The Names of God

In the Bible, a name is more than a label; it reveals character, authority, and nature. The disclosure of a divine name is itself a covenantal act: when God revealed His name to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14-15) and again at Sinai (Exodus 6:2-3), He was not merely imparting information, but binding Himself to His people and opening a relationship. The names used for God in Scripture together form a rich portrait of His attributes and His dealings with humanity.

Primary Names of God

1. Elohim (God)

• Meaning: The most common Hebrew word for God, Elohim is grammatically plural but normally takes singular verbs, a construction used to express majesty and the fullness of the divine being. It emphasizes God as the transcendent Creator and Judge of the universe. Some see in the plural form an early hint of the Trinity, though that reading is debated.
• Examples: Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1.

2. YHWH — The LORD

• Meaning: The personal, covenant name of God, consisting of four Hebrew consonants (יהוה) called the Tetragrammaton. It is derived from the verb hayah ("to be"), revealed to Moses as אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה — "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). It signifies God's self-existence, His eternity, and His faithfulness to His covenant promises. English Bibles render it as LORD (in small capitals) to distinguish it from Adonai.
• Examples: Exodus 3:14-15, Exodus 6:2-3, Psalm 83:18.

A note on "Jehovah": The name Jehovah is derived from YHWH but is not an authentic Hebrew form; it arose from a medieval scribal misunderstanding. Because the divine name was considered too holy to pronounce, Jewish scribes (the Masoretes) wrote the vowel points of Adonai beneath the consonants YHWH as a reminder to substitute that word when reading aloud. Medieval Christian scholars, unaware of this convention, took the text at face value and combined the consonants of YHWH with the vowel sounds of Adonai to produce the hybrid "Jehovah." The KJV retains this form in a handful of places (Exodus 6:3, Psalm 83:18, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 26:4), but modern scholarship is unanimous that it is not a real Hebrew word. The best reconstruction of the original pronunciation is Yahweh.

3. Yah (LORD)

• Meaning: A shortened form of YHWH, used especially in poetry and liturgical contexts. It appears in the exclamation הַלְלוּיָהּ — "Praise Yah!" — which is preserved untranslated in many languages. It occurs 49 times in the Hebrew Bible, predominantly in the Psalms.
• Examples: Exodus 15:2, Psalm 68:4, Psalm 150:6.

4. Adonai (Lord / Master)

• Meaning: From the Hebrew Adon ("lord, master"), with a possessive suffix — essentially "my Lord." Used in the plural of majesty (Adonai) when addressing God, it emphasizes God's sovereignty, His ownership of all creation, and the proper posture of the believer as servant before master. Because Jewish tradition avoided pronouncing YHWH aloud, Adonai became its standard oral substitute, and the Greek Kurios (Lord) follows the same convention in the New Testament.
• Examples: Genesis 15:2, Exodus 4:10, Psalm 8:1.

Compound Names with Yahweh

These names reveal particular ways in which God relates to His people's needs and circumstances. Each arose from a defining moment in Israel's history.

Compound Names with El

El is the most basic word for "God" in the Semitic languages, cognate with the Ugaritic and Akkadian words for deity, and often denoting power or strength.

1. El Shaddai (God Almighty)

• Meaning: Traditionally rendered "God Almighty." The etymology of Shaddai is uncertain — proposals range from the Akkadian šadû ("mountain") to the Hebrew shad ("breast," suggesting nourishment and sufficiency) to shadad ("to overpower"). In biblical usage, however, it evokes God as the sufficient source of blessing who governs fertility and inheritance.
• Examples: Genesis 17:1, Genesis 35:11, Job 1:1, Psalm 91:1.

2. El Elyon (God Most High)

• Meaning: Emphasizes God's supremacy over all gods, nations, and powers. Melchizedek blesses Abraham in the name of El Elyon as the possessor (qoneh) of heaven and earth, a title Abraham immediately identifies with YHWH (Genesis 14:22).
• Examples: Genesis 14:18-20, Numbers 24:16, Psalm 78:35, Daniel 7:18.

3. El Olam (The Everlasting God)

• Meaning: Points to God's eternal nature — without beginning or end, and whose purposes endure through all generations. Olam can mean both "eternity" and "hidden" or "distant time," suggesting that God's existence extends beyond the horizon in both directions.
• Examples: Genesis 21:33, Psalm 90:1-2, Isaiah 40:28.

4. El Roi (The God Who Sees)

• Meaning: Coined by Hagar in the wilderness after she encountered the angel of the LORD. The name captures God's awareness of the suffering and circumstances of individuals, even those on the margins. It is unique in Scripture as a name given to God by a human being.
• Examples: Genesis 16:13.

5. El Qanna (Jealous/Zealous God)

• Meaning: Not jealous in a sinful sense, but zealous — committed to His own honor and to the exclusive devotion of His people. The same root (qin'ah) drives Phinehas's act of zeal (Numbers 25:11) and echoes in the disciples' recollection of Psalm 69:9 at the temple cleansing (John 2:17).
• Examples: Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24.

6. El Gibbor (Mighty God)

• Meaning: "God, the warrior/champion." It appears as one of the throne names of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6, placing it in an explicitly messianic context. The same title is used for YHWH in Isaiah 10:21 and Jeremiah 32:18, so its application to the coming child in Isaiah 9 functions as a declaration of His divine identity.
• Examples: Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 10:21, Jeremiah 32:18.

7. El Berith (God of the Covenant)

• Meaning: "God of the covenant" (berith). The name appears in the context of Shechem's pagan temple (Judges 9:46). Whether the Shechemites understood this deity as YHWH under a covenantal title or as a distinct Canaanite god is debated. At minimum, the title shows how central covenant-making was in the ancient Canaanite world.
• Examples: Judges 9:46.

8. El Elohe Yisrael (God, the God of Israel)

• Meaning: "God is the God of Israel." Jacob gave this name to the altar he built after his encounter with God at Peniel and his reconciliation with Esau — a public declaration that the God who had wrestled with him was the God of Israel.
• Examples: Genesis 33:20.

New Testament Names and Titles

The New Testament, written in Greek, continues and deepens the revelation of God's character, now centered on the person of Jesus Christ, in whom "all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9).

The Father

• Theos (θεός): The Greek equivalent of Elohim, used for God generally. In the NT it most commonly refers to God the Father.
• Kurios (κύριος): The Greek equivalent of both Adonai and YHWH. The Septuagint (Greek OT) used Kurios to translate YHWH, so when the NT applies this title to Jesus (Philippians 2:9-11, Romans 10:13), it is making a direct claim to His deity.
• Abba (אַבָּא): An Aramaic term of intimate address for "Father," used by Jesus in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36) and taught by the Spirit to believers (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6). It expresses the intimacy with God that the gospel makes possible.
• Pantokrator (παντοκράτωρ): "Almighty / the All-Ruling One," used especially in Revelation and in the Septuagint to render YHWH Sabaoth. It emphasizes God's sovereign authority over all creation (Revelation 1:8, Revelation 4:8).

Jesus Christ

• The Logos (ὁ λόγος): "The Word." John's prologue (John 1:1-14) presents Jesus as the pre-existent, divine Word through whom all things were created and in whom God's self-revelation reaches its fullest expression. The term carries echoes of both the Hebrew davar (God's powerful word in creation) and Greek philosophical concepts of the rational principle underlying reality.
• Ego Eimi (ἐγώ εἰμι): "I AM." Jesus uses this phrase repeatedly in John's Gospel. The absolute uses without a predicate (John 8:58, John 18:6) resonate strongly with God's self-disclosure in Exodus 3:14, and many interpreters read them as implicit claims to divine identity — a reading supported by the violent reactions of Jesus' hearers. How explicit the divine-name allusion is in any given instance remains debated, since ἐγώ εἰμι can also serve as ordinary self-identification ("It is I"), but the cumulative pattern in John's Gospel carries clear christological weight.
• Alpha and Omega: The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, applied to God the Father in Revelation 1:8 and to the risen Christ in Revelation 22:13. It means that God is the source, sustainer, and goal of all things — "the beginning and the end."