If you read my article on what God’s name is and its meaning (click here), you may be left wondering ‘why isn’t God’s name, Yahweh, in my Bible?’ This is a good question and to answer it we must go back into history.
Modern English Bibles replaced God’s personal name Yahweh with “LORD” or “GOD” in all upper-case letters because of an ancient Jewish tradition of saying “Lord” when reading God’s personal name in Scripture.
God’s Name Is in the Bible . . . Sort of
In Exodus 3:14–15, God revealed his name to be Yahweh, which is written with just consonants (YHWH) because written Hebrew does not have vowels for the most part (two consonants double as vowels). Click HERE to see my article on the meaning of God’s name.
At best, you may have a footnote in your Bible at Exodus 3:15 that includes the word Yahweh or YHWH, but other than that God’s personal name seems to be nowhere in most English Bibles.
In actuality, God’s personal name is in your Bible . . . sort of. The editors have chosen not to transliterate God’s name, like they do every other proper name in the Bible, and have instead chosen to replace God’s name, Yahweh, with the upper-case LORD or GOD. That’s right, all 6,828 times God’s personal name Yahweh is written in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament have been replaced with the English LORD or GOD in your English Bible. Let’s look at Psalm 117 as an example.
“Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!”
PSALM 117
The word “LORD” in all upper-case letters is God’s personal name, Yahweh. God’s personal name is used three times in Psalm 117. So, in a way, God’s personal name is in all modern English Bibles; the translators and editors have simply chosen not to transliterate it, but to use the word LORD or GOD instead. Most Bibles explicitly state what they are doing in the preface, but let’s be honest, most people do not read the preface to their Bible.
Why Do Bibles Replace God’s Name with LORD or GOD?
Sometime after the Hebrew Bible was written, the Jews stopped using God’s personal name, Yahweh, altogether due to both an extreme reverence for God and in an attempt to never use God’s name in vain (you can’t use it in vain if you never use it!). This became problematic when reading Scripture, which uses God’s personal name 6,828 times (based on an Accordance search). Thus, instead of reading Yahweh when יהוה appeared in the Hebrew text, the Jews would read “my Lord” (adonai; אֲדֹנָי).
When the Masoretes (a group of Jews) invented vowel points for the consonantal Hebrew text, they did not include the vowels for Yahweh (יהוה), but put the vowels for adonai (אֲדֹנָי) underneath יהוה so that it looks like יְהוָה. This is the main reason the exact pronunciation of God’s personal name is lost.
We know why the ancient Jews stopped using God’s personal name, but why do modern Christian Bibles not include it in their translations? Most Bible versions do not give a clear answer to this very important question. Take the ESV (the English Bible I use) as an example. The reason they replace God’s name with LORD is as follows:
“The use of these different ways to translate the Hebrew words for God is especially beneficial to the English reader, enabling the reader to see and understand the different ways that the personal name and the general name for God are both used to refer to the One True God of the Old Testament.”
ESV Preface
Personally, I strongly disagree with the ESV’s rationale for removing God’s personal name from the Bible and replacing it with LORD. If “Yahweh” were included in the biblical text, one could still “see and understand the different ways that the personal name and the general name for God are both used to refer to the One True God of the Old Testament.”
Further, not even the Masoretes had the gall to remove and replace God’s personal name from the biblical text; they simply added different vowel points, understanding that the vowel points were not inspired by God and were not part of the biblical text (they were added as a help so that later generations could pronounce the Hebrew text correctly). Thus, modern English Bibles have gone further than the Masoretes and ancient Jews in that modern English Bibles have fully removed the personal name of God from the biblical text.
Although I cannot prove my next comments, it seems to me that modern English Bibles have replaced Yahweh with LORD or GOD because they have become a slave to tradition. The NET says as much in its footnote on Exodus 3:15: “Yahweh,” traditionally rendered “the LORD.”
Because the most popular English Bible, the KJV, replaced Yahweh with LORD or GOD, modern Bible translation committees are reticent to include it. They have become a slave to tradition. This is seen best in the CSB (Christian Standard Bible). The CSB’s predecessor, the HCSB, broke with tradition and included Yahweh at various places throughout the Old Testament (although most uses of Yahweh were still translated as LORD or GOD). However, when they updated their translation to the CSB, they removed all uses of Yahweh from the biblical text. Tradition is a difficult master to escape.
Summary and Concluding Thoughts
Most modern English Bibles follow an ancient Jewish tradition of not saying God’s personal name, Yahweh, but replacing his name with “Lord” or “my Lord.” What most modern English Bibles fail to realize is that the Masoretes never removed or replaced God’s personal name from the biblical text. Because of the reverence for the biblical text, the Masoretes left God’s personal name in the biblical text all 6,828 times. Modern English Bibles are adopting an ancient Jewish spoken tradition into their written Bibles. If the modern Christian church wanted to adopt the ancient Jewish tradition regarding God’s name, Yahweh, then they should include the name Yahweh in the written text, but say “Lord” whenever they are reading and come across Yahweh.
What baffles me is that Christians and Christian Bibles have adopted an ancient Jewish practice and tradition. Christians are not Jews. We should not blindly adopt a tradition from another religion, which to me seems like what we have done. If we adopt such a tradition, then we need solid biblical reasons for removing God’s name from the Bible or for never using it. Personally, I doubt such a practice can be justified from Scripture!
I had two different Hebrew professors while studying at Seminary and both of them did not allow us to use God’s name when reading the Hebrew text. They said we had to follow the Jewish Masoretic tradition and read “Lord” or “my Lord” whenever we came across God’s name יהוה. This is common practice in Bible Colleges, Seminaries, and Universities (no wonder the church doesn’t know God’s name!). And the only reason that I ever hear given is “tradition.” Even if you are afraid of using God’s name in vain, surely the one time we can be assured that we are not using it in vain is when we read the Bible! But no, most Bible Colleges, Seminaries, and Universities teach their future pastors to never use God’s personal name because of ‘tradition’ (can you tell I’m a Baptist, ha! Yet, even Baptists follow this tradition!)
One consequence of adopting such a tradition is that many Christians do not know God’s name. This is a travesty! How can we, Christians, serve the one true God and not know his name when it is clearly revealed in Scripture and used 6,828 times! One of the ways we distinguish our God, who is the one true God, from other false gods is by our God’s name—Yahweh! Christians should be able to say, “I serve Yahweh, who is Trinity.” Further, God’s name is pregnant with significant meaning about who he is (see my article on that topic here).
I am encouraged that there are more Christian songs coming out that use the name Yahweh. I think this is a good thing. My chief desire, however, is to see his name printed in Bibles, even if only the consonants YHWH are used.