Making Righteous Judgments (Modified Talk)

The Insight book makes this illuminating observation about Jehovah’s righteousness:

“Jehovah himself is called ‘the abiding place of righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 50:7) He is therefore the Righteous One, and all righteousness on the part of his creatures comes from their relationship with him.”

While tonight’s material specifically applies to congregation elders, we all have the ability to learn about Bible principles that can help us to make righteous judgments in imitation of Jehovah.

The inspired writer Moses outlines the first Bible principle we're concentrating on tonight in Deuteronomy 16:18-19. (Read)

Firstly, elders must be impartial when making judgments (Acts 10:34-35). Bribes/favors should not be allowed to pervert justice or make us blind to wrongdoing and corruption. Nor should special treatment be shown to someone because of his/her race, ethnicity, familial relationship or socioeconomic status: we should be impartial like our God.

Secondly, elders must establish the facts when judging within the congregation. Notice Deuteronomy 17:4-6. (Read)

God adhered to this principle by presenting his Son to the world as mankind’s Savior. Jesus said: “In your own Law it is written, ‘The witness of two men is true.’ I am one that bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”​—John 8:17, 18.

Thirdly, elders should get help for difficult cases of judgment. Deuteronomy 17:8-9 applied to ancient priests and judges. Similarly, elders may consult other elders, the circuit overseer or the branch. There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors (Proverbs 15:22).

Anchor Bible Dictionary on the Meaning of Yahweh (YHWH)

The meaning of the name is unknown. Arguments favoring particular meanings have been for the most part grammatical. The name has long been thought to be a form of the verb hāwāy, an older form of the Hebrew verb hāyāh, "to ‎be." The ‎reconstructed‎ form ‎yahwēh is parsed as either a third-person Qal imperfect of this verb or as the corresponding form of the causative stem. This analysis is encouraged by theological notions of God as one who is, or who exists, or who causes existence. Thus the explanation of Yahweh in Exod 3:14,‎ "I‎ am ‎who ‎I ‎am," is ‎a‎ folk‎ etymology ‎based‎ on ‎this‎ verb‎ (ROTT, 181–82). The analysis of the name as a causative falters‎ on‎ the‎ grammatical ‎point‎ observed‎ by‎ Barr ‎that‎ "the‎ causative‎ of ‎this ‎verb ‎does ‎not ‎occur‎ in Hebrew‎ elsewhere" (HDB, 335). However, the name could be a unique or singular use of the causative stem.

Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 6, entry for "Yahweh," section B. 

Shem, Onoma, and God's "Name," YHWH/Jehovah

Nincsnevem: First of all, God's "name" is not a personal name in the sense of human names (Karl, Jennifer, etc.). In Hebrew, the concept of "name" (shem) referred not only to addressing or labeling (as in Exodus 3:16) but also replaced the abstract concept of the person, which did not exist in Hebrew. Therefore, Jews still refer to God as ha-Shem, "The Name", or "He."

EF: It's clear that Jews consider/have considered YHWH as a nomen proprium. I notice the qualification you make above because I guess you know that YHWH is a proper name (nomen proprium) as multiple sources acknowledge. Rabbi Maimonides used such language to describe the Tetragrammaton and even Aquinas spoke in similar terms.

 See https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/abs/10.1484/J.MS.2.306114?journalCode=ms

But you claim that shem/onoma replaced the abstract concept of person which did not exist in Hebrew. While I acknowledge that shem/onoma could be employed as you posit, I still spot fallacies and inaccuracies in your claim. First, as James Barr noted in his famed study of biblical semantics, one cannot infer that just because ancient Hebrew did not have a word for "person" that it had no abstract concept of person; to reason that way would be to confuse Wort with Begriffe. Second, the Jews did have a way of indicating persons by using adam or ishah. Third, there are places in the Hebrew Bible where to understand "name" as person does not seem tenable: see Exodus 23:20-21; Isaiah 42:8; Psalm 83:18; Jeremiah 23:27. Lastly, the Tetragrammaton appears in the Hebrew Bible almost 7,000 times, and we're to believe that God just wanted us to know his person without knowing his nomen proprium? In other words, according to you, what's important is the person behind the name and not the name per se. The facts of the Tanakh belie the claim that God's "name" (proper name) should take an utter backseat to the concept of person. On the other hand, God's name encompasses his person and one scholar said that the divine name and person are so closely linked that they're virtually indistinguishable. Maybe "virtually" but neither in toto nor ex toto.

Try as you may to subsume "name" almost completely under the rubric of "person," you can't legitimately do it, in the case of the peerless and inestimable YHWH.

Maimonides writes: "Observe how clearly the author states that all these appellatives employed as names of God came into existence after the Creation. This is true; for they all refer to actions manifested in the Universe. If, however, you consider His essence as separate and as abstracted from all actions, you will not describe it by an appellative, but by a proper noun, which exclusively indicates that essence. Every other name of God is a derivative, only the Tetragrammaton is a real nomen proprium, and must not be considered from any other point of view."

For more on Aquinas and the name of God, see also https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1013.htm#article11