If your life is not in jeopardy
for what you believe, you’re probably on the wrong side!
If you don’t believe Genesis 1-11,
how can you possibly believe John 3:16?
“Indeed, all who want to live a godly
life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12)
It is what you actually believe that determines how you walk out your faith,
“but avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, quarrels and fights
about the Torah; because they are worthless and futile.” (Titus 3:9)
Please Note: Absolutely nothing on this website should be taken as anti-Church or anti-Rabbinic. I am not anti-anything or anti-anyone. I am only pro-Torah and pro-Truth (see “Philosophy”), but sometimes the Truth upsets our long-held beliefs. I know it certainly upset mine! For example, see “Why Isn’t My Theology Consistent Throughout the Website?”
Developing a
Systematic Messianic Theology
“The purpose of careful theological formulations is not to put barriers in the way of people who are seeking salvation, but to define clearly the truths upon which genuine [Biblical] faith rests, so that people will not be misled by false doctrines.” [Bowman]
“It must be clearly and unequivocally stated that theology cannot save you. Only faith in Messiah Yeshua can save you. Theology can only give you sound doctrine.” [RLS]
Unless otherwise specified, throughout the Theology section of my website I use the term “Torah” in the wider sense of including the entire body of inspired Scripture: both the Tanakh and the Apostolic Writings. I personally do not consder any other so-called “sacred writings” either inspired by God or authoritative for the Believer’s walk of faith. Thus, I do not consider the Mishnah (the “Oral Torah”) as part of Torah. You should make up your own mind.
[Explanations of rabbinic citations are HERE]
Names of God
This article was written in response to a question from one of my students:
“In what instances are the names of God used? I listened to a study one time that briefly touched on it but I’m still unsure. The person conducting the study was all over the place and very hard to follow. He said “Elohim” refers to God as Creator… Yahweh, as deliverer-- and beyond that he lost me completely.”
I don’t have an answer for all of HaShem’s many Names and how they are used on what occasions, but I have gleaned at least of partial list of His many Names and Titles (and some of their uses) that I thought might interest you.
In Judaism, both Rabbinical and Messianic, the appellation[1] “HaShem” or “ADONAI” is probably most frequently used to avoid uttering the Name of God that is considered by Jewish takanot to be too sacred to be pronounced. HaShem is the Hebrew term that translates into English as “The Name.” ADONAI is the Hebrew word for Lord. Sometimes “The Eternal” is also used.
First and foremost, if HaShem has a “personal” Name we should probably consider that it is the Name that is considered too sacred to pronounce, represented by the four letters known as the Tetragrammaton. In Hebrew that Name is represented by the letters יְהוָֹה (yud-hey-vav-hey), and always pronounced (and usually written) in Judaism as “ADONAI,” the Hebrew word for “LORD.” In English the Tetragrammaton is represented by the letters YHVH or YHWH and when represented in most English Bibles, “The Name” is represented by the word “LORD” in small capital letters. When it appears in the text as ADONAI Elohim, it is generally rendered as either LORD God or Lord GOD, depending upon the word order in the Hebrew text. Most recent scholarship has located ancient Hebrew Bible texts in which the vowel points are found on the Tetrartammaton, allowing us to finally know that the proper pronunciation of the Sacred Name is “YeHoVaH.” [See “Some Thoughts on the Sacred Name]
The use of a V or W as the third letter depends on what part of the world you are from. In some parts of the world Hebrew speakers call the third letter “vav” and use the English letter V to represent it. In other parts of the world the same letter is called “waw” and is represented by English letter W. That’s why you will see it represented both ways. (It’s kind of like Hawai'i or Havai'i for the island state.) Hebrew scholars disagree on the “proper” pronunciation.
There is, in fact, no adequate English translation for YHWH. The approximation “I AM WHO I AM” is inadequate. Some claim that the Hebrew word contains past, present, and future tenses and would be the equivalent of “I was Who I was, I am Who I am, I will be Who I will be.” Thus, to translate the Name as “I AM” (first person singular, present tense, of the verb “to be”) is not actually grammatically accurate. Additionally, the “tenses” in Hebrew are determined more from the context than from the actual word construction. This is one of the reasons that I believe that Hebrew is the language spoken in Heaven and taught by HaShem to Adam and Cheva [Eve] in Gan Eden [the Garden of Eden]. It is the language that was spoken by all of humanity up until the dispersion from Babel, and I am convinced it will be the language of the olam haba [the world to come]. I think it very appropriate that the eternal Creator, Who exists outside of the space/time continuum that He created, should teach our first parents to speak a language which has no tenses; that is, no past, present, or future tense per se.
Thus any approximation we attempt to provide for “YHWH” that uses any form of the verb “to be” will remain inadequate: “I am Who I am” or “I will be Who I will be,” neither really works for Him Who was, and is, and is to come. Possibly the “best” English equivalent might be “The Self-Existent One” or simply “The Eternal.”
This (יְהוָֹה, Yehovah) is the Name by which He speaks of Himself in direct relation to His covenants, and is therefore most often referred to as His “Covenant Name.”
One thing that we know with absolute certainty, the word “Jehovah” is definitely not His name. In fact, “Jehovah” is not even a real word, and certainly neither Hebrew nor Aramaic, in that neither language has a letter equivalent to “J” and neither language has a “jay-sound.” The word “Jehovah” is therefore completely impossible to utter in either Hebrew or Aramaic. Go here for an expanded discussion.
When reading the four letters יְהוָֹה out loud, nearly universal Jewish consensus is that respect for the Creator dictates that it be pronounced as “ADONAI.”
There are 16 Names/Titles of HaShem which are compounded from the Name ADONAI, with an approximation of the meaning of the Title, with a reference to a representative verse or verses in which it is used:
1. Yehovah-Elohim: the Eternal Creator (usually represented in English Bibles as “LORD God”) (Gen. 2:4-25)
2. Adonai-Yehovah: Lord Yehovah; Master Yehovah; Yehovah our Sovereign (usually represented in English Bibles as “Lord GOD”) (Gen. 15:2,8)
3. Yehovah-Yireh: Yehovah our Provider; Yehovah Who Provides; Yehovah Who Sees (Gen. 22:8-14)
4. Yehovah-Nissi: Yehovah our Banner (Exod. 17:15)
5. Yehovah-Ropheka: Yehovah our Healer (Exod. 15:26)
6. Yehovah-Shalom: Yehovah our Peace (Judges 6:24)
7. Yehovah-Tsidkeenu: Yehovah our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6; 33:16)
8. Yehovah-Mekaddishkem: Yehovah our Sanctifier (Exod. 31:13; Lev. 20:8; 21:8; 22:9,16,32; Ezek. 20:12)
9. Yehovah-Saboath: Yehovah of Hosts; Yehovah of Armies (1 Sam 1:3, etc; used 281 times)
[10. Yehovah-Shammah: Yehovah is Present (Ezek. 48:35)
[11. Yehovah-Elyon: Yehovah Most High (Ps. 7:17; 47:2; 97:9)
[12. Yehovah-Rohi: Yehovah my Shepherd (Ps. 23:1)
[13. Yehovah-Hoseenu: Yehovah our Maker (Ps. 95:6)
[14. Yehovah-Eloheinu: Yehovah our God (Ps. 99:5,8,9)
[15. Yehovah-Ekoheka: Yehovah your God (Exod. 20:2,5,7)
[16. Yehovah-Elohay: Yehovah my God (Zech. 14:5)
Some of the additional Names and Titles of God include the following:
1. Elohim (2,701 times) / Plural of Eloah; literally, Gods / the Supreme God; the Creator God. Used to indicate the relation of HaShem to man as Creator, in contrast with Yehovah which indicates Him in covenant relationship with His creation. The word elohim literally means “mighty ones” and is used also of false gods, idols, and the elders of Israel.
2. יְהוָֹה (YHVH, YeHoVaH) (6,427) / The Eternal One / The covenant Name He revealed to Israel, and therefore became their national Name for Him. Represented in most English Bibles as LORD (all upper-case) or small capitals (LORD) except when used with Adonai (Lord) as part of a compound designation. For example: יְהוָֹה-Elohim would be LORD God, whereas Adonai-יְהוָֹה would be Lord GOD.
3. El (220 times) / Strength; the Strong and Mighty One; the Almighty; the Most High God
4. Eloah (56 times) / Deity; God; the Divine One
5. Elah (76 times) / God (used only in Ezra and Daniel)
6. Tsur (once) / Rock; Refuge (Isa. 44:8)
7. El-Elyon (250 times) / Most High God; the Mighty One; Highest Sovereign; the First Cause; possessor of the heavens and earth
8. El-Shaddai (218 times) / God Almighty / El signifies Strong One; Shaddai signifies Breasted One. Signifies HaShem as the Strong Nourisher, Strength-Giver, Satisfier, All-Bountiful, Fruitful One, Life Giver; Supplier of the needs of His people. Used in the narrative of making Avraham and Sarah fruitful.
9. Adon (30 times) / Ruler, Master, Lord, Possessor
[10. El-Olam / Literally, the Mighty Everything or the Mighty Eternity. The name of HaShem which expresses His eternal Being as well as His authorship of all eternal things, plans, and purposes in the universe. The word “olam” conveys the idea of time out of mind, eternity, everlasting, perpetual, always, everyplace and every time; the entire universe. It is translated in the KJV as “everlasting” 67 times, “ever” 238 times, “evermore” 15 times, “perpetual” 22 times, and “eternal” 11 times; it is also translated as “ancient,” “always,” “of old,” “for ever and ever,” “at any time,” “never,” “alway,” “the world,” and “long.” In every case, it expresses that which is without end whether used of HaShem, covenants, possessions, hills, mercy, distance, direction, or other subjects.
11. Yah / An abbreviation of Yehovah
[12. Ancient of Days
[13. Father
[14. Most High
This list doesn’t include any of the titles of Messiah or of Ruach HaKodesh, which would be a whole other study in and of itself. I am sure that there numerous additional Names and Titles that I have missed.
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This list of names is gleaned from numerous locations throughout Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible by Finis Jennings Dake, Dake Bible Sales, Inc., Lawrenceville GA 30246, copyright 1963. Dake’s approach and interpretation appears to be “hyper-Pentecostal” so I approach his commentary with considerable caution; but I doubt that you will find a more extensive and exhaustive resource for sheer statistics about the Bible.
Why we refer to God as HaShem • Names of God in Judaism
1. An appellation is a title used in place of a name, also called a circumlocution (a roundabout way of referring to someone or something), to avoid the use of the actual name. In Judaism, the name of God is considered too sacred to be pronounced except on the rarest of occasions, so alternate forms of reference are nearly always used instead. [BACK]
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