Moses ask God his name so he could answer the questions that his people would surely ask, and that is who or what is God's name....

God replied (according to Genesis)... my name is "I AM".

According to Hebrew theology, the tetragrammiton, or YHWH translates to I AM WHO AM or I AM WHO I AM.

[Bob Baran]

Originally Posted by Scott_Lafrance

According to Hebrew theology, the tetragrammiton, or YHWH translates to I AM WHO AM or I AM WHO I AM.

I thought the Jews couldn't vocalize Gods name?

[Scott_Lafrance]

Originally Posted by Bob Baran

I thought the Jews couldn't vocalize Gods name?

I didn't say what they vocalized, only what the name YHWH means. I believe most Orthodox Jews refer to God as simply Lord or El Shadai.

[Bob Baran]

Originally Posted by Scott_Lafrance

I didn't say what they vocalized, only what the name YHWH means. I believe most Orthodox Jews refer to God as simply Lord or El Shadai.

Thanks!

[Katholikos]

About God's name and the Jehovah's Witnesses:

The (Protestant) RSV, in the "Preface to the Revised Standard Version," says this: QUOTE The form "Jehovah" is of late medeival origin; it is a combination of the consonants of the Divine Name [YHVH] and the vowels attached to it by the Masoretes but belonging to an entirely different word . . . the word "Jehovah" does not accurately represent any form of the Name ever used in Hebrew. . . END QUOTE The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Revised Standard Version, page xiv. (emphasis added)

Any Revised Standard Version of the Bible (RSV) should have this same preface.

JMJ Jay

[sette]

so whats his name ?

[Cherub]

Originally Posted by sette

so whats his name ?

I guess He just am.

[catsrus]

The Jews believed that it was blasphemy to utter or vocalize a name for God so wrote it as a tetragrammiton, YHWH or YHVH, in their writings as a reference to Him.
He is "I Am" as self identified.
God does not have nor need a name.

[Katholikos]

Names are needed to distinguish between two or more like or similar things. God, being the only God, needs no name. In the beginning, the Church had no name. Jesus simply called it "My Church" (Mt 16:18) or "the Church" (Mt 18:17) -- My ekklesia, meaning assembly or community. Later, as the heresies developed, it was called "Catholic."

Mormon gods need names. The One and Only God of Christians and Jews does not.

The Masoretes added vowel signs indicating that in place of YHVH should be read the Hebrew word "Adonai" (meaning "Lord") or "Elohim" (meaning "God"). YHVH was too sacred to be spoken. Ancient Greek translators substituted the word "Kyrios" (Lord) for the Name.

Reference: RSV Preface

JMJ Jay

[sette]

thank you so much Elohim bless you !
makes sens.

[DaveBj]

Originally Posted by Scott_Lafrance

According to Hebrew theology, the tetragrammiton, or YHWH translates to I AM WHO AM or I AM WHO I AM.

Umm, not quite. In Hebrew I AM THAT/WHO I AM is "Ehyeh asher ehyeh." In that utterance, "ehyeh" is the 1st-person of the form for the verb "to be." The word "yahweh" is considered by every scholar I have read to be the 3rd-person masculine form of that verb. It certainly fits the pattern.

Here is Exodus 3:14 in transliterated Hebrew:

Wa-yo'mer 'Elohiym 'el- Mosheh 'EHªYEH 'ªSHER 'EHªYEH Wa-yo'mer koh to'mar libneey Yisraa'eel 'EHªYEH shªlaachaniy 'ªleeykem

Word-for-word translation: "And-said God to-Moses I-AM THAT I_AM. And-he-said "Thus you-shall-say to-sons of-Israel, 'I-AM sent-me to-you.'"

DaveBj

[GilKobrin]

Originally Posted by sette

I was told that Jews dont call God jehova and some brothers in truth i.e (catholics) told me its not the true name of God so what is ? Is it Abba , Elohim Sabaoth , Yaweh. i know that God is love and that Jesus is lord and that the spirit gives life Im just wondering also how do jehova/W deal with this I know they belive a lie but one so profound ????

As a Jew, I'll take this one.

From a Jewish perspective, the whole idea of God having "names" like people do is a false idea. Names are things used to differentiate between equals; I use "red" to differentiate that color in language from the color I call "blue." Similarly, I am called "Gil" so that I am distinguished from my peers. God, having no equal, can not therefore have a name...

...in the conventional sense. A name can also a description of the named entity, the means by which a person relates to that entity. For example, the surname "Chayit" means "tailor" - people referred to that entity (in this case, a person) as a "tailor," because that's what he did for a living. Similarly, the name "window" is actually an evolution of the word vindauga ("wind eye") which replaced the word eagduru ("eye door") in the Old English vernacular; you can see that the word "window" is actually meant to be a description of the named entity - a "door" through which the "eye" can see. This aspect of names is the more conceptual aspect, and therefore the more important aspect.

Names of Gods are merely discriptions of Him, by which we can relate to Him with our puny minds. "Elohim" is the description of God as a Judge; "Tzevaos" is the description of God as the all-powerful; "HaMakom" is the description of God as the Omnipresent (whatever that means; it's tangential to this point); "HaBorei" is the description of God as the Creator; and so on and so forth. The Ineffable Name - aka the Tetragrammaton - is not to be pronounced, or written completely; it is referred to as "HaShem" ("the Name") and we have lost the knowledge of how it was vowelized. Attempts by modern scholars to vowelize it as Jehovah or Yahweh are misguided; those are no more the correct vowelizations of HaShem than "Bongo the Clown" is. Additionally, it is important to note that angels do not exist as people commonly believe them to; when an angel is named, it is really referring to a description of God, as He interacts with Man and the Universe. Thus, "Michael" (lit. "Mi Cha-El," "Who is like God?") refers to Man's understanding that God is unique; "Gabriel" (lit. "Gavar El" "God is the Strength") refers to Man's understanding that his power and importance depend on God; "Rafael" (lit. "Rafa El" "God is the Healer") refers to Man's understanding that his physical well-being depends on God; and so on and so forth. All angels mentioned in the Torah are merely references to the different forces/ways through which God interacts with the Universe and Man.

There are some important things to remember. A) God doesn't have names, but rather descriptions of Him by which we can relate to Him (we call them Names), B) there are very esoteric Names, which represent complex true ideas about God, and C) Hebrew is the only language in which Names of God are composed - thus, God is not a Name of God and Lord is not a Name of God.

Shalom!

Gil