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What are the names of God? (Yahweh / Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, "the LORD will provide")

Topical

Short answer

The Bible names God in several ways, and the differences carry meaning. The main ones:

  • Elohim, the ordinary word for "God," the Creator of Genesis 1:1. Its plural form with a singular meaning is often read as a plural of majesty.
  • Yahweh (written with the four Hebrew letters YHWH, the "tetragrammaton"), God's personal, covenant name, revealed to Moses at the burning bush as "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14; Exodus 3:15). Most English Bibles render it "the LORD" in small capitals. The older form "Jehovah" comes from combining YHWH with the vowels of Adonai; scholars usually reconstruct the pronunciation as Yahweh.
  • Adonai, "Lord" or "Master," a title of authority (Psalms 8:1).
  • El Shaddai, "God Almighty," the name by which God met the patriarchs (Genesis 17:1).
  • El Elyon, "God Most High" (Genesis 14:18); El Olam, "the Everlasting God" (Genesis 21:33).

Scripture also joins Yahweh to a word of description, giving names that reveal God by what He does:

  • Yahweh-Yireh, "the LORD will provide" (Genesis 22:14), where God gave the ram in Isaac's place.
  • Yahweh-Rapha, "the LORD who heals you" (Exodus 15:26).
  • Yahweh-Nissi, "the LORD is my banner" (Exodus 17:15).
  • Yahweh-Shalom, "the LORD is peace" (Judges 6:24).
  • Yahweh-Tsidkenu, "the LORD our righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6).
  • Yahweh of hosts (Sabaoth), "the LORD of armies" (1 Samuel 1:3).

In the New Testament Jesus teaches His followers to call God "Father," even the intimate Aramaic "Abba" (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15).

Question

What are the names of God in the Bible? (Yahweh / Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, and the "the LORD will provide"-type names)

Analysis

Why "the LORD" is printed differently

When you see "LORD" in small capitals in most English Bibles, the underlying Hebrew is the personal name YHWH; plain "Lord" usually stands for Adonai (a title). Ancient Jewish reverence for the name led readers to say Adonai aloud instead of pronouncing YHWH, which is why its exact vowels were not preserved, hence the two English traditions, "Jehovah" (older) and "Yahweh" (the common scholarly reconstruction). This is a matter of pronunciation and translation custom, not a dispute about who God is.

The name revealed at the burning bush

The turning point is Exodus 3. When Moses asks God's name, God answers "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14) and gives YHWH as "my name forever" (Exodus 3:15). The name is built on the Hebrew verb to be, pointing to God as the self-existent, ever-present One who keeps covenant. From then on, YHWH is Israel's covenant name for God.

The compound "Yahweh-…" names

The … names are not extra deities but snapshots of the one God taken at the moment He acts, Abraham names the mountain "the LORD will provide" because God provided the ram (Genesis 22:13; Genesis 22:14); Gideon builds an altar called "the LORD is peace" after God calms his fear (Judges 6:23; Judges 6:24). Each name is a memory of a specific rescue, together painting a fuller picture of God's character.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Genesis 1:1bsb

    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

  • Exodus 3:14bsb

    God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

  • Exodus 3:15bsb

    God also told Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

  • Psalms 8:1bsb

    For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.

  • Genesis 17:1bsb

    When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

  • Genesis 14:18bsb

    Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine — since he was priest of God Most High —

  • Genesis 21:33bsb

    And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.

  • Genesis 22:14bsb

    And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

  • Exodus 15:26bsb

    saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

  • Exodus 17:15bsb

    And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.

  • Judges 6:24bsb

    So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

  • Jeremiah 23:6bsb

    In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

  • 1 Samuel 1:3bsb

    Year after year Elkanah would go up from his city to worship and sacrifice to the LORD of Hosts at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to the LORD.

  • Mark 14:36bsb

    “Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.”

  • Romans 8:15bsb

    For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

  • Genesis 22:13bsb

    Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

What are the names of God? (Yahweh / Jehovah, Elohim, El Shaddai, "the LORD will provide") · Bubble Bible