_|_, it looks like you just randomly replaced a letter with a hyphen. I looked in wikipedia and could find no reason. Maybe you could give one?

That is exactly what transliteration is. You have expressed it very will. Transliteration never has any meaning attached to it.

Translation always has meaning and does not substitute letter for letter.

You are entitled to stated that therefore transliteration makes no sense. It has not been my purpose to explain the sense that it makes. But, you can believe that transliteration has sense, in a very narrow sense.

One would not expect to see an English word written in the form of "G-d." That seems to violate the rules.

However, this issue becomes very complex due to the following:

1) Hebrew is written in both pointed and un-pointed style. The English word "G-d" reflects the un-pointed style which in some writing is considered very important.

2)Some religious Jews demand that in the language they are speaking, (English in this case.) print that word in the "G-d" Form.

3) Some Christians have picked up on the theology behind the Jews mentioned above and also wish for the word to always be printed as "G-d."

Due to these perspectives A writing style for that word has developed that violates some of the common conventions that are applied to normal printing of the English language.

Why isn't G-d printed that way in the KJV Bible in English and Di-u in the French Bible?

Take the following for example:

Shouldn't the Bible translators also have written God as G-d and Dieu as Di-u?

Translation happened many centuries later. Already the people didn't study the Law of Moses and had nailed them at the cross. They saw no need to keep them with some few exceptions.

So what you are quoting are words the translator used popular during his time regarless of their pagan origin and the Lord's prohibition expressed in His Laws.

If Christians wouldn't had nailed the laws to the cross and would of known of the Lord wishes not to use pagans words, then they would of used other words for the translation.

Because the KJV was translated by Christians. It was not translated by Jews.

The origin of the English printing of "G-d" in English writings is clearly tied to Jewish theology and practice, even for those Christians today who advocate the practice of writing "G-d" in English.

In the ancient un-pointed Hebrew MSS the name of God was written by the Tetragrammaton. However, Jewish theology taught that it was a sin to pronounce the name of God. So, a Jewish person reading the Hebrew MSS would pronounce the Hebrew word Adonai instead of the Tetragrammaton.

When Hebrew MSS was written in pointed Hebrew, the vowel points for the Hebrew word referenced by Adonai were added to the Tetragrammaton. The Jewish person reading the Hebrew MSS would pronounce Adonai instead of the Tetragramaton.

Religious Jews, today, who continue that practice, write the word "G-d" in English instead of writing "God."

Elle, in many ways, I think, this discussion has become complicated and confused. In an attempt to make some sense out of it, let us go back to your first post where you said:



I consider you to be totally correct on two points:

1) The word "God" Is a title. It is not a name.
2) The word "God" can clearly be traced back to a title given to multiple heathen gods. This cannot be questioned by anyone who understands the origin of the word.

I entered this discussion due to the fact that I believe that you have given undue emphasis to the relationship of the word "God" to the Germanic sun god. I do not deny that there is a relationship. My position is that the pagan relationship of the word "God" dates back prior to the Germanic peoples and extends to other pagan gods than the sun god.

Simply put, that is where I have argued with you. Could I be wrong? Of course. In an earlier post, I cited reasons for my belief.

Here is where I stated those reasons:




In your post, you went back to the Germanic peoples. Scholars general trace the Germanic people to about 400 BC. Yes, they give the Proto-Germanic peoples an earlier date, but you did not refer to the Proto-Germanic peoples. But, that distinction does not matter.

I referenced the Reg Veda, as well as others. The Reg Veda is generally thought by scholars to date back to the time period of 1700 - 1000 BC. This is long before the development of the Germanic peoples. I am correct telling you that the pagan origin of the word "God" is long before any Germanic sun god.

Question: Why do I say the Reg Veda dates to a period that extends from 1700 BC to 1000 BC. Answer: The Reg Veda was not written by one person. It was written by a group of people who lived during the period of 1700 BC through to 1000 BC.

More reasons why observant Jews write "G-d:"

The Halakha forbids an observant Jew from ever erasing a printed name for God. On the assumption that any printed item may be destroyed at some point, observant Jews do not place into print anything that might be considered a name of God.

I have already acknowledged that Elle is correct in stating that "God" is a title and not a name. But, religious Jews do not make the distinction between a title and a name for God that she makes. They correctly recognize that titles attributed to God are often considered to be names of God. Therefore, In order to follow the strict teaching on this point of the Halakha, they will often treat titles for God as if they were a name of God, which they may be considered to be.

If you attempt to obtain a listing of the Jewish names of God, you will typically find those listings to contain both titles and names. One such Jewish listing, available on the Internet, contains some 900 names and titles.

If you want to learn more about the prohibition of ever erasing a printed name of God, check out the following;

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_Gd/About_Writing/about_writing.html

Elle has expressed concern that the word "God" has been associated with pagan gods. She is correct in that point. "God" has been associated with pagan gods.


The basic meaning of the word "god" is: 1) A being of supernatural powers worshiped by people. 2) An image of a deity, an idol. 3) The ruler of the Universe. 4) The principal object of faith in a monotheistic religion. 5) An object of worship.

These above clearly associate "god" with pagan religion. But, that association is not limited to paganism. It includes the object of Christian worship.

Further, it includes the object of Islamic worship--Allah. Allah is clearly not a pagan god. A Christian translation of the Arabic word "Allah" is properly "God." In reverse, a translation of the English word "God" into Arabic is properly "Allah."

I understand that some of you may be confused by my use of the word ”transliteration,” and wonder if it has any use. Here is what Wikipedia says, in part. About that word:



NOTE: I had to delete parts due to the fact that they contained non-Latin alphabetic characters that did not reproduce in this forum.