Question about American spelling....

[Aussie]

Noticed a few people around the site spell God as G-d.

What's the deal with that?

Any particular reason? I was just curious.....cause I've never come across it in Australia before.

[Old 33]

It's got nothing to do with our spin on the Queen's English.

Many Jewish texts do not spell out the word God, or the full name of God, Yahweh, either spelling them G-d or YHWH. It's showing reverence to the name by not saying it except in prayer.

[cathy1953]

Yes, I think I know. That's really a Jewish custom, they take the "o" out, because they feel that if God's name is typed and if it should be printed out and perhaps "thrown away" like if you printed it and then threw the piece of paper away with His name on it, it would disrespectful to God.

[Aussie]

Thanks.

You never know whether it's an American thing, cause even Australian english is a different beast again (from the UK and US)....

At least now it makes some sense...before it just looked weird, to be honest.

So it's related to Jewish texts/customs and being respectful/showing reverence to God. Thanks again.

[70thWeek]

I think that it is a misunderstanding. The divine name YHWH, was never spoken, so when the Masorites added vowels into the Hebrew text, they did not know what to put. In some cases they added the vowels for elohim and in others they added the vowels for adonai. In most English versions, the divine name will be shown as either GOD or LORD depending on which vowels were used. Notice, however, that with elohim (which translates most often as God, except in some cases as gods) and adonai (which translates as Lord), the words are spoken and not left out. Therefore, there is no reason to use G-d. There is nothing wrong with writing or saying God.