What's In a Name?
Beginning this week I'll be starting a series of sermons on the names of God that we can find in scripture. As we read our English translations (NRSV, NIV, ESV, etc.) this may seem to be sort of a short endeavor. After all there's just "God" and "Lord" that our Bibles use isn't there. The reality is quite different, though. The ancient Hebrews actually used many different names or titles in referring to God.
To understand this consider culture and language. The language of the Old Testament is Ancient Hebrew. Hebrew is at once earthy, bizarre, picturesque, and straightforward. This is the language God used for his first communication with humanity. Hebrew is indeed bizarre in that it is read from right to left and that the individual letters look like they may have come from Mars. The language is also earthy and picturesque. A couple of examples illustrate this. The main Hebrew word for "glory" in the Old Testament is kabod. This word carries with it the connotation of weight and ponderousness. Think of that when you read "glory" in the Old Testament. It's not light and airy as the impression from the tall stained glass spires of Gothic cathedrals. It's not that there's anything wrong with Gothic architecture, but that the vision of glory they conveyed is different from what old Hebrew conveyed. The impression in our Old Testament is of something that is massive and solid. Another great example is how Hebrew writers phrased the simple word "behind." Hebrew doesn't have an exact word for word term that is analogous to "behind." In the Old Testament, the writers used the phrase, "away from the face of" to refer to behind. The little kid who grabbed the last cookie from the jar is not just behind his mother, he's away from the face of his mother. I can so easily picture the munchkin sneaking behind the mother's back, can't you?
Our ancient Jewish ancestors used this earthy picturesque language. Additionally, by culture they tended not to use adjectives in describing God as much as they did to use roles and functions, word pictures if you will. We may use an adjective like God is "omnipotent." An ancient Hebrew may convey the same point by saying that God is a "fortress." Remember that any of our human attempts to describe God are akin several blind people describing an elephant. Each of them feels a different part of the elephant without the ability to see the whole, and each describes different parts or characteristics of the elephant. Their descriptions of the great animal will be different depending on whether they are feeling the trunk, one of the legs, an ear, or a tusk.
With that as an introduction, over the next several weeks we'll be looking at the following terms used for God by the sages and prophets who wrote the Old Testament. First elohim, which is a generic term for god in Hebrew. This is the first term for God we find in scripture. Interestingly elohim is actually a plural term, but it is always used as a singular. Scholars theorize that the plural elohim is used intentionally to convey majesty instead of the singular el . Second is el elyon, or "God most high." The implication being that God is far above anyone else or anything else. We find this used in scripture implying sovereignty and majesty. Third is el roi, or "the God who sees." The slave woman Hagar used this term in referring to God in Genesis 16 when God saw her in her misery. Think of the implications of that simple phrase, "God saw." In Exodus 2, immediately before the call of Moses, we are told that God saw the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt. God sees. God knows. Next we get to the term el shaddai, a name for God made famous by Michael Card's song of that name. This is normally translated as "God Almighty," but is actually very difficult to translate. It is first used when God makes his covenant with Abraham. Though the actual linguistic origins of "shaddai" are uncertain, by putting it all together we can hypothesize that the image of a nurturing God who is also a fierce protector. Next is the most holy term for God in the Bible, yahweh. This is the divine name God uses for himself in Exodus 3. It is "I Am who I Am." The ancients never pronounced this term because it was too holy to be spoken by human lips. This term was in prior years transliterated as Jehovah. God has no past or future. God simply is. Think about the words Jesus tells John in Revelation, "I am the alpha and the omega." Similarly in Revelation we find the phrase, "he who is, was, and is to come." Lastly, is another term that may be somewhat familiar to some of you, yahweh yireh. Sometimes referred to as "Jehovah Jireh," it means "the Lord will provide." In Genesis 22, just as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac as an offering an angel appeared and stopped him. At that instant he saw a ram caught in a nearby thicket. God had provided the sacrifice. We are told that Abraham named that place yahweh yireh, "the Lord will provide." In later years that mountain would be the site of the city of Jerusalem, the city where the great Father of all did sacrifice his Son for all.
To understand this consider culture and language. The language of the Old Testament is Ancient Hebrew. Hebrew is at once earthy, bizarre, picturesque, and straightforward. This is the language God used for his first communication with humanity. Hebrew is indeed bizarre in that it is read from right to left and that the individual letters look like they may have come from Mars. The language is also earthy and picturesque. A couple of examples illustrate this. The main Hebrew word for "glory" in the Old Testament is kabod. This word carries with it the connotation of weight and ponderousness. Think of that when you read "glory" in the Old Testament. It's not light and airy as the impression from the tall stained glass spires of Gothic cathedrals. It's not that there's anything wrong with Gothic architecture, but that the vision of glory they conveyed is different from what old Hebrew conveyed. The impression in our Old Testament is of something that is massive and solid. Another great example is how Hebrew writers phrased the simple word "behind." Hebrew doesn't have an exact word for word term that is analogous to "behind." In the Old Testament, the writers used the phrase, "away from the face of" to refer to behind. The little kid who grabbed the last cookie from the jar is not just behind his mother, he's away from the face of his mother. I can so easily picture the munchkin sneaking behind the mother's back, can't you?
Our ancient Jewish ancestors used this earthy picturesque language. Additionally, by culture they tended not to use adjectives in describing God as much as they did to use roles and functions, word pictures if you will. We may use an adjective like God is "omnipotent." An ancient Hebrew may convey the same point by saying that God is a "fortress." Remember that any of our human attempts to describe God are akin several blind people describing an elephant. Each of them feels a different part of the elephant without the ability to see the whole, and each describes different parts or characteristics of the elephant. Their descriptions of the great animal will be different depending on whether they are feeling the trunk, one of the legs, an ear, or a tusk.
With that as an introduction, over the next several weeks we'll be looking at the following terms used for God by the sages and prophets who wrote the Old Testament. First elohim, which is a generic term for god in Hebrew. This is the first term for God we find in scripture. Interestingly elohim is actually a plural term, but it is always used as a singular. Scholars theorize that the plural elohim is used intentionally to convey majesty instead of the singular el . Second is el elyon, or "God most high." The implication being that God is far above anyone else or anything else. We find this used in scripture implying sovereignty and majesty. Third is el roi, or "the God who sees." The slave woman Hagar used this term in referring to God in Genesis 16 when God saw her in her misery. Think of the implications of that simple phrase, "God saw." In Exodus 2, immediately before the call of Moses, we are told that God saw the Israelites in their bondage in Egypt. God sees. God knows. Next we get to the term el shaddai, a name for God made famous by Michael Card's song of that name. This is normally translated as "God Almighty," but is actually very difficult to translate. It is first used when God makes his covenant with Abraham. Though the actual linguistic origins of "shaddai" are uncertain, by putting it all together we can hypothesize that the image of a nurturing God who is also a fierce protector. Next is the most holy term for God in the Bible, yahweh. This is the divine name God uses for himself in Exodus 3. It is "I Am who I Am." The ancients never pronounced this term because it was too holy to be spoken by human lips. This term was in prior years transliterated as Jehovah. God has no past or future. God simply is. Think about the words Jesus tells John in Revelation, "I am the alpha and the omega." Similarly in Revelation we find the phrase, "he who is, was, and is to come." Lastly, is another term that may be somewhat familiar to some of you, yahweh yireh. Sometimes referred to as "Jehovah Jireh," it means "the Lord will provide." In Genesis 22, just as Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac as an offering an angel appeared and stopped him. At that instant he saw a ram caught in a nearby thicket. God had provided the sacrifice. We are told that Abraham named that place yahweh yireh, "the Lord will provide." In later years that mountain would be the site of the city of Jerusalem, the city where the great Father of all did sacrifice his Son for all.
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