Wednesday, June 29, 2022

The Titles of God in Missionary Training Manual For Use in Jewish Proselyting Program

  

God (Jewish names for). The Jewish people believe in only one God; however, because of the sacredness they attach to the direct use of God’s name, many Hebrews substitute names have been developed. Most Jews believe that the original Hebrew name for God consists of the four basic Hebrew letters YHVH.

 

Although the vowel sounds used in the Hebrew language were traditional in everyday ancient speech, they were not part of the written alphabet. So even today, the Jews are not sure of the correct pronunciation of YHVH. In about 700 C.E., to preserve the language (especially with regard to the Holy Scriptures), a group of Jewish scribes, called Masorites, introduced a series of small dots, dashes, and other symbolic marks to be used over, under, and between the letters of words. These little marks did not become new letters in the alphabet, but represented the vowel sounds to be used in pronunciation. Because of its sacredness, the name YHVH anciently could be spoken only by the high priest in the Jerusalem Temple during very solemn religious services. Perhaps due to reverence of infrequent usage, the Masorites did not attempt to provide vowel sounds for YHVH.

 

In English, YHVH is pronounced “Yahweh,” or “Yahveh.” The pronunciation “Jehovah” first appeared in 1516 in Christian bibles. It is believed to be of German origin and was arrived at by arbitrarily taking the vowel sounds from “Adonai” and inserting them between the letters YHVH. The Jews believe this pronunciation to be incorrect. The King James translators usually interpreted YHVH as “Lord.”

 

The Jews do not associate YHVH with the name of the Messiah.

 

The Jews believe that many of the scriptural names used to designate God identify him by referring to his divine attributes rather than his actual person. Jewish tradition also indicates that using the plural form of these names for God magnifies his majesty. (They do not conceive of a Godhead or council of the Gods as do the Latter-day Saints.) Some of the attribute names Jews use when referring to God are as follows:

 

Adonai (ah-doe-noy): “My Lords,” refers to God’s greatness and power.

 

Adoshem (ah-do-shem) from “the Name”: The term “the Name” refers to the sacredness of God’s name.

 

Elohim (El-o-heem): “the Gods,” refers to God’s infinite justice and mercy.

 

YHVH. Some Jews believe that this extremely sacred word is not necessarily the literal name of God, but actually means “the essence of God’s Being,” which cannot be comprehended by ordinary man.

 

There are other terms the Jews use to refer to God. Some of the more common of these are:

 

Bore Olam (bor-oh-lahm) The Creator of the World

 

Kedosh Yisrael (Keh-dosh yis-rah-ale): Holy One of Israel

 

Ha-makom (hah-mah0kohm): The Omnipresent Place

 

En Sof (ayn-sohf): Infinite one

 

Due to the great reverence the Jewish people feel when referring to God, they will often write the word without using the middle letter: G-d. This spelling is somewhat symbolic of the word YHVH without the vowel sounds.

 

Before we consider it strange for people to have more than one way to refer to their God, we should remember the following various ways in which we practice a similar custom:

 

God

Elohim

God the Father

Our Eternal Heavenly Father

Our Heavenly Father

Our father who art in heaven

Father (Missionary Training Manual For Use in Jewish Proselyting Program [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1978, 1979], 21-22)