X|| I. INTRODUCTORY
1. The Phrase "His Name"
2. Classification.
II. PERSONAL NAMES OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. Elohim
2. El
3. Eloah
4. Adhon, Adhonay
5. Yahweh (Yahweh)
6. Tsur (Rock)
7. Ka`dhosh
8. Shadday
III. DESCRIPTIVE NAMES OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. Abhir
2. El-Elohe-Yisrael
3. `Elyon
4. Gibbor
5. El-roi
6. Tsaddiq
7. Qanna
8. Yahweh Tsebhaoth
9. "I Am That I Am"
IV. New Testament NAMES OF GOD
1. God
2. Lord
3. Descriptive and Figurative Names

LITERATURE
I. Introduction:
To an extent beyond the appreciation of modern and western minds the people of Biblical times and lands valued the name of the person. They always gave to it symbolical or character meaning.
While our modern names are almost exclusively designatory, and intended merely for identification, the Biblical names were also descriptive, and often prophetic. Religious significance nearly always inhered in the name, a parent relating his child to the Deity, or declaring its consecration to the Deity, by joining the name of the Deity with the service which the child should render, or perhaps commemorating in a name the favor of God in the gracious gift of the child, e.g. Nathaniel ("gift of God"); Samuel ("heard of God"); Adonijah ("Yahweh is my Lord"), etc. It seems to us strange that at its birth, the life and character of a child should be forecast by its parents in a name; and this unique custom has been regarded by an unsympathetic criticism as evidence of the origin of such names and their attendant narratives long subsequent to the completed life itself; such names, for example, as Abraham, Sarah, etc. But that this was actually done, and that it was regarded as a matter of course, is proved by the name given to Our Lord at His birth: "Thou shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people" (Mt 1:21). It is not unlikely that the giving of a character name represented the parents purpose and fidelity in the childs training, resulting necessarily in giving to the childs life that very direction, which the name indicated. A childs name, therefore, became both a prayer and a consecration, and its realization in character became often a necessary psychological effect. Great honor or dishonor was attached to a name. The Old Testament writings contain many and varied instances of this. Sometimes contempt for certain reprobate men would be most expressively indicated by a change of name, e.g. the change of Esh-baal, "man of Baal," to Ish-bosheth, "man of shame" (2 Sam 2:8 ff), and the omission of Yahweh from the name of the apostate king, Ahaz (2 Ki 15:38, etc.). The name of the last king of Judah was most expressively changed by Nebuchadnezzar from Mattaniah to Zedekiah, to assure his fidelity to his overlord who made him king (2 Ki 24:17).
See NAMES, PROPER.
1. The Phrase "His Name":
Since the Scriptures of the Old Testament and New Testament are essentially for purposes of revelation, and since the Hebrews laid such store by names, we should confidently expect them to make the Divine name a medium of revelation of the first importance. People accustomed by long usage to significant character indications in their own names, necessarily would regard the names of the Deity as expressive of His nature. The very phrase "name of Yahweh," or "His name," as applied to the Deity in Biblical usage, is most interesting and suggestive, sometimes expressing comprehensively His revelation in Nature (Ps 8:1; compare 138:2); or marking the place of His worship, where men will call upon His name (Dt 12:5); or used as a synonym of His various attributes, e.g. faithfulness (Isa 48:9), grace (Ps 23:3), His honor (Ps 79:9), etc. "Accordingly, since the name of God denotes this God Himself as He is revealed, and as He desires to be known by His creatures, when it is said that God will make a name for Himself by His mighty deeds, or that the new world of the future shall be unto Him for a name, we can easily understand that the name of God is often synonymous with the glory of God, and that the expressions for both are combined in the utmost variety of ways, or used alternately" (Schultz, Old Testament Theology, English translation, I, 124-25; compare Ps 72:19; Isa 63:14; also Davidson, Old Testament Theol., 37-38).
2. Classification:
From the important place which the Divine name occupies in revelation, we would expect frequency of occurrence and diversity of form; and this is just that which we find to be true. The many forms or varieties of the name will be considered under the following heads: (1) Absolute or Personal Names, (2) Attributive, or Qualifying Names, and (3) Names of God in the New Testament. Naturally and in course of time attributive names tend to crystallize through frequent use and devotional regard into personal names; e.g. the attributive adjective qadhosh, "holy," becomes the personal, transcendental name for Deity in Job and Isa. For fuller details of each name reference may be made to separate articles.
II. Absolute or Personal Names of God in the Old Testament:
1. Elohim:
The first form of the Divine name in the Bible is Elohim, ordinarily translated "God" (Gen 1:1). This is the most frequently used name in the Old Testament, as its equivalent theos, is in the New Testament, occurring in Gen alone approximately 200 t. It is one of a group of kindred words, to which belong also El and Eloah. (1) Its form is plural, but the construction is uniformly singular, i.e. it governs a singular verb or adjective, unless used of heathen divinities (Ps 96:5; 97:7). It is characteristic of Hebrew that extension, magnitude and dignity, as well as actual multiplicity, are expressed by the plural. It is not reasonable, therefore, to assume that plurality of form indicates primitive Semitic polytheism. On the contrary, historic Hebrew is unquestionably and uniformly monotheistic.
(2) The derivation is quite uncertain. Gesenius, Ewald and others find its origin in ul, "to be strong," from which also are derived ayil, "ram," and elah, "terebinth"; it is then an expanded plural form of el; others trace it to alah, "to terrify," and the singular form is found in the infrequent eloah, which occurs chiefly in poetical books; BDB inclines to the derivation from alah, "to be strong," as the root of the three forms, El, `Eloah and Elohim, although admitting that the whole question is involved in uncertainty (for full statement see BDB, under the word ...); a somewhat fanciful suggestion is the Arabic root ul, "to be in front," from which comes the meaning "leader"; and still more fanciful is the suggested connection with the preposition el, signifying God as the "goal" of mans life and aspiration. The origin must always lie in doubt, since the derivation is prehistoric, and the name, with its kindred words El and Eloah, is common to Semitic languages and religions and beyond the range of Hebrew records.
(3) It is the reasonable conclusion that the meaning is "might" or "power"; that it is common to Semitic language; that the form is plural to express majesty or "all-mightiness," and that it is a generic, rather than a specific personal, name for Deity, as is indicated by its application to those who represent the Deity (Jdg 5:8; Ps 82:1) or who are in His presence (1 Sam 28:13).
2. Eloah:
The singular form of the preceding name, Eloah, is confined in its use almost exclusively to poetry, or to poetic expression, being characteristic of the Book of Job, occurring oftener in that book than in all other parts of the Old Testament. It is, in fact, found in Job oftener than the elsewhere more ordinary plural Elohim. For derivation and meaning see above under 1 (2). Compare also the Aramaic form, elah, found frequently in Ezra and Daniel.
3. El:
In the group of Semitic languages, the most common word for Deity is El (el), represented by the Babylonian ilu and the Arabic Allah. It is found throughout the Old Testament, but oftener in Job and Psalms than in all the other books. It occurs seldom in the historical books, and not at all in Lev. The same variety of derivations is attributed to it as to ELOHIM (which see), most probable of which is ul, "to be strong." BDB interprets ul as meaning "to be in front," from which came ayil, "ram" the one in front of the flock, and elah, the prominent "terebinth," deriving , be used by accommodation of heathen gods; but in its true sense it expresses essential Deity, and as expressive of such it is applied to Christ as to the Father (Jn 20:28; Rom 9:5).
2. Lord:
Five times "Lord" is a translation of despotes (Lk 2:29; Acts 4:24; 2 Pet 2:1 the King James Version; Jude 1:4; Rev 6:10 the King James Version). In each case there is evident emphasis on sovereignty and correspondence to the Adhon of the Old Testament. The most common Greek word for Lord is Kurios, representing both Yahweh and Adhonai of the Old Testament, and occurring upwards of 600 times. Its use for Yahweh was in the spirit of both the Hebrew scribes, who pointed the consonants of the covenant name with the vowels of Adhonay, the title of dominion, and of the Septuagint, which rendered this combination as Kurios. Consequently quotations from the Old Testament in which Yahweh occurs are rendered by Kurios. It is applied to Christ equally with the Father and the Spirit, showing that the Messianic hopes conveyed by the name Yahweh were for New Testament writers fulfilled in Jesus Christ; and that in Him the long hoped for appearance of Yahweh was realized.
3. Descriptive and Figurative Names:
As in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament various attributive, descriptive or figurative names are found, often corresponding to those in the Old Testament. Some of these are: The "Highest" or "Most High" hupsistos), found in this sense only in Lk (1:32,35,76; 2:14, etc.), and Equivalent to Elyon (see III, 3, above); "Almighty," Pantokrator (2 Cor 6:18; Rev 1:8, etc.), corresponding to Shadday (see II, 8 above; see also ALMIGHTY); "Father," as in the Lords Prayer, and elsewhere (Mt 6:9; 11:25; Jn 17:25; 2 Cor 6:18); "King" (1 Tim 1:17); "King of kings" (1 Tim 6:15); "King of kings," "Lord of lords" (Rev 17:14; 19:16); "Potentate" (1 Tim 6:15); "Master" (Kurios, Eph 6:9; 2 Pet 2:1; Rev 6:10); "Shepherd," "Bishop" (1 Pet 2:25).

LITERATURE.
Theology of Old Testament by various authors: Oehler, Schultz, Davidson; Delitzsch, Psychology of the Old Testament; H.P. Smith, "Theophorous Names of OT" in Old Testament and Semitic Studies; Gray, HPN; "God" in HDB and EB.
Edward Mack