Daily text, Sunday, April 30 2017

[Queen Esther]

This is my name forever.—Ex. 3:15.

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2017/4/30

Those who study ancient Hebrew Bible manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, are struck by the many occurrences of the Tetragrammaton—the four Hebrew letters that represent God’s name. The divine name appears not only in those ancient Hebrew manuscripts but also in some copies of the Greek Septuagint from the second century B.C.E. through the first century C.E. Despite the clear evidence that the personal name of God belongs in the Bible, many translations completely omit the sacred name of God. In 1952, the Revised Standard Version was published. That version omitted the name, reversing the policy of the editors of the American Standard Version of 1901. Why? The preface says: “The use of any proper name for the one and only God . . . is entirely inappropriate for the universal faith of the Christian Church.” That set a pattern for many subsequent translations, English and non-English. w15 12/15 2:3-5