For our ongoing series of feature articles for pastors and Christian leaders, we asked Kaspars Ozolins (PhD, University of California, LA), Assistant Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, to explain the meaning and use of God’s divine name throughout Scripture.
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. (Daniel 2:20)
One of the first things Christians should know about the God of the Bible is that he has a personal name. The English word God is not a personal name; it is a common noun (like chair, mountain, or king). When it comes to human beings, we naturally differentiate them by name: John, Mary, Hannah. (We do not say, “Human #1, human #2, human #3.”) As Christians, we conventionally differentiate the true God of Israel from other gods in writing by means of capitalization (“God” vs. “gods”). But since our God is a personal being, we should also recognize that he bears a unique personal name. We should therefore be like the enslaved Israelites in Egypt, whom Moses anticipates will ask concerning their soon-to-be Savior, “What is his name?” (Exodus 3:13).
In the present essay, I examine the name of God as he reveals it to his people throughout redemptive history. After considering some of the different titles used for God and the gods, I discuss the name by which God reveals himself, the various ways the people of God have handled his name, and why considering God’s name remains important today, especially for the work of translating God’s word.
What’s in a Title?
Before considering the name of God, we need to distinguish further between personal names and titles (or epithets). For example, although the word Baal is popularly regarded as a name, it is strictly speaking a title (to be more specific, an epithet) of a particular Canaanite deity. In the Canaanite languages (including Hebrew), the word baʕal simply means “lord” or “master.”1 The deity we refer to as Baal was in fact the storm god Hadad (or Haddu). The Canaanites commonly assigned to Hadad the epithet baʕal (lord). In fact, in certain contexts, the word baʕal could also mean “husband.” This semantic range allows Hosea the prophet to incorporate the word baʕal in an ingenious wordplay: “In that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ [ʔîš-î = ‘my man’], and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal’ [baʕl-î = ‘my lord’]” (Hosea 2:16). The prophet is castigating the religious syncretism of the northern tribes, which had shamefully blended in the worship of the true God with the false worship of the Canaanite deity Hadad.
Here we should note that the triune God of Scripture has many titles and epithets. Most famously, the incarnate Son of God is referred to as Christ hundreds of times in the New Testament. This is not a surname, as some surmise, but rather a highly significant title: Christós is a Greek word that means “anointed one,” and it is a direct translation of the Hebrew equivalent māšîaḥ (also meaning “anointed one”). He is called the Christ because he comes in fulfillment of the three major offices in the Old Testament whose occupants were specially anointed with oil (a form of consecration): prophets, priests, and kings.
Titles and epithets are usually brief, meaning-rich descriptors of persons. Biblical titles of God vary widely. For example, a title can be lengthy and specific: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Amazingly, this title of God is self-referential while including human beings (i.e., the God of the universe describes himself in relation with sinful creatures). A biblical title can also be cryptic and mysterious. For example, scholars still puzzle over what the Hebrew title ʔĒl Šadday (El Shaddai) means. It is usually rendered in English as “God Almighty,” but the real meaning of this ancient title remains unclear. Certain titles can also be largely restricted to one biblical author. For example, Isaiah’s favorite title for God, one that few others use, is “the Holy One of Israel.”2
These titles bear great theological significance for understanding who God is, especially as he relates to his people in covenant faithfulness. But they don’t in themselves represent his name.
God’s Mysterious Name
What, then, is the actual name of Israel’s God? In biblical Hebrew it is represented by a sequence of four consonants, the famous
