Names of God Part 1

Although this is probably not a new thought, I have theorized that when we read "God" or some variation in the Bible, there might be more to it than just "God"...you know, there are all sorts of names for God, like Jehovah or Jehovah Jirah, and a bunch of others that I don't know.

And I have wondered if maybe sometimes "God" means Jesus and sometimes "God" means the Holy Spirit, or the Father...now this is just wondering, mind you, but I found kind of an interesting thing in my journey:-) to investigate these matters.

The Institute for Religious Research published an article that talks about the King James Version of the Bible and the code it uses to denote the three most prevailent names of God. I thought this was very cool. I am lifting some parts, leaving out the illustrations and just telling you the facts...go read the article if you want more detail.

A code system in the King James Version Bible designates which divine name(s) is used in a given passage. If you look at the KJV text carefully, you will notice that Deity is variously referred to as "God", "GOD", "Lord", "LORD," or some combination of these terms. These different English words and spelling variations were used by the King James translators to designate the various Hebrew words and names for God in the Old Testament. As has been noted, the three primary Hebrew words for God are Elohim, Jehovah (or Yahweh), and Adonai.

Elohim
This is a general Hebrew term for Deity that designates God as our Creator and the object of all true worship. It occurs 2,570 times in the Old Testament. The King James translators rendered this Hebrew word as "God." Notice that God in this instance is spelled with a capital "G" and with the letters "od" written in lower case. It is thought by many scholars to be related to the Hebrew word El, meaning "strength," "mighty," or "the Almighty."

Jehovah/Yahweh
When the name Jehovah (or Yahweh, as modern scholars believe it should be written) is used in the Hebrew text, it is written as "LORD" in our English Bibles. Notice that all the letters are capitalized. In some instances Jehovah is also written as "GOD." Again, with all the letters capitalized. Wherever you see the words "LORD" or "GOD" in the Bible written in all uppercase letters, you will know that in every case it is the word Jehovah (or Yahweh) that has been translated from the original Hebrew text of Scripture. Jehovah is the personal name of God, and speaks of Him as the holy, self-existent God who hates sin but provides redemption. According to the standard Hebrew- English lexicon of the Old Testament, this name for God is used c. 6,823 times in the Old Testament.

Adonai
When this word is used in the Hebrew text of Scripture, it is written as "Lord" in the King James Bible. Notice that it is spelled with a capital "L" and lower case "ord." It means "Sovereign," or "Master," and emphasizes the Lordship of God. This word is used more than 300 times in the Old Testament as a designation for God.

This does not, of course, envelope all the names of God, but I thought that was pretty forward thinking of the King James group of translators. And I guess they were the only ones to think of it, because I don't see it in in any other translation. More on names of God later....