Is this Christian?

[QuietKate]

A friend of mine sent me this short video. It talks about God's Old Testament name, but I don't read Hebrew. And there's a thing about the ?Shema? And Judaism but then the Trinity. I'm little confused...

 

[Hoghead1]

God's name in the OT is YHWH. That is pronounced Yahweh. Jehovah is a mistranslation here.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

In the old Testament God speaks to Moses from the burning bush. He then asks God what must he call Him who had sent him, to which God replies I AM.

The Tetragrammaton, YHWH, was derived from the Hebrew for 'He that is' or a paraphrase of ehyeh asher ehyeh of Exodus. This is therefore ultimately derived from I AM (At least if you don't buy derivations from surrounding gods. I argued about this in another thread if you would like a link).

Hebrew has no vowels and Second Temple Judaism stopped pronouncing the name, so how it should be pronounced is a mystery. It was replaced with terms like haShem or the Name or Adonai for Lord.
Most scholars today think it was pronounced Yahweh, based on Samaritan references to Iaou and readings of possibly related titles in the surrounding area and some linguistic backtracking.
Now, when the Jews stopped speaking Hebrew, some way to see how words should be pronounced was needed. As a consequence, diacritical marks were added for vowels. Frequently they added the marks for Adonai to YHWH, to show that adonai should be read aloud, but this caused people to read it as Jehovah. That at least is the theory. Unfortunately, the vowel points are not exactly correct to read Adonai, so there are some holes in this theory for Jehovah's derivation. Others have argued that it is due to omission of some vowel points by Babylonian Talmud writers, but this is also unproven.

There are actually some Hebraists like Jerome, Rabbi Hillel the elder, Rabbi Shammai, William Fuller or John Gill that argue Jehovah is the original pronunciation. There are also obscure quotations from the first century which support them like a greek transliteration of Jehovah found in Egypt, but it is inconclusive.
The Karaite Jewish tradition also argue that Jehovah is an acceptable English transliteration of YHWH as Jeremiah is of Yirmeyahu.

The reason that the Scholars prefer Yahweh is on account of it easily being derived from the title of El (El du yahwi sabuoth) or El who calls the hosts. They would then say that this is the origin of the name and explain how the nation of IsraEL came to worship Yahweh. However, this fails to take into account the first references to YHWH in Sinai amongst the Shasu of YHW of egyptian sources, so would need complicated transmission or double derivation.
El was also a widely used title for all gods in west Semitic languages as it simply means God, so there isn't really a mystery here.

So in short, YHWH is the name God commanded Moses to use to refer to Him in Exodus, but we don't really know how it should be pronounced, although the majority opinion is Yahweh. (There are other even more minority opinions besides Jehovah, like Yahve, Ioave or Iabe)

 

[Hieronymus]

God's name in the OT is YHWH. That is pronounced Yahweh. Jehovah is a mistranslation here.

Jahova is YHWH with the vowels of Adonai, is how it was explained to me.

 

[DamianWarS]

I would think the trinity would be best represented as a equilateral triangle rather than an isosceles triangle.

 

[BobRyan]

A friend of mine sent me this short video. It talks about God's Old Testament name, but I don't read Hebrew. And there's a thing about the ?Shema? And Judaism but then the Trinity. I'm little confused...

As far as I know Christians are the only trinitarians that believe the OT is the Word of God.

The Shamai is the statement in Deut 6 "Hear o Israel your God is ONE"

 

[QuietKate]

As far as I know Christians are the only trinitarians that believe the OT is the Word of God.

The Shamai is the statement in Deut 6 "Hear o Israel your God is ONE"

Thank you.

 

[BobRyan]

You are welcomed.

The Bible has stronger evidence in its favor than the numbering. In Dan 2 we see world history predicted. In Dan 7-9 we see a 1260 year timeline, a 2300 year timeline and a 490 year timeline. All of them have worked out.

 

[Extraneous]

When in doubt, just call Him Lord. Its universal. I heard that the different names that are used for God in the Hebrew/Aramaic (whatever it is) actually refer to God in different ways. I dont know really, but i might assume that's the case.

 

[QuietKate]

I've seen a couple of websites that say that numerology is Satanic, but how can how numbers be evil?

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

I've seen a couple of websites that say that numerology is Satanic, but how can how numbers be evil?

Nothing is evil in and of itself. A pentagram is just a couple of lines on paper, not evil at all for instance.
It is the associations people make that can cause evil, not the things itself.
Numerology can only lead you astray if you give it precedence over your faith and relationship to God, else its probably harmless in my opinion.

 

[Mark51]

In the original Hebrew writings, the name of the only true and living God was written with 4 consonants: YHWH or JHVH. Such consonants appear almost 7,000 times throughout the Bible.

This identifying name is a form of a Hebrew verb (ha wah’ meaning “to become,” and actually signifies “He causes to Become.” Thus God’s name identifies him as the One who progressively fulfills his promises and unfailingly realizes his purposes.

The true pronunciation is not known with certainty because of two main reasons. First, ancient Hebrew was written with consonants only-no vowels. When the language was read, the reader would add the proper vowels for a correct pronunciation. Yes, very complicated indeed! Fortunately, Jewish scholars later realized the potential problems and around the second half of the first millennium C. E. they invented a system of adding “vowel points” to the written language. This insured that the pronunciation at that time was preserved.

Secondly, a superstitious idea/belief was adopted among the Hebrews that it was blasphemous to speak the divine name out loud. Possible because they felt that it was a violation of the third commandment. Consequently, in order to avoid this sin, but acknowledge the divine name when scripture was being read aloud, the reader would substitute it with the name “Adho nai” (Sovereign Lord).

The most common pronunciation used in English is Jehovah and Yahweh. However, Jehovah is a more common and preferred pronunciation.

Regardless of which name is used, the important thing is to use it because a title such as Lord, God, Eternal and so forth are not personal and distinctive. Keep in mind that Satan is a “god” and Jesus used his father’s name and made it known/manifest. (John 17:6: 2 Corinthians 4:4) His name was certainly pronounced during Jesus’ time on earth and probably up to 70 CE when the temple was destroyed. Do we not we pray that His name be sanctified or hallowed?-Matthew 6:9.

 

[Radagast]

When in doubt, just call Him Lord.

That's what the New Testament does.

 

[Radagast]

how can how numbers be evil?

Numbers are not evil, although you can do evil things with numbers.

 

[keltoi]

The very first name of God used in the OT is (אֱלֹהִים) elohim (yes this is with vowel sounds). This has various meanings but basically means God. Genesis 1 says "Beresit / bara / elohim" Which means "In the beginning / created / God" or in English word order "In the beginning God created" so in the original language the name of God (elohim) is the 3rd word in the Bible.
YH (Yah) is often used and it means LORD, David uses it often in the Psalms.
JVHV (Jehovah) is also often used and it means GOD.
David often used both names (YH and JVHV) in the same verse of individual Psalms.
Notice elohim means God, but Jehovah means GOD, and likewise Yah (or Yahweh) means LORD. This is to indicate the primacy of God over everything else.

 

[Soyeong]

I've seen a couple of websites that say that numerology is Satanic, but how can how numbers be evil?

I think the Bible does make some use of numerology, so I wouldn't say it's Satanic, however, it can be easy to take a number, apply some random formula to it, add some other random numbers, and end up with some other number that you want that is used someplace else, so it's really easy to find connections that aren't really there. There is also the issue of different vowel points giving you different totals, but a lot of it is poetry, so there is an intentional order to it. For example, I think it worth looking up a few articles on chiasms in the Bible.

 

[mmksparbud]

I've seen a couple of websites that say that numerology is Satanic, but how can how numbers be evil?

LOL!! God is not just love--He is physics, He is math--He is the author of science, of our mathematics and physics and everything! you can't read the bible without encountering math--it can be a problem to follow at times to those, like me, who are "numerically challenged". Everything in the universe is orderly--numerical--it is not evil--it is it's own language-just as music is it's own language. To the musical, it is understood clearly, to the tone deaf, it make no sense. Satan uses the things of God and twists them to his own purposes and lays claim to them as his--only when they are used for evil is something evil---money is not evil--the love of money is, what is can be used for can be either for good or evil.

 

[Tree of Life]

A friend of mine sent me this short video. It talks about God's Old Testament name, but I don't read Hebrew. And there's a thing about the ?Shema? And Judaism but then the Trinity. I'm little confused...

Nah this is stupid. Whether you pronounce the divine name as Yahweh or Jehovah doesn't really matter. It is true that Hebrew letters have numerical equivalents. But any connections that people try to make with such numerology is just stupid.

 

[Tree of Life]

I've seen a couple of websites that say that numerology is Satanic, but how can how numbers be evil?

Numbers are not evil. But trying to discern secret meaning from Scripture via numerology is very misguided. The best way to determine Scripture's meaning is the straightforward reading of it.

 

[tturt]

When we say "Lord," "Lord Almighty," or "God," can lead to confusion with other religions. Need to use a term that's distinguishable from others because there is only one (who includes Yeshua and The Holy Spirit).

"Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created." Psa 148:5

"I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever." Psa 145:1

"...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Matt 6:9

After studying some about names, titles, and attributes, Yahweh's my choice. That way there's no doubt.