Shalom Steven,
Because I chose to listen to other speakers at Wilkes-Barre 9 or 10 years ago I missed your awesome teachings on the migration of the 10 tribes.
I have taught for years that many of first century Judah did not recognize Yahshua because they were looking for the conquering Messiah King rather than realize their real captivity was to their sin more so than their captivity to Rome.
I have been on your website and really see where a lot of pre- return prophecies may have already been fulfilled. It can be much closer (the return of Messiah) than many think. It is time to wake up and make sure we have a sufficient supply of oil!
I recently received Israel s Tribes Today and started on it last night. I agree with the concept of finding customs, traits, names etc. being retained as migrations progressed, this being one of the few ways to understand these migrations as people changed their national names or had new ones applied to them by the likes of the Romans who wrote history from their view.
My question pertains to language. In Hebrew God is El, Eloah, Elohim. I cannot see the connection to go from Elohim to guth. The English word God as it appears in KJV 1611 seems to have come from the end of the middle English and beginning of London English which led to modern English. That said, the statement on page 38 of Col Gawler quoting M. Salman (1818) they took the name Gauthei because, he says , They were very jealous of the glory of God is questionable as God was probably not a title for YHVH in the 400-500 years prior to London English .
How did these Israelites corrupt Elohim into guth, gawd and eventually God? There must have been influence from the Gentiles they mixed with. I am very interested in how you see it.
M. A. Klopp
MYREPLY
Shalom Michael,
Sorry I missed you at Wilkes-Barre! I appreciate your positive comments about my writings, and I hope you find them edifying.
You are correct about the lack of linguistic connection between the Hebrew names of the Deity (El, Yahweh–or as some prefer, Jehovah) and the modern word, God. Yahweh (derived from the “Tetragrammaton”) is a name of God, but the word “God” is more a standard title or term for the Deity in the English language. I do not know the origins of the word “God,” but it had to have an ancient beginning before or at the time the Goths, Germans, Saxons, etc. migrated into Europe. The German word, “Gott,” is an obvious cognate with the English word, “God,” as both modern German and English originated from a language common to the Caucasian migrants coming out of Asia into Europe. The consonants “G-T” (in “Gott”) parallel the consonants of those in Goths, Getes, etc., but that similarity may be coincidental.
Just for speculative purposes, we may find a parallel in modern times re: how a linguistically unrelated word can become a substitute for the actual name of the Deity. Orthodox Jews do not pronounce the Hebrew name for the deity, but often use the word “Hashem” (The Name). Clearly, there is no linguistic connection between “Yahweh” and “Hashem,” but Jews fully realize the term “Hashem” refers to the Deity. Perhaps many centuries ago, migrating Caucasians also developed a word which represented the Deity without any linguistic connection to the actual name of the Deity. Modern English-speakers fully realize that the word, “God,” refers to the Deity even as Orthodox Jews realize the word “Hashem” does as well. Again, this is speculation, but it offers a possible way to understand how the word, “God,” originated.
Steve
