The Latest Work on the Divine Name

[JW Insider]

On 9/27/2018 at 5:03 AM, indagator said:

There are many other valuable things in the book, but now that JWI has had the opportunity to digest it, I thought the time was ripe to post some of my observations. Others are welcome to respond or post their own thoughts if they have read it, or are considering doing so.

I agree. It was well worth the read. Even though I had not read the book until now, the premise had been explained in material we had already been discussing here.  I should not have ignored that premise during earlier discussions of the Divine Name on this very forum where IAO [Yaho] came up. In one of those previous discussions, I rather quickly began discussing how that name had been used in the magical papyri and on charms and amulets. Somehow I had also assumed that these evolved from sources in and around Elephantine from where they began to make a quick and direct link to the "mystical" audience. I now agree with Shaw's logic that the actual earliest confirmed uses of a IAO in "magical" circles were timed mostly to the second and third centuries CE. Of course, these same circles were just as interested in using the name Jesus for "magical" purposes, a fact that already shows up in the NT/CGS. 

It would not be surprising, then, that Christianity in several of its early languages, used the divine name based on IAO "Yaho." The evidence for continuous use of a vocalized divine name by various groups and individuals is solid. We can see this from LXX evidence and several other sources from the centuries before and after the start of Christianity. The evidence is solid enough to build upon, including this idea about who could have spread the divine name widely enough so that mystic usage also began to quickly parallel the widespread growth of early Christianity.

While reading, I couldn't wait to get to points about whether the author thought the divine name was in the NT. I actually thought that I came up with some ideas about Revelation 1:8 and iota-alpha-omega myself, and wondered whether anyone else had done so, too. Turns out there was plenty of information on this very verse.

In light of the new October JW Broadcast, and the unusually lengthy amount of time spent on the topic of the restoration of the divine name in the Christian Greek Scriptures, I think that this book is ideal as a way to clear up several understandings and misunderstandings. I thought that the "clue" about the definite article in front of KYRIOS was interesting. It's in the NWT Study Bible, Appendix C3, as Bro Geoffrey Jackson explains. He explains it as if it were more like a hurried, accident or error when the NT includes Kyrios without the definite article. That's not the explanation that scholars would give for how it is used in the LXX (and, by extension, the NT).

In fact, it might be difficult to comprehend given our experience and explanation of the use of the definite article before theos in John 1:1. There we have:

• No definite article in front of theos is translated "a god" (therefore the "Word" or "Christ") and with the article, "God."

But in the LXX the lack of a definite article can be seen (by some scholars) as a superlative, and some would want to see the usage in early Christian writing to therefore have it mean something like this: (although the data is inconsistent)

• No definite article in front of kyrios is translated "The Lord" (therefore "God") and with the article, "Lord" can therefore refer to "Jesus" or "Christ."

A curious case of kyrios.

[TrueTomHarley]

On 7/18/2018 at 4:29 AM, JW Insider said:

What's interesting about the song, is that even after it was canonized in the album, Lightfoot looked into new evidence that had come to light, and which made Lightfoot's foot path grow brighter and brighter. 

This suggests that admin or someone might start a new thread dedicated to the urban legend of whether Gordon Lightfoot truly had light feet or not. He did not. However, he is related to a real estate magnate who truly did have square feet.

[JW Insider]

3 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

However, he is related to a real estate magnate who truly did have square feet.

LOL! Never heard of a real estate person yet who didn't have a 'square foot' fetish.

[TrueTomHarley]

4 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

LOL! Never heard of a real estate person yet who didn't have a 'square foot' fetish.

Yes. It was that anatomical anonomy that gave him an instinctive feel for his work, a modern-day survival of the fittest.

[JW Insider]

6 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

a modern-day survival of the fittest.

Like they say, if the shoe fittest. I'm sure he had a "lot" to be desired.

Anyway, if this had been my own thread I wouldn't feel bad about sullying it with bad puns. But now I feel bad for @indagator who surely hoped this would remain a serious topic.

[indagator]

JWI mentioned the Oct. broadcast with Geoffrey Jackson who discussed the history of the NWT. Among the J refs. I have never seen the Bible translation by John Nelson Darby (died in 1882), famous for helping start the Plymouth Brethren. This has long surprised me since Fred Franz used to quote that translation in the Society's publications.  My copy is a 1975 reprint by Holman of Darby's second ed. of 1871. You can see for yourselves how he took the lack of the Greek article before kyrios as an indication that the ref. was to Jehovah. While he never printed that in the text, you can see how he did frequently in the footnotes. In Luke alone I've found 30 instances of this. I've chosen 3 sample pages from different NT books.

See Matt 1:20, 22; Luke 1:15, 17, 25; Acts 7:33.

Enjoy.