The Name

DIVINE TITLES AND THE NAME

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2007

Christians tend to be rather indiscriminate in the way they refer to God, especially in prayer. They call Him God, Lord, Father, often without intending any difference, as if the words were completely synonymous. Sometimes this imprecision in speech exposes imprecise thinking as well, particularly when people begin a sentence addressed to God the Father and end it addressing God the Son, without any indication that they are talking to another person.

The biblical writers, on the other hand, usually (perhaps always) made a distinction between the various ways of referring to deity, because the connotation of the divine name or of a particular title supported the point they were trying to make.

I. Divine Titles

A. God (Elohim + Elah)

1. Usage

• Inclusive—true or false deity

Exod 20:1 And God spoke all these words.... 3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

Ps 86:8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.... 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

Dan 1:2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.

2. Connotation

• Power

Ps 68:34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. 35 You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!

Dan 3:15 Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?" ... 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.

3. Emphasis

• Compound

Ps 136:2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

Dan 2:47 The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods I and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."

NB: The so-called "plural of majesty" is probably just an honorific, as in....

Isa 1:3a The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger...
1 Kgs 1:43b Our lord King David has made Solomon king.

B. Lord (Adonai + Mare)

1. Usage

• Inclusive—divine or human master

Ps 45:11 The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

 Ps 86:4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Dan 1:2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.... 10 but the official told Daniel, "1 am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."

Cf. Dan 5:23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and Your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.

2. Connotation

• Sovereignty

Ps 86:4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

Cf. Dan 1: l0a ...I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink.

3. Emphasis

• Compound

Ps 136:3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

Dan 2:47 The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery."

C. Most High (Elyon + Illay)

1. Usage

• Inclusive—divine or human object

Deut 28:1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

Dan 7:18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever.'

Cf. Dan 4:17 "The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.'

2. Connotation

•  Supremacy

Ps 83:18 Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

3. Emphasis

• Compound

Gen 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.

Dan 4:2 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

D. Almighty (Shaddai)

1. Usage

• Exclusive—deity

Num 24:4 the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

2. Connotation

• Provision

Ps 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

3. Emphasis Compound

Gen 28:3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples.

E. Host or Army

1. Usage

• Inclusive—Commander or commanded

Isa 13:4 Listen, a noise on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations massing together! The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war.

Dan 8:11 It set itself up to be as great as the Prince of the host; it took away the daily sacrifice from him, and the place of his sanctuary was brought low.

2. Connotation

• Authority

1 Sam 17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

3. Emphasis

• Compound

Ps 89:8 O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

II. The (Divine) Name

• LORD (YHWH)

1. Usage

• Exclusive—deity

Exod 3:15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob— has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.

Ps 135:13 Your name, O LORD endures forever, your renown, O LORD through all generations.

2. Connotation

• Covenant: salvation and commitment

Exod 6:2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"

Cf. Dan 9:10 we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.

3. Emphasis

• Apposition ([KJV Lord GOD, NIV Sovereign LORD])

Ps 71:5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.

The biblical writers may not always have one of these connotations in mind when they choose how they refer to deity, whether to use a divine title or the name, but we should be sensitive to that possibility, because it may help us to understand a subtle nuance or even the point of a given passage.

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