9:29

Jehovah: In this quote from Isa 1:9, the divine name, represented by four Hebrew consonants (transliterated YHWH), occurs in the original Hebrew text.​—See App. C.

Jehovah of armies: This expression has its background in the Hebrew Scriptures, where it occurs 283 times (with some variations), starting at 1Sa 1:3. It is a combination of the Tetragrammaton and the Hebrew word for “armies,” tseva·ʼohthʹ. The Greek equivalent of this expression occurs twice in the Christian Greek Scriptures, here and at Jas 5:4. Both Paul and James quote or allude to prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures. In these two cases, the Hebrew word tseva·ʼohthʹ, “armies,” is transliterated Sa·ba·othʹ in Greek. Although Greek manuscripts literally read “Lord Sabaoth” (Greek, Kyʹri·os Sa·ba·othʹ), one lexicon says that Sa·ba·othʹ is used “in a name applied to God . . . =יהוה צְבָאוֹת [YHWH tseva·ʼohthʹ] Yahweh Lord of the Armies, Lord of Hosts.” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition) Further reasons why the New World Translation uses the name Jehovah in the main text are explained in App. C1.

armies: Or “heavenly armies.” The Greek term Sa·ba·othʹ is a transliteration of the Hebrew word tseva·ʼohthʹ, the plural form of tsa·vaʼʹ, which basically means a literal army of soldiers, or combat forces. (Ge 21:22; De 20:9; see study note on Jehovah of armies in this verse.) It appears that the “armies” signified are primarily, if not exclusively, the angelic forces. The expression “Jehovah of armies” thus conveys the sense of power held by the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, who has at his command vast forces of spirit creatures. (Ps 103:20, 21; 148:1, 2; Isa 1:24; Jer 32:17, 18) However, some suggest that the “armies” in the expression “Jehovah of armies” include not only the angelic forces but also the Israelite army and the inanimate heavenly bodies.

offspring: See study note on Ro 9:7.