Jehovah is one of the names used for God in some English translations of the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. The name comes from ancient Hebrew texts, where God's name was written with four consonants: YHWH. Since ancient Hebrew was written without vowels, scholars aren't completely certain how it was originally pronounced.

You'll encounter this name most often in certain Bible translations, like the King James Version, where it appears in phrases such as “Jehovah God” or in place names like “Jehovah-jireh.” Some Christian denominations, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses, use this name as their primary way of referring to God.

Different religious traditions have different practices about using God's name directly. Some Jewish traditions consider the original name so sacred that they avoid pronouncing it at all, using titles like “the Lord” or “Adonai” instead. Other Christians prefer different names like “God,” “the Lord,” or “Yahweh.”

Understanding that people use different names for God helps explain why you might see “Jehovah” in one Bible translation and “the LORD” (in capital letters) in another.