Why is the name Jehovah not used more in the Book of Mormon?

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Accepted answer

It's pretty simple. The Book of Mormon translation follows in the KJV tradition, which in turn follows in the Jewish tradition.

(1) Out of reverence, Jews never pronounced יהוה when reading scripture.

The original pronunciation of this name has possibly been lost, as the Jews, in reading, never mentioned it but substituted one of the other names of God, usually Adonai.

"Jehovah", Bible Dictionary

(Thus "Jehovah" is actually just a modern day guess at a transliteration of the Hebrew יהוה.)

(2) The King James Version did something similar. It was partly out of a similar tradition of reverence, and partly because they could't really write Jhvh, and they didn't want to guess at a transliteration. So in the KJV, you will find יהוה rendered as LORD or GOD.

For the LORD GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Isaiah 50:7

(3) The Book of Mormon (or, more properly, the English translation of the Book of Mormon) did the same thing: יהוה becomes Lord or God.

For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

2 Nephi 7:7

In fact, almost anytime Lord appears in the KJV Bible (or in the Book of Mormon), it is a translation for יהוה.


In the LDS faith, there's no need to avoid pronouncing or writing Jehovah (or Jahveh, Yahveh, etc.). Jehovah is regularly used, particularly when referring to Jesus before his mortal birth. The reason that it appears this way in scripture is just a custom with an interesting history.

Upvote:-2

This answer is not correct. יהוה Is translated LORD or GOD with all caps in the KIV. When Lord is found in the KJV, the Hebrew word is Adonai אָדוֹן and when God is found in the KJV the Hebrew word is Elohim אלוהים. I am currently reading the BoM and am wondering why Lord isn't all caps (LORD) which is how God's name has been translated into English for the last 400 years. Even in chapters that are basically identical to chapters in the Bible 2 Nephi/Isaiah, the Bible has the all caps but the BoM doesn't. It causes a real problem in phrases like "they crucify the God of Israel" because that translates to Elohim. But, according to LDS doctrine Elohim is Heavenly Father and Jehovah is Jesus, so they wouldn't be crucifying Elohim. The BoM should be clearing all of the confusion up since it's the keystone of the religion and the truest book on Earth, but it only makes matters worse which is why reading the BoM after studying the Bible for 10 years is only confirming for me that Joseph Smith was one of the many false prophets Jesus told us would come.

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