Brother Rushmore, We recently had a visitor who led singing and while commenting on a song about prayer he said we should be thankful to be able to call God daddy. Many in the congregation were very offended by this. I know the elders and the preacher spoke to him about it and the preacher in a very kind way mentioned how we should address God as Father and not by our own terminology. Another member sought to defend the use of daddy by referring to Abba as meaning da da. I looked the word abba up in several lexicons and commentaries and to the last one they all basically said the word in the N.T. means Father. Can you shed some light on this seemingly increasing practice of referring to God as daddy, it seems very irreverent to me yet I certainly want to support my position biblically. Thank you, Roy Williams
There are three passages in which the words “Abba Father” appear (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Strong’s defines “Abba” as Aramaic for “father.” Easton’s Bible Dictionary says of “Abba”:
This Syriac or Chaldee word is found three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and in each case is followed by its Greek equivalent, which is translated “father.” It is a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in our language. It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical term, “abbot.”
The New Bible Dictionary adds, “It appears that the double phrase was common in the Greek-speaking church, where its use may well have been liturgical.” “Daddy,” then, would not be a suitable substitute for “Father” or “Abba” when referring to God.
Some resources (we believe incorrectly) do define “Abba” as “Daddy.” Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary says of Abba: “an Aramaic word which corresponds to our ‘Daddy’ or ‘Papa.'” Some articles on the Internet make the same claim (Hannah; Williams), including an article written by a member of the churches of Christ (Stewart).
However, not even all Internet articles resort to “Daddy” for “Abba,” and for good reason. “…far from being a colloquialism, is in fact an emphatic form of the word ‘father’ in Aramean. ‘Emphatic’ means that abba is the equivalent of O father! in English. The term denotes respect and was widely used by Jews in their prayers” (“Does Abba Mean”). JewishEncyclopedia.com says regarding “Abba”: “It was the formula for addressing God most familiar to Jewish saints of the New Testament times” (Kohler). Thayer’s Lexicon also says of “Abba, Father,” “father, ho pateer, a customary title of God in prayer.”
Anciently it was the practice of some to meditate for an hour in preparation for uttering a prayer to God, out of reverence for God (Kohler). It seems that God himself demands respect and reverence that goes beyond a flippant “Daddy”! Does God say less in Malachi 1:6? “A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?”
Vine’s definition of “Abba” and comparison to “Father” verifies the reverence with which it was used in the first century when the New Testament was penned. The term “Abba” conveys extreme reverence and could never be equivalent merely to the child’s term, “Daddy, when referring to God.”
abba is an Aramaic word, found in Mark 14:36; Rom 8:15 and Gal 4:6. In the Gemara (a Rabbinical commentary on the Mishna, the traditional teaching of the Jews) it is stated that slaves were forbidden to address the head of the family by this title. It approximates to a personal name, in contrast to “Father,” with which it is always joined in the NT. This is probably due to the fact that, abba having practically become a proper name, Greek-speaking Jews added the Greek word pater, “father,” from the language they used. Abba is the word framed by the lips of infants, and betokens unreasoning trust; “father” expresses an intelligent apprehension of the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent confidence of the child.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia and Fausset’s Bible Dictionary concur with Vine’s definition of “Abba.” Further, Fausset’s defines the combined Aramaic and Greek appearances of “father,” literally “the father, the father,” as an emphatic invocation or prayer to God. The McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia states that the double reference to father in Aramaic and Greek, in part, is for “emphasis and dignity,” plus after retaining the Aramaic word for “father” providing Greek readers “father” in Greek in the event they did not understand the Aramaic reference to father. Hence, whatever weight and meaning the Greek for “Father,” referring to God, has, the Aramaic word for “Father” has a closely similar meaning. So, unless someone purports to call God “Daddy, Daddy” in the three passages, it is not appropriate to define “Abba” as “Daddy.” If someone boldly resounds “Daddy, Daddy” for the dual appearances of the Aramaic and Greek words for “father” in these passages, referring to God, I still object on the grounds of inadequate reverence toward Deity. Like the quotation below indicates, to refer to Almighty God as “Daddy” borders on blasphemy.
ABBA A Palestinian Aramaic word that is found in three places in the NT to refer to God. It means “father.” It is the address of a child as distinct from a slave and denotes family intimacy. In Mark 14:36 Christ uses abba to address God in His prayer in Gethsemane. In Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6 Christians use the same form of address to God. It is used in such a way that it both emphasizes our nearness to God and inculcates respect. Each time it is used it appears with the word pater, giving us the title Abba Father for God. Christians must never confuse intimacy with God their Father with familiarity and triteness. There is no basis in the NT use of abba to support the almost blasphemous references some make to God as “Dad” or “Daddy.” It is surely significant that the Aramaic abba is not translated into Greek as papa but is merely transliterated. (Cairns)
Works Cited
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 1994.
Cairns, Alan. “Abba.” 23 Dec 2004. Dictionary of Theological Terms. <https://www.emeraldhouse.com/prodinfo.asp?PID=dictionary>.
“Does Abba Mean “Daddy”? Online posting. 4 Jun 2004. Theologyweb. 23 Dec 2004. <https://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27620>.
Easton, M. G. Easton’s Bible Dictionary. CD-ROM. Oak Harbor: Logos, 1996.
Fausset’s Bible Dictionary. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 1998.
Hannah, Shively. “Abba, Father.” Hannah’s Garden. 23 Dec 2004. <https://www.gospelcom.net/tiw/hannahsgarden/abbafather.html>.
International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 1996.
Kohler, Kaufmann. “Abba.” JewishEncylopedia.com. 23 Dec 2004. <https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=121&letter=A>.
McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 2000.
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. CD-ROM. Nashville: Nelson, 1986.
The New Bible Dictionary. CD-ROM. Wheaton: Tyndale, 1962.
Stewart, William J. “Abba, Father.” Www.LookingIntoJesus.Net. 23 Dec 2004. <https://www.lookinguntojesus.net/20040111.htm>.
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft, 2000.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. CD-ROM. Nashville: Nelson, 1985.
Williams, George R. “Abba, Father.” Fathers.com.” 23 Dec 2004. <https://www.fathers.com/urban/artf02articles.htm>.
