GOD (Names)

A very particular veneration was paid to the “name of God” in Israel (Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11). This is because this name, the object of the greatest respect on the part of all believers, was for the Israelites like the very person of the Lord. In Ex. 23:20, it is said of the angel who manifested his presence that the name of Jehovah was in him, which means that God was in him.

In Deut. 12:11 we read that in the country of Canaan God will reserve a place where his name will dwell. In other passages, God’s name becomes synonymous with his presence, e.g. e.g., Ps. 20:2: “Jehovah hear you in the day of trouble; May the name of the God of Jacob defend you.

This explains the fact that among the main sins condemned in the Decalogue is that which consists of “taking the name of God in vain.” This veneration of the ineffable name of God (Jehovah) among the Jews reaches extremes bordering on superstition.

They even dared to pronounce this name, and their use was prohibited, and even the same rabbis who, by mistake, publicly pronounced it were punished with death. The reading of the name, if not the name itself, from the sacred text was excluded. Above the four consonants of the name, or tetragrammaton, vowels were placed (those of the word “Adonai”, Lord), so that on all occasions when the name of Jehovah was found when reading the Torah, “Adonai” was pronounced.

In the NT we find the name used in the particular sense that has been pointed out. It is evident that “believing in the name” of Jesus (1 Jn. 5:13) is believing in Jesus himself. To ask God that His name “be hallowed” is to pray that the holiness of God Himself be recognized and respected (cf. the place of the “name” in Acts 3:16; 4:10, 12, 17, 30 ; 5:28, 40; 8:12, 16; 9:15-16, 28; 10:43; 19:17; 21:13; 26:9).
The names given to God in the Bible tell what God is like. And they undoubtedly say it much better than all the comments that can be made about him.

(a) ELOHIM.

Elohim is certainly one of the oldest designations of the God of Revelation. It is found in the biblical accounts of creation and the patriarchal era. Only the Bible knows this term. It is true that it had a Semitic origin: in the Canaanite and Chaldean languages God was called El. Undoubtedly, the ancient name of God given in the original revelation, known to Noah, had been preserved, but which was later surrounded by pagan concepts.

Thus, Abraham and his descendants took up the name El in its original meaning, unrelated to pagan connotations, to designate God. In Israel, this name takes on a more particular character, becoming the proper name of the unique and incomparable God.

Thus, it is always accompanied by an adjective that highlights an aspect, a virtue, of God himself El Shaddai (Almighty God Gen. 17:1), El Elión (Most High God Gen. 14:18), El Olam (Eternal God Gen. 21 :33), El Ganna (jealous God Ex. 20:5), El Hai (living God Josh. 3:10).

In any case, the plural form Elohim is preferably used. Certain critics have argued that since Elohim is plural, this constitutes proof of the polytheism of the ancient Hebrews. However, we have the proof that this is a false accusation in the adjectives that accompany the term Elohim in the Bible, and which are always found in singular form.

Thus, in Gen. 1:1 it is said, not that Elohim (the gods) created, but: Elohim created (bórá). In fact, the plural form of God in the Bible evokes a feeling of reverence. It is a majestic plural, the name that synthesizes all divine perfections.

At the same time, it hints at the presence of a plurality of people within the deity. Cp. likewise the counsels in the bosom of God: “Let us make man…” (Gen. 1:26) and “Behold, man is like one of us” (Gen. 3:22).

Elohim is derived from a root meaning “to be strong, powerful.” This name of the powerful God is particularly appropriate for the Creator of Genesis 1, where it is constantly used. It appears 2,312 times in the OT.

(b) JEHOVAH.

This is the most used name in the AT (6,499 times). In Spanish it is transcribed in this way. It is not a noun, but a qualifier that, in Hebrew, is presented in the form of a tetragram: YHVH.

This is the ineffable name, which the Jews had no right to pronounce, and which they had to substitute in the reading of the sacred text for Lord (my Lord, Adonai). It is because of this reading that the Masoretes had the idea of adding to the four consonants YHVH the vowels that belonged to the noun Lord (Adonai).

The Jewish reader, thus, was not wrong; he knew that he had there two names in one, one all in vowels, the other all in consonants. Later, Christians mistakenly transcribed it as “Jehovah,” thus giving the two together in a single word.

The true transcription should be given as YªHV’H, or Yahveh. YHVH means “He who is.” In this name we find both the metaphysical affirmation of the eternally present Being (I am), which is at the origin and at the end of all existence, the unique, incomparable God, without limitations, and the moral and spiritual affirmation of divine fidelity.

Yahveh, this is the God who relates to man, and who wants to give him his own life (the root of Yahveh is both being and living). Immortality, truth and fidelity are united in Yahweh. If “Elohim” highlights an attribute of God, power, “Yahveh” reveals with greater force his own essence.

The use of this last name shows that he is related to the God of redemption and the covenant who reveals himself to man to save him. It is Elohim, the Creator, who said: “Let us make man in our image” (Gen. 1:26); but it is like Yahveh-Elohim who enters into a relationship with man from the moment he takes his place on the scene, warning him, judging him, promising him salvation, covering him with the skins of sacrificed animals (Gen. 2: 7, 16; 3 : 9, 15, 21). Other expressions composed with the same name complete this revelation of divine providence and salvation:

(A) “Yahweh-Jireh,” Jehovah will provide (Gen. 22:13-14);
(B) “Yahweh-Rafah,” Jehovah who heals you (Ex. 15:26);
(C) “Yahweh-Nissi,” Jehovah my banner (Ex. 17:15);
(D) “Yahweh-Shalom,” Jehovah Peace (Judg. 6:24);
(E) “Yahweh-Raah”, Jehovah my Shepherd (Ps. 23:1);
(F) “Yahweh-Tsidkenu”, Jehovah our righteousness (Jer. 23:6).

Truly, Jehovah, the saving God, answers all the needs of our being.
Critical theology has claimed that the use of the two names Elohim and Yahveh denotes in the biblical text two different authors, the Elohist and the Yahwist (not to mention other “sources” constantly updated; see PENTATEUCH), who would have written a lot time after Moses, and with a long time between them.

But the argument based on divine names proves nothing at all: In Genesis alone, Elohim appears 164 times, and Yahweh 146 times. Can the text be cut into so many fragments? And what is going to be done with the name Yahveh-Elohim (Jehovah God), which appears since chapter 2? Is it also going to be said that the other names (Adonai, etc.) each of them reveal a new author, distinct from the others?

According to critics, the name of Jehovah would not have been revealed except from Moses before the burning bush, since God affirms to him: “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: The I AM has sent me to you” (I am , “Eheieh”, this is the transcription of the 1st person of Yahveh; “He” is, such is the true meaning of His Person).

The Lord adds, when sending Moses: “And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as Almighty God, but in my name YEHOVAH I did not make myself known to them” (Ex. 3:15; 6:3). What does this statement mean, compared to everything we have stated about Jehovah’s presence in all the pages of Genesis?

An explanation that fits the Eastern mentality about the nature of men is as follows: The Exodus is par excellence the book of the covenant and redemption. God reveals himself in the Exodus as he had never done to the patriarchs, and this not only to his people, but also to the Egyptians and Pharaoh.

The king exclaimed: “Who is Jehovah?… I do not know Jehovah” (Ex. 5:2), and the Lord’s answer returns as a proverb: ….and you will know that I am Jehovah” ( Ez. 6:7; 7:5, 17, etc., cp. Ezekiel, where this expression occurs more than 50 times, e.g., Ez. 5:13; 6:14, etc.). Thus, to know Jehovah is to recognize his nature, his character, his sovereignty, his work in judgment and salvation.

(c) JEHOVAH OF ARMY.
Jehovah of hosts. Expression frequently used in the OT (Is. 54:5; Hos. 12:6, etc.), more particularly in the pre-exilic books (Samuel, Kings, Psalms, Isaiah, Amos). This compound name becomes synonymous with the almighty Creator, the supreme dominator, the Owner of the entire cosmos.

(d) ADONAI.
Adonai, Lord, Owner. This name was also applied from the beginning to the God of Israel (Gen. 15:2, 8; 18:3, 27, 30; Ex. 23:17; 34:23); It is used 427 times in the OT, expressing the sovereignty of God, and therefore the feeling of dependence on creation, the notion that man is at the service of his Creator, to whom he belongs, and to whom he owes his existence as a vassal. to his sovereign.

(Note that the term “adonai” is also used for a man; e.g., Abraham is the “Lord” of Sarah and her servant (Gen. 18:12; 24:9, 10, 12). Moses, intimidated by the service to which he has been called, he uses the appropriate divine name when he says: “Oh, Lord [Adonai]! I have never been a man of easy speech… ” And it is Jehovah [Yahveh] who promises him His presence and effective help (Ex. 4:10-17).The term Lord (“Kurios”) in the NT is the equivalent of “Adonai.”

(e) THE SAINT OF ISRAEL.
The Saint of Israel. In the book of Isaiah, God is frequently called the Holy One of Israel, or just the Holy One, to denote the God of Israel, or the True God (Is. 1:4; 5:19, 24; 6; 40:25, etc.). In Ezekiel, God makes Himself known as Jehovah, as the powerful and true God, by manifesting His holiness (Ez. 20:41 ff; 28:22; 36:2 etc. It is necessary to point out that God swears by His holiness, as He swears by Himself (Am. 4:2; Ps. 89:36; Gen. 22:16; Ex. 32:13; Jer. 22:5; Is. 45:23).

Holiness seems to be synonymous with divinity. Reading a book like Leviticus leaves the reader convinced of this. Holiness, considered in God, turns out to be not so much one of his attributes as his very character. Throughout the OT, the texts dealing with divine holiness express at once His ineffable purity, His horror of evil, His abhorrence of sin, as well as His supreme glory, majesty, elevation, and greatness. he.

God’s holiness is closely related to His jealousy, His wrath, and His vengeance. His jealous nature (Ex. 20:15) is nothing more than his holiness in action (Oehler). In Ez. 38:18, 23 we read that in his jealousy and anger Jehovah will exercise his judgments on Israel and that He will thus be glorified and sanctified. God’s vengeance is a consequence of his jealousy and his anger (Nah. 1:2; Ez. 25:14, 17). Jealousy, anger, and revenge break out every time God’s will is opposed by men, every time it is belittled and disobeyed.

By revealing himself as holy, God intimated to Israel that they too should be holy (Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7, 27; cp. 1 Pet. 1:16). This order is, as we see in the quote from 1 Peter, reaffirmed for believers of the New Covenant.

(f) FATHER.
The NT tells us that God is light, and that he is love (1 Jn. 1:5; 4:8), but here it is about his nature and attributes and not divine names. The most sublime revelation gives him the title that summarizes for the believer all other titles and attributes: that of “Father.” The content and meaning of this name has been clearly revealed to us by Jesus Christ, by Himself, through the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15), the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11); by his priestly prayer (Jn. 17). And this revelation has been given to us in His capacity as “Son”, and with the total gift that He consummated on Calvary, where God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19).

But Jehovah was already considered “Father” in a national sense, and invoked as such, from the OT itself. Let us remember the incomparable stanzas of the prophet Isaiah: «For you are our father, although Abraham ignores us, and Israel does not recognize us; You, O Jehovah, are our father; our perpetual Redeemer is your name…” (Is. 63:16; 64:7).

However, there is more than the idea of the God who gives existence to the nation, who nourishes it, protects it, and saves it in its territory (Hos. 11:1). By rereading the passages in which the sacred writers speak of the relationships between God and man, of the unworthiness of sinners to the title of children of God (Is. 1:2; 30:1-9; Ps. 73:15 ); and those who attribute to God the title of “Savior” (Ps. 106:21; Is. 43:3, 11; 49:26; 60:16; 63:8; Jer. 14:8; Zeph. 3:17 , etc.). Divine paternity is also revealed in this notion of the Savior-God, who gives life for the second time to his children.

Thus, through the names of God, we confirm that the biblical revelation remains consistent with itself from its origins, and that through the various forms of His Name the character, identity, will, and the acts of God.