[adam_az]

If it really was a 3000 year old tradition *widespread* practice in English, then I would have encountered it sometime during my 50 years on this earth prior to the last couple of years.

Not 3000 years in English, since the language is not that old, but in other languages, yes, and the tradition has been brought forward into use in other languages.

I can't explain why you've only encountered it for the last few years. I can tell you I've seen it since childhood for the last nearly 30 years, but then, I'm Jewish. If you don't spend aany time reading Jewish religious literature (which of course most Goyim do not, much as I don't spend time following Hindu or Catholic literature) then you probably wouldn't encounter it in 50 years or 500 years.

[maryz]

I can't explain why you've only encountered it for the last few years. I can tell you I've seen it since childhood for the last nearly 30 years, but then, I'm Jewish.

I've been familiar with it since high school in the 60s (and I'm Catholic). Actually, I asked a Jewish guy I worked with in my after school job some questions about Judaism, and he gave me a couple of articles.

[SJackson]

If it really was a 3000 year old tradition *widespread* practice in English, then I would have encountered it sometime during my 50 years on this earth prior to the last couple of years.
What I thought we were referring to is the practice of writing "God" this way in modern English text. What was done 2000 years ago isn't relevant to the question of why it is I, as a reasonably well read person, did not encounter this practice until quite recently.

That probably has more to do with your reading habits than anything else. How frequently did you read Jewish literature (excluding Holy Texts where the hyphenation might not be used) or correspond on religious topics with Orthodox Jews? If often, I have no explanation for you. If not, then I’d suspect it has more to do with the more profuse distribution of writing since the advent of the internet.