The problem with this kind of argument is that we do not have the original Greek autographs of the New Testament; all we have are copies of the original Greek writings. One cannot prove anything either way by the original Greek New Testament Scriptures, since we do not have the original Greek writings in order to prove what was originally written.
On the other hand, there is no record of Jehovah giving anyone authority to change the name of Jehovah (Yahweh) to forms of the Greek words often transliterated as Kurios, Theos, or Dunamis. Jesus never claimed such an authority, and Jesus actually claimed to come in the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Greek and Hebrew words are given with English transliterations throughout; we do not claim the transliterations represent the original pronunciation of the Hebrew or Greek words involved, which no one earth today knows for sure.)
The prophecy states that the Messiah would come in the name of Jehovah/Yahweh, not the name/authority of a God by the name of Kurios. Jehovah said to Moses concerning the Messiah: “He shall speak in my name.” (Deuteronomy 18:19) That the actual name is involved is shown in Deuteronomy 18:20, since it speaks of a prophet who would speak in the name of other gods. Thus, it is indeed vital that Jesus be recognized as coming in the name and authority of Jehovah, not Kurios. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah!” (Psalm 118:26) “Kurios” (Lord) does not identify the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It is a common title used not only of men, but also of false gods. Thus, if Jesus said he came in the name of Kurios, one could wonder who he meant. Consequently, we have no doubt that that Jesus did not join with the rebellious Jews by substituting and taking away from his scriptural reference the most important name in the universe in Matthew 23:39, or any other place. No one in the scriptures has ever been given authority to change the name of the Most High to Kurios, or Theos, or Dunamis, etc.
To use the word KURIOS, LORD, as a proper name of a God, is similar to replacing Baal (Lord, Master) for Jehovah. Jehovah spoke of the time when the fathers “forgot my name for Baal [Lord].” (Jeremiah 23:27) Isn’t this what is happening with changing the holy name to the a different name, such as KURIOS (LORD)?
Later, rather than replacing Jehovah with forms of Baal, the Jewish leadership began to again seek to cause the people to forget the most holy name by claiming it would be blasphemy to speak his name orally (except in certain sacred places and occasions), and thus proposed orally replacing the holy name with Adoni (my Lord) or Adonai (literally my lords, being used as a plural intensive, thus meaning: Supreme or Superior Lord), rather than Baal (Lord, Master). Finally, sometime in the lifetime of Josephus, it appears that they went further in trying to get people to forget the most important name in universe by endeavoring to make it unlawful to speak the holy name at all. (In reality, the end result is that they were speaking the Holy name by words such as forms of the Hebrew words EL, ADON, or forms of the Greek words THEOS and KURIOS. Are we to think that Jesus or the Bible writers would join in such a conspiracy to remove the Most Holy name in the universe?
When Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, stated and identified Himself by his name to Moses, what did he say? “This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.” (Exodus 3:15) He did not say that this will be my name for now, and later my name will be something else. He said it was his eternal name. He never gave anyone authority to change that name. Kurios does not identify the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, since that word could be also applied to false gods, as well as to men.
Exodus 3:15 - And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. -- American Standard Version.
Many claim that they are substituting some ‘title’ so as to avoid speaking or mispronouncing the sacred name. Some claim that to mispronounce the Holy Name, or even to pronounce the Holy Name at all, is blasphemy, or that by changing Holy Name to other words shows respect for the Holy name. Such do not seem to realize that whatever “title” or “word” that they replace the Holy Name with does the very thing that they seek to avoid. In reality, if one is afraid that they will mispronounce the Holy Name, by replacing the Holy Name with other words actually assures that they do mispronounce the Holy Name by whatever that “title” or “word” that may be used. In other words, when one uses substitutes, such as “the Lord” (forms of Adon, Kurios), “God” (forms of El, Theos), etc., in reality, such do not actually avoid pronouncing God’s name, for they pronounce that name using forms of Adon “Lord”, forms of EL “God”, or with something else such as HaShem (the Name). In effect, by claiming to avoid pronouncing the holy name, they, in reality, end up changing the Holy Name to one of the titles of God, or to a description of the name, and thus end up pronouncing the name in that manner.
Additionally, there is nothing in the Bible that says that one should not pronounce the Holy Name in accordance with common pronunciation of his language, nor is there anything in the Bible that says that if one pronounces the Holy Name, it must be as it was originally pronounced in the ancient Hebrew. Recognizing that both “Jehovah” and “Yahweh” are common English linguistic variations that can be traced by the original Holy Name, we have every reason to conclude that both of these do in fact represent the true name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in English.
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