BSN: References to Jesus as YHWH

OT YHWH Texts Applied to Jesus by the Authors of the NT

All eight of the New Testament’s authors identified Jesus as YHWH from the Old Testament. The eight are listed here in the order of their first appearance in the New Testament. The citations included are not an exhaustive list, but they are more than enough to make the point that the apostles saw Jesus not just as God’s promised Messiah, but also as the Lord (YHWH) of the Old Testament.

Matthew

Mt 3:1-3 quoting Is 40:3-5 (parallels: Mk 1:1-4; Lk 3:2-6; Jn 1:23)
Mt 23:37-39 an allusion (compare with Lk 13:34-35 and Ruth 2:12)
Mt 21:1-9 see note on Jn 12:12-16 below about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey and prophesied by the prophet Zechariah. Matthew also quotes Zechariah.
Mt 26:14-16; 27:3-10 quoting Zech 11:12-13

Mark

Mk 1:1-4 quoting Mal 3 and Is 40 (parallels: Mt 3:1-3; Lk 3:2-6; Jn 1:23)
Mk 11:1-10 see note on Jn 12:12-16 below about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey and prophesied by the prophet Zechariah. Neither Mark nor Luke quote Zechariah as Matthew and John do, but the allusion is obvious by the visual description of the event.

Luke

Lk 3:2-6 quoting Is 40:3-5 (parallels: Mt 3:1-3; Mk 1-4; Jn 1:23)
Lk 13:34-35 an allusion (compare with Mt 23:37-39 and Ruth 2:12)
Lk 19:28 see note on Jn 12:12-16 below about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey and prophesied by the prophet Zechariah. Neither Luke nor Mark quote Zechariah as Matthew and John do, but the allusion is obvious by the visual description of the event.
Acts 2:36 following Joel 2, Ps 16, and Ps 110 quotations in verses 20, 21, 25, and 34. Peter is declaring that God made Jesus BOTH Lord (YHWH per LXX) and Christ. This is especially powerful coming on the heels of 2:35 which quotes Ps 110:1, which Jesus, in Matt 22:41-46 affirms “my Lord” to apply to Christ while “The LORD” obviously had referred to YHWH. All the Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem at that Feast of Pentecost who believed Jesus took that understanding back with them to their respective homes, spread across three continents when the Christian movement was at its very beginning. Paul wouldn’t be along for another year or two. Thus the awareness that Jesus had been YHWH was a fundamental of Christian belief from the earliest days.
Acts 7:59 alluding to an appeal to YHWH and perhaps to Ps 31:5.

John

Jn 1:14 appears to be an allusion to Is 40:5 (quoted in Jn 1:23, see note on same below).
- Jn 1:14 – “…the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory…”
- Is 40:5 – “the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together…”
Jn 1:23 quoting Is 40:3-5 (parallels: Mt 3:1-3; Mk 1-4; Lk 3:2-6); also, see note on Jn 1:14 above.
Jn 8:58 alluding to Ex 3:14 (see also note on Jn 18:1-9 below)
Jn 12:12-16 includes a condensed quotation of Zech 9:9 which prophesies a king coming on a donkey (a king coming in peace, as opposed to on a warhorse). Later in Zechariah, a king (presumably the same one, and this time identified YHWH) is associated with the Feast of Booths (which foreshadowed the church age: see BSN: Feasts of Israel) in Zech 14:16. In Zech 14:9 YHWH is portrayed as “king of all the earth,” which foreshadowed the coming of the kingdom of God. ***** Of course, YHWH is portrayed throughout the Old Testament as Israel’s true and ultimate King. Does this mean Israel will have two kings: YHWH and Jesus? Or does it simply mean Jesus was YHWH before He was Jesus? **** The other three Gospels also make mention of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey at the beginning of His last week of human life: Mt 21:1-9; Mk 11:1-10; Lk 19:28-40.
Jn 12:36b, 37, 39-41 quoting from Is 6:1-10 – In Is 6:1, Isaiah writes, “I saw the Lord…” and in 6:5 he writes, “…my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Thus John is telling us that the YHWH Isaiah was seeing was Jesus. In John 12:41 says explicitly of Isaiah, “he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.” John had written earlier in his Gospel: “No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (Jn 1:18). Thus John is recognizing YHWH as the Son, and not the Father.
Jn 18:1-9 seems to be an allusion to Ex 3:14 (as in Jn 8:58); that is, Jesus twice answers “I am” to the people seeking to arrest Him.
Jn 19:37 quoting Zech 12:10 – The prophet Zechariah was relaying the word of YHWH and said in chapter 12 of his book, among other things, “…they will look on Me whom they have pierced…” The apostle John is, for all practical purposes, saying “This is that” – “This” (fulfillment of prophecy) being John 19:37, and “that” (prophecy) being Zech 12:10. John makes reference to this identification in Rev 1:7 (see below).
Jn 20:28 perhaps suggestive of the many OT references to “the Lord my God”
3 Jn 1:7 alluding to Ex 3:15
Rev 1:7 quoting Zech 12:10 – In this verse, John, in speaking of the Second Coming, writes, “every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him.” See note on John 19:37 above.
Rev 1:17; 2:8; 22:13 quoting Is 41:4; 44:6; 48:12 – In His revelation to the apostle John, Jesus refers to Himself these three different times as “the first and the last.” These are obviously allusions to the three times in the book of Isaiah that YHWH referred to Himself the same way. How can there be any doubt that Jesus is identifying Himself as YHWH…and that John is bearing witness to this claim?
Rev 1:8; 21:6; 22:13 contain the expression “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” which appears to be a Hellenization of “the first and the last” used in Rev 1:17; 2:8, 22:13 (see note above). These, too, then should be considered references to Jesus as YHWH. (Be aware that some red-letter Bibles (including NASB 1995) print Rev 21:5-8 in black, though there is no obvious justification for this; in this regard, see relevant note at BSN: Red-Letter Bibles.

Paul

Rom 9:33 quotes a mixture of Is 28:16 and Is 8:13-14 – both of which speak of a stone. In Is 28:16, YHWH lays the stone; in Is 8:13-14, YHWH is the stone. Therefore, Jesus could not have been named the stone (as He was in Acts 4:11) unless He was YHWH.
Rom 10:13 and 9 quoting Joel 2:32
Rom 14:11 quoting Is 45:23
1 Cor 1:31 quoting Jer 9:23-24
1 Cor 2:16 quoting Is 40:13
1 Cor 10:4 – The YHWH who accompanied Israel is called “Christ.”
1 Cor 10:20 quoting/alluding to Dt 32:17
1 Cor 10:22 alluding to Deut 32:21
1 Cor 10:26 quoting Ps 24:1
1 Cor 16:22 alluding to Deut 6:5 and Deut 28
2 Cor 10:17 quoting Jer 9:23-24
Eph 2:17 quoting Is 57:19
Eph 4:7-10 quoting Ps 68:18
Phil 2:9-11 quotes “EVERY KNEE WILL BOW” from Is 45:23, which, by its context (Is 45:20-25) is referring to YHWH as the one true God. In Is 45:23, God says that every knee will bow “to Me” (YHWH) and in Phil 2:10 it says that every knee will bow “at the name of Jesus,” so clearly bowing to Jesus is bowing to YHWH.
- Philippians 2:10 – …that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW…
- Isaiah 45:23 – …That to Me every knee will bow…
Col 1:16-17 (Creation is attributed to Jesus, a function reserved for Yahweh in the Old Testament, such as Gen 1:1 and Is 44:24. This aligns with Hebrews 1 and John 1, which also describe Jesus as pre-existent Creator.)
1 Th 3:13 alluding to Zech 14:5
1 Th 4:16 referring to Ps 47:5
1 Th 5:2 invokes OT warnings of “the day of the LORD [YHWH]” as a time of judgment (e.g., Joel 2:1–11; Amos 5:18–20; Zephaniah 1:14–18). In this case, as elsewhere in the NT, this day is associated with Jesus.
2 Th 1:7–9 echoes Isaiah 66:15–16 and related pronouncements of judgment (e.g., Isaiah 2:10–21; Joel 3). Scholars note that Paul applies YHWH’s fiery theophany and role as judge to Jesus, implying Jesus executes the divine vengeance reserved for YHWH.
2 Th 1:10 evokes Amos 5:18–20; Zeph 1:14–18; Zech 14
2 Th 2:8 echoes Isaiah 11:4
Heb 1 – In this chapter (running through Heb 2:4), Paul draws distinctions between God (Father), Jesus (the Son, the firstborn), and the angels.
- Heb 1:6 quoting Ps 97:7 – Ps 97 is an ode to YHWH’s power and dominion. In verse 7, the “gods” (“angels” per Heb 1:6) are told to worship Him. The beginning of Heb 1:6 says this direction was given “when He again brings the firstborn [a term used again in Heb 12:23 – “church of the firstborn”] into the world.” Whether “the firstborn” in this Heb 1:6 refers to “the firstborn of creation” (Col 1:15) or “the firstborn of the dead” (Col 1:18) or both, it is clear that Jesus is the referent. Based on this, what are we to conclude from the Heb 1:6 quotation of Ps 97:7 but that “YHWH” and “the firstborn” are synonyms? And that being the case, Paul is calling Jesus “YHWH” just as surely as he’s calling Him “the firstborn.”
- Heb 1:10-12 quotes Psalm 102:25-27. This psalm consists of 28 verses. In it, “YHWH” (Strong’s 3068) occurs 8x. “El” (Strong’s 410) occurs 1x (MT). In the LXX, there are only occurrences of “Lord” and none of “God.” – Ps 102 is a prayer to YHWH, concluding with a reference to the timeless endurance of His being, which mentions His creation of the heavens and the earth. Heb 1:8 says that these words were directed to “the Son.” In Heb 1:2, Paul had stated that it was “through the Son that God created the world.” Only if the Son is YHWH does the quotation from Ps 102 make sense. For if YHWH were God and not the Son, then the quotation would be saying nothing about Jesus and the point Paul was making would fall apart. Moreover, Heb 13:8, which explicitly refers to Jesus while alluding back to Heb 1:10-12 and its quotation of Ps 102 would be a non sequitur.
Heb 3-4 – The voice in the wilderness warning Israel is attributed to Christ.
Heb 13:8 – See note on Heb 1:10-12 above.
Heb 13:20-21 – Could Paul have written to his fellow Jews calling Jesus “the great Shepherd of the sheep” without expecting them to recall Psalm 23 – in which the shepherd is identified as YHWH?

James

Jas 2:8 quoting Lev 19:18, and, along with Jas 4:12, alluding to Is 33:22.
Jas 4:12 quoting Is 33:22. Consider this verse also in the light of Paul’s emphasis of “one Lord” in 1 Cor 8:6 and Eph 4:5, as well as “one mediator” in 1 Tim 2:5.

Peter

See Acts 2:36 above under Luke, who is quoting Peter in that verse, and the ones leading up to it.
1 Pet 1:15-16
1 Pet 1:24-25 quoting Is 40:6-8
1 Pet 2:2-4 quoting Ps 34:8
1 Pet 2:8 quoting Is 8:14
1 Pet 3:14-15 – quoting Is 8:12-13

Jude

Jude 1:5 says “…the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” Besides the fact that “the Lord” in the New Testament usually refers to Jesus, it is also the case that an NASB footnote on this expression reads “Two early mss read Jesus.” Of course, most references to “the Lord” in the Old Testament are to YHWH – especially when it comes to the book of Exodus and the exodus itself.

OT YHWH Texts Applying to Jesus but Not Found in the NT

Mic 2:13 uses imagery that is clearly suggestive of Jesus being the firstborn from the dead, opening the way to heaven as afterlife’s destination – leading people from Sheol (Hades) to heaven. The contention would probably be over whether or not “the king” and “YHWH” were deemed to be different people (YHWH and the Messiah) or the same person (YHWH who is the Messiah).