Jehovah-shalom

Biblical Text

Jehovah-shalom is a term found in Judges 6:24. It is the name Gideon gave to the altar he built at the place where he encountered God. The text adds that the altar remains "unto this day" in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

During the period of the judges, Israel was oppressed by Midian (Judges 6:1–6). At that time Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites when the angel of the LORD appeared and called him (6:11–14). Seeking a sign, Gideon brought an offering. When the angel of the LORD touched it with the tip of his staff, fire rose up out of the rock and consumed the offering (6:21). Gideon feared that he would die because he had seen the angel of the LORD face to face. The LORD then said to him, "Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die" (6:23). After hearing these words, Gideon built an altar and gave it this name.

Meaning of the Word and Background

Shalom is a Hebrew word that denotes not merely the absence of conflict but also wholeness, well-being, and safety. The same word appears in God's reassurance to Gideon in 6:23. The name of the altar is therefore read as Gideon's response to God's words. The New Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Gaejeong) transliterates the word in this verse as salom, but it is the same word as shalom, which is used today as a greeting.

The exact location of Ophrah has not been settled among scholars. According to the text, that same night God commanded Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole belonging to his father's house and to build an altar to the LORD (6:25–27).

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Old Testament contains other examples of names of the form "Jehovah-[...]" given to places where God was experienced:

• Jehovah-jireh: Genesis 22:14, the place where Abraham offered Isaac
• Jehovah-nissi: Exodus 17:15, the altar Moses built
• Jehovah-shammah: Ezekiel 48:35, the name of the restored city

The theme of God as the giver of peace continues in the title "The Prince of Peace" in Isaiah 9:6. The New Testament connects peace (Greek eirēnē) with Christ. Ephesians 2:14 calls Christ "our peace," and in John 14:27 Jesus tells his disciples that he gives them his peace. The Pauline epistles frequently call God "the God of peace" (Romans 15:33; 1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Name of an altar or name of God? In the text, the term is strictly the name of an altar. In sermons and devotional literature, however, it is often presented as one of the names of God. Some hold that it may properly be called a divine name because it confesses God's character, while others maintain that the distinction drawn by the wording of the text should be preserved.
• Identity of the angel of the LORD: Since the patristic era, some interpreters have read this angel as a preincarnate appearance of Christ. Others regard him as an angel acting on God's behalf.
• Lists of "compound names of Jehovah": Widely circulated lists of such names include expressions, such as "Jehovah-rapha," that the text does not give as proper names. These lists are compilations from later sermons and teaching materials.

In the Korean Church

In sermons on Judges 6, "Jehovah-shalom" frequently serves as a title or theme, often in contexts emphasizing the peace God gives amid fear and anxiety. Because the New Korean Revised Version's spelling salom differs from that of the greeting shalom, the two are sometimes mistakenly taken to be different words.