The Names of God [RQ]
Practitioners of many religious traditions have one or more powerful entities with which they associate the machinations of the world or the powerful forces within the world. These beings are ordinarily called gods in Western discourse of religion. Christianity is no exception to this practice, although it does muddy the waters to outside interpreters. In the Christian faith, there is only one God, but this God also has a divine son – Jesus, as well as a divine spirit – the Holy Spirit. A majority of Christians subscribe to the idea of a trifecta God, that is to say that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are coeternal (all three existed before time and are eternal) and cosubstantial (all three are of the same substance, yet different in aspects) divine persons; this belief is called Trinitarianism.[1] In contrast, Unitarian Christians affirm that God is singular and unique in his role. Consequently, Jesus is not equal to God, nor is the Holy Spirit.
Christians can set aside differences in the specifics of the nature of the godhead and agree that there is a God who created the Universe. However, anyone who has ever read from the Bible knows that many names and titles are used throughout the text to refer to the divine creator. Each of these names and titles hold unique meanings that reveal the history of the Christian and Jewish faiths, and exploring these will enhance one’s understanding of the totality of God as presented across the Bible – first in the Old Testament and then in the New Testament. No details will be offered regarding the English translations of God’s names, such as God, Lord, the Father, etc.
The names and titles of God present in the Tanakh (Old Testament) showcase the foundational understanding of God as he reveals himself to his followers. Perhaps the most widely known name, YHWH, is also the most common iteration to appear in the Tanakh. This name, also referred to as the Tetragrammaton (named for its composition of four constants), was the one which was revealed to Moses in Exodus. [2] YHWH evidently resembles the third person singular imperfect form of a verb, which means “to be;” this implies YHWH means “He is” or “He will be” or even at a deeper level “to live” or “to breath.” [3] This goes on to impart the idea that God of the Israelites was unique among contemporary gods of their neighbors in that he was and is a living god, the “author of life.” [2]
The next most common name associated with God is Elohim. [2] This name has a complex and largely unknown origin, but some scholars suggest it originated from an old Arabic verb alih, which may mean the name would translate as “He who is the object of fear or reverence,” but there is no certain answer. [2]
A similar name, El, is present in the Tanakh. This title, like Elohim, was used outside of early Jewish traditions in those of other neighboring nations to refer to other deities. It simply means “God,” and it is often used in conjunction with another word, such as in another name for God, El ‘Elyon (“most high God”). [2] Another case, El Shaddai, is used frequently in the Book of Job. Shaddai refers to God as “the Almighty,” but the root word’s meaning imparts a translation of “devastator” or “destroyer.” [2] This may suggest that the author of Job wanted to convey God as a being of unspeakable power and used this name to that end.
Other common names for God in the Tanakh are Adonai, meaning “my Lord,” and Ba’al, which worked as an equivalent to YHWH but also served as an element in compound names like Jerubbaal. [2] Comparably, YHWH and Elohim often appear alongside another name for God, Ẓeba'ot (“hosts,”) such as YHWH Elohe Ẓeba'ot (“YHWH God of Hosts.”) [2]
The point of the matter is that the God of the Tanakh cannot be simply reduced to anything quite as simplistic as “God” or “Lord” without the loss of the powerful, historical roots of the deity of the Christian and Jewish faiths. Foregoing the exceedingly prevalent forms like YHWH for the generalized God deprives the believer of the depth of the textual meanings behind God’s names.
For brevity’s sake, I will include a list of some of the names for God found in the Tanakh instead of detailing them at length before continuing to the New Testament.
Table 1 [4]
Unlike the Tanakh, the New Testament was authored largely in Greek, and the names and titles of God used reflect Greek traditions instead of Hebrew ones. The most common name found in the New Testament is Theos, which was the translation of the Hebrew name Elohim into Greek. Theos was usually used to refer to God the Father. Similarly, the name Kyrios, meaning “lord” or “master,” frequently appears to refer to God in a similar fashion to the Hebrew Adonai, but it is also used at times to refer to Jesus.
Due to the complexity of the various Greek names used to refer to God as a single entity or as a dual meaning to refer to the Father or Jesus, I will provide a list that will share a few of the most common, least ambiguous names used in the New Testament.
Table 2 [4]
#bible #christianity #judaism #oldtestament #newtestament #readerquestion
[1] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/christian-denominations-by-the-numbers.html
[2] https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11305-names-of-god
[3 ] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yahweh
[4] https://www.bartehrman.com/names-of-god
Eric B – BA History, Minor in Religious Studies
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