Names of God

Biblical Text

The principal passage in which God reveals His name is Exodus 3:12–15. At the burning bush, Moses asks God's name, and God answers, "I AM THAT I AM" (Exodus 3:14). He then declares that "the LORD," the God of the fathers, is His name forever. The third of the Ten Commandments states, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

The Old Testament uses the following names and titles:

• Jehovah: The proper name, written with four Hebrew consonants (YHWH); it is the name used most frequently in the Old Testament.
• Elohim: A common noun meaning "God" (Genesis 1:1).
• Adonai: Meaning "my Lord."
• El Shaddai: Meaning "God Almighty" (Genesis 17:1).
• Jehovah-jireh: Meaning "the LORD will provide." Abraham gave this name to the place where he offered a ram in place of Isaac (Genesis 22:14).

Background

Out of reverence for the third commandment, Jews gradually ceased to pronounce YHWH aloud and read "Adonai" in its place. As a result, the original pronunciation was not preserved. The Masoretic Text supplied the four letters with the vowel points of Adonai, and reading the combination literally yields the form known as "Jehovah." Many scholars today reconstruct the original pronunciation as "Yahweh." The Greek Septuagint generally rendered the name as Kyrios ("Lord").

Continuity in the New Testament

The New Testament applies the title "Lord" to both God and Jesus. The name "Jesus" derives from a Hebrew name meaning "the LORD is salvation" (Matthew 1:21). In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught, "Hallowed be thy name" (Matthew 6:9). He also said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58), a statement many interpreters read in connection with Exodus 3:14. Philippians 2:9–11 states that Jesus was given "a name which is above every name."

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• The Hebrew of Exodus 3:14 can also be translated "I am who I am" or "I will be what I will be." Accordingly, some interpreters understand it as expressing God's aseity (His self-existence), while others read it as a promise that He will be present with His people.
• Exodus 6:2–3 states that the name JEHOVAH was not made known to the patriarchs, yet the name already appears in Genesis. Some interpret this as a new disclosure of the meaning of the name; others see it as a trace of distinct traditions that were later combined.
• Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that God's proper name, "Jehovah," must be used, and they insert it even into the New Testament of their own Bible translation. Most Protestant denominations do not follow this practice, noting that the extant New Testament manuscripts read Kyrios.

In Korean Churches

• Among Korean Bible translations, the New Korean Revised Version renders YHWH as "Jehovah" (Yeohowa), while the Common Translation renders it as "Yahweh" (Yahwe). The New Korean Standard Version generally renders it as "Lord." This difference is one of the topics addressed in the Bible translation debates.
• Korean Protestants write the word for God as Hananim, whereas Korean Catholics and the Common Translation write Haneunim. Two explanations of the word's origin are current: one derives it from "heaven" plus an honorific suffix, the other from "one" (in the sense of "the only one") plus the same suffix.
• Korean Protestant prayers commonly close with "I pray in Jesus' name," a practice grounded in passages such as John 14:13–14.
• Hallelujah, frequently used in worship and praise, means "Praise Yah," Yah being a shortened form of the name Jehovah.