The Names of God

When Moses asks who is sending him, God answers, "I AM WHO I AM" (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, ehyeh asher ehyeh), "Say this to the people of Israel: 'I AM has sent me to you'" (3:14), followed immediately by the actual covenant Name, "YHWH, the God of your fathers... has sent me to you. This is my name forever" (3:15). The four consonants יהוה (YHWH, sometimes called the Tetragrammaton) are related to the Hebrew verb "to be," though the exact grammatical relationship and best translation of the wordplay in 3:14 (I AM, I WILL BE, or I CAUSE TO BE) remains genuinely debated among scholars.

Exodus 34:6-7 supplies the fullest self-description attached to this Name, proclaimed by God himself passing before Moses, "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness," a text quoted or echoed more than any other Old Testament self-revelation (Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:15, 103:8, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2 among others). By the Second Temple period, out of reverence, Jewish readers stopped pronouncing the Name aloud, substituting אֲדֹנָי (Adonai, "Lord") when reading Scripture, a practice called qere perpetuum ("permanent reading"), which is why English translations typically print "LORD" in small capitals wherever the Hebrew text has YHWH, distinguishing it from "Lord" (regular case) translating Adonai itself.

אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) is the most common general Hebrew word for God, grammatically plural in form (a "plural of majesty" construction, taking singular verbs when referring to the one true God, as in Genesis 1:1) but also used, in its plural sense, for pagan gods generally. It is the word used through Genesis 1's creation account before the Name YHWH appears (first paired together in Genesis 2:4).

El (אֵל) forms the root of several compound titles. אֵל שַׁדַּי (El Shaddai, traditionally "God Almighty," though the etymology of Shaddai itself is uncertain, proposed derivations include "mountain" or a root related to sufficiency/provision, no single scholarly consensus) is how God identifies himself to Abraham at the covenant of circumcision (Genesis 17:1). אֵל עֶלְיוֹן (El Elyon, "God Most High") is used by Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20, see /sanctum-wiki-melchizedek) and recurs through the Psalms as a title emphasizing God's supremacy over all other claimed powers.

אֲדֹנָי (Adonai), "my Lord" or "my Master," is used both as a direct title for God in its own right (Psalm 8:1, "O LORD, our Lord," pairing YHWH and Adonai together) and, as noted above, as the substitute spoken aloud in place of YHWH in later Jewish reading practice. The plural form (אֲדֹנִים, adonim, "lords," used of God with singular verb agreement, another majestic plural) reinforces the same sovereignty emphasis Elohim's plural form carries.

Several passages attach a specific quality or action directly onto the Name, each anchored to one particular text rather than appearing as a general title used repeatedly across Scripture, worth stating honestly rather than treating all six as equally common. YHWH-Yireh (יְהוָה יִרְאֶה, "the LORD will provide," Genesis 22:14, Abraham naming the place after the ram provided in place of Isaac). YHWH-Rapha (יְהוָה רֹפְאֶךָ, "the LORD who heals you," Exodus 15:26, spoken after the bitter waters of Marah are made sweet). YHWH-Nissi (יְהוָה נִסִּי, "the LORD is my banner," Exodus 17:15, the altar Moses builds after victory over Amalek). YHWH-Shalom (יְהוָה שָׁלוֹם, "the LORD is peace," Judges 6:24, the altar Gideon builds after his fear is calmed). YHWH-Tsidkenu (יְהוָה צִדְקֵנוּ, "the LORD is our righteousness," Jeremiah 23:6, a future king's title in a restoration oracle). YHWH-Shammah (יְהוָה שָׁמָּה, "the LORD is there," Ezekiel 48:35, the new city's name in Ezekiel's closing temple vision).

Each of these is a real, single textual occurrence tied to a specific narrative or oracle rather than a name used repeatedly like Elohim or Adonai, a distinction worth keeping clear rather than presenting all the divine names as equally frequent across Scripture.

The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) consistently translates both YHWH and Adonai with κύριος (kyrios, "lord"), collapsing the Hebrew's distinct terms into one Greek word. The New Testament writers then apply this same word, kyrios, directly to Jesus, and in several striking cases apply Old Testament YHWH-texts to him specifically. Paul quotes Joel 2:32, "everyone who calls on the name of the LORD (YHWH in the Hebrew, kyrios in the LXX) shall be saved," and applies it to Jesus in Romans 10:9-13. Philippians 2:9-11 declares that at Jesus' name "every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord," directly echoing Isaiah 45:23's YHWH-only claim, "to me every knee shall bow."

This pattern, applying Old Testament YHWH texts to Jesus via the shared Greek word kyrios, is one of the central pieces of evidence New Testament scholars point to for the earliest church's high Christology, though how explicitly and how early individual New Testament authors intended a full identity-claim with YHWH specifically (versus a more general lordship title) is itself debated in the details even among scholars who agree the overall pattern is real and significant. See /sanctum-wiki-the-shema for how this claim relates to Israel's foundational confession of God's oneness.

The Sanctum reads the range of divine names as different facets of the same reality rather than competing titles, the covenant Name disclosed to Moses, the majestic plurals of Elohim and Adonai, provision and healing and peace each named at the exact moment they were shown, and a New Testament that takes the boldest possible step, applying the Name's own Greek translation directly to Jesus.