I am looking for the name of God in the Bible. not titles. what was it in Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic or whatever languages were used? was it Yeshua? Yahweh? or? Did Jesus have a different name? thank you ~ Michael Vantrease
Names are primarily means of identifying persons or things and distinguishing them from other persons or things. In so doing, names may involve descriptions or relationships as a part of that identification or distinction. Hence, most of the names of God in the Bible fall into the category of describing him or his relationship to his creation. Besides these descriptive terms or titles, many of which are applied to idol gods as well, there is a single, unique name ascribed to the God of the Bible. That name is commonly rendered as “Jehovah.” “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them” (Exodus 6:3). “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth” (Psalm 83:18). Strictly speaking, Yahweh is the only ‘name’ of God.”1 However, God had this to say when Moses inquired as to whom he should tell the nation of Israel sent him.
“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:13-14).
This designation depicts the eternal nature and omnipotence of God who has no peers.
Originally, the name of God was constituted by four Hebrew letters, YHWH. As indicated below, eventually Jews substituted references (e.g., Lord) for the name of God, out of respect for the holy name of God. Still later, vowels were inserted between the consonants to make it easier to pronounce, resulting in Yahweh or Jehovah.
Strictly speaking, this is the only name of God in the Bible. The other terms point to aspects of His character or of His relations with people Jehovah is actually a word that was created in the Middle Ages by the rabbis. Reverent Jews traditionally did not pronounce the proper name of God when they encountered it in the Hebrew text. That word was apparently to be pronounced as Yahweh. Instead they substituted the word Adonai, “Master,” “Lord.” Several centuries after Christ Jewish scholars inserted the vowels of Adonai between the semivowels and consonants (h and h) of Yahweh, thus creating Jehovah.2
The Hebrew name of the God of Israel, probably originally pronounced Yahweh. Eventually the Jews gave up pronouncing it, considering the name too holy for human lips. Instead they said Adonai or “Lord.” This oral tradition came to be reflected in the written Greek translation of the Old Testament as kurios or “Lord,” and it is often so quoted in the New Testament (Mark 1:3; Rom 4:8). English versions of the Old Testament also tend to translate this word as “LORD.”3
The all caps appearance of the word “LORD” throughout the Old Testament in the King James Version of the Bible represents where the name “Jehovah” ought to appear in the text.
Regarding Jesus, especially the word “Jesus” is his name, which means “Savior.” The word “Christ” means “anointed” or “Messiah.” “JESUS CHRIST (1) ‘Jesus’ (Iesous) is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew ‘Joshua’ (yehoshua`), meaning ‘Yahweh is salvation.'”4
Matthew opens his gospel as “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David.” Both designations are used here as a personal name …5
Jesus also bore the name “Emmanuel” (Matthew 1:23), which means “God with us.” In addition, several titles are applied in both testaments to Jesus, including, Lord.
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1 The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1962.
2 Paul S. Karleen, The Handbook to Bible Study, (New York: Oxford University Press) 1987.
3 Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers.
4 International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft.
5 The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.
