The Names Of God (1)
Categories: Bible Study Lessons Tags: Bible Lessons on GodA study of the names of God throughout the Bible is a fascinating study depicting God’s character and nature. The following study was adapted from a book by Nathan Stone, Names of God (Chicago, IL: Moody Press Publishing Company, 1944), and is a concise description of twelve of the names of God as described in the Bible:
1) Elohim
The Hebrew word “El” means “mighty,” “strong,” “prominent”. This word “El” itself is translated “God” some 250 times and frequently in circumstances which especially indicate the great power of God. In Deuteronomy 10:17, we read that “Jehovah your Elohim is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the God or El who is great, mighty, and dreadful”. It is this word “El” which is used in that great name “Almighty God”, the name under which God made great and mighty promises to Abraham and to Jacob (Genesis 17:1; Genesis 35:11). It is also one of the names given to that promised Son and Messiah of Isaiah 9:6-7 – God, the Mighty. Thus from this derivation, Elohim may be said to express the general idea of greatness and glory.
2) Jehovah
The name Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew verb “havah,” “to be,” or “being.” This word is almost exactly like the Hebrew verb, “chavah,” (to live), or “life.” One can readily see the connection between “being” and “life”. Thus when we read the name Jehovah, or Lord in capital letters, in our Bible, we think in terms of “being” or “existence and life”, and we must think of Jehovah as the Being who is absolutely self-existent, the One who in Himself possesses essential life, permanent existence. An example of the use of the name, “Jehovah” is found in Isaiah 43:10-11. In Psalm 102:27 we read, “But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end.” Literally translated, it should read, “Thou art he, and thy years shall have no end”; the “he” (like the Hebrew word for being), is the equivalent of “the same,” the One of old whose years have no end – that is, without beginning and without end.
3) El-Shaddai
Once again, this word “el” is translated by such words as “might” and “power”. The word “Shaddai” itself occurs forty-eight times in the Old Testament and is translated “almighty.” The Hebrew meaning of the root word in Shaddai (“Shad”) is translated “breast”. Thus the title “Shaddai” signifies one who “nourishes,” “supplies” or “satisfies”. Connected with the word for God, “El”, then becomes the “One mighty to nourish, satisfy, supply.” The One who “sheds forth” and “pours” out sustenance and blessings. In this sense, God is the all-sufficient, the all-bountiful.
In Genesis 49:24-25, concerning Joseph: “… the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob… even by the God [El] of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty [Shaddai], who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.” The distinction and significance of names here is quite striking and obvious. It is God as “El” who helps, but it is God as “Shaddai” who abundantly blesses with all manner of blessings, and blessings of the breast (cf. Isaiah 60:15-16; Isaiah 66:10-13).
4) Adonai
The name “Adonai” is translated “Lord” and signifies ownership or mastership and indicates the truth that God is the owner of each member of the human family, and that He consequently claims the unrestricted obedience of all (Matthew 25:31-32; Acts 17:30-31; Romans 1:5; Romans 2:6-11; Romans 16:25-26; 2 Thessalonians 1:8). The expression, “Lord of lords,” in Deuteronomy 10:17, could be rendered “Master of masters.” An illustration of this name as a claim upon man’s obedience and service is found in Malachi 1:6, “A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? saith Jehovah of hosts …” And in Job 28:28 it is declared that the fear of Adonai (the Lord, the Master) is wisdom.
The Psalmists make frequent use of the name, “Adonai”. It is Jehovah, “Adonai,” whose name is so excellent in all the earth, who has put all things under his feet (Psalm 8). He is the Adonai of the whole earth (Psalm 97:5). The earth is bidden to tremble at the presence of the Adonai, its Lord (Psalm 114:7). Adonai is above all elohim or gods (Psalm 135:5). As Master or Lord, Adonai is besought to remember the reproach of His servant (Psalm 89:50). “My eyes are unto thee, O God, the Adonai” (Psalm 141:8) says the Psalmist as of a servant to his Lord. And he asks Adonai, his Master, to take up his cause and defend him against his enemies (Psalm 109:21-28).