Names of God

By Nathan Stone

THE MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

ISBN: 0-8024-5854-8

37 394038 36

Printed in the United Stales of America

CONTENTS

1. Elohim

2. Jehovah

3. E1-Shaddai

4. Adonai

5. Jehovah-jireh

6. Jehovah-rophe

7. Jehovah-nissi

8. Jehiah-M'Kaddesh

9. Jehovah-shalom

10. Jehovah-tsidkenu

11. Jehovah-rohi

12. Jehovah-shammah

PRONUNCIATION OF NAMES OF GOD

Elohim el-lo-heem'

Jehovah je-ho'-vah

Adonai a-do-ni'

El-Shaddai el shad-di'

Jehovah-jireh je-ho'-vah yeer'-eh

Jehovah-rophe je-ho'-vah ro'-phay

Jehovah-nissi je-ho'-vah nis-see

Jehovah-M'Kaddesh e-ho'-vah m'-kad'-desh

Jehovah-shalom je-ho'-vah shal-lom'

Jehovah-tsidkenu je-ho'-vah tsid-kay'-noo

Jehovah-rohi je-ho'-vah ro'-ee

Jehovah-shammah je-ho'-vah sham'-mah

INTRODUCTION

THE CHAPTERS contained in this volume were given originally as a course in the Radio School of the Bible over WMBI, Chicago. A number of requests for their appearance in a more permanent form, and the fact that comparatively little is written upon a subject worthy of more interest and attention, have led to their publication.

It has been the writer's purpose to show not only the significance of the names of God in the Old Testament, but that they find their complement and fulfillment in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New-He who is the effulgence of the glory and the image of the substance of Jehovah, and in whom "dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

The writer acknowledges a measure of indebtedness to such works as those of Webb-Peploe, Andrew Jukes, R. B. Girdlestone, and Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon.

The Scripture quotations are from the King James Version and the American Standard Version (ASV), while some are free translations from the Hebrew.

This little volume goes forth with the hope and prayer that we may better know Him whose name is above every name, and that some may find in Him that name apart from which "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

1 ELOHIM

THE FIRST QUESTION in some of our catechisms is, "What is the chief end of man?" and the answer is, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." But we will experience God in such fashion we will glorify Him and enjoy Him--only in proportion as we know Him. The knowledge of God is more essential for the Christian, and indeed for all the world, than the knowledge of anything else--yes, of all things together. The prayer of the Lord Jesus for His disciples in John 17:3 was: "And this is life eternal that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (ASV). And speaking of this, Christ, our Jehovah-Jesus, Paul sums up in Philippians 3:10 the great goal of his life: "That I may know him."

"I suppose if sin had not entered the world," says one writer, "the acquisition of the knowledge of God would have been the high occupation of man forever and ever." It is for a lack of knowledge of God that the prophet Hosea informs his people they are destroyed. And it is from the lack of knowledge of God that many are without spiritual power or life. There is little real knowledge in these days of the one, true God.

There are many ways, of course, in which we may study God. The God who of old time spoke, "unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken to us in his Son," the epistle to the Hebrews tells us. And this Son, Jesus Christ, while on earth said in the great discourse and prayer with God: "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gayest me out of the world… (John 17:6). "And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:26).

True, it is in the face of Jesus Christ we best see the glory of God; yet while we are in the flesh we can only know in part at most. And it behooves us to know all we can learn of God. All the Scriptures are profitable to us for instruction and edification, but perhaps not very many people know much about the person of God as revealed in His names. Surely a study of these names should be a most profitable way of increasing that knowledge.

When Moses received a commission from God to go to His oppressed people in Egypt and deliver them from bondage, he said: "When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" (Exodus 3:13).

Now the word God or even Lord, as we see it in our English Bibles, conveys little more to us than the designation of the Supreme Being and Sovereign of the universe. It tells little about His character and ways. Indeed we cannot say all that the mysterious word God means to us until we know more about Him. And we can know little of what the word God means until we o to the language from which the word God is translated, the language which is the first written record of the revelation of Himself, the language in which He spoke to Moses and the prophets.

Missionaries and translators have always had difficulty in finding a suitable word for the Hebrew word we translate God. Those who have attempted to translate this word into Chinese, for instance, have always been divided and still are as to which word is best. One of the greatest of these translations preferred a word which means "Lord of Heaven."

Now a name in the Old Testament was often an indication of a person's character or of some peculiar quality. But what one name could be adequate to God's greatness? After all, as one writer declares, a name imposes some limitation. It means that an object or person is this and not that, is here and not there. And if the Heaven of heavens cannot contain God, how can a name describe Him? What a request of Moses, then, that was--that the infinite God should reveal Himself to finite man by any one name! We can hardly understand or appreciate Moses himself unless we see him in his many-sided character of learned man and shepherd, leader and legislator, soldier and statesman, impulsive, yet meekest of men. We can know David, too, not only as shepherd, warrior, and king, but also as a prophet, a poet, and musician.

Even so, the Old Testament contains a number of names and compound names for God which reveal Him in some aspect of His character and dealings with mankind. It is our purpose in this series of studies to examine these names and their meanings, their significance for ourselves as well as for those of old.

As one would expect, the opening statement of the Scriptures contains the name God. "In the beginning God!" The Hebrew word from which this word God is translated is Elohim. While not the most frequently occurring word for the Deity, it occurs 2,570 times. The one which occurs most frequently is the word in the King James Version translated Lord, and in the American Standard Version, Jehovah.

Elohim occurs in the first chapter of Genesis thirty-two times. After that, the name Jehovah appears as well as Elohim; and in many places a combination of the two--Jehovah-Elohim As far back as the twelfth century students noticed that these different names were used in the Bible, but thought little of it until about the eighteenth century when a French physician thought he discovered the reason for the use of different names of God. He said that the Book of Genesis (especially) was based on two other documents, one written by a man who had apparently known God only as Elohim-this was called the Elohistic document--and the other written by a man who had known God only by the name Jehovah--this was called the Jehovistic document.

Scholars pursued this theory until they thought there had originally been five or six documents, and even many fragments of documents all pieced and fitted together by a later editor, and then altered and added to by still later editors so that some of the stories we now read in Genesis and other books were made up of parts of stories from various documents and fragments. Moses was denied authorship of most of the Pentateuch. The theory was carried to such lengths of absurdity that it was far more difficult to believe than the simple, plain declaration of the Bible itself that Moses wrote these things. And indeed who, of all people, could have been in a better position and better able to write them than he? One can only think of many of these scholars that much learning hath made them mad. The point is that they could see no other basis, no other significance for the use of different names for God in the Old Testament than a literary basis--a literary significance which is no significance at all for the spiritual mind. There is a spiritual significance in the use of these different names. It is much more "rational" to believe that the great and infinite and eternal God has given us these different names to express different aspects of His being and the different relationships He sustains to His creatures.

THE MEANING OF THE WORD

In order to gain some idea of the meaning of this name of God, Elohim, we must examine its origin and note how, generally, it is used. There is some difference of opinion as to the root from which Elohim is derived. Some hold to the view that it is derived from the shorter word El, which means mighty, strong, prominent. This word El itself is translated "God" some 250 times and frequently in circumstances which especially indicate the great power of God. For instance, in Numbers 23:22 God is spoken of as the El who brought Israel up out of Egypt--"he bath as it were the strength of an unicorn" (wild ox). The Scriptures make very much of God's mighty arm in that great deliverance. So in the next verse follows: "it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, what hath God [El] wrought."

In Deuteronomy 10:17 we read that "Jehovah your Elohim is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the God or El who is great, mighty, and dreadful." It is this word El which is used in that great name Almighty God, the name under which God made great and mighty promises to Abraham and to Jacob (Genesis 17:1; 35:11 ). It is also one of the names given to that promised Son and Messiah of Isaiah 9:6, 7--God, the Mighty.

Thus, from this derivation, Elohim may be said to express the general idea of greatness and glory. In the name Jehovah, as we shall see more fully, are represented those high moral attributes of God which are displayed only to rational creatures. The name Elohim, however, contains the idea of creative and governing power, of omnipotence and sovereignty. This is clearly indicated by the fact that from Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 the word Elohim alone is used, and that thirty-five times. It is the Elohim who by His mighty power creates the vast universe; who says, and it is done; who brings into being what was not; by whose word the worlds were framed so that things which are seen were not made of the things which do appear (Hebrews 11:3). It is this Elohim with whose Greek equivalent Paul confronts the philosophers on Mars' hill saying that He made the world (cosmos) and all things, and by this very fact is constituted possessor and ruler of heaven and earth whose presence cannot be confined by space; whose power doesn't need man's aid, for through His great will and power and agency all things and nations have their very being.

It is most appropriate that by this name God should reveal Himself-bringing cosmos out of chaos, light out of darkness, habitation out of desolation, and life in His image.

There is another word from which some say Elohim is derived. It is Alah, which is said to mean to declare or to swear. Thus it is said to imply a covenant relationship. Before examining this derivation, however, it may be well to say that in either ease, whether El or Alah, the idea of omnipotence in God is expressed. To make a covenant implies the power and right to do so, and it establishes the fact of "absolute authority in the Creator and Ruler of the universe." So the Elohim is seen making a covenant with Abraham, and because there is none greater He swears by Himself. "By myself I have sworn." In Genesis 17 we see perhaps a combination of both of these derivations. Inverse 1 we have: "I am the Almighty God [El-Shaddai]; walk before me, and be thou perfect"; in verse 7: "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to he to thee Elohim and to thy seed after thee"--that is, to be with them in covenant relationship.

It is the Elohim who says to Noah, "The end of all flesh is come before me." But He cannot completely destroy the work of His hands concerning which He has made a covenant and so He continues: "But with thee will I establish my covenant" (Genesis 6:18). "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh . . . and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh" (Genesis 9:16, 15).

The Elohim remembers Abraham when He destroys the cities of the plain and for His covenant's sake spares Lot. Joseph on his deathbed declares to his brethren: "I die; but Elohim will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob" (Genesis 50:24). He is the Elohim who keeps covenant and loving-kindness with His servants who walk before Him with all their heart (I Kings 8:23).

With regard to Israel, over and over again it is written: "I shall be unto you for Elohim and ye shall be unto me for a people." The covenant element in this name is clearly seen because of God's covenant relationship to Israel, and this is especially brought out in such a passage as Jeremiah 31:33 and 32:40, where the name Elohim is used in connection with that new covenant, an everlasting covenant which God will one day make with His people Israel when He will put His law and His fear within their hearts.

To Israel in distress comes the word: "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, said your Elohim" (Isaiah 40:1). For the eternal God who covenants for and with them and us will keep His covenant.

THE PLURAL FORM

There is one other striking peculiarity in the name Elohim. It is in the plural. It has the usual Hebrew ending for all masculine nouns in the plural. A devout saint and Hebrew scholar of two centuries ago, Dr. Parkhurst, [Parkhurst, Hebrew Lexicon--see Elohim]. defined the word Elohim as a name usually given in the Scriptures to the ever blessed Trinity by which they represent themselves as under the obligation of an oath to perform certain conditions. According to this definition the Elohim covenanted not only with the creation but, as the Godhead, within itself, concerning the creation. This is seen from Psalm 110, where David says concerning his Lord, the coming anointed One or Messiah: "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." This is, of course, as the Book of Hebrews confirms, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the first and the last, the eternally begotten Son of God, the object of God's love before the foundation of the world (John 17:24); who shared God's glory before the world was (John 17:5). Colossians 1:16 tells us that by Him or in Him were all things created. But creation is the act of the Elohim. Therefore, Christ is in the Elohim or Godhead. Then even in Genesis 1:3 we read that the spirit of the Elohim moved or brooded over the face of the waters. The entire creation, animate and inanimate, was, then, not only the work of the Elohim, but the object of a covenant within the Elohim guaranteeing its redemption and perpetuation. It is quite clear that the Elohim is a plurality in unity. So, Dr. Parkhurst continues: "Accordingly Jehovah is at the beginning of creation called Elohim, which implies that the divine persons had sworn when they created."

It is significant that although plural in form it is constantly accompanied by verbs and adjectives in the singular. In the very first verse of Genesis the verb create is singular, and so all through the chapter and indeed through the Bible. In many places (as in Dent. 32:39; Isaiah 45:5, 22, etc.) we find singular pronouns. "I am Elohim and there is no Elohim beside me," Other places in the Scriptures (II Kings 19:4, 16; Psalms 7:9; 57:2, etc.) use adjectives in the singular with Elohim. In contrast with this, when the word elohim is used of heathen gods, plural adjectives are used, as in I Samuel 4:8, etc. Then again this one Elohim speaks of Himself as (Is, as in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image"; in Genesis 3:22, which speaks of man becoming like one of us; in 11:7 God says: "Let us go down and confound their language." In Genesis 35:7 Jacob builds an altar at Bethel, calling it El Beth-El, the God of the House of God because there the Elohim revealed themselves to him. Ecclesiastes 12:1 is rather, "Remember thy Creators "--plural, not singular. To the sovereign Lord of the universe, the Jehovah of hosts, whom Isaiah saw exalted high upon a throne, is ascribed the threefold Holy, and that same One from the throne calls to the prophet, "Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" So instances could be multiplied.

There are some who object to the idea of the Trinity in the word Elohim, and it is only fair to say that some conservative scholars as well as liberal and critical would not agree with it, among them John Calvin. They say that the plural is only a plural of majesty such as used by rulers and kings. But such use of the plural was not known then. We find no king of Israel speaking of himself as "we" and "us." Besides, the singular pronoun is so often used with Elohim. To be consistent with that view we should always find not "I am your Elohim," as we do find, but "We are your Elohim" [Girdlestone, Old Testament Synonyms, p. 39].

Others call it the plural of intensity and argue that the Hebrews often expressed a word in the plural to give it a stronger meaning--so blood, water, life are expressed in the plural. But as one writer points out, these arguments only favor the idea of a Trinity in the Elohim. The use of the plural only implies (even in the plural of majesty) "that the word in the singular is not full enough to set forth all that is intended." With Elohim the plural form teaches us that no finite word can adequately convey the idea of the infinite personality or the unity of persons in the Godhead.

Certainly the use of this word in the plural is wonderfully consistent with that great and precious doctrine of the Trinity, and its use as already shown in the Old Testament surely must confirm that view.

There is blessing and comfort in this great name of God signifying supreme power, sovereignty, and glory on the one hand, for "thine [Elohim] is the power and the kingdom and the glory"; and on the other hand signifying a covenant relationship which He is ever faithful to keep. Thus He says to us, "I will be to you a God" (Elohim), and we may say, "My God [Elohim]; in him will I trust'' (Psalm 91:2).

2. JEHOVAH

IN THE AUTHORIZED or King James Version of our Bible the Hebrew word Jehovah is translated "LORD" in capitals to distinguish it from another Hebrew word, Adonai, also translated Lord. The Hebrew word is transliterated Jehovah in the American Standard Version. Jehovah is the name by far the most frequently employed in the Old Testament, occurring 6,823 times. It appears for the first time in Genesis 2:4, here together with Elohim as Jehovah-Elohim, and so all through the second and third chapters, except in the story of the temptation where only the name Elohim appears. After this we find the name of Jehovah alone, or Jehovah and Elohim together, or sometimes we find the two names used separately even in one sentence. This makes it difficult for those critics who would tell us that wherever the names Jehovah and Elohim appear separately they come from different documents, for it is incongruous to conceive of a later writer who took bits of different documents to put together even one sentence.

For example, Jacob in his dream at Beth-El hears the voice of God saying: "I am Jehovah, the Elohim of Abraham thy father, and the Elohim of Isaac" (Genesis 28:13). It is much easier and more satisfactory to conceive here of a spiritual significance, a divine purpose in a single revelation, and a unity of authorship in the use of these divine names. It is incredible that God should have revealed Himself (as many of these critics have claimed) to one person only as Elohim, and to another person or group only as Jehovah, and then left it to later unknown writers to take bits from here and there and fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle. The wonder and glory of the divine Person in His character and relationships as revealed in His names could hardly have been inspired in such fashion.

DERIVATION AND MEANING OF THE NAME

The name Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew verb havah, "to be," or "being." This word is almost exactly like the Hebrew verb, chavah, "to live," or "life." One can readily see the connection between being and life. Thus when we read the name Jehovah, or Lord in capital letters, in our Bible we think in terms of being or existence and life, and we must think of Jehovah as the Being who is absolutely self-existent, the One who in Himself possesses essential life, permanent existence. It is worth observing in this connection that the Hebrew personal pronoun translated "he" in our Bible is strikingly similar in the Hebrew to the verb havah, which means being. And in some significant passages, the word he, used of God, is the equivalent to the true and eternal God, that is, the One who always exists, eternal and unchangeable. For instance, we read in Isaiah 43:10, 11: "I am he: before me there was no Elohim formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah and beside me there is no saviour." Then in Psalm 102:27 we read: "But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." Literally translated, it should read: 'Thou art he, and thy years shall have no end"; the he, so much like the Hebrew word for being, is the equivalent of "the same," the One of old whose years have no end--that is, without beginning and without end.

The most noted Jewish commentator of the Middle Ages, Moses Maimonides, said with regard to this name: "All the names of God which occur in Scripture are derived from His works except one, and that is Jehovah; and this is called the plain name, because it teaches plainly and unequivocally of the substance of God." Another has said: "In the name Jehovah the personality of the Supreme is distinctly expressed. It is everywhere a proper name denoting the person of God, and Him only--Elohim--denoting usually the Supreme. The Hebrew may say the Elohim, the true God, in opposition to all false gods; but he never says the Jehovah, for Jehovah is the name of the true God only. He says again and again, my God or my Elohim, but never my Jehovah, for when he says my God he means Jehovah. He speaks of the God (Elohim) of Israel but never of the Jehovah of Israel, for there is no other Jehovah. He speaks of the living God, but never of the living Jehovah, for he cannot conceive of Jehovah as other than living" [Girdlestone, Old Testament Synonyms, p. 62].

RELATION TO ISRAEL

The origin and meaning of the name Jehovah are especially brought out in relation to Israel. When Moses at the burning bush says to God: "Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The Elohim of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" And the Lord said to Moses, I am that I am." The words could be rendered, "I will be that I will be,'' and often the word is used in that sense. "I will be with thee." Its origin is exactly the same as that of Jehovah--being, existence--and certainly denotes the One who will always be: personal, continuous, absolute existence.

The point here, however, is that when God wished to make a special revelation of Himself, He used the name Jehovah. As Jehovah, He is especially the God of revelation to creatures who can apprehend and appreciate the Infinite--the becoming One. 'Thus sat then say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you . . . Jehovah, the Elohim of your fathers … of Abraham . . . of Isaac, and ... of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:14, 15). Then in Exodus 6:2, 3 is written: "I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as El-Shaddai [God Almighty], and as to my name Jehovah, I was not understood [known] by them; yet verily I have established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan."

We have already noted that the name Jehovah appears as early as Genesis 2 and certainly it is used with special significance in regard to God's rational, moral creatures, but the two passages above do suggest: (1) that though the name Jehovah is thus frequently used as the title of the Elohim of the Patriarchs, its full significance was not revealed to them; (2) it was now revealed in connection with God's covenant and promise to a people; (3) that now, after some hundreds of years, the true significance of the name was to be unfolded by the manifestation of God as a persona!, living Being, fulfilling to the people of Israel the promises made to their fathers. Here then, the ever living God reveals Himself to His covenant people, as the unchanging God who remains faithful to His word through many generations. "God's personal existence, the continuity of His dealings with man, the unchangeableness of His promises, and the whole revelation of His redeeming mercy gathers round the name Jehovah."

Elohim is the general name of God concerned with the creation and preservation of the world, that is. His works. As Jehovah, He is the God of revelation in the expression of Himself in His essential moral and spiritual attributes. But He is especially, as Jehovah, the God of revelation to Israel. To Japheth and his descendants, He is the Elohim, the transcendent Deity, but to Shout and his descendants, through Abraham and Isaac, He is Jehovah, the God of revelation. All the nations had their elohim: and even had they retained the true and only Elohim in their knowledge, He would still have been to them chiefly Elohim. But the Elohim of Israel (when they were not backsliding) was Jehovah, who had especially revealed Himself to them. Thus the constant cry of the faithful Israelite was, "O Jehovah, thou art our Elohim" (II Chronicles 14:11), "Thou art Elohim alone" (Psalm 86:10).

It is interesting, as one writer points out, to note the change of these two names of the Deity throughout the Old Testament beyond Exodus 6:3. Such universalistic books as Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Jonah, have Elohim almost exclusively. On the other hand, the strong theocratic and historical books relating to Israel, such as Joshua. Judges. Samuel, Kings, have chiefly Jehovah. The same is true of the Psalms, which may be divided on this basis into two parts. Psalms 42 to 84 almost exclusively use Elohim and other compound names of God: while the other psalms use chiefly Jehovah. It is not merely a matter of difference of authors, for psalms in both sections are ascribed to David. It is rather a difference of purpose.

Thus to Israel, the medium of the revelation of Himself through the Word--the written Word--and the medium also of the revelation of Himself in the flesh--the living Word--He is especially Jehovah, the God of revelation, the ever-becoming One. Yes, and "the coming One" too, the One who shall be, to appear for man's redemption: the permanent and unchangeable One, for "I am Jehovah; I change not"; "the same yesterday, today and forever." And in this revelation of Himself it is never "thus saith God'' or Elohim, but always ''thus saith the Lord'' or Jehovah.

JEHOVAH--THE GOD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS AND LOVE

The name Jehovah has still further significance for its in that it reveals God as a God of moral and spiritual attributes. One could, perhaps, assume that the Elohim, as the mighty omnipotent One who created this vast universe and who. within the Godhead, covenanted to preserve it, possessed these attributes, but the name and usage of the title Jehovah clearly reveals it. Whereas the term Elohim assumes a love toward all creation and creatures as the work of His hands, the flame Jehovah reveals this love as conditioned upon moral and spiritual attributes. In this connection it is significant that the name Jehovah, as we have already noted, does not appear till Genesis 2:4. Till then the narrative is concerned only with the general account of the entire creation. But now begins the special account of the creation of man and God's special relationship to man as distinct from the lower creation. God now comes into communion with the one whom He has made in His image, and the Elohim now is called Jehovah-Elohim, who blesses the earth for the sake of man, His representative upon it. The Creator called man into existence as the one being on earth who should have capacity for the enjoyment of God; and the attributes which appear in the name 'Jehovah,' and which were not wanted for the creation of material world, were only made visible when man came forth from God's hand" [Webb-Peploe. Titles of Jehovah, p. 12].

It is as Jehovah that God places man under moral obligations with a warning of punishment for disobedience. Thou shalt and thou shalt not. How significant in the light of this that when Satan tempts Eve to disobedience he does not mention the name Jehovah, but only Elohim, nor does Eve mention it in her reply to him. Is it because the name Jehovah is not known to them, or rather because deliberate purpose on Satan's part to deceive and an incipient sense of guilt within Eve suppress that name? Can one do evil and mention that name at the same time? And how significant, too, that after their sin they hide, and then hear the voice of Jehovah-God in the garden, saying, "Where art thou?" demanding an account of their actions.

That image of Jehovah-God in which man was created is revealed to its in the New Testament as "righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). To Israel of old righteousness and holiness were the two great attributes associated with the name Jehovah. So holy and sacred was that name to them that they feared to pronounce it. Perhaps that fear was based on Moses' injunction that they should not profane that name, and the penalty of death imposed for blasphemy of the name Jehovah (hey. 24:16); but to this day the name Jehovah is never read in the synagogue nor uttered by this people, the word Adonai being substituted for it, and by many simply a word meaning "the Name." Thus the original pronunciation of that name we call Jehovah, regarded as too sacred to be uttered, has been lost to this day. Indeed, orthodox Jewry will regard it as a sign of Messiahship in the one who can truly pronounce it.

Jehovah is righteous, He loveth righteousness (Psalm 11:7); Jehovah our Elohim is righteous in all His works (Dan. 9:14). "Just and right is he," says Moses. And 'shall not the Judge of all the earth do right," says Abraham to the Jehovah before whom he stood (Genesis 18:25). The holiness of this Jehovah is magnified throughout the Old Testament. His first requirement of those who should be His witnesses is: "Ye shall he holy: for I Jehovah your Elohim, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2).

"Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts," cry the seraphim, and that is His glory. Jehovah is ever the Holy One of Israel.

It is this righteousness of Jehovah against which man sins. And a righteous Jehovah whose holiness is thus violated and outraged must condemn unrighteousness and punish it. So it is Jehovah who pronounces judgment and metes out punishment. It is Jehovah who sends man forth from the garden, for Jehovah is of purer eyes than to behold evil (Habakkuk 1:13). Jehovah created man to enjoy and to exhibit His righteousness." So He demands righteousness and justice and holiness from the creatures made in His image. It is as .Jehovah that He looks upon a wicked and corrupt earth arid says, "I will destroy." It is as Jehovah that He rains fire and brimstone upon an iniquitous Sodom and Gomorrah. It is as Jehovah that He is angered so often against a sinning, wicked Israel. It is Jehovah who says to Moses: "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book" (Exodus 32:33).

But as Jehovah he is also Love. His love makes Him grieve and suffer for the sins and sorrows of His creatures. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love," says Jeremiah (31:3) of Jehovah. In the Book of Judges we read again and again (10:6, 7, etc.) that when Israel forsook Jehovah and served the elohim of the peoples about them, Jehovah's anger brought grievous punishment upon them; but of the same Jehovah it is said: 'His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel" (Judges 10:16). "In all their afflictions he was afflicted," says Isaiah (63:9) in a context full of the love and pity of Jehovah. "How can I give thee up O Ephraim ... my heart heaves within me, my repentings, together they are kindled" (Hosea 11:8).

But while, as Jehovah, His holiness must condemn, He is also Love, and His love redeems; and He seeks to bring man hack into fellowship with Himself. So, as one writer says: "Wherever the name 'Jehovah' appears, after man has fallen from original righteousness, what see we--but that God is ever seeking the restoration of man." He comes seeking Adam and Eve. He teaches man how to approach Him anew by means of sacrifice, a substitute. This is the clear implication of Abel's approach to God through the sacrifice of a life, and the rejection of Cain's approach for lack of it. In the whole sacrificial system, both in the Patriarchal and Levitical dispensations, the object of approach is Jehovah as distinct from Elohim. It is interesting to note in this connection that in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, which especially set forth the system of sacrifice, Elohim occurs only once alone, and once together with Jehovah, while Jehovah occurs eighty-six times. The same is true of the sixteenth chapter of this book which speaks of the great Day of Atonement, where only the name Jehovah occurs, and that, twelve times. It is further interesting to note in connection with the account of the Ark and the Flood that in Genesis 6:22 we read that Noah did according to all that God (Elohim) commanded him, while in Genesis 7:5 it is said that Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded him. The context will reveal that in the first reference the name Elohim is used with reference to the bringing in of two of every kind of creature into the Ark, for their preservation. The mighty Elohim who has created is also the Covenant-Elohim who has covenanted to preserve that creation. In Genesis 7:5, however, the name Jehovah is used in connection with the command to bring into the Ark seven pairs of every clean beast.

It is not merely for preservation now but for that sacrifice upon which forgiveness and fellowship with Jehovah are based. It was of these clean beasts that Noah offered burnt offerings to Jehovah after the flood [Jukes, The Names of God in Holy Scripture, p. 47].

At the close of the fourth chapter of Genesis, that chapter of tragedy for Adam and Eve, the new son born to them is named Enos, which is a word for man denoting a weak and fallen state. It signifies helplessness. And then men began to call on the name of Jehovah. Weak, helpless man finds he needs more than the mighty, omnipotent, transcendent Being signified by the name Elohim. He needs that favor and fellowship with the divine Being for which he was made, and which is signified by Jehovah. It is the attribute of love in Jehovah which restores to communion with Himself that man who has sinned against His righteousness and holiness. ''From the earliest days the name of Jehovah was taken as the embodiment of that hope for the human race which found expression in sacrifice and in prayer" [Girdlestone, Old Testament Synonyms, p. 65].

So the love in Jehovah does not forsake fallen man. His Spirit continues to strive with man in a period of utter corruption. It is as Jehovah He manifests Himself in covenants and acts of deliverance and redemption. To the children of Israel in cruel and groveling bondage He says, "I am Jehovah, I will bring you out' (Exodus 6:6).

God is always Jehovah to Israel because of His great redemption and deliverance of them. He is in constant communication with Moses. His glory descends upon the tabernacle like a cloud, and Jehovah speaks with Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend (Exodus 33:9, 11). What a marvelous passage, and how revealing of what is contained in that wonderful name in Exodus 34:5-7: "And Jehovah descended in the cloud and proclaimed Jehovah by name. And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth; keeping loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and sin" (ASV)!

Speaking of a day of redemption in grace even yet in the future Zechariah says: "I will say it is my people, and they shall say, Jehovah is my God" (Zechariah 13:9). Jehovah, yea, even Jehovah is my God. It is Jehovah that Isaiah says is "a just God and a Saviour." "Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth.

Only in Jehovah is righteousness and strength; even to hint shall men come" (Isaiah 45:22, 24). "Blessed," indeed, 'the people who know the joyful sound: O Jehovah in the light of thy countenance they shall walk. In thy name [Jehovah] they shall rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness they shall be exalted" (Psalm 89:15, 16).

3 EL- SHADDAI

IN OUR DISCUSSION of the name Jehovah it was discovered that the first great revelation of the significance of that name was given to Israel in Egypt. They were the people of His covenant with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, a separated people through whom a righteous and holy God would work out His purpose of redemption for mankind. In Exodus 3:14, 15, He thus revealed Himself: "I am that I am ... Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever and ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations." Then in Exodus 6:2, 3 it is written: "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah, I was not known [or was not made known] to them." It was suggested that by this it was meant that the Patriarchs had not understood the full significance of that name. Naturally the full significance of a name which means the ever-existent One, the eternal, the ever-becoming One--that is, the One continually revealing Himself and His ways and purposes could not be understood except after centuries and centuries of unfolding of events and experiences. The point here is, however, that God was known especially to the Patriarchs by this name God Almighty, or in the Hebrew, El-Shaddai.

The name appears first in connection with Abraham. In Genesis 17:1, 2, we read, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, Jehovah appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am God Almighty [El-Shaddai]: walk before me, and be then perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly." The occasion was the confirmation of a promise already made to Abram to make him a great nation (Genesis 12:2), to make his seed as the dust of the earth innumerable (Genesis 13:16), and (Genesis 15:5), like the stars of heaven, referring perhaps to a spiritual seed, also innumerable. Then we are told that Abram believed Jehovah, who reckoned it to him for righteousness. But the years passed, and Abram had no child. He was getting to he an old man and Sarai an old woman. Still there was no seed. That faith which God had reckoned to him for righteousness was beginning to dim a little. Then it lapsed for a while, and they adopted that fleshly and unfortunate expedient which brought Ishmael and Mohammedanism into the world, but did not bring the fulfillment of the promise. Again the years went by and Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and the promise, by human reckoning, was now impossible of fulfillment. But is anything too hard for Jehovah? Nothing is impossible with Him! And it is precisely at this point and in this connection, as we shall see later, that the promise of a seed is confirmed, and the name of Abram changed to Abraham with the revelation of God as El-Shaddai, or God Almighty.

DERIVATION AND MEANING OF THE NAME

Now what does the term God Almighty mean? We might begin by saying what it does not mean, and by ridding ourselves of a common misconception. True, the word almighty does suggest the all-powerful, the mighty, the power to be able to do anything and everything at any time. Certainly there cannot be anything beyond God's power. But this is indicated in the word God in this name, and not so much in the word we translate "almighty." The word for God here is El--El-Shaddai--God Almighty. In our first study, we discovered that the name Elohim is derived primarily from this word el, and that it stood for might, power, omnipotence, transcendence, the name connected especially with Creation. We learned that the word el itself is translated "God" over 200 times in the Bible with that general significance. "Thou art the El that doest wonders: thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples" (Psalm 77:14). He is "the El of Israel who giveth strength and might to the people" (Psalm 68:35). And Moses says of Him: 'What El is there in the heavens or in the earth who can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?" (Deuteronomy 3:24). It is the word Isaiah uses in the wonderful fortieth chapter of his prophecy of the mighty, incomparable God. It is the word often used to denote God's power to interpose or intervene. So Nehemiah calls upon the great, the mighty, and the terrible El to intervene in behalf of His people (9:32).

This word el is also translated by such words as "might" and "power," with regard to men. Laban says to Jacob: "It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt" (Genesis 31:29). The word for power is el. In Proverbs 3:27 we read: "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power [the el] of thine hand to do it .""They practice evil," says Micah (2:1), "because it is in the power of their hand." The psalmist speaks of Him as "the El that girdeth me with strength" (18:32).

It seems clear, then, with regard to this name God Almighty, or El-Shaddai, that the idea of all might and all power is abundantly expressed in the term God or El. How, then, shall we understand that part of the name called Almighty or Shaddai?

In the first place, it is true that there is some difference of opinion as to the root meaning of this word. The translation of it as "almighty" is due to the influence of that ancient Latin version of the Bible called the Vulgate, which dates back to the fourth century A.D., and was written by Jerome. There are some scholars who simply dismiss the matter by saying its derivation is doubtful. Other modern scholars believe it comes from a root meaning strong, powerful, or to do violence, especially in the sense of one who is so powerful as to be able to set aside or do violence to the laws of nature or the ordinary course of nature. It is true that this is what happened in connection with the revelation of this name to Abraham, for the deadness of their bodies was overcome, and Isaac was born in fulfillment of the promise after their bodies were considered dead. Thus one scholar writes that "Elohim is the God who creates nature so that it is and supports it so that it continues, El-Shaddai the God who compels nature to do what is contrary to itself." And so another says that as El-Shaddai He reveals Himself by special deeds of power.

It is quite likely that there is some connection between the name Shaddai and the root from which some modern scholars think it is derived, but in view of the circumstances under which it is often used and in view of the translation of another word almost exactly like it, we believe it has another derivation and a more significant meaning than that of special power.

Shaddai itself occurs forty-eight times in the Old Testament and is translated "almighty." The other word so like it, and from which we believe it to be derived, occurs twenty-four times and is translated "breast." As connected with the word breast, the title Shaddai signifies one who nourishes, supplies, satisfies. Connected with the word for God, El, it then becomes the "One mighty to nourish, satisfy, supply." Naturally with God the idea would be intensified, and it comes to mean the One who "sheds forth" and "pours" out sustenance and blessing. In this sense, then, God is the all-sufficient, the all-bountiful. For example, Jacob upon his deathbed, blessing his sons and forecasting their future, says in Genesis 49:24, 25, concerning Joseph: ". . . the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob… even by the God [Eli of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty [Shaddai], who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above. blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb." The distinction and significance of names here is quite striking and obvious. It is God as El who helps, but it is God as Shaddai who abundantly blesses with all manner of blessings, and blessings of the breast.

This derivation as related to God is even more strikingly brought out in two passages in the Book of Isaiah. In 60:15, 16, speaking of the restoration of the people Israel in the future, Isaiah says: "Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated ... I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and [thus] thou shalt know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob." Here the idea of bounty under the figure of blessings of the breast is directly associated with God. In Isaiah 66:10-13, one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture, it is even more directly expressed. In verses 10 and 11 the prophet calls upon all who love Jerusalem and mourn over her to rejoice and be glad in her redemption and restoration. "That ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory." In verse 12 he continues: "For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck" and in verse 13: "as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." The point is that the word translated "breast" in these passages is the Hebrew shad from which is derived Shaddai, the name of God translated "almighty" in our Bibles.

In that ancient version of the Bible we call the Septuagint, translated by Jewish scholars from the Hebrew into Greek more than 250 years B.C., this name Shaddai is rendered a number of times by a Greek word ikanos which can be translated "all-sufficient." The ancient rabbis also said that the word shaddai was made up of two particles which, put together, meant "s