The Beginning

Joseph Herrin (01-08-2017)

What a wealth we have in the words of the Bible. If we could pick up a Bible and read the words of the Father in print we would have something to talk about. Unfortunately looking around at churches in this hour it is difficult to find one, even in a large city, that does not play the games that churches are accustomed to playing, or that has very sincere ministers that want to teach truth but they have embraced error. We find things this way because we do not have an accurate Bible among all of the ones in English. What do I mean by this?

There are only a few Bibles that translate the name of Yahweh into text. There are fewer still that do the same with the name Yahshua. One of my favorite Bibles to use is the New American Standard. Even so, whenever I quote it I translate the names of Yahweh and Yahshua. Following is the explanation found in the front of my Bible that excuses them from translating such an important word as the name of God. I will quote some from the article The Usage of Divine Names.

The Proper Names of God in the Old Testament: In the scriptures, the name of God is most significant and understandably so. It is inconceivable to think of spiritual matters without a proper designation for the Supreme Deity. Thus the most common name for the deity is God, a translation of the original Elohim. One of the titles for God is Lord, a translation of Adonai. There is yet another name which is particularly assigned to God as His special or proper name, that is, the four letters YHWH (Exodus 3:14 and Isaiah 42:8). This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated Lord. The only exception to this translation of YHWH is when it occurs in immediate proximity to the word Lord, that is, Adonai. In that case it is regularly translated God in order to avoid confusion.
It is known for many years YHWH has been transliterated as Yahweh, however no complete certainty attaches to this pronunciation.
(NASB  © 1985 Holman Bible Publishers)

As I look at this explanation I find some very distinct problems. The publishers admit that “the name of God is most significant and understandably so,” yet they go on to state that they have removed His “special or proper name” in every occurrence throughout the Old Testament, without exception. Furthermore, they state that “the most common name for deity is God,” yet God is not a name at all, it is a title denoting a divine being and it can be equally ascribed to false divinity as well as that which is true. They have even stated that God is a translation of Elohim.

Elohim is never given as the proper name of Yahweh in scripture. Elohim is a title that refers to a divine being and in the following passage we can see that it was not exclusively used as a reference to Yahweh

Exodus 12:12
For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the elohim of Egypt I will execute judgments - I am Yahweh.

The translators are clearly wrong in stating that “the most common name for deity is God.” They would have been closer to the truth in saying “the most common title for deity is God.” Anytime the authors of scripture wanted to declare who their Elohim was they gave His “special or proper name” Yahweh. They did this with amazing consistency so that Yahweh occurs 6,828 times in the Old Testament with Yah occurring an additional 49 times. Yet for all this, the translators have chosen to totally remove the names Yahweh and Yah from scripture and they have based it solely upon the following argument: “This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated Lord.”

Did the translators give some divine commandment as their authority for removing Yahweh’s name from scripture? No! They based this very profound decision totally upon the tradition of the apostate Jews.

Most of the Sacred Name Bibles take liberties with the other words in them, seeking to justify the views of the ones that developed the Bible. For example, they will not use the word “Lord” to describe Yahshua. Lord is an appropriate title that many use for both the Father and the Son. When one discerns the etymology, the word origin, of the title Lord, it seems especially appropriate as a designation of the Son of Yahweh. The word Lord is synonymous with the word Master and it is derived from the Old English word hlááford which literally means bread “(loaf)-ward.” It was a reference to the head of a household. The servants in the house were entitled to be fed by the master, or loaf-ward of the house.

Yahshua is certainly the one who is the master of His household, and He gives bread to those who are servants in His household. Examine the following scripture.

John 6:32-35
Yahshua therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
They said therefore to Him, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.”
Yahshua said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Let me rewrite verse 34 and it becomes very illuminating. “They said therefore to Him, ‘Loaf-ward, evermore give us this bread.’” Yahshua in turn, as the Loaf-ward (Lord), gave them His flesh as their bread.

Mark 14:22
And while they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take it, this is My body.”

There are certain groups today that assert that the title Lord should never be linked to the Father or the Son, for the word Baal found often in the Old Testament is commonly interpreted as lord. Oftentimes these groups will replace the word Lord with the word Master wherever it is indicated in scripture, but in truth Baal could just as easily be translated into English as Master, and it sometimes is, so there is very little point in this. If we look at the commandments to use the name Yahweh we will see that the name must be used.

Deuteronomy 28:58-59
If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, Yahweh your Elohim, then Yahweh will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.

Psalms 29:2
Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Worship Yahweh in holy array.

Psalms 72:17-19
His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed. Praise be to Yahweh Elohim, the Elohim of Israel, Who alone does marvelous deeds. Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.

Psalms 113:3
From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, Yahweh's name is to be praised.

Hosea 12:5
Even Yahweh, the Elohim of hosts; Yahweh is his name of renown!

These are a mere tidbit of examples from scripture that show the merit of using His name. Most minsters are calling Him “Lord God,” “Lord,” or “God.” These are alright on a limited basis, but lets not keep the names Yahweh and Yahshua hidden. Yet the other translators give similar entries in their introductory material to their Bibles.

For two reasons the Committee has returned to the more familiar usage [of substituting YHWH with either the LORD or GOD] of the King James Version: (1) the word 'Jehovah' does not accurately represent any form of the name ever used in Hebrew; and (2) the use of any proper name for the one and only God ... was discontinued in Judaism before the Christian era and is entirely inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.
(Revised Standard Version)

The use of “any proper name” “is entirely inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.” The name Jehovah was a corruption and has been replaced with the more sure Yahweh. Let us use it.

In regard to the divine name YHWH, commonly referred to as the tetragrammaton, the translators adopted the device used in most English versions of rendering that name as “LORD” in capital letters to distinguish it from Adonai, another Hebrew word rendered “Lord,” for which small letters are used.
(NIV Study Bible © 1985 by The Zondervan Corporation)

We have rendered the tetragrammaton (YHWH) consistently as “the LORD,” utilizing a form with small capital letters that is common among English translations.
(New Living Translation © 1996 by Tyndale House Charitable Trust)

Every Bible translation that has chosen to render Yahweh and Yahshua as God and Lord, or some combination of them, have chosen to play games with the names. This can be dealt with by getting a Sacred Name Bible, but one has to put up with other errors that have been added to the text. Why change the text to make it appear as if it is saying hell is eternal? (See the book God’s Plan of the Ages.) One can address this by getting a Young’s Literal Bible, but why use such a literal translation for reading, and why should I opt to return to the other errors he has?

Then there are the errors introduced through common habit. Calling SUNday the Sabbath is an egregious mistake. Saying that the apostles and disciples met on Sunday is equally error. Though the Bible testifies that Yahshua created every day of the week, He testified that He was Lord of the Sabbath. The various Scriptures that speak of the church meeting on the first of the week should say “On one of the Sabbaths.” It was the normal meeting day for the Jews. For several years the church consisted of all Jews. I don’t want people to think I am a Sabbath keeper. I am not. This is the proper translation of the Scriptures though.

There is also the division of the Bible into chapters and verses. Many think this occurred from antiquity. The truth is that the Bible was not divided into the chapters and verses that we use today until around 1550. What mistakes and oversights are made today by men and women who don’t read far enough in the text to solve them? Many problems in interpretation would be solved if people read the Scriptures in the way they were intended to be read.

It does not seem that most of the problems are unknown. The translators were largely aware of them, but chose to include them. Bibles have to sell. If they don’t match what the preachers are used to then they will not be purchased. I have been reading the Bible with all of these problems in my way for all of my life. I think that perhaps the time has come for me to take on a translation into English. I don’t have any constraints upon me. Whether they sell one hundred or a million it will be all the same to me.

I am going to start translating. If it is not Yahweh’s will for me He will make it known. I have ordered some new Bible software with the most ancient manuscripts included. It will be good to read through the Bible word for word. After all these years Yahweh has opened my eyes to see some of the errors in the Bible. I will be able to correct the passages that He has shown me. It is not necessary that people should have to read a confused, error prone Bible. I will write out the findings of the word of Yahweh. It should be interesting, and to those who wish to come along you can expect some fascinating discoveries along the way.

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Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063