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Part One: The Doctrine of GodThe Being of God
IV. The Names of God
In the ancient world, a name was never just a label. It was a window into the nature of the thing named. To know someone's name was to know something real about them. This is why the Bible speaks of "the name" of God in the singular, as if all His names were really one name. And in the most general sense, that is exactly what they are: His self-revelation in relation to man.
God's names are not human inventions. We did not look up at the sky and decide what to call Him. He gave us His names, choosing human language and earthly comparisons to make Himself known. They are borrowed from our world, drawn from relationships we understand: lord and servant, father and child, strong protector and the one protected. They come down to our level, and that descent is itself an act of grace.
But this creates a tension. God is the Incomprehensible One, infinitely above everything in time and space. How can finite words capture an infinite being? The answer is that the world itself was designed to reveal God. Because He built the universe as a display of His own character, it is possible to name Him after the fashion of what He has made. If naming God with earthly language limits Him, then creation itself limits Him, and we are stuck in total darkness. But we are not stuck, because He chose to speak.
- In the most general sense, the name of God is His self-revelation in relation to man
- God's names are of divine origin, not human invention, though they use human language
- Names in the ancient world expressed the nature of the thing named, not just a label
- God condescends to human language to make Himself known
A. THE NAMES OF GOD IN GENERAL
While the Bible records several names of God, it also speaks of the name of God in the singular as, for instance in the following statements: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," Ex. 20:7; "How excellent is thy name in all the earth," Ps. 8:1; "As is thy name, O God, so is thy praise," Ps. 48:10; "His name is great in Israel," Ps. 76:2; "The name of Jehovah is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe," Prov. 18:10. In such cases "the name" stands for the whole manifestation of God in His relation to His people, or simply for the person, so that it becomes synonymous with God. This usage is due to the fact that in oriental thought a name was never regarded as a mere vocable, but as an expression of the nature of the thing designated. To know the name of a person was to have power over him, and the names of the various gods were used in incantations to exercise power over them. In the most general sense of the word, then, the name of God is His self-revelation. It is a designation of Him, not as He exists in the depths of His divine Being, but as He reveals Himself especially in His relations to man. For us the one general name of God is split up into many names, expressive of the many-sided Being of God. It is only because God has revealed Himself in His name (nomen editum), that we can now designate Him by that name in various forms (nomina indita). The names of God are not of human invention, but of divine origin, though they are all borrowed from human language, and derived from human and earthly relations. They are anthropomorphic and mark a condescending approach of God to man.
The names of God constitute a difficulty for human thought. God is the Incomprehensible One, infinitely exalted above all that is temporal; but in His names He descends to all that is finite and becomes like unto man. On the one hand we cannot name Him, and on the other hand He has many names. How can this be explained? On what grounds are these names applied to the infinite and incomprehensible God? It should be borne in mind that they are not of man's invention, and do not testify to his insight into the very Being of God. They are given by God Himself with the assurance that they contain in a measure a revelation of the Divine Being. This was made possible by the fact that the world and all its relations is and was meant to be a revelation of God. Because the Incomprehensible One revealed Himself in His creatures, it is possible for man to name Him after the fashion of a creature. In order to make Himself known to man, God had to condescend to the level of man, to accommodate Himself to the limited and finite human consciousness, and to speak in human language. If the naming of God with anthropomorphic names involves a limitation of God, as some say, then this must be true to an even greater degree of the revelation of God in creation. Then the world does not reveal, but rather conceals, God; then man is not related to God, but simply forms an antithesis to Him; and then we are shut up to a hopeless agnosticism.
From what was said about the name of God in general it follows that we can include under the names of God not only the appellatives by which He is indicated as an independent personal Being and by which He is addressed, but also the attributes of God; and then not merely the attributes of the Divine Being in general, but also those that qualify the separate Persons of the Trinity. Dr. Bavinck bases his division of the names of God on that broad conception of them, and distinguishes between nomina propria (proper names), nomina essentialia (essential names, or attributes), and nomina personalia (personal names, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). In the present chapter we limit ourselves to the discussion of the first class.
The Old Testament gives God several names, each one lighting up a different facet of who He is.
The most basic is Elohim, which points to God's strength and might. The plural form is not a hint at multiple gods. It is what grammarians call an intensive plural, a way of piling up the word to express a fullness of power. Elohim is the God of raw, unmatched strength. A related name, Elyon (the Most High), stresses His exalted position above everything else.
Adonai means Lord or Ruler. It points to God as the almighty sovereign to whom everything is subject and to whom we relate as servants. In earlier times this was the common way Israelites addressed God.
Shaddai (or El Shaddai, God Almighty) carries a different emphasis. Where Elohim presents God as the powerful God of creation and nature, Shaddai stresses that He subjects all the powers of nature and makes them serve His purposes of grace. He is not an object of terror but a source of blessing and comfort. This is the name by which God appeared to Abraham.
But the most distinctive and sacred name in the Old Testament is Yahweh. Derived from the verb "to be," it is connected to God's declaration in Exodus 3:14: "I am that I am." The name does not primarily point to abstract existence. It points to covenant faithfulness: the assurance that God will be to His people what He has always been, unchanging in His commitments. It is God's proper name, used of no one else, never found in the plural. Jews held it in such awe that when reading Scripture aloud they substituted Adonai or Elohim in its place rather than pronounce it.
Yahweh is sometimes strengthened as Yahweh Tsebhaoth, the Lord of hosts. The "hosts" most likely refer to the angels surrounding God's throne. The name portrays God as the glorious King attended by heavenly armies, ruling heaven and earth in the interest of His people.
- Elohim emphasizes God's strength and might as an intensive plural expressing fullness of power
- Adonai means Lord or Ruler, pointing to God as almighty sovereign
- Shaddai stresses subjecting nature's powers to serve grace, presenting God as a source of blessing
- Yahweh (Jehovah) is the most distinctive and sacred Old Testament name, stressing covenant faithfulness and unchangeable relation to His people
- Yahweh Tsebhaoth (Lord of hosts) most likely refers to the angels surrounding God's throne
- Jews substituted Adonai or Elohim when reading Yahweh aloud in Scripture
B. THE OLD TESTAMENT NAMES AND THEIR MEANING
1. 'EL 'ELOHIM, and 'ELYON. The most simple name by which God is designated in the Old Testament, is the name 'El which is possibly derived from 'ul, either in the sense of being first, being lord, or in that of being strong and mighty. The name ' Elohim (sing. 'Eloah) is probably derived from the same root, or from 'alah, to be smitten with fear; and therefore points to God as the strong and mighty One, or as the object of fear. The name seldom occurs in the singular, except in poetry. The plural is to be regarded as intensive, and therefore serves to indicate a fulness of power. The name 'Elyon is derived from ' alah, to go up, to be elevated, and designates God as the high and exalted One, Gen. 14:19,20; Num. 24:16; Isa. 14:14. It is found especially in poetry. These names are not yet nomina propria in the strict sense of the word, for they are also used of idols, Ps. 95:3; 96:5, of men, Gen. 33:10; Ex. 7:1, and of rulers, Judg. 5:8; Ex. 21:6; 22:8-10; Ps. 82. 1
'ADONAI. This name is related in meaning to the preceding ones. It is derived from either dun (din) or 'adan, both of which mean to judge, to rule, and thus points to God as the almighty Ruler, to whom everything is subject, and to whom man is related as a servant. In earlier times it was the usual name by which the people of Israel addressed God. Later on it was largely supplanted by the name Jehovah (Yahweh). All the names so far mentioned describe God as the high and exalted One, the transcendent God. The following names point to the fact that this exalted Being condescended to enter into relations with His creatures.
3. SHADDAI and 'EL SHADDAI. The name Shaddai is derived from shadad, to be powerful, and points to God as possessing all power in heaven and on earth. Others, however, derive it from shad lord. It differs in an important point from 'Elohim, the God of creation and nature, in that it contemplates God as subjecting all the powers of nature and making them subservient to the work of divine grace. While it stresses the greatness of God, it does not represent Him as an object of fear and terror, but as a source of blessing and comfort. It is the name with which God appeared unto Abraham, the father of the faithful, Ex. 6:2.
4. YAHWEH and YAHWEH TSEBHAOTH. It is especially in the name Yahweh, which gradually supplanted earlier names, that God reveals Himself as the God of grace. It has always been regarded as the most sacred and the most distinctive name of God, the incommunicable name. The Jews had a superstitious dread of using it, since they read Lev. 24:16 as follows: "He that nameth the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death." And therefore in reading the Scriptures they substituted for it either 'Adonai or ' Elohim; and the Massoretes, while leaving the consonants intact, attached to them the vowels of one of these names, usually those of ' Adonai. The real derivation of the name and its original pronunciation and meaning are more or less lost in obscurity. The Pentateuch connects the name with the Hebrew verb hayah to be, Ex. 3:13,14. On the strength of that passage we may assume that the name is in all probability derived from an archaic form of that verb, namely, hawah. As far as the form is concerned, it may be regarded as a third person imperfect qal or hiphil. Most likely, however, it is the former. The meaning is explained in Ex. 3:14, which is rendered "I am that I am," or "I shall be what I shall be." Thus interpreted, the name points to the unchangeableness of God. Yet it is not so much the unchangeableness of His essential Being that is in view, as the unchangeableness of His relation to His people. The name contains the assurance that God will be for the people of Moses' day what He was for their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It stresses the covenant faithfulness of God, is His proper name par excellence, Ex. 15:3; Ps. 83:19; Hos. 12:6; Isa. 42:8, and is therefore used of no one but Israel's God. The exclusive character of the name appears from the fact that it never occurs in the plural or with a suffix. Abbreviated forms of it, found especially in composite names, are Yah and Yahu.
The name Yahweh is often strengthened by the addition of tsebhaoth. Origen and Jerome regard this as an apposition, because Yahweh does not admit of a construct state. But this interpretation is not sufficiently warranted and hardly yields an intelligible sense. It is rather hard to determine to what the wordtsebhaothrefers. There are especially three opinions:
a. The armies of Israel. But the correctness of this view may well be doubted. Most of the passages quoted to support this idea do not prove the point; only three of them contain a semblance of proof, namely, I Sam. 4:4; 17:45; II Sam. 6:2, while one of them, II Kings 19:31, is rather unfavorable to this view. While the plural tsebhaoth is used for the hosts of the people of Israel, the army is regularly indicated by the singular. This militates against the notion, inherent in this view, that in the name under consideration the term refers to the army of Israel. Moreover, it is clear that in the Prophets at least the name "Jehovah of hosts" does not refer to Jehovah as the God of war. And if the meaning of the name changed, what caused the change?
b. The stars. But in speaking of the host of heaven Scripture always uses the singular, and never the plural. Moreover, while the stars are called the host of heaven, they are never designated the host of God.
The angels. This interpretation deserves preference. The name Yahweh tsebhaoth is often found in connections in which angels are mentioned: I Sam. 4:4; II Sam. 6:2; Isa. 37:16; Hos. 12:4,5, Ps. 80:1,4 f.; Ps. 89; 6-8. The angels are repeatedly represented as a host that surrounds the throne of God, Gen. 28:12; 32:2; Jos. 5:14; I Kings 22:19; Ps. 68:17; 103:21; 148:2; Isa. 6:2. It is true that in this case also the singular is generally used, but this is no serious objection, since the Bible also indicates that there were several divisions of angels, Gen. 32:2; Deut. 33:2; Ps. 68:17. Moreover, this interpretation is in harmony with the meaning of the name, which has no martial flavor, but is expressive of the glory of God as King, Deut. 33:2; I Kings 22:19; Ps. 24:10; Isa. 6:3; 24:23; Zech. 14:16. Jehovah of hosts, then, is God as the King of glory, who is surrounded by angelic hosts, who rules heaven and earth in the interest of His people, and who receives glory from all His creatures.
The New Testament carries the Old Testament names forward into Greek. Theos is the standard Greek word for God, corresponding to El and Elohim. It expresses essential deity. In the New Testament it often appears with a possessive ("my God," "our God"), reflecting the shift from the national religion of Israel to the personal faith of individual believers.
The Greek equivalent of Yahweh is Kurios, derived from a word meaning power. It designates God as the Mighty One, the Lord, the Possessor and Ruler with legal authority. The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) had already made this substitution, replacing Yahweh with Adonai and translating Adonai as Kurios. The New Testament follows this practice. Kurios is used not only of God the Father but also of Christ.
The name Pater (Father) is sometimes said to be a new name introduced by the New Testament, but this is not quite right. The Old Testament already used Father to describe God's special relationship to Israel as a nation. What the New Testament adds is a deeper dimension. Beyond the general sense of Creator and beyond the national covenant relationship, it expresses God's personal, ethical relation to believers as His spiritual children, those who have been adopted into His family through faith. It also describes the unique internal relationship of the first Person of the Trinity to the Son.
- Kurios is the Greek New Testament equivalent of Yahweh, meaning the Mighty One or Lord
- Pater (Father) in the New Testament expresses God's ethical relation to believers as spiritual children, beyond its Old Testament national usage
- Theos is the Greek equivalent of Elohim, expressing essential deity
- Kurios is used not only of God the Father but also of Christ
C. THE NEW TESTAMENT NAMES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
1. THEOS. The New Testament has the Greek equivalents of the Old Testament names. For ' El, ' Elohim, and ' Elyon it has Theos , which is the most common name applied to God. Like ' Elohim, it may by accommodation be used of heathen gods, though strictly speaking it expresses essential deity. ' Elyon is rendered Hupsistos Theos, Mark 5:7; Luke 1:32,35,75; Acts 7:48; 16:17; Heb. 7:1. The names Shaddai and 'El-Shaddai are rendered Pantokrator and Theos Pantokrator, II Cor. 6:18; Rev. 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7,14. More generally, however, Theos is found with a genitive of possession, such as mou, sou, hemon, humon, because in Christ God may be regarded as the God of all and of each one of His children. The national idea of the Old Testament has made place for the individual in religion.
2. KURIOS. The name Yahweh is explicated a few times by variations of a descriptive kind, such as "the Alpha and the Omega," "who is and who was and who is to come," "the beginning and the end," "the first and the last," Rev. 1:4,8,17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13. For the rest, however the New Testament follows the Septuagint, which substituted 'Adonai for it, and rendered this by Kurios derived from kuros , power. This name does not have exactly the same connotation as Yahweh but designates God as the Mighty One, the Lord, the Possessor, the Ruler who has legal power and authority. It is used not only of God, but also of Christ.
3. PATER. It is often said that the New Testament introduced a new name of God, namely,Pater (Father). But this is hardly correct. The name Father is used of the Godhead even in heathen religions. It is used repeatedly in the Old Testament to designate the relation of God to Israel, Deut. 32:6; Ps. 103:13; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; Jer. 3:4,19; 31:9; Mal. 1:6; 2:10, while Israel is called the son of God, Ex. 4:22; Deut. 14:1; 32:19; Isa. 1:2; Jer. 31:20; Hos. 1:10; 11:1. In such cases the name is expressive of the special theocratic relation in which God stands to Israel. In the general sense of originator or creator it is used in the following New Testament passages: I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 3:15; Heb. 12:9; James 1:18. In all other places it serves to express either the special relation in which the first Person of the Trinity stands to Christ, as the Son of God either in a metaphysical or a mediatorial sense, or the ethical relation in which God stands to all believers as His spiritual children.