According to in the Bible, Jehovah-nissi (Hebrew: ''Yahweh nissî'') is the name given by Moses to the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

which he built to celebrate the defeat of the Amalekites at

Rephidim Rephidim or Refidim ( he, רפידים) is one of the places visited by the Israelites in the biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt. Biblical account This episode is described in the Book of Exodus. The Israelites under Moses have come ...

Translations

The first word of the phrase is the

Tetragrammaton The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

, one of the

names of God in Judaism Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is the ...

. It is generally translated in English Bibles as "the ", Jehovah, or

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

. The

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...

translators believed ''nis·si′'' to be derived from ''nus'' (flee for refuge) and rendered it "the Lord My Refuge", while in the

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

it was thought to be derived from ''na·sas′'' (hoist; lift up) and was rendered "Jehovah Is My Exaltation". In many modern Christian translations, such as the New International Version, the name is translated “the is my banner." (NIV)

Interpretation

The chapter recounts that Israel had the advantage over Amalek as long as Moses, watching the battle from a vantage point, held his staff aloft. Matthew Henry considered that ''Jehovah-nissi'' (The Lord is my banner) "probably refers to the lifting up of the rod of God as a banner in this action. The presence and power of Jehovah were the banner under which they enlisted, by which they were animated and kept together, and therefore which they erected in the day of their triumph." Matthew Henry
Commentary on Exodus 17:8-16
(online at

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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jehovah-Nissi Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible

Translations

Interpretation

See also

References