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• Plan One: New Testament Only
• Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
• Plan Three: New Testament + History
• Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3

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Overflow

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(Today’s Reading)

YHWH in the Old Testament

(Essay Installment 3)

Names versus Titles

In the previous section, I gave various names and titles of God in the Old Testament without regard for distinguishing a personal name from a title. In this section I want to make that distinction clear and explain its importance.

YHWH is the only proper personal name of Israel’s God. By contrast, consider these titles of Israel’s God:

• Elohim (meaning God or gods) is a category of being.
• Adonai (meaning lord or master) is a title of respect.
• El Shaddai (meaning God Almighty) is a description.

Other heavenly beings could be called Elohim in the Old Testament. Other heavenly beings could be called Adonai in the Old Testament. Other heavenly beings could be called almighty in the Old Testament. But no other heavenly being in the Old Testament is called YHWH.

So it turns out that the logic of YHWH being the unique personal name of God in the Old Testament emphatically implies the importance of the name just as much as the math did.

The Meaning of Proper Personal Names

That Israel’s God would give Himself a name that had meaning is fully consistent with Old Testament practices of naming persons.

Moses himself was given a name with meaning. There’s word play between “Moses” and “water” but we don’t see it – unless we know how to read Hebrew.

Exodus 2:10 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

Moses was associated with water, as Adam had been associated with the ground. Again, there is Hebrew word play at work.

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Your Bible may have footnotes on these verses about Noah and Adam, or on other verses about such word plays.

Here’s another example: The name “Noah” was a play on the word “rest.”

Gen 5:29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”

This doesn’t mean that every time people heard the name “Moses,” the word “water” came to mind. Or that people heard the name “Adam” and the “ground” was their very next thought. Or that the name “Noah” made people think of “rest.” In fact, a lot of people forgot these associations over time. And it was certainly the case that people could learn a name without ever knowing why it was chosen.

The important thing about Old Testament names is that they were chosen for a purpose. That purpose could be remembered, and sustained meditation on that purpose could increase one’s understanding of the person and his or her context. Contrast that with modern naming practices where people often choose a name of an existing person for no more reason than the way it looks or sounds and/or how uniquely it is spelled. Doesn’t give much food for thought.

“Water,” “Ground,” and “Rest” are nouns that speak of fundamental realities, but what speaks more fundamentally than “Is” (“To Be”)? Thus God’s proper personal name – YHWH – is a feast for thought. Most people never think beyond “I am,” if that far, but there’s a lot in that name for anyone willing to ponder it.