Category: Names Of God

The Names of God: Part 3 - Adonai

8/12/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Names Of God: Part 3 - Adonai

The title Adonai (ʾādôn) is usually translated as Lord and means Lord of all.

For the Lord (yhwh) your God (ʾĕlōhîm) is the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of gods and the Lord of lords (ʾădōnê hāʾădōnîm), the great, the mighty, and the awesome God (ʾēl) who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. - Deuteronomy 10:17
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord (ʾādôn) of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. - Joshua 3:11

When Adonai (ʾādôn) is used in the plural, like Elohim (ʾĕlōhîm), it is an intensive plural or plural of majesty and always refers to the plurality of God.

I said to the Lord (yhwh), You are my Lord (ʾādôn); I have no god besides You. - Psalm 16:2

The title Adonai is used to emphasize the relationship between master and servant.

So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master (ʾādôn), and swore to him concerning this matter. - Genesis 24:9
Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord (ʾādôn), the king of Egypt. - Genesis 40:1

As Adonai, God is sovereign.

O Lord (yhwh), our Lord (ʾādôn), How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! - Psalm 8:1

Exodus 34:23 combines the name YHWH with the titles Elohim and Adonai.

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God (hāʾādōn yhwhʾĕlōhê) of Israel - Exodus 34:23

The combination of these titles with the personal name YHWH translates as the One Who Exists, the Lord of All is the Mighty Ones.

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The Names of God: Part 2 - YHWH

8/12/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Names Of God: YHWH

The name YHWH (yhwh) is the Tetragrammaton or the four-letter name of God and is translated into English as Lord 5,321 times.

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord (yhwh) God (ʾĕlōhîm) made earth and heaven. - Genesis 2:4

It is derived from the Hebrew verb haya (hāyâ) meaning to be or exist. It identifies God as being self-existent and not bound by time. Thus, YHWH means the One Who is or the One Who exists. God revealed Himself to Moses as the I AM or YWHW (Exodus 34:14).

God said to Moses, I AM (hāyâ) WHO I AM (hāyâ); and He said, Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM (hāyâ) has sent me to you. - Exodus 34:14

The declaration I AM WHO I AM ties to the I AM claims of Jesus.

I am the bread of life… - John 6:35
I am the Light of the world… - John 8:12
I am the door… - John 10:9
I am the good shepherd… - John 10:11
I am the resurrection and the life… - John 11:25
I am the way, and the truth, and the life… - John 14:6
I am the true vine… - John 15:1

When Jesus refers to Himself as I AM, He is claiming to be YHWH.

God identifies Himself, personally as YHWH (yhwh), to those in a relationship with Him.

Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord (yhwh) and called upon the name of the Lord (yhwh). - Genesis 12:8

Together, Lord God (YHWH ʾĕlōhîm) translates as the One Who is the Mighty Ones or the One Who Exists, is the Mighty Ones.

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The Names of God: Part 1 - Elohim

8/8/2020

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TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Names Of God: Part 1 - Elohim

The Hebrew title Elohim (ʾĕlōhîm) is translated as God in English 2,310 times.

For who is God (ʾĕlōhîm), but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God (ʾĕlōhîm), - Psalm 18:31

Elohim means the Mighty One, the Great One, or the Exalted One. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states that the term “ʾĕlōhîm comes from ʾĕlōah as a unique development of the Hebrew Scriptures and represents chiefly the plurality of persons in the Trinity of the godhead.”1

The title Elohim is used in relation to God’s sovereignty.

…Who is called the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of all the earth. - Isaiah 54:5
Behold, I am the Lord, the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me? - Jeremiah 32:27
Then the king said to me, What would you request? So I prayed to the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of heaven. - Nehemiah 2:4

Elohim is also used in relation to God's work of Creation.

In the beginning God (ʾĕlōhîm) created the heavens and the earth - Genesis 1:1
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God (ʾĕlōhîm) who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), I am the Lord, and there is none else. - Isaiah 45:18
He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God (ʾĕlōhîm) of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. - Jonah 1:9

The title Elohim is also associated with God’s judgment.

And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God (ʾĕlōhîm) Himself is judge. - Psalm 50:6
And men will say, Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God (ʾĕlōhîm) who judges on earth! - Psalm 58:11

ENDNOTES:

Jack B. Scott, “93 אלה,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 41.

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The Names of God: Part 3 - Adonai

The Names of God: Part 2 - YHWH

The Names of God: Part 1 - Elohim

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