Which Bible translation is the best?

[historia]

Which English translation of the Bible do you like the best?

Why do you like it better than other translations?

And which one do you like second best?

[historia]

I'm sorry, I just don't understand your objection.

Perhaps an analogy would be useful.

Let's say you decide to rent a car for a trip. But when you get to the car rental place, all the cars have been taken.

"No problem," replies the agent at the counter, "we have a motorcycle you can rent. If you're okay driving a car, you should have no objection to driving a motorcycle, since they are both motorized vehicles."

Now, I think all of us would find that argument from the rental car agent rather strained. Just because cars and motorcycles are both motorized vehicles doesn't make them the same. There are important differences between the two, and good reasons why you might be okay renting a car but not a motorcycle.

Likewise, your argument that those who accept the pronunciation of 'Jesus' should accept the pronunciation 'Jehovah', since they both come from the same "language group," is similarly strained. It makes the same mistake of overlooking the differences between the two terms.

Jehovah has a peculiar etymology and usage that makes it different from all other Latinized biblical names. Just because someone accepts the latter doesn't entail they should necessarily accept 'Jehovah'.

People say that the consonants YHWH are supplanted with the vowels from ADONAI to create "Jehovah." Yet I don't see the vowels from Adonai in the name "Jehovah" or "Yahweh." That doesn't make sense.

Have you looked at the two words in Hebrew?

[JehovahsWitness]

So your point is, that the form JEHOVAH (the English) is now "unacceptable"

No, I'm afraid both here, and at several other points in your recent replies, you've inadvertently misconstrued my argument.

Okay my use of the word "unacceptable" (withdrawn). Please ignore. I made some other points will you address them ?





1. THE DATE

If a newer, more accurate transliteration supplants Yahweh, then we should definitely use that instead.

So the date of a transliteration's introduction into the vernacular is, in itself irrelevant in terms of accuracy; it neither invalidates nor validates a usage, would you not agree?

If a pronunciation (read trnasliteration) that dates from the 21st Century wouldn't be invalidated because of its relative modernity, why would something that dates from the middle ages be ? Would you not apply the same "rule" and say this new [XYZ 21st century] pronunciation has only come into use since 2018 and since "[Other names ] all came ... [XYZ] doesn't appear until [two] thousand years later." it will be rejected on the basis of the date of its appearance.

Can you understand some may see this as smacking of double standards ie :

"1518 "No! too modern" ....
2018 "No problem! ... got nothing against modern renditions appearing thousands of years after more established ones!"

NOTE You did not originally make any mention of date "into Latin" you simply stated

Rather, the criticism of 'Jehovah' is that it is most likely ... late Medieval .

Are you suggesting a name must first be transliterated into Latin to be valid and any transliteration directly from the HEBREW invalidates it?

Do you disagree with my assertion that 'Jehovah' was first created in the late Middle Ages?

I will answer this question after you clarify if you think the relative modernity of a transliteration invalidates it as a scholarly valid transliteration You might like to add when you think Modern English itself was "created".

[JehovahsWitness]

2 VOWEL CHOICE

I call it a misconstruction because it is a mistaken conflation of two different words.

So it's not which vowels are used but where you believe they came from, is that correct?

If the vowel choices were not merely tranplants from another word but rather influenced by academic considerations, then JEHOVAH would not be considered a "misconstruction and would in fact be as equally valid an English transliteration as any other English equivalent"

Does that about sum up the point?

Do you disagree with my assertion that 'Jehovah' is the conflation of YHWH with adonai?

I will address this question after you clarify your position as to the significance of where the vowels come from (see above) Please NOTE Historia, this is not avoidance, it is an attempt to isolate the exact nature of the "misconstruction" allegation. What I'm hearing is (e-o-a) from adonai/elohim "misconstruction"; (e-o-a) from academic considerations not a misconstruction.






JW

[JehovahsWitness]

Jehovah has a unique etymology that makes it different from all other Latinized biblical names.

ETYMOLOGY

The study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.

Are you here arguing that JEHOVAH Is not merely an English transliteration but has changed its meaning ?

[JehovahsWitness]

Jehovah has a unique [strike]etymology[/strike] [history] that makes it different from all other Latinized biblical names.

So? So what?

Since YHWH itself has a very unique history, and since English is, if not unque, a somewhat curious and certainly relatively young language, it is normal that all ENGLISH transliterations of the Divine Name (including YAHWEH/ Yehowah ... ect which are English transliterations from the HEBREW - written in Roman letters which will conform to modern day English pronunciation) have a unique history.

NOTE Indeed the use of the letter Y- to produce the "yeh" sound (as in the word yes) dates from about the 1500s. Before then english speakers would have pronounced Y as "th". So by necessesity YAHWEH is a very modern invention


Given these facts, the supposed "uniqueness" of the modern English "JEHOVAH" (whether that be its date, vowel choice or popularity) in no way invalidates its place in English bibles as a scholarly transliteration on a par with other less unique but more removed transliterations such as JESUS. In short JEHOVAH is no more a "misconstruction" than any other anglicized form of the Tetragramaton.


What say you?



JW

[onewithhim]

How did the "what's your favorite Bible thread turn into the Jehovah debate thread"?

I think it was when I or another JW said that the reason we liked the New World Translation was because it includes the Divine Name wherever it occurs in the original Hebrew text. If I remember correctly, histrionic asked for the reasons we like a particular Bible version. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 49 by Tcg]

I'll go along with you there. It really doesn't matter which vowels are chosen. Inserting any vowels in the Tetragrammaton causes a word to come out that sounds a lot like "Yehovah."

Yehovah is very different from Yohaveh. There are of course other combinations. My point is that makes little difference which combination is used if god knows who his followers are.


What is the point of arguing over these meaningless differences?


One gets the impression that they are introduced to direct attention away from much more important considerations. Considerations that cast doubt on the whole story.



Tcg

Better yet.....just pronounce the consonants. The sound is very close to "Yehovah."

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 60 by historia]

But "LORD" is a substitution for "YHWH." Why was that done? Because it is part of the "Christian tradition" doesn't make it right. Was it because no one knew the exact pronunciation? Is that really a good reason to eliminate it from versions of the Bible? "YHWH" would be much more acceptable than "LORD." If people didn't want to pronounce it, they wouldn't have to. The name (the Tetragrammaton) would still be there where it was originally. For Pete's sake, even the Jews who don't pronounce it leave the Tetragrammaton in the text.

What could the reason be? As far as I can see, there is no good reason to eliminate the Tetragrammaton from Bible versions, "Christian tradition" notwithstanding.

[onewithhim]

[Replying to post 61 by historia]

Have I looked at "Adonai" and "YHWH" in the Hebrew? Just "YHWH." Can you demonstrate what you are referring to, please?

[brianbbs67]

I just want to know how to vote in these threads. I see no button to vote. Mac system here.