I recently read an article by a preacher in which he objected to the use of Yahweh,
the personal name of the deity, in translating the tetragrammaton (YHWH) in
the approximately 6828 times the term occurs in the Hebrew text. His reasoning is
that the use of Yahweh in translation tends to be confusing to most people because
they are not accustomed to hearing and/or reading the sacred name.
First, I doubt that the degree of confusion that he alleges really exists. The
American Standard Version published in 1901 made a salient effort for
consistency by translating YHWH with the hybrid term Jehovah in all of its occurrences.
Some other English versions also use Jehovah for the Tetragrammaton. The KJV even
uses Jehovah a few times. (cf. Gen. 22:14; Ex. 6:3; 17:15; Jdg. 6:24; Psa. 83:18;
Isa. 12:2; 26:4) Furthermore, the Jerusalem Bible uses Yahweh in thousands of
places, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible uses it over 600 times in the
Old Testament.
Second, even if the use of Yahweh initially confuses those who lack
familiarity with the name, is it not be the duty of preachers, who ought to be
exegetes of the sacred scriptures to explain its meaning and use? Do we not do this
with other words and concepts with which people may not be familiar? I believe
much of the confusion regarding the issue of translating the Bible, is the direct result
of those who know failing to adequately inform those who do not know ! There are
ways of teaching our people the reasons why some things are translated the way they
are, and why some things need changing without being too technical and sounding
too academic. The bottom line is, we have the duty to teach people so they can be
informed. (2 Tim. 2:15) We who preach need to stay abreast of important issues,
and Bible translation is such an issue. There is no excuse for spiritual and mental
laziness.
In my judgment, there is one thing confusing about the way most modern versions
address the issue of translating YHWH. It is this: where YHWH occurs in the text, they
put the word LORD in all capitals, except in those instances when Adonai
(lord, ruler) and YHWH appear together. When they do occur together, YHWH is
translated GOD. Most people never notice such, and when they do, they have no idea
why Lord with lower case letters appears, and why at other times it is LORD with all
upper case letters. Then at other times we read God with lower case letters and in other
instances it appears as GOD with all upper case letters. Now that is what confuses many
people. They are unaware that such variety is an "expedient" used by translators to
differentiate Lord and God from YHWH.
So, why not use Yahweh in the places where YHWH appears in the text of
the Old Testament? Why not equip oneself to teach the people about the sacred name
as we teach them about words like immerse, congregation, hades, and
countless other words and concepts in our writing, preaching, and teaching?
R. Daly
Copyright 2011
the personal name of the deity, in translating the tetragrammaton (YHWH) in
the approximately 6828 times the term occurs in the Hebrew text. His reasoning is
that the use of Yahweh in translation tends to be confusing to most people because
they are not accustomed to hearing and/or reading the sacred name.
First, I doubt that the degree of confusion that he alleges really exists. The
American Standard Version published in 1901 made a salient effort for
consistency by translating YHWH with the hybrid term Jehovah in all of its occurrences.
Some other English versions also use Jehovah for the Tetragrammaton. The KJV even
uses Jehovah a few times. (cf. Gen. 22:14; Ex. 6:3; 17:15; Jdg. 6:24; Psa. 83:18;
Isa. 12:2; 26:4) Furthermore, the Jerusalem Bible uses Yahweh in thousands of
places, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible uses it over 600 times in the
Old Testament.
Second, even if the use of Yahweh initially confuses those who lack
familiarity with the name, is it not be the duty of preachers, who ought to be
exegetes of the sacred scriptures to explain its meaning and use? Do we not do this
with other words and concepts with which people may not be familiar? I believe
much of the confusion regarding the issue of translating the Bible, is the direct result
of those who know failing to adequately inform those who do not know ! There are
ways of teaching our people the reasons why some things are translated the way they
are, and why some things need changing without being too technical and sounding
too academic. The bottom line is, we have the duty to teach people so they can be
informed. (2 Tim. 2:15) We who preach need to stay abreast of important issues,
and Bible translation is such an issue. There is no excuse for spiritual and mental
laziness.
In my judgment, there is one thing confusing about the way most modern versions
address the issue of translating YHWH. It is this: where YHWH occurs in the text, they
put the word LORD in all capitals, except in those instances when Adonai
(lord, ruler) and YHWH appear together. When they do occur together, YHWH is
translated GOD. Most people never notice such, and when they do, they have no idea
why Lord with lower case letters appears, and why at other times it is LORD with all
upper case letters. Then at other times we read God with lower case letters and in other
instances it appears as GOD with all upper case letters. Now that is what confuses many
people. They are unaware that such variety is an "expedient" used by translators to
differentiate Lord and God from YHWH.
So, why not use Yahweh in the places where YHWH appears in the text of
the Old Testament? Why not equip oneself to teach the people about the sacred name
as we teach them about words like immerse, congregation, hades, and
countless other words and concepts in our writing, preaching, and teaching?
R. Daly
Copyright 2011
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