But the armies of the alliance became entrapped in a waterless wilderness. Jehoshaphat therefore called for a prophet of Jehovah. Only out of regard for Jehoshaphat did the prophet Elisha seek divine inspiration, and his subsequent advice saved the three kings and their armies from disaster.—2 Ki. 3:4-25.

JEHORAM BECOMES KING

While Jehoshaphat was still alive he gave the kingship to his firstborn Jehoram, but to his other sons he gave precious gifts and fortified cities in Judah. (2 Ki. 8:16; 2 Chron. 21:3) Particularly after Jehoshaphat’s death and burial in the city of David did the marriage alliance with the house of Ahab prove to be disastrous for the kingdom of Judah. Under the influence of Athaliah, Jehoram abandoned the right course of his father and revived idolatrous practices.—1 Ki. 22:50; 2 Chron. 21:1-7, 11.

4. Father of Israelite King Jehu.—2 Ki. 9:2, 14.

JEHOSHAPHAT, LOW PLAIN OF

Evidently a symbolic place, also called the “low plain of the decision.” (Joel 3:2, 14) Since it relates to God’s execution of judgment, it is appropriately designated as the “low plain of Jehoshaphat,” for the name “Jehoshaphat” means “Jehovah is Judge.” Also, during Jehoshaphat’s reign Jehovah delivered Judah and Jerusalem from the combined forces of Ammon, Moab and the mountainous region of Seir, causing the enemy forces to become confused and to slaughter one another.—2 Chron. 20:1-29.

At the symbolic “low plain of Jehoshaphat” Jehovah judges the nations as worthy of execution on account of their mistreatment of his people. The low plain itself serves as a huge symbolic winepress for crushing the nations like bunches of grapes. To link the “low plain of Jehoshaphat” literally with the Kidron Valley or the Valley of Hinnom, as some have done, is hardly plausible. Neither one of these valleys would be large enough to accommodate “all” the nations.—Joel 3:1-3, 12-14; compare Revelation 14:18-20.

JEHOSHEBA

(Je·hoshʹe·ba) [Jehovah is an oath].

Wife of High Priest Jehoiada; daughter of King Jehoram of Judah, though not necessarily by his wife Athaliah. Her name is also spelled “Jehosha-beath.” (2 Chron. 22:11) After the death of her brother (or half-brother) King Ahaziah, Jehosheba took his infant son Jehoash into hiding to escape Athaliah’s slaughter of the royal offspring. Jehoiada and Jehosheba kept their nephew hidden in their temple quarters for six years before Jehoiada brought him out to be proclaimed king. (2 Ki. 11:1-3; 2 Chron. 22:10-12) Jehosheba’s action, along with that of her husband, providentially preserved the royal lineage from David to the Messiah.

JEHOSHUA

(Je·hoshʹu·a) [Jehovah is salvation].

Son of Nun; an Ephraimite who succeeded Moses and led the Israelites into the Promised Land. His original name was Hoshea, but Moses called him Jehoshua or Joshua (a short form for Jehoshua).—Num. 13:8, 16; Deut. 34:9; Josh. 1:1, 2; see JOSHUA No. 1.

JEHOVAH

(Je·hoʹvah).

The personal name of God. (Isa. 42:8; 54:5) Though Scripturally designated by such descriptive titles as “God,” “Lord”, “Creator,” “Father,” “the Almighty,” “the Most High” and others, his personality and attributes—who and what he is—are fully summed up and expressed only in this personal name.—Ps. 83:18.

CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF THE DIVINE NAME

“Jehovah” is the best known English pronunciation of the divine name, although “Yahweh” is favored by most Hebrew scholars. The oldest Hebrew manuscripts present the name in the form of four consonants, commonly called the Tetragrammaton (from Greek teʹtra, meaning “four,” and gramʹma, “letter”). These four letters (written from right to left) are יהוה and may be transliterated into English as YHWH (or, according to some, YHVH).

The Hebrew consonants of the name are therefore known. The question is as to which vowels are to be combined with those consonants. Vowel points did not come into use in Hebrew until the second half of the first millennium C.E. (See HEBREW, II.) The vowel pointing found in Hebrew manuscripts from that time forward does not provide the key, however, for determining which vowels should appear in the divine name, because of a religious superstition that had begun centuries earlier.

Superstition hides the name

At some point a superstitious idea arose among the Jews that it was wrong even to pronounce the divine name (represented by the Tetragrammaton). Just what basis was originally assigned for discontinuing the use of the name is not definitely known. Some hold the teaching arose that the name was too sacred for imperfect lips to speak. Yet the Hebrew Scriptures themselves give no evidence that any of God’s true servants ever felt any hesitancy about speaking his name. Non-Biblical Hebrew documents, such as the so-called Lachish Letters, show the name was used in regular correspondence in Palestine during the latter part of the seventh century B.C.E. And the Elephantine Papyri, documents from a Jewish colony in Upper Egypt dating from the fifth century B.C.E., also contain the divine name, de spite the fact that these documents are mainly of a secular nature.

Another view is that the intent was to keep non-Jewish peoples from knowing the name and possibly misusing it. However, Jehovah himself said that he would ‘have his name declared in all the earth’ (Ex. 9:16; compare 1 Chronicles 16:23, 24; Psalm 113:3; Malachi 1:11, 14), to be known even by his adversaries. (Isa. 64:2) The name was in fact known and used by pagan nations both in pre-Common Era times and in the early centuries of the Common Era. (The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. XII, p. 119) Another claim is that the purpose was to protect the name from use in magical rites. If so, this was poor reasoning, as it is obvious that the more mysterious the name became through disuse the more it would suit the purposes of practicers of magic.

When did the superstition take hold?

Just as the reason or reasons originally advanced for discontinuing the use of the divine name are uncertain, so, too, there is much uncertainty as to when this superstitious view really took hold. Some claim that it began following the Babylonian exile (607-537 B.C.E.). This theory, however, is based on a supposed reduction in the use of the name by the later writers of the Hebrew Scriptures, a view that does not hold up under examination. Malachi, for example, was evidently one of the last books of the Hebrew Scriptures written (in the latter half of the fifth century B.C.E.) and it gives great prominence to the divine name.

Many reference works have suggested that the name ceased to be used by about 300 B.C.E. Evidence for this date supposedly was found in the absence of the Tetragrammaton (or a transliteration of it) in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures