ELOHIM (GOD) HAS A PERSONAL NAME!

“God” and “Lord” and “Creator” are titles like “king” and “president”. God has many titles, but he also has only one personal name. God reveals his personal name יהוה - YHVH / יְהוָֹה Yehovah in Hebrew text of the Bible about 6,825 times (Exodus 3:15;  Psalm 83:18;  Isaiah 45:18).

Most Bible translations have substituted the title “LORD” for the personal name YHVH-Yehovah, thus hiding the name that God himself revealed to mankind. And some people say that God’s name must not be uttered. But God forbids not the use but the misuse of his holy name (Exodus 20:7;  Leviticus 24:10-16).

The Torah, the Law, even contains commands that required God’s people to pronounce God’s name (Numbers 6:22-27;  Deuteronomy 6:13). All Hebrew names have a meaning. God’s name Yehovah means “The One Who Causes To Become”, “The One Bringing Into Existence” (see Brown-Driver-Briggs 3068 YHVH, 2). The first of the scriptures in which the four Hebrew consonants YHVH (יהוה) appear with all three vovels e-o-a in the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, is Genesis 3:14. We can see God’s name also in countless personal names of the Israelites. One example is the Hebrew name Yehonatan, which is in English: “Yehovah has given” (Nehemiah 12:18). YAH (יָהּ) is the shortened form of God’s name. This shortened form is in the end of many Hebrew personal names, and in the Hebrew expression “halelu Yah”, which is in English: “Praise Yah” (Psalms 113:1). God’s name serves as a guarantee and as a reminder that all his promises and his purpose will be fulfilled no matter what. Over and over again the Creator says in his written Word: “You will have to know that I am YehovAH”, that is, “You will have to know that I am The One Who Causes To Become [or, The One Bringing Into Existence]” (Ezekiel 37:13).