Growing Appreciation for God’s Name

Gradually those Bible Students became increasingly aware of the prominence that the inspired Scriptures give to the personal name of God. That name had been obscured in English by the Roman Catholic Douay and the Protestant King James versions of the Bible, as it later was by most translations in many languages in the 20th century. But a variety of translations as well as Bible reference works testified that the name Jehovah occurs in the original-language text thousands of times—actually, far more often than any other name, and more often than the combined total of appearances of such titles as God and Lord. As “a people for his name,” their own appreciation for the divine name grew. (Acts 15:14) In The Watch Tower of January 1, 1926, they presented what they recognized to be an issue that each individual must face, namely, “Who Will Honor Jehovah?”

The emphasis that they placed on the name of God was not merely a matter of religious knowledge. As explained in the book Prophecy (published in 1929), the paramount issue facing all intelligent creation involves the name and word of Jehovah God. Jehovah’s Witnesses emphasize that the Bible shows that everyone must know God’s name and treat it as something sacred. (Matt. 6:9; Ezek. 39:7) It must be cleared of all the reproach that has been heaped upon it, not only by those who have been openly defiant of Jehovah but also by those who have misrepresented him by their doctrines and deeds. (Ezek. 38:23; Rom. 2:24) On the basis of the Scriptures, the Witnesses recognize that the well-being of all the universe and its inhabitants depends upon the sanctification of Jehovah’s name.

They realize that before Jehovah takes action to destroy the wicked, it is the duty and privilege of his witnesses to tell others the truth about him. Jehovah’s Witnesses have been doing that earth wide. So zealous have they been in carrying out that responsibility that, internationally, anyone who freely uses the name Jehovah is quickly identified as being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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Making Known the Name of God

◆ Since 1931 the name Jehovah’s Witnesses has been used to designate those who worship and serve Jehovah as the only true God.

◆ Since October 15, 1931, God’s personal name, Jehovah, has appeared on the front cover of each issue of the “Watchtower” magazine.

◆ At a time when God’s personal name was being omitted from most modern translations of the Bible, Jehovah’s Witnesses began to publish, in 1950, the “New World Translation,” which restored the divine name to its rightful place.

◆ In addition to the Bible itself, much other literature has been published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society to focus special attention on the divine name—for example, the books “Jehovah” (1934), “Let Your Name Be Sanctified” (1961), and “‘The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah’—How?” (1971), as well as the brochure “The Divine Name That Will Endure Forever” (1984).