The Bible usually uses the name of God in the singular (e.g. Ex. 20:7 or Ps. 8:1), generally using the terms in a very general sense rather than referring to any special designation of God.[1] However, general references to the name of God may branch to other special forms which express His multifaceted attributes.[1] The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible reveals YHWH (often vocalized with vowels as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah") as the personal name of God, along with certain titles including El Elyon and El Shaddai.[2][3][4] Jah or Yah is an abbreviation of Jahweh/Yahweh, and often sees usage by Christians in the interjection "Hallelujah", meaning "Praise Yah", which is used to give God glory.[5] In the New Testament the terms Theos, Kyrios and Patēr (πατήρ i.e. Father in Greek) are additionally used to reference God.[6][1][7]
Respect for the name of God is one of the Ten Commandments, which some Christian teachings interpret to be not only a command to avoid the improper use of God's name, but a directive to exalt it through both pious deeds and praise.[8] This is reflected in the first petition in the Lord's Prayer addressed to God the Father: "Hallowed be Thy Name".[9]
Going back to the Church Fathers, the name of God has been seen as a representation of the entire system of "divine truth" revealed to the faithful "that believe on his name" as in John 1:12 or "walk in the name of Jehovah our God" in Micah 4:5.[10][11] In Revelation 3:12 those who bear the name of God are destined for the New Jerusalem; which will come down (to earth) from heaven. John 17:6 presents the teachings of Jesus as the manifestation of the name of God to his disciples.[10]
John 12:28 presents the sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God, and the ensuing salvation delivered through it as the glorification of the name of God, with the voice from Heaven confirming Jesus' petition ("Father, glorify thy name") by saying: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again" referring to the baptism and crucifixion of Jesus.[12]
- ^ a b c Manual Of Christian Doctrine by Louis Berkhof (Aug 1, 2007) ISBN 1930367902 pages 19–20
- ^ Parke-Taylor, G. H. (1 January 2006). Yahweh: The Divine Name in the Bible. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-88920-652-6.
The Old Testament contains various titles and surrogates for God, such as El Shaddai, El Elyon, Haqqadosh (The Holy One), and Adonai. In chapter three, consideration will be given to names ascribed to God in the patriarchal period. Gerhard von Rad reminds us that these names became secondary after the name YHWH had been known to Israel, for "these rudimentary names which derive from old traditions, and from the oldest of them, never had the function of extending the name so as to stand alongside the name Jahweh to serve as fuller forms of address; rather, they were occasionally made use of in place of the name Jahweh." In this respect YHWH stands in contrast to the principal deities of the Babylonians and the Egyptians. "Jahweh had only one name; Marduk had fifty with which his praises as victor over Tiamat were sung in hymns. Similarly, the Egyptian god Re is the god with many names.
- ^ "The Name of God in the Liturgy". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2008.
…pronouncing the God of Israel's proper name," known as the holy or divine tetragrammaton, written with four consonants, YHWH, in the Hebrew alphabet. In order to vocalize it, it is necessary to introduce vowels that alter the written and spoken forms of the name (i.e. "Yahweh" or "Jehovah").
- ^ Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Exodus (Zondervan 2017)
- ^ Loewen, Jacob A. (1 June 2020). The Bible in Cross Cultural Perspective (Revised ed.). William Carey Publishing. p. 182. ISBN 978-1-64508-304-7.
Shorter forms of Yahweh: The name Yahweh also appears in a shortened form, transliterated Jah (pronounced Yah) in the Revised Version and the American Standard Version, either in the text or footnote: "my song is Jah" (Ex 15:2); "by Jah, his name" (Ps 68:4); "I shall not see Jah in Jah's land (Is 38:11). It is common also in such often untranslated compounds as hallelujah 'praise Jah' (Ps 135:3; 146:10, 148:14), and in proper names like Elijah, 'my God is Jah,' Adonijah, 'my Lord is Jah,' Isaiah, 'Jah has saved.'
- ^ Green, Joel B.; McKnight, Scot; Marshall, I. Howard (18 February 1992). Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. InterVarsity Press. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-8308-1777-1.
Many of the uses of kyrios for God are in citations of the OT and in expressions derived from the OT (e.g., "angel of the Lord") , and in these passages the term functions as the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT name for God, Yahweh. For example, twenty-five of the uses of kyrios for God in Luke are in the first two chapters, where the phrasing is so heavily influenced by the OT. The third frequently used term for God is "Father" (patēr), doubtless the most familiar term for God in Christian tradition and also perhaps the most theologically significant title for God in the NT. Unlike the other terms for God already mentioned--without exception in the Synoptics, and with only a few exceptions in John--"Father" as a title for God appears only in the sayings attributed to Jesus (the Johannine exceptions are in editorial remarks by the Evangelist in 1:14, 18, a saying of Philip in 14:8 and the crowd's claim in 8:41).
- ^ "From Elohim to Abba: the intimate names of God | StudentSoul". studentsoul.intervarsity.org. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
- ^ The Ten Commandments: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church by Patrick D. Miller (Aug 6, 2009) ISBN 0664230555 page 111
- ^ Theology of the New Testament by Georg Strecker (2000) ISBN 0664223362 page 282
- ^ a b Ten Commandments by Arthur W. Pink (Dec 30, 2007) ISBN 1589603753 pages 23–24
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