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The Bible And The Divine Name Taken from our 2015 Calendar Psalm 106:1 Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lachish Letters - before 607 B.C.E. - written in Hebrew. The divine name appears 11 times in fragments of letters written by Jewish military officers. Several of the letters begin with the greeting: "May Jehovah cause my lord to hear tidings of peace!" Moabite Stone - c. 9th century B.C.E. - written in Moabite. In this inscription, Moabite King Mesha credits his god chemosh with a successful rebellion against Israel, boasting: "I took from there the vessels of YHWH(Jehovah)" Ketef Hinnom Silver Scroll I - c. 7th century B.C.E. - written in Hebrew. Dating from before the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E., the inscription reads: "May Jehovah bless you and safeguard you. May Jehovah make His face shine upon you." - Numbers 6:24+25 God's name was well-known by God's ancient people as well as by others, and it was in common usage, as evidenced by secular writers. The Moabite Stone contains the earliest known inscriptions of God's name. The Silver Scroll, containing God's name, is the earliest known inscription of a Bible text. Great Isaiah Scroll - c. 2nd century B.C.E. - written in Hebrew. The largest Dead Sea Scroll; found in Qumran in 1947 Fouad Papyrus No. 266 - c. 1st century B.C.E. - written in Greek with the divine name in Hebrew. God's name occurs many times in Hebrew letters in this papyrus. Nahal Hever Fragments - c. 1st century C.E. - written in Greek with the divine name in Hebrew. Fragments from the so-called Minor Prophets (Habakkuk 2:16-20 and Zechariah 9:14) Jehovah wanted His name to be known. Exodus 9:16 But for this very reason I have kept you in existence: to show you my power and to have my name declared in all the earth There is irrefutable evidence that God's name is in ancient Hebrew manuscripts and in Greek manuscript translations of the Hebrew Scriptures from both before and after the time of Jesus' earthly ministry. Therefore, Jesus would have known and used the divine name, and His apostles would have used it in their writings. John 17:6 “I have made your name manifest to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have observed your word. Latin Vulgate - c. 405 C.E. - written in Latin. The Vulgate was the standard Bible of the Catholic Church for over a thousand years, including during the infamous Dark Ages. Pugio fidei(Dagger of Faith) - c. 1278 C.E. - written in Latin. This document, written by Spanish Dominican monk Raymundus Martini, is an attack on Jewish beliefs and a defense of Catholic doctrine. The text uses God's personal name, Jehovah, rending it as Yohouah. Victoria Porcheti adversus impios Hebraeos(Porchetus' Victory Against the Ungodly Hebrews) - 1303 C.E. - written in Latin. An anti-Jewish work by Italian monk Porchetus de Salvaticis. In the text, Porchetus used Yohouah(Jehovah) as well as the Hebrew Tetragrammaton in some places. Tractatus de oratione et modo orandi(Treatise on Prayer and the Way of Praying) - c. 1445 C.E. - written in Latin. Wessel Gansfort, a Dutch Catholic scholar, could read Hebrew and used God's name, spelling it Iohauah in his writings. Jerome, a Catholic priest and secretary to Pope Damasus I, translated the entire Bible into Latin. Eventually, his translation became known as the Vulgate. The Vulgate did not contain God's name. Despite this omission, the divine name was used in other writings by Catholic scholars during the Middle Ages as the above examples show. Tyndale's Pentateuch - 1530 C.E. - written in English. William Tyndale's Pentateuch(Genesis through Deuteronomy) used the name Jehovah 14 times. Great Bible(Chained Bible) - 1539 C.E. - written in English. After Miles Coverdale revised Tyndale's work, it was decreed that every church in England and Wales should receive a copy. This Bible became known as the Chained Bible because it was chained to the reading desks to prevent theft, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the 'common man', which kept the power over the people in the hands of the Catholic Church. During the Reformation, there was a rebellion against the authority of the Catholic Church. Reformers returned to the ancient texts and began to restore God's name to its rightful place in the Bible. During this time period, the Bible was translated into English and was widely distributed. Munster's Epistle to the Hebrews - 1557 - written in Hebrew and Latin. It contains the Tetragrammaton in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Nuremberg Polyglot(12 languages) - 1599 - written in Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Syriac. It contains the Tetragrammaton in the Christian Greek Scriptures. Reina-Valera Bible - 1602 - written in Spanish. The name Jehovah appears throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. King James Version - 1611 C.E. - written in English. King James I of England commissioned this translation, which took 47 scholars about seven years to complete. The King James Version is the most widely distributed Bible in history. The 1613 version uses God's name in four passages. Jehovabijbel - 1755 - written in Dutch. The divine name is found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. In addition to the translations of the Bible into English, God's Word was translated into various other languages. A number of translators included the divine name in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures as the above examples show. New world Translation - 1950 to 1960 - written in English. Originally released in six volumes the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures restored God's name, Jehovah, to its rightful place. New World Translation - 1984 - written in 117 languages(not including sign languages). This revision contained 125,000 marginal references as an aid in Bible study. New World Translation - 2013 - written in English. This is a modern language translation of the entire Bible from ancient Hebrew and Greek texts. It is clear, accurate, and easy to understand. The New World Translation has been published in whole or in part in over 120 languages. To date, more than 200 million copies have been produced. One outstanding features of this modern-language translation is the restoration of the divine name to its rightful place. The name Jehovah appears 7,216 times in the Hebrew and Christian Greek Scriptures. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I sure hope you have enjoyed this short outline of the Bible's translations and its spread into the wider world. I find this type of study fascinating as it shows Jehovah's hand in the outpouring of His purpose. Wonderful. I am sorry I could not add more photos for you but I had trouble trying to format it properly so I opted for this more simple format. Yours, Katidid. These photos show Bibles on display at the exhibit "The Bible and the Divine Name" at the world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses.   |
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