Names and titles of God in the Bible

Introduction:

            While the Bile records several names of God, it also speaks of the name of  God in the singular as, for instance in the following statements:

 (a) “Thou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” (Ex.20:7);

 (b) “As is your name, O God, so is your praise,” (Ps.48:10);

 (c) “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower; the righteous runs 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.  In the most general sense of the word, the name of God is his self-revelation.  It is a designation of him as he reveals himself especially in his relations to man.  For us the one name of God is split up into many names.  It is because God has revealed himself in his name (nomen editum), that we can now designate him by that name in various forms.  Here we will limit ourselves to the study of the names and titles of God as found in the Bible.

Names and titles of God:     

            In considering the various names and titles or descriptions of God in the Bible there are three words of basic importance- El, Elohim and Yahweh (Jehovah):

1. El:   

            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.  El, meaning ‘God’ or ‘god’, has cognate forms in other Semitic tongues, and means a god in the widest sense, true or false, or even an image treated as a god (Gen.35:2).  Because of the general character it is frequently associated with defining adjective or predicate.  For example, in Deut.5:9 we read, “I the LORD (Yahweh) your God (Elohim) am a jealous God (El);” or in Gen.31:13, “the God (El) of Bethel.”

2. Elyon, El Elyon:     

            The name Elyon is derived from’alah, to hgo up, to be elevated, and designates God as the high and exalted One (Gen.14:19-20; Num.14:16          ; Isa.14:14).  It is found especially in poetry. In Ps.7:17 it is found in combination with Yahweh, and in Ps.18:13 in parallel. And El Elyon, ‘the most high God,’ was the title of God as worshipped by Melchizedek.

3. Elohim:      

            The name Elohim is probably derived from ‘ul, or from alah, meaning ‘to be smitten with fear;’ and therefore points to God as the strong and mighty One, or the one supreme deity, the God of creation and nature.  The name seldom occurs in the singular, except in poetry.  The plural is to be regarded as intensive, and therefore serves to indicate a fullness of power.

            The above stated names are not yet proper names (nomina proparia) in the strict sense of the word, because 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).

4. Adonai:      

            This name is related in meaning to the preceding ones.  It is derived from either dun or adan, both of which mean to judge, to rule, and thus points to God as the mighty 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 above 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.

5. Shaddai, El-Shaddai:        

            The name Shaddai is derived from shadad, meaning ‘to be powerful,’ and points to God as possessing all power in heaven and on earth.  El-Shaddai or Shaddai 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 fer and terror, but as a source of blessing and comfort.  It is the name with which God appeared unto Abraham (Ex.6:2f.).

6. Yahweh:     

            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 names the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death.”  And therefore in reading the Scriptures they substituted for it either Adonai or Elohim.  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, meaning ‘to be.’ (Ex.3:13-14).  The meaning of Yahweh is explained in Ex.3:14, which is rendered “I am that I am,” or “I shall be what I shall be.”  Thus it is 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, it is God’s proper name par excellence (Ex.15:3; Ps.88:19; Hos.12:6; Isa.42:8), and it is therefore used of no one but Israel’s God.

            The Heb. Word Yahweh is usually translated ‘the LORD’ and sometimes ‘Jehovah.’  Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only name of God.  Yahweh, therefore, in contrast with Elohim, is a proper noun, the name of a Person, though that Person is divine.  As such, it has its own ideological setting; it presents God as a Person, and so brings him into relationship with other, human, personalities.  It brings God near to man, and he speaks to the Patriarchs as one friend to another.  In Genesis wherever the word ‘name (sem) is associated with the divine being that ‘name’ is Yahweh.  When Abraham or Isaac built an altar ‘he called on the name of Yahweh’(Gen.12:8; 13:4; 26:25).

Conclusion:   

            Our study of the word ‘name’, particularly in the OT, reveals how much it means in Hebrew.  The name is no mere label, but is significant of the real personality of him to whom it belongs.  It may derive from the circumstances of his birth (Gen.5:29), or reflect his character (Gen.27:36), and when a person puts his ‘name’ upon a thing or another person the latter comes under his influence and protection.  The names of God mentioned here 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.