Questions From Readers

● In the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, published in America in 1952, the divine name Jehovah does not appear at all, not even in the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. According to the Preface of this 1952 Version the word “Lord” has been used instead of God’s name. Would it therefore be right for us to read the name “Jehovah” wherever the word “Lord” occurs in connection with God that thus God’s name might be put in its proper place?

No, it would not be right to do so. Why not? For this reason: In the Revised Standard Version, the same as in the Authorized or King James Version, the divine name Jehovah has been substituted for by the title “LORD” printed in all capital letters or by the other title “GOD” printed in all capital letters. Where the titles “Lord” or “God” do not occur in all capital letters, then it does not translate the divine name Jehovah. For example, in chapter one of Genesis the title God occurs many times, but it does not translate the divine name in the Hebrew and hence “God” has only an initial capital letter and the other letters are small or in lower case. In the Hebrew text the divine name Jehovah begins to occur first in chapter two of Genesis, and there the Revised Standard Version renders it by the title “LORD” in all capital letters. However, in Genesis 15:2 we find the expression “Lord GOD” with the title “GOD” in all capital letters but not so the title “Lord.” This is because the title “GOD” translates the divine name Jehovah but the title “Lord” does not do so here.

In Genesis 15:2 the word “Lord” applies to Jehovah all right but it translates the Hebrew word pronounced “Ad·o·nāʹī” or “Ad·o·nīʹ.” This Hebrew word means “Master” or “Lord” and is applied only to Jehovah God. So it describes Jehovah God as being Master or Lord. Hence in the Hebrew text the Hebrew expression for “Lord GOD” is “Ad·o·nīʹ Ye·ho·wihʹ.” The American Standard Version and the New World Translation translate this expression into English as “Lord Jehovah.” In the Hebrew Scriptures this expression “Ad·o·nīʹ Ye·ho·wihʹ” or “Lord Jehovah” occurs over three hundred times, beginning with Genesis 15:2. In the one prophetic book of Ezekiel alone this expression “Lord Jehovah” occurs 214 times, beginning with Ezekiel 2:4. In all of these hundreds of cases the Revised Standard Version and the Authorized or King James Version use the word “GOD” in all capitals instead of Jehovah, because it would be foolish to translate this Hebrew expression “the Lord LORD.”

So, aside from the name Jehovah there is a special title, Ad·onāʹī or Ad·onīʹ, which applies to God alone, and which describes him as Lord or Master. In places in the accepted Hebrew text the title Ad·onīʹ occurs by itself, as at Psalms 68:32 and Ps 136:3, and hence the word “Lord” properly appears in the English.

There is another Hebrew expression that applies exclusively to Jehovah, namely, ha-A·dōnʹ. This expression is properly translated “the Lord” in English. It occurs a limited number of times, namely, at Exodus 23:17; 34:23; Isaiah 1:24; 3:1; 10:16, 33; 19:4; Micah 4:13 and Malachi 3:1. It would be improper, therefore, for anyone when reading these verses to substitute the divine name Jehovah for the title “the Lord.”

Also in Hebrew the expression for “Lord Jehovah” is not the same as the expression for “Jehovah God.” This fact is hidden in many translations of the Bible because the translators try to hide the divine name by using instead the word “LORD” in some places and the word “GOD” in other places. The New World Translation does away with all this confusion of thought by rendering the divine name Jehovah where it appears in the Hebrew and by rendering the title Lord or The Lord where it appears in the Hebrew text.

When the Watch Tower publications quote the Bible from any translation that hides the divine name by substituting “the LORD” or “GOD” for it, our publications will sometimes insert the name “Jehovah” in brackets after “the LORD” or “GOD” in order to identify who is meant. Likewise when anyone reads aloud to others from a Bible version that does not use the divine name, it would be honest and proper to read the Bible verse or verses just the way the translators of that version rendered the text, and after reading the words “the LORD” or “GOD” the reader could make the comment that this expression means Jehovah or is Jehovah in the original Hebrew text. In that way a writer or a reader cannot be accused of misquoting or misrepresenting any translation that conceals the divine name by substitute words.