Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
considers some names of God so
holy
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...
that, once written, they should not be erased:
YHWH
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 '' ...
, Adonai,
El ("God"),
Elohim
''Elohim'' (: ), the plural of (), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it usually takes a singular verb and refers to a single deity, particularly (but not always) the God of Israel. At other times ...
("God," a plural noun),
Shaddai ("Almighty"), and
Tzevaot
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 th ...
("
fHosts"); some also include
Ehyeh
"I Am that I Am" is a common English translation of the Hebrew phrase (; )– also "I am who (I) am", "I will become what I choose to become", "I am what I am", "I will be what I will be", "I create what(ever) I create", or "I am the Existing On ...
("I Will Be").
[This is the formulation of ]Joseph Karo
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro ( he, יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 Anno mundi, A.M.), was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the ''Beit Yosef (book), Beit Yosef'', and it ...
(SA YD 276:9). Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
(MT Yesodei haTorah 6:2), Jacob b. Asher (AT YD 276), and Isaac Alfasi
Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) ( ar, إسحاق الفاسي, he, ר' יצחק אלפסי) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of hal ...
(HK Menachot 3b) also included Ehyeh
"I Am that I Am" is a common English translation of the Hebrew phrase (; )– also "I am who (I) am", "I will become what I choose to become", "I am what I am", "I will be what I will be", "I create what(ever) I create", or "I am the Existing On ...
, as do many later authorities, including Moses Isserles
). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no).
Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה ...
(SA YD 276:9). The original lists are found in y. Megillah 1:9 and b. Shavuot 35a, with some MSS agreeing with each authority. Maimonides and followers give the number of names as seven; however, manuscript inconsistency makes it difficult to judge which are included. Early authorities considered other Hebrew names mere
epithets
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
or descriptions of God and wrote that they and names in other languages may be written and erased freely. However, some moderns advise special care even in these cases, and many Orthodox Jews have adopted the
chumras of writing "G-d" instead of "God" in English or saying
Ṭēt-
Vav (, "9-6") instead of
Yōd-
Hē (, "10-5" but also "
Jah") for the
number
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...
fifteen or Ṭēt-
Zayin
Zayin (also spelled zain or zayn or simply zay) is the seventh letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Zayin , Hebrew Zayin , Yiddish Zoyen , Aramaic Zain , Syriac Zayn ܙ, and Arabic Zayn or Zāy . It represents the sound .
The Ph ...
(, "9-7") instead of Yōd-Vav (, "10-6") for the
number
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers c ...
sixteen in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
.
Seven names of God
The names of God that, once written, cannot be erased because of their holiness are the
Tetragrammaton
The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew language, 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 (l ...
, Adonai,
El,
Elohim
''Elohim'' (: ), the plural of (), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it usually takes a singular verb and refers to a single deity, particularly (but not always) the God of Israel. At other times ...
,
Shaddai,
Tzevaot
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 th ...
; some also include
Ehyeh
"I Am that I Am" is a common English translation of the Hebrew phrase (; )– also "I am who (I) am", "I will become what I choose to become", "I am what I am", "I will be what I will be", "I create what(ever) I create", or "I am the Existing On ...
("I Will Be").
In addition, the name
Jah—because it forms part of the Tetragrammaton—is similarly protected.
Rabbi Jose
Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta (or Yose ben Halpetha) (Hebrew: רבי יוסי בן חלפתא; IPA: /ʁa'bi 'josi ben xa'lafta/) was a tanna of the fourth generation (2nd century CE). He is the fifth-most-frequently mentioned sage in the M ...
considered "Tzevaot" a common name and
Rabbi Ishmael
Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא), was a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries (third gener ...
considered "Elohim" to be one. All other names, such as "Merciful", "Gracious" and "Faithful", merely represent attributes that are also common to human beings.
YHWH
![Tetragrammaton benediction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Tetragrammaton_benediction.png)
Also abbreviated
Jah, the most common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is the Tetragrammaton, , that is usually transcribed as YHWH.
Hebrew script
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish ...
is an
abjad
An abjad (, ar, أبجد; also abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with other alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels ...
, so that the letters in the name are normally consonants, usually expanded as ''Yahweh'' in English.
Modern Jewish culture judges it forbidden to pronounce this name. In prayers it is replaced by the word ''Adonai'' ("My Lord"), and in discussion by ''HaShem'' ("The Name"). Nothing in the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
explicitly prohibits speaking the name and the
Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth ( he, מגילת רות, ''Megilath Ruth'', "the Scroll of Ruth", one of the Five Megillot) is included in the third division, or the Writings (Ketuvim), of the Hebrew Bible. In most Christian canons it is treated as one of the ...
shows it was being pronounced as late as the 5th century BCE. Mark Sameth argues that only a pseudo name was pronounced, the four letters YHWH being a cryptogram which the priests of ancient Israel read in reverse as , "heshe", signifying a dual-gendered deity, as earlier theorized by
Guillaume Postel
Guillaume Postel (25 March 1510 – 6 September 1581) was a French people, French linguist, astronomer, Christian Kabbalah, Christian Kabbalist, diplomat, polyglot, professor, Religious universalism, religious universalist, and writer.
Born in ...
(16th century) and
Michelangelo Lanci (19th century). It had ceased to be spoken aloud by at least the 3rd century BCE, during
Second Temple Judaism
Second Temple Judaism refers to the Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period, which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
The Second Temple pe ...
. The
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
relates, perhaps anecdotally, this began with the death of
Simeon the Just
Simeon the Righteous or Simeon the Just ( he, שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַדִּיק ''Šīməʿōn haṢadīq'') was a Jewish High Priest during the Second Temple period. He is also referred to in the Mishnah, where he is described as one of the la ...
.
Vowel points began to be added to the Hebrew text only in the early medieval period. The
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
adds to the Tetragrammaton the vowel points of
Adonai
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 th ...
or
Elohim
''Elohim'' (: ), the plural of (), is a Hebrew word meaning "gods". Although the word is plural, in the Hebrew Bible it usually takes a singular verb and refers to a single deity, particularly (but not always) the God of Israel. At other times ...
(depending on the context), indicating that these are the words to be pronounced in place of the Tetragrammaton (see
Qere and Ketiv
Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic ''qere'' or ''q're'', ("hat isread") and ''ketiv'', or ''ketib'', ''kethib'', ''kethibh'', ''kethiv'', ("hat iswritten"), also known as "q're uchsiv" or "q're uchtiv," refers to a system for marking differences b ...
), as shown also by the subtle pronunciation changes when combined with a preposition or a conjunction.
The Tetragrammaton appears in
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
and occurs 6,828 times in total in the
Stuttgart edition of the
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
. It is thought to be an archaic
third-person singular
In linguistics, grammatical person is the grammatical distinction between deixis, deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically the distinction is between the speaker (First-person narrative, first person), the addressee (Second-p ...
of the
imperfective aspect
The imperfective (abbreviated or more ambiguously ) is a grammatical aspect used to describe ongoing, habitual, repeated, or similar semantic roles, whether that situation occurs in the past, present, or future. Although many languages have a gen ...
of the
verb
A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
"to be" (i.e., "
eis/was/will be"). This agrees with the passage in
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
where God names himself as "
I Will Be What I Will Be"
using the
first-person singular imperfective aspect, open to interpretation as
present
The present (or here'' and ''now) is the time that is associated with the events perception, perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is ...
tense ("I am what I am"),
future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
("I shall be what I shall be"), or
imperfect
The imperfect (abbreviated ) is a verb form that combines past tense (reference to a past time) and imperfective aspect (reference to a continuing or repeated event or state). It can have meanings similar to the English "was walking" or "used to w ...
("I used to be what I used to be").
Rabbinical Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...
teaches that the name is forbidden to all except the
High Priest
The term "high priest" usually refers either to an individual who holds the office of ruler-priest, or to one who is the head of a religious caste.
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, a high priest was the chief priest of any of the many gods rever ...
, who should only speak it in the
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies (Hebrew: ''Qōḏeš haqQŏḏāšīm'' or ''Kodesh HaKodashim''; also הַדְּבִיר ''haDəḇīr'', 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where God's prese ...
of the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
on
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
. He then pronounces the name "just as it is written." As each blessing was made, the people in the
courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
were to
prostrate themselves completely as they heard it spoken aloud. As the Temple has not been rebuilt since its destruction in 70, most modern Jews never pronounce YHWH but instead read
Adonai
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 th ...
("My Lord") during prayer and while reading the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
and as
HaShem
HaShem ( Hebrew: ''hšm'', literally "''the name''"; often abbreviated to 'h′'' is a title used in Judaism to refer to God. It is also a given name and surname.
Religious usage
* In Judaism, ''HaShem'' (lit. 'the Name') is used to refer t ...
("The Name") at other times. Similarly, 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 ...
used ("The Lord") and most
English translations of the Bible
Partial Bible translations into languages of the English people can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English. More than 100 complete translations into English have been written.
In the United S ...
write "the " for YHWH and "the God", "the Lord " or "the Sovereign " for Adonai YHWH instead of transcribing the name. 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 th ...
may have originally used the Hebrew letters themselves amid its Greek text, but there is no scholarly consensus on this point. All surviving Christian-era manuscripts use (, "Lord") or very occasionally (, "God") to translate the many thousand occurrences of the Name. However, given the great preponderance of the anarthrous solution for translating YHWH in the Septuagint and some disambiguation efforts by Christian-era copyists involving Kyrios (see especially scribal activity in Acts), should probably not be considered historically as a serious early contender substitute for the divine Name.
Adonai
![Shefa Tal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Shefa_Tal.png)
Adonai ( ''ʾăḏōnāy'', "My Lords," a plural noun) is the possessive form of ("Lord"), along with the
first-person singular pronoun
enclitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic (, backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a wo ...
. As with Elohim, Adonai's grammatical form is usually explained as a
plural of majesty. In the Hebrew Bible, it is nearly always used to refer to God (approximately 450 occurrences). As pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton came to be avoided in the
Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
, Jews may have begun to drop the Tetragrammaton when presented alongside Adonai and subsequently expand it to cover for the Tetragrammaton in the forms of spoken prayer and written scripture. Owing to the expansion of (the idea of "building a fence around the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
"), the word "Adonai" itself has come to be too holy to say for Orthodox Jews outside of prayer, leading to its replacement by
HaShem
HaShem ( Hebrew: ''hšm'', literally "''the name''"; often abbreviated to 'h′'' is a title used in Judaism to refer to God. It is also a given name and surname.
Religious usage
* In Judaism, ''HaShem'' (lit. 'the Name') is used to refer t ...
("The Name").
The singular forms and ("my lord") are used in the Hebrew Bible as royal titles, as in the
First Book of Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...
, and for distinguished persons. The
Phoenicians
Phoenicia () was an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient thalassocracy, thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-st ...
used it as a title of
Tammuz
Dumuzid or Tammuz ( sux, , ''Dumuzid''; akk, Duʾūzu, Dûzu; he, תַּמּוּז, Tammûz),; ar, تمّوز ' known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd ( sux, , ''Dumuzid sipad''), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with shep ...
, the origin of the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Adonis
In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite.
One day, Adonis was gored by ...
. It is also used very occasionally in Hebrew texts to refer to God (e.g. Psalm 136:3.)
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
10:17 has the proper name alongside the superlative constructions "God of gods" (, literally, "the gods of gods") and "Lord of lords" (, "the lords of lords": ; KJV: "For the your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords").
The final syllable of Adonai uses the vowel , rather than which would be expected from the Hebrew for "my lord(s)". Professor Yoel Elitzur explains this as a normal transformation when a Hebrew word becomes a name, giving as other examples
Nathan
Nathan or Natan may refer to:
People
*Nathan (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
*Nathan (surname)
*Nathan (prophet), a person in the Hebrew Bible
* Nathan (son of David), biblical figure, son of King David an ...
,
Yitzchak
Yitzhak( ()) is a male first name, and is Hebrew for Isaac. Yitzhak may refer to:
People
* Yitzhak ha-Sangari, rabbi who converted the Khazars to Judaism
*Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995), Israeli politician and Prime Minister
*Yitzhak Shamir (1915– ...
, and
Yigal Yigal and Yigael are given names. People with those names include:
*Yigal Allon (1918–80), Israeli politician, acting Prime Minister, a commander of the Palmach, and general
*Yigal Amir (born 1970), Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yi ...
.
As Adonai became the most common reverent substitute for the Tetragrammaton, it too became considered un-erasable due to its holiness. As such, most prayer books avoid spelling out the word Adonai, and instead write two () in its place.
El
El appears in
Ugarit
)
, image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg
, image_size=300
, alt =
, caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
, map_type = Near East#Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 300
, relief=yes
, location = Latakia Governorate, Syria
, region = F ...
ic, Phoenician and other 2nd and 1st millennium BCE texts both as generic "god" and as the head of the divine pantheon. In the Hebrew Bible, El (, ) appears very occasionally alone (e.g. Genesis 33:20, , "Mighty God of Israel", and Genesis 46:3, , "El the God of thy father"), but usually with some epithet or attribute attached (e.g. , "Most High El", , "El of ", "Everlasting El", , "Living El", "El my Shepherd", and "El of Strength"), in which cases it can be understood as the generic "god". In
theophoric names
A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deit ...
such as
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
("Strength of God"),
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
("Who is like God?"),
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
("God's medicine"),
Ariel
Ariel may refer to:
Film and television
*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award
* ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki
* ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...
("God's lion"),
Daniel
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...
("God's Judgment"),
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
("one who has struggled with God"),
Immanuel
Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the H ...
("God is with us"), and
Ishmael
Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
("God hears"/"God listens") it is usually interpreted and translated as "God", but it is not clear whether these "el"s refer to the deity in general or to the god El in particular.
Elohim
A common name of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (, ), the plural of (). When Elohim refers to God in the Hebrew Bible, singular verbs are used. The word is identical to ''elohim'' meaning gods or magistrates, and is cognate to the found in
Ugarit
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, image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg
, image_size=300
, alt =
, caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
, map_type = Near East#Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 300
, relief=yes
, location = Latakia Governorate, Syria
, region = F ...
ic, where it is used for the pantheon of Canaanite gods, the children of El and conventionally vocalized as "Elohim" although the original Ugaritic vowels are unknown. When the Hebrew Bible uses not in reference to God, it is plural (for example,
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
20:2). There are a few other such uses in Hebrew, for example ''
Behemoth
Behemoth (; he, בְּהֵמוֹת, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and ...
''. In
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
, the singular word ("owner") looks plural, but likewise takes a singular verb.
A number of scholars have traced the etymology to the Semitic root ''*yl'', "to be first, powerful", despite some difficulties with this view. ''Elohim'' is thus the plural construct "powers".
Hebrew grammar
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
allows for this form to mean "He is the Power (singular) over powers (plural)", just as the word means "owner" (see above). "He is lord (singular) even over any of those things that he owns that are lordly (plural)."
Theologians who dispute this claim cite the hypothesis that plurals of majesty came about in more modern times. Richard Toporoski, a classics scholar, asserts that plurals of majesty first appeared in the reign of
Diocletian
Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...
(CE 284–305). Indeed,
Gesenius states in his book ''Hebrew Grammar'' the following:
The Jewish grammarians call such plurals ... ''plur. virium'' or ''virtutum''; later grammarians call them ''plur. excellentiae'', ''magnitudinis'', or ''plur. maiestaticus''.
This last name may have been suggested by the ''we'' used by kings when speaking of themselves (compare 1 Maccabees
The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
10:19 and 11:31); and the plural used by God in Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
1:26 and 11:7; Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
6:8 has been incorrectly explained in this way. It is, however, either ''communicative'' (including the attendant angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
: so at all events in Isaiah 6:8 and Genesis 3:22), or according to others, an indication of ''the fullness of power and might'' implied. It is best explained as a plural of ''self-deliberation''. The use of the plural as a form of respectful address is quite foreign to Hebrew.
Mark S. Smith
Mark Stratton John Matthew Smith (born December 6, 1956) is an American biblical scholar, anthropologist, and professor.
Early life and education
Born in Paris to Donald Eugene Smith and Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Reichert, Smith grew up in Washin ...
has cited the use of plural as possible evidence to suggest an evolution in the formation of early Jewish conceptions of monotheism, wherein references to "the gods" (plural) in earlier accounts of verbal tradition became either interpreted as multiple aspects of a single monotheistic God at the time of writing, or subsumed under a form of monolatry, wherein the god(s) of a certain city would be accepted after the fact as a reference to the God of Israel and the plural deliberately dropped.
The plural form ending in can also be understood as denoting abstraction, as in the Hebrew words ("life") or ("virginity"). If understood this way, means "divinity" or "deity". The word is similarly syntactically singular when used as a name but syntactically plural otherwise.
In many of the passages in which occurs in the Bible, it refers to non-Israelite deities, or in some instances to powerful men or judges, and even angels (Exodus 21:6, Psalms 8:5) as a simple plural in those instances.
Shaddai
El Shaddai (, , ) is one of the names of God in Judaism, with its etymology coming from the influence of the Ugaritic religion on modern Judaism. El Shaddai is English Bible translations, conventionally translated as "God Almighty". While the translation of ''El'' as "god (word), god" in
Ugarit
)
, image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg
, image_size=300
, alt =
, caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
, map_type = Near East#Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 300
, relief=yes
, location = Latakia Governorate, Syria
, region = F ...
ic/Canaanite languages, Canaanite languages is straightforward, the literal meaning of ''Shaddai'' is the subject of debate.
Tzevaot
Tzevaot, Tsebaoth or Sabaoth (, , , "Armies"), usually translated "Hosts", appears in reference to armies or armed hosts of men but is not used as a divine epithet in the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
, Book of Joshua, Joshua, or Book of Judges, Judges. Starting in the Books of Samuel, the term "Lord of Hosts" appears hundreds of times throughout the Nevi'im, Prophetic books, in Psalms, and in Books of Chronicles, Chronicles.
The Hebrew word was also absorbed in Ancient Greek (, ) and Latin (, with no declension). Tertullian and other patristics used it with the meaning of "Army of angels of God".
Ehyeh
() is the first of three responses given to Moses when he asks for God's name in the Book of Exodus.
The King James Version of the Bible translates the Hebrew as "I Am that I Am" and uses it as a proper name for God.
The word is the Grammatical person, first-person singular
imperfect
The imperfect (abbreviated ) is a verb form that combines past tense (reference to a past time) and imperfective aspect (reference to a continuing or repeated event or state). It can have meanings similar to the English "was walking" or "used to w ...
form of , "to be". Biblical Hebrew does not distinguish between grammatical tenses. It has instead an Grammatical aspect, aspectual system in which the imperfect denotes any actions that are not yet completed, Accordingly, can be rendered in English not only as "I am that I am" but also as "I will be what I will be" or "I will be who I will be", or "I shall prove to be whatsoever I shall prove to be" or even "I will be because I will be". Other renderings include: Leeser, "I Will Be that I Will Be"; Rotherham, "I Will Become whatsoever I please", Greek, (), "I am The Being" in 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 th ...
, and Philo, and Book of Revelation, Revelation or, "I am The Existing One"; Latin, , "I am Who I am."
The word is a relative pronoun whose meaning depends on the immediate context, so that "that", "who", "which", or "where" are all possible translations of that word.
[Seidner, 4.]
Other names and titles
Baal
Baal (),
[''Oxford English Dictionary'' (1885),]
Baal, ''n.''
properly Baʿal, meant "property, owner" and, by extension, "lord", "slavery, master", and "husband" in Hebrew and the other Northwest Semitic languages. In some early contexts and theophoric names, it and Baali (; "My Lord") were treated as synonyms of Adon and Adonai. After the time of Solomon
[ and particularly after Jezebel's attempt to promote the worship of the Lord of Ancient Tyre, Tyre Melqart, however, the name became particularly associated with the Canaanite religion, Canaanite storm god Baʿal Haddu and was gradually avoided as a title for Yahweh.] Several names that included it were rewritten as ("shame"). The prophet (Judaism), prophet Hosea in particular reproached the Israelites for continuing to use the term:
Elah
Elah (; arc, ܐܠܗ; pl. "Elim or Elohim") is the Biblical Aramaic, Aramaic word for God and the absolute singular form of , . The origin of the word is from Proto-Semitic language, Proto-Semitic ''ʔil'' and is thus cognate to the Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, Arabic, Akkadian language, Akkadian, and other Semitic languages' words for god. Elah is found in the Tanakh in the books of Book of Ezra, Ezra, Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:11, the only verse in the entire book written in Aramaic), and Book of Daniel, Daniel. Elah is used to describe both pagan gods and the Abrahamic God.
The word 'Elah () is also an Arabic word meaning god. The word is etymologically related to Allah which is a contraction of or (), literally meaning "the God", and is used for the Abrahamic God by Arabic-speaking Jews, Christians, Muslims, and sometimes other monotheistic religions.
* Elah Yisrael, God of Israel (Ezra 5:1)
* Elah Yerushelem, God of Jerusalem (Ezra 7:19)
* Elah Shemaya, God of Heaven (Ezra 7:23)
* Elah-avahati, God of my fathers, (Daniel 2:23)
* Elah Elahin, God of gods (Daniel 2:47)
El Roi
In the Book of Genesis, Hagar uses this name for the God who spoke to her through his Angel of the Lord, angel. In Hebrew, her phrase "El Roi", literally, "God of Seeing Me", is translated in the King James Version as "Thou God seest me."
Elyon
The name Elyon () occurs in combination with El, YHWH, Elohim and alone. It appears chiefly in poetic and later Biblical passages. The modern Hebrew adjective means "supreme" (as in "Supreme Court") or "Most High". has been traditionally translated into English as 'God Most High'. The Phoenicians used what appears to be a similar name for God, one that the Greeks wrote as . It is cognate to the Arabic .
Eternal One
"The Eternal One" or "The Eternal" is increasingly used, particularly in Reform Judaism, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, Reconstructionist communities seeking to use gender-neutral language. In the Torah, ("the Everlasting God") is used at Genesis 21:33 to refer to God.
HaShem
It is common Jewish practice to restrict the use of the names of God to a Jewish liturgy, liturgical context. In casual conversation some Jews, even when not speaking Hebrew, will call God HaShem (), which is Hebrew for "the Name" (cf. Leviticus 24:11 and Book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 28:58). When written, it is often abbreviated to . Likewise, when quoting from the Tanakh or prayers, some pious Jews will replace 'Adonai' with 'HaShem'. For example, when making Sound recording and reproduction, audio recordings of prayer services, 'HaShem' will generally be substituted for 'Adonai'.
A popular expression containing this phrase is , meaning "Thank God in Judaism, God" (literally, "Blessed be the Name").
Samaritans use the Samaritan Aramaic language, Aramaic equivalent ''Shema'' (שמא, "the name") in much the same situations as Jews use HaShem.
Shalom
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
ic authors, ruling on the basis of Gideon's name for an altar ("YHVH-Shalom", according to Book of Judges, Judges 6:24), write that "the name of God is 'Peace'" (, Shabbat 10b); consequently, a Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
ic opinion (, 10b) asserts that one would greet another with the word in order for the word not to be forgotten in the Jewish diaspora, exile. But one is not permitted to greet another with the word in unholy places such as a bathroom, because of the holiness of the name.
Shekhinah
() is the presence or manifestation of God which has descended to "dwell" among humanity. The term never appears in the Hebrew Bible; later rabbis used the word when speaking of God dwelling either in the Tabernacle (Judaism), Tabernacle or amongst the people of Israel. The root of the word means "dwelling". Of the principal names of God, it is the only one that is of the feminine gender in Hebrew grammar. Some believe that this was the name of a female counterpart of God, but this is unlikely as the name is always mentioned in conjunction with an article (e.g.: "the Shekhina descended and dwelt among them" or "He removed Himself and His Shekhina from their midst"). This kind of usage does not occur in Semitic languages in conjunction with proper names. The term, however, may not be a name, as it may merely describe the presence of God, and not God Himself
The Arabic form of the word () is also mentioned in the Quran. This mention is in the middle of the narrative of the choice of Saul to be king and is mentioned as descending with the Ark of the Covenant, here the word is used to mean "security" and is derived from the root sa-ka-na which means dwell:
And (further) their Prophet said to them: "A Sign of his authority is that there shall come to you the Ark of the Covenant, with (an assurance) therein of security from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a Symbol for you if ye indeed have faith."
Uncommon or esoteric names
* ''Abir'' – "Strong One"
* ''Adir'' – "Great One"
* ''Adon Olam'' – "Master of the World"
* ''Aibishter'' – "The One Above" (Yiddish)
* ''Aleim'' – sometimes seen as an alternative transliteration of Elohim, ''A'lim'' "" in Arabic means "who intensively knows", ''A'alim'' "" means "who knows", the verb is ''A'lima'' means "knew", while ''Allahumma'' "" in Arabic equals to "O'God" and used to supplicate him for something.
* ''Aravat'' (or ''Avarat'') – "Father of Creation"; mentioned once in 2 Enoch, "On the tenth heaven is God, in the Hebrew tongue he is called Aravat".
* ' – "Our Father, Our King"
* ' – "The Creator"
* ''Dibbura'' or ''Dibbera'' – "The Word (The Law)" – used primarily in the Palestinian Targums of the Pentateuch (Aramaic); e.g. Num 7:89, The Word spoke to Moses from between the cherubim in the holy of holies.
* ''Ehiyeh sh'Ehiyeh'' – "I Am That I Am": a modern Hebrew version of "''I Am that I Am, Ehyeh asher Ehyeh''
* ''Ani Sh'ani'' - "I am that I am": another modern Hebrew form of "''I Am that I Am, Ehyeh asher Ehyeh''
* ''Ein Sof'' – "Endless, Infinite", Kabbalistic name of God
* ''El ha-Gibbor'' – "God the Hero" or "God the Strong" or "God the Warrior". ''Allah jabbar'' "" in Arabic means "the God is formidable and invincible"
* ''Emet'' – "Truth" (the "Seal (emblem), Seal of God." [Cf.] The word is composed of the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. See also Alpha and Omega#Judaism)
* ''HaKadosh, Barukh Hu'' (Hebrew); ''Kudsha, Brikh Hu'' (Aramaic); (Arabic) – "The Holy One, Blessed Be He"
* ''HaRachaman'' – "The Merciful One"; ''Rahman'' – " (Arabic)
* ''Kadosh Israel'' – "Holy One of Israel"
* ''Magen Avraham'' – "Shield of Abraham"
* ''Makom'' or ''HaMakom'' – literally "The Place", perhaps meaning "The Omnipresent" (see Tzimtzum)
* ''Malbish Arumim'' – "Clother of the Naked"
* ''Matir Asurim'' – "Freer of the Captives"
* ''Mechayeh HaKol'' In Arabic ''al-Muhyi al-Kull'' – "Life giver to All" (Reform version of ''Mechayeh Metim'')
* ''Mechayeh Metim'' – "Life giver to the Dead"
* ''Melech HaMelachim'' – "The King of Kings" or ''Melech Malchei HaMelachim'' "The King, King of Kings", to express superiority to the earthly ruler's title. Arabic version of it is (''Malik al-Mulk'').
* ''Melech HaOlam'' – "The King of the World"
* ''Memra d'Adonai'' – "The Word of the LORD" (plus variations such as "My Word") – restricted to the Aramaic Targums (the written Tetragrammaton is represented in various ways such as YYY, YWY, YY, but pronounced as the Hebrew "Adonai")
* ''Mi She'amar V'haya Ha`olam'' – "He who spoke, and the world came into being."
* ''Netzakh Yisrael'' – "The Glory of Israel" (1 Samuel 15:29)
* ''Oseh Shalom'' – "Maker of Peace"
* ''Pokeach Ivrim'' – "Opener of Blind Eyes"
* ''Ribono shel'Olam'' – "Master of the World". Arabic version of it is ("Rabb al-‘Alamin'')
* ''Rachmana'' – "The Merciful One" (Aramaic)
* ''Ro'eh Yisra'el'' – "Shepherd of Israel"
* ''Rofeh Cholim'' – "Healer of the Sick"
* ''Shomer Yisrael'' – "Guardian of Israel"
* ''Somech Noflim'' – "Supporter of the Fallen"
* ''Tzur Israel'' – "Rock of Israel"
* ''YHWH-Niss'i (Adonai-Jehovah-nissi, Nissi)'' – "The Our Banner"
* ''YHWH-Rapha'' – "The that Healeth"
* ''YHWH-Ro'i'' – "The My Shepherd"
* ''YHWH-Shalom'' – "The Our Peace"
* ''YHWH-Shammah (Adonai-shammah)'' – "The Is Present"
* '' YHWH-Tsidkenu'' – "The Our Righteousness"
* ''YHWH-Yireh (Adonai-jireh)'' – "The Will Provide"
* ''Yotsehr 'Or'' – "Fashioner of Light"
* ''Zokef kefufim'' – "Straightener of the Bent"
Writing divine names
In Jewish tradition the sacredness of the divine name or titles must be recognized by the professional ''sofer'' (scribe) who writes Sefer Torah, Torah scrolls, or tefillin and mezuzah. Before transcribing any of the divine titles or name, they prepare mentally to sanctify them. Once they begin a name, they do not stop until it is finished, and they must not be interrupted while writing it, even to greet a king. If an error is made in writing it may not be erased, but a line must be drawn round it to show that it is canceled, and the whole page must be put in a ''genizah'' (burial place for scripture) and a new page begun.
Kabbalistic use
One of the most important names is that of the Ein Sof ( "Endless"), which first came into use after 1300 CE.
Another name is derived from the names . By spelling these four names out with the names of the Hebrew letters ( and ) this new forty-five letter long name is produced. Spelling the letters in (YHWH) by itself gives . Each letter in Hebrew is given a value, according to gematria, and the value of is also 45.
The seventy-two-fold name is derived from three verses in Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
14:19–21. Each of the verses contains 72 letters. When the verses are read boustrophedonically 72 names, three letter each, are produced (the niqqud of the source verses is disregarded in respect to pronunciation). Some regard this name as the Shemhamphorasch. The Proto-Kabbalah, Kabbalistic book ''Sefer Yetzirah'' describe how the creation of the world was achieved by manipulation of these 216 sacred letters that form the names of God.
Erasing the name of God
From this it is understood by the rabbis that one should not erase or blot out the name of God. The general halacha, halachic opinion is that this only applies to the sacred Hebrew names of God, not to other euphemistic references; there is a dispute as to whether the word "God" in English or other languages may be erased or whether Jewish law and/or Jewish custom forbids doing so, directly or as a precautionary "fence" about the law.
The words "God" and "Lord" are written by Chumra, some Jews as "G-d" and "L-rd" as a way of avoiding writing any name of God in full out. The hyphenated version of the English name ("G-d") can be destroyed, so by writing that form, religious Jews prevent documents in their possession with the unhyphenated form from being destroyed later. Alternatively, a euphemistic English reference such as ''Hashem'' (literally, "the Name") may be substituted, or an abbreviation thereof, such as ''BH'' (''B'ezrat Hashem'' "by the blessing of the Name").
See also
* Ancient of Days
* Baal Shem
* Besiyata Dishmaya
* Names of God
* Names of God in Christianity
* Names of God in Islam
* Naming taboo (a similar prohibition in China)
* Sacred Name Bibles
* Ten Commandments
* Vishnu Sahasranama
Explanatory notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
* .
* .
* .
* .
* .
* .
*Sameth, Mark (2020).
The Name: A History of the Dual-Gendered Hebrew Name for God
'. Wipf and Stock. ISBN (identifier), ISBN Special:BookSources/978-1-5326-9384-7, 978-1-5326-9384-7.
External links
God's names in Jewish thought and in the light of Kabbalah
The Name of God as Revealed in Exodus 3:14—an explanation of its meaning.
Jewish Encyclopedia: Names of God
"Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh" - Song and Video of Ancient Yemenite Prayer From the Diwan
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Names Of God In Judaism
Names of God in Judaism,
Deities in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible words and phrases
Language and mysticism