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JEHOVAH*
Name for God formed by adding the vowels of the Hebrew word ’Adonai to the consonants of the Hebrew divine name, YHWH. Out of their respect for God and their fear of defiling his name, the postexilic Jews refused to pronounce the divine name when reading Scripture. Instead, they substituted ’Adonai, a word meaning “my Lord.” Prior to the sixth century AD, the Hebrew text had no vowels. These were supplied during the reading of the Scripture by one who was familiar with the language. When vowel points were added to the text (AD 660–700), the vowels of ’Adonai were placed below the consonants of YHWH to indicate that ’Adonai should be read.
It is thought that about AD 1520 Petrus Galatinus conceived the idea of combining the two names, thus creating the new form YeHoWaH, from which the English term Jehovah comes. Although this form was foreign to the Hebrew language, it gained wide acceptance and was included as the translation for God’s name in various verses in the KJB and asv. Biblical scholars now agree that the original pronunciation of the divine name was Yahweh or Jahveh.
See also God, Names of.