Names of God in Judaism

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At the bottom of the hands, the two letters on each hand combine to form יהוה (YHWH), the name of God.

An early depiction of the Tetragrammaton - circa 600 B.C.E. Portion of writing on silver scroll with the "Priestly Benediction" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Portion of column 19 of the Psalms Scroll (Tehilim) from Qumran Cave 11. The Tetragrammaton in paleo-Hebrew can be clearly seen six times in this portion.

The Tetragrammaton in Phoenician (1100 B.C.E. to AD 300), Aramaic (10th Century B.C.E. to 0) and modern Hebrew scripts.

In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people. To show the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for them, the scribes of sacred texts took pause before copying them, and used terms of reverence so as to keep the true name of God concealed. The various names of God in Judaism represent God as he is known, as well as the divine aspects which are attributed to him.

The numerous names of God have been a source of debate amongst biblical scholars. Some have advanced the variety as proof that the Torah has many authors (see documentary hypothesis), while others declare that the different aspects of God have different names, depending on the role God is playing, the context in which God is referred to, and the specific aspects which are emphasized (see Negative theology in Jewish thought). This is akin to how a person may be called by: his first name, 'Dad', 'Captain', 'Honey', 'Sir', etc. depending on the role being played, and who is talking.

Names of God

The Tetragrammaton

The most important and most often written name of God in Judaism is the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God as YHWH or, in modern English, Yahweh. "Tetragrammaton" derives from the Greek prefix tetra- ("four") and gramma ("letter"). By some counts, the Tetragrammaton appears 6828 times in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible. This name is first mentioned in Genesis 2:4.

In English language Bibles YHWH is traditionally translated as "The Lord." Babbinical Judaism forbids pronouncing the name outside the Temple in Jerusalem. Because the original Hebrew texts only included consonants, the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton may have been lost. Some conjecture that it was pronounced as "Yahweh" or something similar, but others suggest that it never had a pronunciation. However, it is found as an element in numerous Hebrew names such as the first syllable in Joshua or Jesus or the last syllable Elijah, Isiaiah, etc. The Hebrew letters are named Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh—יהוה—written right to left and transliterated in English as YHWH, YHVH, or JHVH.

In appearance, YHWH is the third person singular imperfect of the verb "to be," meaning, literally, "He is." This agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and gives his name in the first person—"I am."

The translation of YHWH as "Jehovah" was created by using adding the vowel points of "Adonai." Early Christian translators of the Torah were apparently unaware in Jewish tradition, these vowel points only served to remind the reader not to pronounce the divine name, but instead say "Adonai," (Lord). These translated took the letters "IHVH," from the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, plus the vowels "a-o-a," rendering the word as "Iehovah" in sixteenth century English, which later became "Jehovah."

Pronouncing the tetragrammaton

Judaism generally teaches that the four-letter name of God, YHWH, not to be uttered except by the High Priest in the Temple. However, there are notably exception, especially in kabbalistic tradition. However, the name is never said in traditional Jewish religious rituals. Orthodox and Conservative Jews never pronounce it for any reason. Some non-Orthodox Jews are willing to pronounce it for educational purposes only.

Substituting Adonai for YHWH apparently dates back at least to the third century B.C.E. However, passages such as:

"And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, YHWH [be] with you. And they answered him, YHWH bless thee" (Ruth 2:4)

indicate that there was a time when the name was in common usage. Moreover, the Book of Genesis indicates that the patriarchs dating back to the time of Seth "called upon the Name of YHWH."

Hashem

It is common Jewish practice to restrict the use even of the word Adonai to prayer only. In conversation, many Orthodox Jewish people will call God Hashem, which is Hebrew for "the Name" (see Leviticus 24:11).

While other names of God in Judaism are generally restricted to use in a liturgical context, Hashem is thus used in more casual circumstances. ample, this pattern is used during all prayers in the movie Ushpizin.

Other names of God

Adonai

Jews also call God Adonai, Hebrew for "Lord" (Hebrew: אֲדֹנָי). Technically, this form, like Elohim, is plural, but is normally treated as singular for syntactic purposes. The singular form is Adoni, "my lord." This time was also used by the Phoenicians for the god Tammuz and is the origin of the Greek name Adonis. Jews used the singular to refer to a distinguished person, must as the English word Lord is used.

El

El (Hebrew: אל) is used in both the singular and plural, both for other gods and for the God of Israel. El was also the chief god the ancient Canaanites as well as the Israelites. Exodus 6:3 explains that Yahweh was originally known to the Israelites as "El Shaddai" (God Almighty), and the Canaanite king Melchizedek shared a sacramental with Abraham in the name of El Elyon (Genesis 14:18). In Canaanite texts, El is identified as the chief god, husband of Asherah, and father of many other deities, including Baal.

Examples of its biblical use with some attribute or epithet are: El `Elyon ("Most High God"), El Shaddai ("God Almighty"), El `Olam ("Everlasting God"), El Hai ("Living God"), El Ro'i ("God of Seeing"), El Elohe Israel ("God, the God of Israel"), El Gibbor ("God of Strength"). In addition, names such as Gabriel ("Strength of God"), Michael ("He Who is Like God"), Raphael ("God's medicine") and Daniel ("God is My Judge") and Israel ("one who has struggled with God") use God's name in a similar fashion. The important ancient religious center of Bethel means "house (or place) of El."

The name El appears in several northwest Semitic languages, such as Phoenician, Ugaritic, and Aramaic. In Akkadian, ilu is the ordinary word for god. It is also found in Old South Arabian and in Amharic/Ethiopian, and, as in Hebrew, it is often used as an element in proper names, such as Elijah, Elhanan, Daniel, or Ezekiel.

Elohim

A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (Hebrew: אלהים). Despite the -im ending common to plural nouns in Hebrew, Elohim, when referring to God, is grammatically singular. In Canaanite mythology, the children of El were probably vocalized as "elohim" although the original Ugaritic vowels are unknown. When the Hebrew Bible uses elohim not in reference to God, translators render the term as "the gods."

`Elyon

The epithet`Elyon (Hebrew: עליון) occurs in combination with El, YHWH, or Elohim, and also alone. The modern Hebrew adjective "`Elyon" means "supreme" (as in "Supreme Court") or "Most High." El Elyon has been traditionally translated into English as 'God Most High'. The Phoenicians used what appears to be a similar name for God, Έλιον. It is cognate to the Arabic `Aliyy.

Shaddai

According to Exodus 6:2-3, El Shaddai is the name by which God was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The term may be recognized in most English Bibles as "God Almighty." The name Shaddai (Hebrew: שַׁדַּי) is also used as a name of God later in the Book of Job.

One theory about the term is that Shaddai is a derivation of the Akkadian shadû ("mountain") and shaddā`û or shaddû`a ("mountain-dweller"), one of the names the Amorite god Amurru. In this theory El Shaddai is seen as inhabiting a mythical holy mountain, as well as the sacred high places of early Israelite religion. Shaddai was also a late Bronze Age Amorite city on the banks of the Euphrates river, in northern Syria.

Shalom

The Talmud says "the name of God is 'Peace'" (Pereq ha-Shalom, Shab. 10b), (Judges 6:24); consequently, one is not permitted to greet another with the word shalom in unholy places such as a bathroom (Talmud, Shabbat, 10b). The name Shlomo, "His peace" (from shalom, Solomon, שלומו), refers to the God of Peace. Shalom can also mean "hello" and "goodbye."

The Shekhinah

Shekhinah (Hebrew: שכינה) is the presence or manifestation of God which has descended to "dwell" among humanity. The term never appears in the Hebrew Bible; later rabbis used the word when speaking of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle or amongst the people of Israel. The root of the word means "dwelling." Of the principal names of God, it is the only one that is of the feminine gender in Hebrew grammar. Some believe that this was the name of a female counterpart of God, but this is unlikely as the name is always mentioned in conjunction an article (e.g.: "the Shekhina descended and dwelt among them" or "He removed Himself and His Shekhina from their midst"). This kind of usage does not occur in Semitic languages in conjunction with proper names.

The Arabic form of the word "Sakina سكينة" is also mentioned in the Quran.This mention is in the middle of the narrative of the choice of Saul to be king and is mentioned as descending with the ark of the covenant here the word is used to mean "security" and is derived from the root sa-ka-na which means dwell:

And (further) their Prophet said to them: "A Sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the Ark of the Covenant, with (an assurance) therein of security from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a Symbol for you if ye indeed have faith."

Yah

The name Yah is composed of the first two letters of YHWH. It appears often in names, such as Elijah. The Rastafarian Jah is derived from this, as well as the expression Hallelujah. For the root of Yah see http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Yah+egypt+tour

YHWH Tzevaot/Sabaoth

The name YHWH and the title Elohim frequently occur with the word tzevaot or sabaoth ("hosts" or "armies," Hebrew: צבאות) as YHWH Elohe Tzevaot ("YHWH God of Hosts"), Elohe Tzevaot ("God of Hosts"), Adonai YHWH Tzevaot ("Lord YHWH of Hosts") or, most frequently, YHWH Tzevaot ("YHWH of Hosts"). This name is traditionally transliterated in Latin as Sabaoth, a form that will be more familiar to many English readers, as it was used in the King James Version of the Bible.

This compound divine name occurs chiefly in the prophetic literature and does not appear at all in the Pentateuch, Joshua or Judges. The original meaning of tzevaot may be found in 1 Samuel 17:45, where it is interpreted as denoting "the God of the armies of Israel." The word, apart from this special use, always means armies or hosts of men, as, for example, in Exodus 6:26, 7:4, 12:41, while the singular is used to designate the heavenly host.

The Latin spelling Sabaoth combined with the large, golden vine motif over the door on the Herodian Temple (built by the Idumean Herod the Great) led to identification by Romans with the god Sabazius. In Christianity this title is translated as "God of the Universe".^{[citation needed]}

The name Sabaoth is also associated with a demi-god in the gnostic scriptures of the Nag Hammadi Text; he is the son of Yaltabaoth.

Eight Names of God

In medieval times, God was sometimes called The Seven. Among the ancient Hebrews, the seven names for the Deity over which the scribes had to exercise particular care were:

1. El
2. Elohim
3. Adonai
4. Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh
5. YHWH (i.e. Jehovah)
6. Shaddai
7. Zebaot

Lesser names of and titles

• Adir—"Strong One."
• Adon Olam—"Master of the World."
• Avinu Malkeinu—"Our Father, our King."
• Boreh—"the Creator."
• Ehiyeh sh'Ehiyeh—"I Am That I Am": a modern Hebrew version of "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh."
• Elohei Avraham, Elohei Yitzchak ve Elohei Ya`aqov—"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob."
• El ha-Gibbor—"God the hero" or "God the strong one."
• Emet—"Truth."
• E'in Sof—"endless, the Void, infinite," Kabbalistic name of God.
• Ro'eh Yisra'el—"Shepherd of Israel."
• Ha-Kaddosh, Baruch Hu—"The Holy One, Blessed be He."
• Kaddosh Israel—"Holy One of Israel."
• Melech ha-Melachim—"The King of Kings" or Melech Malchei ha-Melachim "King of Kings of Kings," to express superiority to the earthly rulers title.
• Makom or Hamakom—literally "the place," meaning "The Omnipresent".
• Magen Avraham—"Shield of Abraham."
• Ribbono shel `Olam—"Master of the World."
• YHWH-Rapha—"The Lord that healeth" (Exodus 15:26).
• YHWH-Niss"i (Yahweh-Nissi)—"The Lord our Banner" (Exodus 17:8-15).
• YHWH-Shalom—"The Lord our Peace" (Judges 6:24).
• YHWH-Ra-ah—"The Lord my Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1).
• YHWH-Tsidkenu—"The Lord our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6).
• YHWH-Shammah(Jehovah-shammah)— "The Lord is present" (Ezekiel 48:35).
• Tzur Israel—"Rock of Israel."

Kabbalistic use

The Shemhamphorasch, or 72-lettered Name of God

The system of cosmology of the Kabbalah deals extensively with several of the names of God. A 42-lettered kabbalistic name of God contains the combined names אהיה יהוה אדוני הויה, which when spelled out contains 42 letters. The 72-lettered name shown in the accompanying illustration is based on three verses in Exodus (14:19-21) beginning with "Vayyissa," "Vayyabo," "Vayyet," respectively. Each of the verses contains 72 letters, and when combined they form 72 names, known collectively as the Shemhamphorasch.

The kabbalistic book Sefer Yetzirah explains that the creation of the world was achieved by the manipulation of the sacred letters that form the names of God. Much in the same way, a golem is created using all permutations of God's name.

One of the most important kabbalistic names of God is En Sof—אין סוף ("Infinite" or "Endless")—who is above/beyond the Sefirot or emanations of God.

Laws of writing divine names

The Psalms in Hebrew and Latin. Manuscript on parchment, 12th century.

According to Jewish tradition, the sacredness of the divine names must be recognized by the professional scribe who writes the Scriptures, or the chapters for the tefillin and the mezuzah. Before transcribing any of the divine names he prepares mentally to sanctify them. Once he begins a name he does not stop until it is finished, and he must not be interrupted while writing it, even to greet a king. If an error is made in writing it, it may not be erased, but a line must be drawn round it to show that it is canceled, and the whole page must be put in a genizah (burial place for scripture) and a new page begun.

The tradition of seven divine names

According to Jewish tradition, the number of divine names that require the scribe's special care is seven: El, Elohim, Adonai, YHWH, Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh, Shaddai, and Tzevaot.

However, Rabbi Jose considered Tzevaot a common name (Soferim 4:1; Yer. R. H. 1:1; Ab. R. N. 34). Rabbi Ishmael held that even Elohim is common (Sanh. 66a). All other names, such as "Merciful," "Gracious," and "Faithful," merely represent attributes that are common also to human beings (Sheb. 35a).

See also

• Alaha
• Baal Shem
• Names given to the divine
• 99 Names of God in the Qur'an
• Names of God
• Ten Commandments

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Driver, S. R., W. Sanday, and John Wordsworth. "Recent Theories on the Origin and Nature of the Tetragrammaton", in Studies in Biblical and Patristic Criticism, or, Studia Biblica Et Ecclesiastica. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2006. ISBN 1593334656
• Mansoor, Menahem. The Dead Sea Scrolls; A College Textbook and a Study Guide. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964.
• Albright, William Foxwell. The Names Shaddai and Abram. Journal of Biblical Literature, 54 (1935): 173–210
• Harris, R. Laird, Gleason Leonard Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. ISBN 0802486312
• Hoffman, Joel M. In the Beginning A Short History of the Hebrew Language. New York: New York University Press, 2004.ISBN 0814736548
• Joffe, Laura. 2001. "THE ELOHISTIC PSALTER: WHAT, HOW AND WHY?" Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament. 15, no. 1: 142-169. ISSN 09018328
• Kearney, Richard. The God Who May Be A Hermeneutics of Religion. Indiana series in the philosophy of religion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 0253339987
• Kretzmann, Paul E. Popular Commentary of the Bible The Old Testament. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1923. OCLC 4130752
• Shaller, John, "The Hidden God" in The Wauwatosa Theology, vol. 2, pp. 169-187, Milwaukee, Wis: Northwestern Pub. House, 1997. ISBN 0810007460
• Stern, David H. Jewish New Testament Commentary A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament. Clarksville, Md: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992.
• Strong, James. Exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1890. OCLC 63150837
• Tov, Emanuel. 2002. "Copying of a Biblical Scroll". Journal of Religious History. 26, no. 2: 189-209. ISSN 00224227
• Vriezen, Theodorus Christiaan. The Religion of Ancient Israel. London: Lutterworth Press, 1967. OCLC 2734424

External links

All links retrieved November 27, 2007.

• A Christian Discussion of the pronunciation of YHWH, including a new theory that explains all theophoric elements
• God's names in Jewish thought and in the light of Kabbalah
• Explanation on why not to spell out God's name.
• The Name of God as Revealed in Exodus 3:14 - an explanation of its meaning.
• Bibliography on Divine Names in the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Names of God

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