ENGLISH
REFERENCE

jehovah

n. countable
C2 Proficiency US //dʒəˈhoʊvə// je·ho·vah Informal

n. a name for God used in some versions of the Bible and by certain religious groups. You will mostly see this in older books or when talking to specific Christian communities.

n. a Latinization of the Hebrew name for God, commonly used in English translations of the Old Testament. While historically widespread in Protestant literature, it is now primarily associated with specific denominations or older liturgical texts.


SIMPLE

The name Jehovah appears many times in their religious texts.

CONTEXTUAL

The missionary explained that their group uses the name Jehovah to refer specifically to the God of the Bible.

COMPLEX

Scholars note that the form Jehovah resulted from a misunderstanding of the Hebrew tetragrammaton, yet the name remains a powerful cultural and religious identifier for millions worldwide.

Synonyms
Origin

Transliteration of Hebrew יְהֹוָה (yəhōwā), the Masoretic vocalization of the Biblical Hebrew יהוה (variously pronounced). The Masoretic vocalization is a so-called qere perpetuum, the deliberate insertion of the vowels of another word than the one represented by the consonant text, in this case אֲדֹנָי (“my lord”) ('Adonai'). Continuing earlier Iehoua. In English, the name is first attested in 1530, in Tyndale's Bible: I appeared vnto Abraham Isaac and Iacob an allmightie God: but in my name Iehouah was I not knowne vnto them (Exodus 6:3). Tyndale used Iehouah instead of Wycliffe's Adonay. The KJV also has Jehovah in this verse specifically, while it uses Lord otherwise. Young's Literal Translation (1898) has Jehovah. The New King James Version (1982) has Lord.

Usage

When used as a proper name for God, it is always capitalized.

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