I love the hymn, Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah. It wonderfully depicts the pilgrimage of God’s people in this fallen world and His presence to provide and protect.
If God’s name is Jehovah (Yahweh), why do the Jews not use it? Why is it not found in the majority of Bible translations? Why do we not call upon the name of Jehovah in prayer? When we talk about God, why do we not refer to Him as Jehovah? The straightforward answer is that Jehovah is not God’s name. The Hebrew name for God (יהוה) is transliterated as YHWH (the closest lettering in English to the Hebrew). This is known as the tetragrammaton. A word made of four consonants without vowels is unpronounceable. The name that God revealed to Moses at the burning bush cannot be spoken because it cannot be pronounced.
In response to this, the Jews having great reverence for God’s name made no attempt to speak it for fear of getting it wrong. What they did instead was refer to God as Adonai (“my lord”). In our English Bibles the name of God appears as LORD (in uppercase) rather than lord (in lowercase). This is a way of distinguishing His name from a title.
Exodus 3:13-15, “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” (14) And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “(15) Moreover, God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The LORD (YHWH) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”
How then did we get Jehovah? In the 6th – 10th centuries, Masorete scholars translating the original text took the vowel sounds from Adonai and added them to YHWH producing Yahweh. This made the tetragrammaton pronounceable. William Tyndale in the 14th century went a step further. Translating the scriptures he latinized Yahweh to Jehovah. In his work he introduced a number of new words, Jehovah being one of them. It has stuck around ever since, although, in the late 19th century there was a push to return to the earlier use of Yahweh.
Where does this leave us? Adonai in English is lord. Quoting the Old Testament, Christ referred to His Father as LORD (Kyrios in Greek). Christ Himself was referred to as LORD because He is God. We should, therefore, follow suit. God is Father, He is Creator, He is Saviour, He is LORD; He is not Yahweh or Jehovah. We don’t pray using the name Yahweh or Jehovah; we don’t ordinarily speak of Yahweh or Jehovah in conversation. While I wouldn’t say that it is wrong to use these terms, I don’t think it is desirable. Neither are found in most Bible translations because they are not in fact, God’s name. God’s name is unpronounceable. In the scriptures He is known as LORD, and we should be guided by the scriptures.
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah is a great hymn (as are other hymns which refer to God as Jehovah). We may like the use of the word, but perhaps adjusted versions are preferable. This is not a question of sin but accuracy and consistency. God’s name is precious and we should treat it as such.