Question:
"What are the different names of God and what do they mean?"
Answer:
Each of the many names of God describes a different aspect of His
many-faceted character. Here are some of the better-known names of God in the
Bible:
EL, ELOAH: God "mighty, strong, prominent" (
Genesis 7:1;
Isaiah
9:6) – etymologically,
El appears to mean “power,” as in “I have the
power to harm you” (
Genesis 31:29).
El is associated with other
qualities, such as integrity (
Numbers 23:19), jealousy (
Deuteronomy 5:9), and compassion (
Nehemiah 9:31), but the root idea of might
remains.
ELOHIM: God “Creator, Mighty and Strong” (
Genesis 17:7;
Jeremiah 31:33) – the
plural form of
Eloah, which accommodates the doctrine of the Trinity.
From the Bible’s first sentence, the superlative nature of God’s power is
evident as God (Elohim) speaks the world into existence (
Genesis 1:1).
EL SHADDAI: “God
Almighty,” “The Mighty One of Jacob” (
Genesis 49:24;
Psalm
132:2,
5) – speaks to God’s
ultimate power over all.
ADONAI: “Lord” (
Genesis 15:2;
Judges 6:15) – used in place of YHWH, which was thought
by the Jews to be too sacred to be uttered by sinful men. In the Old Testament,
YHWH is more often used in God’s dealings with His people, while
Adonai
is used more when He deals with the Gentiles.
YHWH / YAHWEH /
JEHOVAH: “LORD” (
Deuteronomy 6:4;
Daniel 9:14) – strictly speaking, the only proper name
for God. Translated in English Bibles “LORD” (all capitals) to distinguish it
from
Adonai, “Lord.” The revelation of the name is first given to Moses
“I Am who I Am” (
Exodus 3:14). This name specifies an immediacy, a
presence. Yahweh is present, accessible, near to those who call on Him for
deliverance (
Psalm 107:13), forgiveness (
Psalm
25:11) and guidance (
Psalm
31:3).
YAHWEH-JIREH: "The Lord Will Provide" (
Genesis 22:14) – the name
memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of
Isaac.
YAHWEH-RAPHA: "The Lord Who Heals" (
Exodus 15:26) – “I am
Jehovah who heals you” both in body and soul. In body, by preserving from and
curing diseases, and in soul, by pardoning
iniquities.
YAHWEH-NISSI: "The Lord Our Banner" (
Exodus 17:15), where
banner is understood to be a rallying place. This name commemorates the
desert victory over the Amalekites in Exodus
17.
YAHWEH-M'KADDESH: "The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes
Holy" (
Leviticus 20:8;
Ezekiel 37:28) – God makes
it clear that He alone, not the law, can cleanse His people and make them
holy.
YAHWEH-SHALOM: "The Lord Our Peace" (
Judges 6:24) – the name given by Gideon to the altar he
built after the Angel of the Lord assured him he would not die as he thought he
would after seeing Him.
YAHWEH-ELOHIM: "LORD God" (
Genesis 2:4;
Psalm
59:5) – a combination of God’s unique name YHWH and the generic “Lord,”
signifying that He is the Lord of
Lords.
YAHWEH-TSIDKENU: "The Lord Our Righteousness” (
Jeremiah 33:16) – As with
YHWH-M’Kaddesh, it is God alone who provides righteousness to man, ultimately in
the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us “that we might become
the Righteousness of God in Him” (
2 Corinthians
5:21).
YAHWEH-ROHI: "The Lord Our Shepherd" (
Psalm 23:1) – After David pondered his relationship as a
shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had
with him, and so he declares, “Yahweh-Rohi is my Shepherd. I shall not want” (
Psalm 23:1).
YAHWEH-SHAMMAH: "The
Lord Is There” (
Ezekiel 48:35) – the name ascribed to Jerusalem and the
Temple there, indicating that the once-departed glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 8—11)
had returned (
Ezekiel 44:1-4).
YAHWEH-SABAOTH:
"The Lord of Hosts" (
Isaiah 1:24;
Psalm
46:7) –
Hosts means “hordes,” both of angels and of men. He is Lord
of the host of heaven and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews and Gentiles,
of rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the majesty,
power, and authority of God and shows that He is able to accomplish what He
determines to do.
EL ELYON: “Most High" (
Deuteronomy 26:19) –
derived from the Hebrew root for “go up” or “ascend,” so the implication is of
that which is the very highest.
El Elyon denotes exaltation and speaks of
absolute right to lordship.
EL ROI: "God of Seeing" (
Genesis 16:13) – the name
ascribed to God by Hagar, alone and desperate in the wilderness after being
driven out by Sarah (
Genesis 16:1-14). When Hagar met the Angel of the Lord,
she realized she had seen God Himself in a theophany. She also realized that
El Roi saw her in her distress and testified that He is a God who lives
and sees all.
EL-OLAM: "Everlasting God" (
Psalm 90:1-3) – God’s
nature is without beginning or end, free from all constraints of time, and He
contains within Himself the very cause of time itself. “From everlasting to
everlasting, You are God.”
EL-GIBHOR: “Mighty God” (
Isaiah 9:6) – the name describing the Messiah, Christ
Jesus, in this prophetic portion of Isaiah. As a powerful and mighty warrior,
the Messiah, the Mighty God, will accomplish the destruction of God’s enemies
and rule with a rod of iron (
Revelation
19:15).
Read more:
http://www.gotquestions.org/names-of-God.html#ixzz2OOdfv11q
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