Why was 'Jehovah' removed from the Bible?

Answer 1

The word 'Jehovah' is a German translation of the Hebrew word 'Yahweh' (originally spelt 'YHWH'), the name given to God by the early Hebrews of the southern kingdom of Judah. A different name ('Elohim') seems to have been used in the northern kingdom of Israel, and the later Jews used variants of the Israelite name. So strictly speaking, 'Jehovah' was never in The Bible; 'Yahweh' was, but only in some parts. Rather than attempt to transliterate (without translation) each reference to the deity, most English language Bibles, simply translate all as 'God' or 'Lord'.

"Jehovah" is the best known English pronunciation of the divine name, although "Yahweh" is favored by most Hebrew scholars. The oldest Hebrew manuscripts present the name in the form of four consonants, commonly called the Tetragrammaton.

AnswerAt some point a superstitious idea arose among the Jews that it was wrong even to pronounce the divine name Jehovah. Just what basis was originally assigned for discontinuing the use of the name is not definitely known. Some hold that the name was viewed as being too sacred for imperfect lips to speak. Yet the Hebrew Scriptures themselves give no evidence that any of God's true servants ever felt any hesitancy about pronouncing his name. Non-Biblical Hebrew records, such as the so-called Lachish Letters, show the name was used in regular correspondence in Palestine during the latter part of the seventh century B.C.E.

**Another view is that the intent was to keep non-Jewish peoples from knowing the name and possibly misusing it. However, Jehovah himself said that he would 'have his name declared in all the earth' (Ex 9:16; compare 1Ch 16:23, 24; Ps 113:3; Mal 1:11, 14), to be known even by his adversaries. (Isa 64:2)