The divine name

A name written but not spoken

Deuteronomy 6:4 is the confession Jewish worshippers have recited daily for many centuries.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.

Deuteronomy 6:4

The third word, יְהוָה, is God's own name. It was first written with four consonants only, יהוה, and it occurs about 6,500 times. Leaving aside little pieces that are joined to other words, such as וְ "and" and הַ "the", only the object marker אֵת is more frequent. Yet it is not read as written. Out of reverence, Jewish readers learned to say Adonai (אֲדֹנָי, "my Lord") whenever they came to it, and that is how this course reads it too: אֲדֹנָי, "adonai".

The scribes who added vowel points to the text, the Masoretes, left a reminder of this practice. They put the vowels of אֲדֹנָי on the four consonants, and that gave the odd-looking יְהוָה. The app's lexicon shows the word as יְהֹוָה. If you read those vowels literally you get "Yehovah", which is where the older English "Jehovah" and the Korean 여호와 come from. Many scholars, on the other hand, reconstruct the original pronunciation as "Yahweh", and that is the transliteration the 원어 panel prints. The reconstruction is an informed estimate, not a certainty. For your reading, then: written יְהוָה, spoken Adonai; English Bibles such as the BSB print "the LORD" in capitals.

The panel tags this word "noun, proper, title". "Proper" means a name, and in this database title marks a name or title used of God. You see the same tag in Exodus 3:15, יְהוָה. This is the one new label of the lesson.

Words for "Lord"

אֲדֹנָי has its own place. It occurs about 440 times. In Genesis 15:2 Abram addresses God with it.

אֲדֹנָי is "Lord". What if the name follows it? Reading "Adonai Adonai" would sound odd, so the Masoretes pointed the name in that spot with the vowels of אֱלֹהִים instead: יֱהוִה. It is a signal to read "Adonai Elohim", and English Bibles print "Lord GOD". This form occurs about 306 times, and the panel gives both words the tag "title".

A related ordinary word is אָדוֹן, "adon", "lord, master". It occurs about 330 times and can be used of a human master or of God, as in אָדוֹן in Psalm 114:7. The panel treats it as a common noun, not a name.

Words for "God"

You have already read אֱלֹהִים, "elohim".

The word has a plural-looking ending, ִים. When it means the one God, the verb is singular. Here אֱלֹהִים is labelled plural, while "created", בָּרָא, is third person singular. People explain this in different ways. We simply note it: a plural form, used of the one God, with a singular verb. The same word can also mean "gods", as in "no other gods" in Exodus 20:3 (אֱלֹהִים), so the context decides. We will study plural endings in the next lesson.

The shorter word is אֵל, "el", which occurs about 205 times. In Numbers 23:19 אֵל is "God" ("God is not a man"), and in Psalm 19:1 אֵל is "God" again. It also turns up inside names, for instance the end of יִשְׂרָאֵל, "Israel".

One more title: "LORD of Hosts". See Psalm 24:10.

יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, "adonai tzevaot" when you read it aloud, means "the LORD of Hosts". The word צְבָאוֹת is "armies, hosts", and it occurs about 285 times. You will meet it again in Isaiah 6:3, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts".

Reading about the name

Finally, one line of Exodus 3:15. God tells Moses to speak his name, and says in the BSB, "This is My name forever" Exodus 3:15.

זֶה־ is "this", שְּׁמִי "my name", לְעֹלָם "forever". The maqqef (־) after זֶה ties it to the next word, as you learned. So you can read "this is my name forever" in the Hebrew.

Summary

יְהוָה is written with the vowels of אֲדֹנָי and read "Adonai"; English Bibles print "the LORD". After אֲדֹנָי, the name is written יֱהוִה and read "Adonai Elohim", "Lord GOD". Other words for God are אֱלֹהִים (plural in form), אֵל and the title יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, "LORD of Hosts"; אָדוֹן is an ordinary word for "lord". In the panel, יְהוָה is "noun, proper, title".

Words in this lesson

• יְהֹוָהyehovahLORD6,514 times in the OT
• יְהֹוִהyehovihYHWH/God306 times in the OT
• אֲדֹנָיadonaiLord440 times in the OT
• אֵלelGod205 times in the OT
• צָבָאtsavaHosts285 times in the OT
• אָדוֹןadonlord333 times in the OT

Practice