Should the Name Jehovah Appear in the New Testament? - A Translation Problem

The manuscripts of the New Testament that we possess today are not the originals.  The original manuscripts written by Matthew, John, Paul, and others were well used, and no doubt they quickly wore out.  Hence, copies were made, and when those wore out, further copies  were made. Of the thousands of copies of the New Testament in existence today, most were at least two centuries after the originals were penned. It appears that by that time those copying the manuscripts either replaced the Tetragrammaton with Ku'ri-os or Ky'ri-os, the Greek word for "Lord," or copied from manuscripts where this has been done." Knowing this, a translator must determine there is reasonable evidence that the Tetragrammaton did in fact appear in the original Greek manuscripts. Is there any such proof?  Consider the following arguments:  

* When Jesus quoted the Old Testament or read from it, he used the divine name.  (Deuteronomy 6:13, 16;  8:3; Psalm 110:1; Isaiah 51:1, 2; Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; 22:44; Luke 4:16-21) In the days of Jesus and his disciples, the Tetragrammaton appeared in copies of the Hebrew text of what is often called the Old Testament, as it still does today. However, for centuries scholars thought that the Tetragrammaton was absent from manuscripts of the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament, as well as from manuscripts of the New Testament.  Then in the mid-20th century, something remarkable  came to the attention of scholars-some very old fragments of the Greek Septuagint version that existed in Jesus' day had been discovered. Those fragments contain the personal name of God, written in Hebrew characters.

*Jesus used God's name and made it know to others. (John 17:6, 11, 12, 26) Jesus plainly stated:  "I have come in the name of my Father." He also stressed  that his works were done "in the name of [his ] Father."  In fact, Jesus' own name means "Jehovah is Salvation." -John 5:43; 10:25. 

* The divine name appears in its abbreviated form in the Greek Scriptures. At Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6, the divine name is embedded in the expression "Alleluia," or "Hallelujah." This expression literally means "Praise Jah, you people! Jah is a contraction of the name Jehovah. 

*Early Jewish writings indicate that Jewish Christians used the divine name in their writings.  The Tosefta, a written collection of oral laws completed by about 300 C.E., says with regard to the Christian writings that were burned on the Sabbath:  "The books of the Evangelists and the books of the minim [thought to be Jewish Christians] they do not save from a fire. But they are allowed to burn where they are, . . . they and the references to the Divine Name which are in them."  This same source quotes Rabbi Yose' the Galilean, who lived at the beginning of the second century C.E., as saying that on other days of the week "one cuts out the references to the Divine Name which are in them [the Christian writings] and stores them away, and the rest burns."  Thus there is strong evidence that the Jews living in the second century C.E. believed that Christians used Jehovah's name in their writings.  

Next time: Should the Name Jehovah Appear in the New Testament? -How Have Translators Handled This Issue?

From the jw.org publications