Stop With the OMG Already!

We hear it almost every day, on television, in movies, on the radio, from adults, from children.   “Oh, my God!” used as an exclamation of surprise.  OMG used as an abbreviation or shortcut in texting and e-mails.  It is used by many people who never give God another thought.  The name of the Lord is used in a casual, thoughtless manner; a practice which many Christians consider to be blasphemous.

Historically, the Jews have had a deep reverence for the Name of God.  In much Jewish literature God is written as G_d.  Christians sometimes seem a little too "familiar" with God.  We are allowed, as individuals, to approach Jesus Himself without the need for intercessors.  This does not mean that Jesus is our "buddy." He is The Word of John 1:1.

The reverence for the name of God is even the origin of the name “Jehovah,” which is a well-intentioned error.  Jews placed the vowel points for “Lord” (Adonai) onto the name JHWH, making the name unpronounceable in Hebrew. Jewish readers would substitute the word “adonai,” “my lord.” Most scholars believe that the mistaken pronunciation as Jehovah was adopted by many Christians about the year 1100 AD/CE.


"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Exodus 20:7

Nikkudot

The nikkudot (plural of nikkud) are vowel marks which the Masoretes placed into the Hebrew text of the Bible.  Before that time, the Hebrew text consisted entirely of consonants.  This occasionally created confusion between similar words and the Masoretes were attempting to alleviate the problem.

Modern Hebrew has returned to using only consonants in the written form of the language.  In the spoken form, vowel sounds occur between consonants, with very rare exceptions.

Below is “bereshith,” the first word of Genesis, written with and without its accompanying nikkudot.

בראשית    בְּרֵאשִׁית