JEHOVAH

"Jehovah" is a name for God that is found in the American Standard Version (1901) of the O.T. The word is actually a hybrid term, composed of four Hebrew consonants, YHWH, and vowel sounds taken from name "Lord" (Adonai). The term "Jehovah" attempts to approximate the original term, but Yahweh is probably a closer guess, the original having been lost due to the Jewish superstition of not wanting to actually pronounce the sacred name. YHWH is found more than 6,800 times in the O.T. (LORD -- all caps in most translations); it is the special name which the Lord gave to distinguish himself from the gods of the heathen world (Ex. 3:13-15). It expressed a special covenant relationship between the God and Israel. The name generally is believed to be associated with a verb that means "to be," thus suggesting the idea of a self-existing being, one with unoriginated existence (cf. Ex. 3:14). The fact that Jesus identified himself with this expression (Jn. 8:58), and that the prophets heralded the coming of "Jehovah" (Isa. 40:3), is clear testimony to the deity of Christ.