6. § 25. The Proper Names of God.
§ 25. The Proper Names of God.
. Among the names of God, in the first place those names clearly set themselves apart by which He, as a proper personal being in [103] distinction from all creatures, is indicated, named, addressed. All languages possess such names for the Divine being. Although God in himself has no name, we have need to designate Him and for that have no other means than a name. Nisi enim nomen scieris, rerum cognitio perit, Isidorus in Moor I 504. The Greek word θεος, formerly derived from τιθεναι, θεειν, θεασθαι,
Suicerus, s.v., M. Vitringa I 134, is nowadays by some philologists brought into connection with Ζευς, Διος, Jupiter, Deus, Diana, Juno, Dio, Dieu; then it is identical with the Sanskrit name dêva, bright heaven and derived from the stem div, to shine, to glitter. The interchange of the designation heaven and God occurs in many languages; the oldest Greek god was called
Uranus, certainly identical with the Sanskrit name Varuna; Taengri among the Tartars and Turks, Thian among the Chinese denotes both heaven and God; and also in Scripture the name God is replaced by that of heaven, e.g. in the expression kingdom of the heavens or of God. Another Greek name is
δαιμων, from the verb δαιω, and designates God as distributor and disposer of fate; on the other hand κυριος, from κυρος, is the mighty one, the lord, the owner, the ruler. Our word God is of uncertain origin. It has been brought into connection with the word good; with the Zend khodâ, a se datus, per se ipsum existens; with the Sanskrit gudha or gutha, κευδω, which would designate God as the hidden one, or with a stem, κοδω, κοσμος, which would mean to order, to arrange, or with the Aryan çuddhas, pure, good etc., but all these derivations are uncertain. The name Asura among the Indians, and Ahura among the Persians designates God as the living one. Cf. Kluge, Etymol. Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, s. v.
Gott. Cremer, Wört. der neut. Gr. s.v. Herzog2 5, 290. Hoekstra, Wijsg.
Godsd. I 309 S.
2. Scripture speaks many times of the name of God in a very broad sense.
The Jews therefore counted no fewer than seventy of them, Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum I 455; and in Christian theology, under the names of God his perfections also were at first included. But gradually a distinction arose; already Hieronymus limited the names of God to a dozen, viz. El,
Elohim, Elohe, Tzebaoth, Eljon, Escher ehje, Adonai, Iah, Ihvh, Schaddai, and in this he was followed by many, Alsted, Theol. [104] schol. 71 sq.
Moor, I 511. The simplest name by which God is designated in Holy Scripture is ֵאל. Concerning the derivation there is disagreement. Lagarde connects the word with the root אלי and the preposition אל and thinks that the word designates God as the one who is the goal and the object of human desire. But this derivation is as improbable as that which connects the word with ֵאָלה, the sacred tree. According to by far the most, the word is derived from the stem אּול, either in the sense of being in front, the first, being lord
(Nöldeke), or in that of being strong, mighty (Gesenius), litt. bij M. Vitringa
I 132. Moor I 515 sq. Schultz, Altt. Theol. 508. Smend, Altt. Theol. 26. The name הֱאלֹוַּ plur. אלהים is derived from the same stem אול or from אלה, to be frightened, and thus makes God known either as the strong one or as object of fright and fear. The singularis is little in use and poetic, e.g. Ps. 18:32,
Job 3:4; on the other hand, the pluralis is the usual name for God. This pluralis is not to be explained as a pluralis majestatis, since this is nowhere in Scripture customary of God; neither can an indication of the Trinity be seen in it, as since Lombardus, Sent. I dist. 2 was done by many, Zanchius,
Op. I 25. Voetius, Disp. V 27. M. Vitringa I 209 sq., for Elohim almost always has the adjectivum and the verbum in singulari with it, Augustinus, de trin. II 11. Bellarminus, de Christo, c. 6. Calvijn, Inst. I 13, 9. Gomarus,
Theses Theol., disp. 5. Moor I 796. The modern critics mostly see in it a remnant of the earlier polytheism, but this explanation runs up not only against the same objection as the earlier trinitarian one, but also, as later investigations show, outside Israel it has been customary as a name for one single God, Noordtzij, Oost. Lichtstralen over West. Schriftbeschouwing
1897 bl. 41 v. Therefore this pluralis is better to be understood as a pluralis of abstraction (Ewald), or as a pluralis of quantity, which like מים and ׁשמים indicates an unbounded magnitude (Oehler), or as an intensive pluralis, which makes known a fullness of power (Delitzsch). In a few instances
Elohim is construed with an adjectivum or verbum in plurali, Gen. 20:13, 28:13 v., 35:7, Ex. 32:4, 8, Joz. 24:19, 1 Sam. 4:8, 17:26, 2 Sam. 7:23, 1
Kon. 12:28, Ps. 58:12, 121:5, Job 35:10, Jeremia 10:10; and a similar pluralis is also to be noted [105] in the pron. personale, Gen. 1:26, 3:22,
11:7, Jes. 6:8, 41:22, in קדׁשים, Spr. 9:10, Hos. 12:1, עׂשים, Job 35:10, Jes.
54:5, בראים Pred. 12:1, Ps. 149:2, and in ֲא ֹדָני. All these plural forms designate God as the fullness of life and of power. Durch Elohim wird das
göttliche Wesen in seinem Urverhältniss und in seinem stetigen Grundverhältniss zur Welt bezeichnet. Es ist eine Verhältnissbestimmung, nicht eine unmittelbare innere Wesensbestimmung, und zwar ist es
Bestimmung des absoluten Hoheitsbegriffs in Bezug auf die ganze Welt, Beck, Gl. II 22, cf. litt. bij M. Vitringa I 133, Moor I 518, Oehler, Theol. §
36, Schultz, Altt. Th. 516. The name ֶעְליֹון, LXX ὑψιστος, points to God as the Most High, exalted above everything; it occurs in the mouth of Melchizedek, Gen. 14:18, of Balaam, Num. 24:16, of the king of Babylon,
Jes. 14:14, cf. also Mk. 5:7, Luk. 1:32, 35, Hd. 16:17 and further especially in poetry. ֲא ֹדָני, alternating with האדון, which in turn is strengthened to אדון
אדונים or אדון כל הארץ, makes God known as the Lord, to whom everything is subject and over against whom man stands as a servant, Gen. 18:27. In earlier time God in this same sense was also called ַּבַעל, Hos. 2:18, but later this name acquired an idolatrous character and therefore fell out of use,
Robertson, Israels oude godsdienst bl. 200 v. All these names are not yet nomina propria in the narrower sense; they are also sometimes used of the idols, of men, Gen. 33:10, Ex. 7:1, 4:16, and of the authorities, Ex. 12:12,
21:5, 6, 22:7, Lev. 19:32, Num. 33:4, Richt. 5:8, 1 Sam. 2:25, Ps. 58:2, 82:1, but they are nevertheless the usual names by which God is named and addressed. They are also general Semitic names, which make God known in his exaltedness above all creature. The Semites gladly call God Lord, King; they feel themselves deeply dependent on him and bow themselves humbly, as servants, before him, yet in those names they do not express a philosophical view about the being of God but place his relation to the creatures, specifically to men, in the foreground.
3. This high, exalted God, however, also descends from his transcendence to the creature. He reveals himself not only in general through creation to
all peoples, but has also made himself known to Israel in a particular sense.
The [106] first name with which God now appears in the special revelation is that of ַׁש ַּדי or ֵאל ַׁש ַּדי. As such God reveals himself to Abraham, when he appoints him to be a father of many nations and seals his covenant with circumcision, Gen. 17:1. In the time of the patriarchs this name accordingly occurs repeatedly, Gen. 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, 49:25, Ex. 6:3, Num. 24:4, but further also in Job, in some psalms and a couple of times with the prophets. In the N. Test. it is rendered by παντοκρατωρ, 2 Cor. 6:18, Op. 4:8 etc. The origin of the name is still obscure. Nöldeke derived it from ַׁשד, lord, and punctuated it as ֵׁש ַדי, but in view of Gen. 43:14, 49:25, Ezech. 10:5 the name is nevertheless undoubtedly an adjective. Formerly it was derived from ׁש for אׁשר and ַדי, ἱκανος, and then translated as qui est sufficiens, allsufficient; or from ׁשדד in the sense of being strong, destroying; or also from ׁשדה or אׁשד to pour out, so that God is thereby designated as the one who communicates everything abundantly. Everywhere, however, with this name the idea of power and of invincible strength stands in the foreground, and Jes. 13:6 brings, even if only in a pun, this name into connection with ׁשדד, to destroy, cf. Joel 1:15. Therefore this name makes known to us God as the one who possesses all power and thus can break all resistance and can make everything serviceable to his will. While Elohim is the God of creation and of nature, Elschaddai is the God who makes all the forces of that nature subordinate to and places them in the service of grace, cf. marginal note on Gen. 17:1, Zanchius, Op. II 43. M. Vitringa I 132. Moor I 522 sq. Oehler, Theol. § 37. Delitzsch on Gen. 17:1 etc. In this name the θειοτης and αιδιος δυναμις of God is no longer an object of terror and fear, but a source of salvation and of consolation. God gives himself to his people and, with his invincible power, stands surety for the fulfilment of his
promises, for the maintenance of his covenant. Therefore from now on he is also each time called the God of Abraham, Gen. 24:12, Isaac, Gen. 28:13,
Jacob, Ex. 3:6, the God of the fathers, Ex. 3:13, 15, the God of the Hebrews, Ex. 3:18, the God of Israel, Gen. 33:20, and with Isaiah often the Holy One of Israel. God is the Exalted One, Creator of heaven and earth, the Almighty, but who at the same time also stands in a special, favorable relationship to his people. [107] As the God of grace, however, He appears especially under the name יהוה.
The Jews called this name the name par excellence, the essential name, the proper name, the glorious name, the name of the four letters, τετραγραμματον etc., and from Lev. 24:16 and Ex. 3:15, where one read
ְל ֹעָלם, in order to conceal, inferred that it was forbidden to pronounce it. It is unknown when this opinion arose among the Jews. But it is certain that the LXX already regularly read Adonai and therefore rendered the name by κυριος; other translations followed this example and translated the name by Dominus, The Lord, der Herr, Heere, Syn. Dordr. sess. 12 etc.; French has l'Éternel. Thereby the original, correct pronunciation has also been lost.
The church fathers called the name ἀπορρητον, ἀλεκτον, ἀφραστον, probably not because they held the pronunciation of this name to be unlawful, but because the Jews so judged and the pronunciation had in fact been lost, Moor I 534, Buddeus, Inst. theol. dogm. I 188. In Greek the four letters were written as ΠΙΠΙ, or also, according to Diodorus Siculus and Origen, rendered by Ιαω or Ιαη, according to Hieronymus by Jaho, according to Philo Byblius by Ιευω, according to Clemens Alex. by Ιαου.
Theodoret relates that the Jews pronounced Αϊα and the Samaritans Ιαβε.
All this points back to an old pronunciation Iahveh, Schultz, Altt. Theol.4
523. With appeal to the tradition among the Jews, by some the name was
pronounced as Jeve, e.g. by Joachim of Floris in his Evangelium aeternum.
Indeed this punctuation is to be found in Samuel b. Meir, and was later still defended by Hottinger, Reland e. a., Delitzsch, Neuer Comm. über die
Genesis 1887 S. 546 f. The pronunciation Jehovah is of recent date: it found entrance especially through the Franciscan Petrus Galatinus, who, however, was opposed by many, e.g. by Genebrardus, Petavius, de Deo VIII c. 9,
Herzog2 4, 173. Later men such as Drusius, Amama, Scaliger, Vriemoet e. a. also asserted that the pronunciation Jehovah could not be the true one, but had borrowed the vowels from Adonai, Voetius, Disp. V 55, cf. litt. in M.
Vitringa I 130. In fact this punctuation is burdened by very serious objections. First, Ihvh in the Hebr. Bible is a keri perpetuum and has now the vowels of Adonai, then those of Elohim; further, the form Jehovah is un-Hebrew [108] and inexplicable; and finally this punctuation dates from a time when the Jews had long considered the pronunciation of the name forbidden. If this vocalization is now incorrect, the question arises how then the name is to be explained. The assertion that it is of Egyptian origin
(Voltaire, Schiller, Wegscheider, Heeren, Brugsch) is contradicted by Ex.
5:2 and finds scarcely any defense any longer. Also the opinion of Hartmann, Bohlen, Colenso, Dozy, Land, that it is Canaanite or Phoenician and was adopted by the Israelites after their entry into Canaan, has proved untenable and has been conclusively refuted, Kuenen, G. v. I. I 397-401.
Valeton, De Isr. Godsnamen, Theol. Stud. VII 1889 bl. 173-221, especially bl. 176 v. The Israelite origin of the name may thus be regarded as established. Then, however, there is also no doubt possible that it comes from the stem =הוה= or היה, and, since the pronunciation of Jaho, advocated by von Hartmann, Religionsphilos. I 370 f., cannot be taken into consideration, Kuenen, Volksgodsd. en Wereldgodsd. 261 v., there remains
only a difference as to whether it is a 3 pers. impf. of qal or of hiphil. The latter explanation has been defended by Gesenius, Schrader, Lagarde,
Schultz, Land, Kuenen, G. v. I. I 275, actually only on the ground that so exalted a concept of God as would be expressed in the qal form is not yet conceivable in the time of Moses. The name Jahveh would then not mean,
He who is, but He who causes to be, who gives life, Creator. But Smend, Altt. Rel. Gesch. 21 says from his standpoint rightly that this name too is still far too high for that time; and he also calls this explanation improbable for the reason that the hiphil of the verb הוה never occurs. Thus only the derivation remains which is given of the name in Ex. 3. Yet even then there is still difference over the meaning of the name. The church fathers thought with this name especially of the aseitas; God was the being one, the eternal, unchangeable being over against the οὐκ Ὀν of the idols and the μη ὀν of the creatures. Others, such as W. R. Smith, Smend t. a. p. 21, appeal to Ex.
3:12, and take the name as He who will be with you. Both interpretations are unacceptable; the latter, because the addition with you, ִעָּמך, then could not be lacking, and the former, because it sounds too philosophical and also finds no support in Ex. 3. For in verses 13-15 the meaning of the name is clearly [109] indicated. In full it reads ֶאְהֶיה ֲא ֶׁשר ֶאְהֶיה; and thereby the Lord says that He who now calls Moses and wants to save his people is the same as He who appeared to their fathers. He is who He is, yesterday and today the same forever. This meaning is set in still clearer light in verse 15: Ihvh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sends Moses, and that is his name eternally. God does not call himself here the being one without more and gives no explanation of his aseitas, but He says expressly what and how He is. How and what then will He be? That is not to be said in one word, that is not to be described by one single epithet, but He will be
who He will be. In that everything is enclosed; general and indefinite this addition is, but therefore also so rich and deep in meaning. He will be who He has been for the patriarchs, who He now is, who He will remain; He will be everything for his people. It is no new and no strange God who comes to them through Moses, but it is the God of the fathers, the unchangeable one, the steadfast one, the faithful one, the always remaining like himself, who does not forsake or abandon his people, but always seeks it out again and saves it, unchangeable in his grace, in his love, in his help, who will be what He is, because He is always himself; אני הוא therefore He calls himself in Isaiah, the first and the last, ch. 41:4. 43:10, 13, 25. 44:6. 48:12.
Naturally the aseitas does lie here as a foundation, but it nevertheless does not come to the foreground and is not directly expressed in the name. From this explanation it also appears whether and to what extent the name Ihvh was already known before the time of Moses. Ex. 6:3 does not say that the name as a name was then communicated to Moses, but that the Lord with or with respect to his name was not known to the fathers. The name is therefore also already found repeatedly before Ex. 6, occurs in many proper names, such as Jochebed, Achija, Abija, 1 Chron. 2:24, 25, and for that reason too could not be an entirely new name, because Moses, in order to find a hearing with his people, precisely had to appear not with a foreign name but in the name of the God of the fathers, Ex. 3:12. The intention of Ex. 6:3 therefore can be no other than that the sense and meaning of this name was first then made known by the Lord himself to Moses. And this is indeed also so. Only in Ex. 3 does the Lord himself give an explanation of [110] this name; here He says how He wants this name to be understood.
The name already existed earlier, was also then already used several times by the Lord himself, Gen. 15:7, 28:13, and used as a form of address, Gen.
14:22, 24:3, 28:16, 15:2, 8, 32:9. But nowhere is an explanation of that name given. It is in the abstract quite possible that the name Ihvh originally, according to its derivation, meant something entirely different from what is said in Ex. 3. Ex. 3 gives no etymology, no word-, but a thing-explanation.
Just as God in his special revelation to Israel took over all kinds of religious usages, circumcision, sabbath, sacrifice, priesthood etc., and bestowed on them a special meaning, so He has also done with this name. Apart from origin and original meaning, the Lord says in Ex. 6 how and in what sense
He is Iahveh, the I will be who I will be. The name Ihvh is from now on the description and the guarantee of this, that God is and remains the God of his people, unchangeable in his grace and faithfulness. And that could also only now, in Moses' time, come to light. There had to elapse precisely a long time, in order to prove that God was faithful and unchangeable; someone's faithfulness can only in the long run and especially in times of misery be tested. So it was with Israel. Centuries had elapsed after the time of the patriarchs; Israel was oppressed and sat down in misery. And now God says: I am who I am, Iahveh, the unchangeably faithful, the God of the fathers, the God also now still of you and unto eternity. Now God lays in an old name an entirely new meaning, which also only now can be understood by the people. And therefore Ihvh is Israel's God from the land of Egypt,
Hos. 12:10, 13:4.
4. The name Ihvh is in the Old Testament the highest revelation of God.
No new names are added. Ihvh is God's proper name, Ex. 15:3, Ps. 83:19, Hos. 12:6, Jes. 42:8; is therefore never used of anyone other than Israel's
God and also never occurs in statu constructo, in plurali, or with suffixa.
Indeed this name is repeatedly altered in form or strengthened by one or another addition. By shortening there arose the form ְַיֲה, ָיהּו, ָיה, which is
used especially in compounds, and from that there arose again the independent nomen ָיּה. This shortened name is regularly used in the [111] exclamation ַהְללּו־ָיּה, but furthermore also occurs repeatedly independently,
Ex. 15:2 Ps. 68:5, 89:9, 94:7, 12, 118:14, Jes. 12:2, 38:11, sometimes in connection with יהוה, Jes. 26:4. Very common also is the combination
Adonai Ihvh, e.g. Ezech. 23:12. A special strengthening the name Ihvh also receives through the addition Zebaoth, יהוה צבאות, Ps. 69:7, 84:2, Hagg. 2:79, once יהוה הצבאות, Am. 9:5, properly shortened from יהוה אלהי צבאות, 1
Sam. 1:3, 4:4, Jes. 1:24, or יהוה אלהים צבאוח, Ps. 80:5, 84:9. Because Zebaoth was connected with Ihvh, which allows no status constructus, and sometimes with Elohim in statu absoluto, Origenes, Hieronymus e. a. inferred from that that Zebaoth was an apposition; and they were still further strengthened in this by the fact that the word in the LXX, especially in 1 Sam. and Jes., and also in Rom. 9:29, Jak. 5:4 has remained untranslated, Moor I 512 sq. But this opinion lacks all foundation.
Elsewhere Zebaoth is rendered by παντοκρατωρ or κυριος των δυναμεων, and the name Ihvh, who Zebaoth, i.e. armies, hosts is, yields no sense. It is difficult, however, to say what must be understood by those Zebaoth. Some have thereby thought of the war-armies of Israel and think that the name
Lord of hosts designates God as God of war. But most of the passages cited for that, such as 1 S. 1:3, 11, 4:4, 15:2, 17:45, 2 S. 5:10, 6:2, 18, 7:8, 26, 27,
1 Kon. 17:1 LXX 18:15, 19:10, 14, 2 Kon. 19:31, Ps. 24:10 prove nothing; only a trio of passages, 1 S. 4:4, 17:45, 2 S. 6:2 provide an appearance of proof; and 2 Kon. 19:31 is much more in conflict with it. Further, the pluralis Zebaoth is indeed in use for the multitudes of the people of Israel,
Ex. 6:25, 7:4, 12:17, 41, 51, Num. 1:3, 2:3, 10:14, 33:1, Deut. 20:9, but the war-army of Israel is always designated with the singularis zaba, Richt. 8:6,
9:29, 2 S. 3:23, 8:16, 10:7, 17:25, 20:23, 1 Kon. 2:35. And finally all agree that the name Lord of hosts with the prophets no longer has this meaning of God of war; but they then leave unexplained how and whereby this expression has thus changed in meaning. Others, with the word hosts, think of the stars with appeal to texts such as Deut. 4:19, Ps. 33:6, Jer. 19:13,
33:22, Jes. 34:4, 40:26, Neh. 9:6; Smend extends this still further and understands by it the powers and elements of the cosmos, on the basis of [112] passages such as Gen. 2:1, Ps. 103:21, Jes. 34:2. And indeed Scripture speaks repeatedly of the stars as the host of heaven, Deut. 4:19, and of all creatures as the host of heaven and earth, Gen. 2:1, but in the first place then never the pluralis but only the singularis is customary; further, the stars are indeed called the host of heaven but never called the host of God; and finally, indeed all creatures, but never so abstract a concept as powers and elements of the cosmos, are designated with the name of host. The implausibility of these newer explanations causes the old interpretation, which with the hosts thought of the angels, to rise in value. And this interpretation finds abundant support in Scripture. The name Lord of hosts is repeatedly brought into connection with the angels, 1 S. 4:4, 2 S. 6:2, Jes.
37:16, Hos. 12:5, 6, Ps. 80:2, 5 v., 89:6-9, and the angels are time and again represented as a host that surrounds the throne of God, Gen. 28:12, 13,
32:2, Jos. 5:14, 1 Kon. 22:19, Job 1:6, Ps. 68:18, 89:8, 103:21, 148:2, Jes.
6:2. Even if it is the case that zaba usually stands of the host of the angels in singulari, this can nevertheless be no objection, because Scripture repeatedly makes mention of many hosts of angels, Gen. 32:2, Deut. 33:2,
Ps. 68:18, 148:2. And with this the meaning of the name agrees. This bears absolutely no warlike or bellicose character; even from 1 Sam. 4:4, 17:45, 2
Sam. 6:2 this is not to be inferred. But in this name there is everywhere
expressed the glory of God as King, Deut. 33:2, 1 Kon. 22:19, Ps. 24:10, Jes. 6:2, 24:23, Zach. 14:16, Zach. 1:14. The angels belong with the δοξα of God or of Christ, they heighten and spread it, Mt. 25:31, Mk. 8:38, 2 Thess.
1:7, Op. 7:11. Iahveh Zebaoth is throughout the whole of Scripture the solemn royal name of God, full of majesty and glory. Elohim designates
God as Creator and Sustainer of all things; El Schaddai makes Him known as the Strong One, who makes nature subservient to grace; Iahveh describes
Him as the one who in his grace keeps faith forever; Iahveh Zebaoth depicts Him as the King full of glory, who, surrounded by his ordered hosts, in his temple receives honor and homage from all his creatures. Cf. on Ihvh
Zebaoth, Delitzsch, Luth. Zeits. 1869 and 1874 and on Ps. 24:10, Schrader, Jahrb. f. prot. Theol. 1875 S. 316-320, [113] Oehler, Theol. § 195 f. Schultz,
Theol. 529 f. Smend, Altt. Rel. 185 f. König, Die Hauptprobl. der altisr. Rel.
S. 49 f., Kuenen, G. v. I. II 46. Stade, Gesch. Isr. I 437. Valeton, t. a. p. bl.
208 v. art. Zebaoth in Herzog2 en Riehm, Handwörterbuch. Borchert, Der Gottesname Jahve Zebaoth, Stud. u. Kr. 1896 S. 619-642.
5. In the N. Test. all these names have been retained. El and Elohim are rendered by θεος, Eljon is translated by ὑψιστος θεος, Mk. 5:7, Luk. 1:32,
35, 76, 8:28, Hd. 7:48, 16:17, Hebr. 7:1, cf. ἐν ὑψιστοις θεος, Luk. 2:14.
Also the designation of God as God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or as God of Israel passes over into the N. Test., Mt. 15:31, 22:32, Mk. 12:26, Luk.
1:68, 20:37, Hd. 3:13, 7:32, 46, 22:14, 24:14, Hebr. 11:16. But for the most part these appositions are replaced by the genitives μου, σου, ἡμων, ὑμων, for in Christ God has become the God and Father of his people, and of each of his children, Hebr. 8:10, Op. 7:12, 19:5, 21:3. The name Jahveh is in the N. T. a few times explicated by το ἀλφα και το ω, ὁ ὠν και ὁ ἠν και ὁ ἐρχομενος, ἡ ἀρχη και το τελος, ὁ πρωτος και ὁ ἐσχατος, Op. 1:4, 8, 11,
17, 2:8, 21:6, 22:13. Otherwise it is, in the footsteps of the LXX, which already read Adonai, translated by κυριος, from κυρος, power. Κυριος makes God known as the Mighty One, the Lord, the Owner, the Ruler, who by right possesses power and authority, in distinction from δεσποτης, the lord, who in fact exercises power, and is in the N. T. used now of God, then of Christ. Also the combinations of Ihvh Elohim, Ihvh Elohim Zebaoth are found again in the N. T., as κυριος ὁ θεος, Luk. 1:16, Hd. 7:37, 1 Petr. 3:15,
Op. 1:8, 22:5, κυριος ὁ θεος παντοκρατωρ, Op. 4:8, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 21:22; while in Rom. 9:29, Jak. 5:4 Zebaoth has remained untranslated. One new name seems to be added in the N. Test., it is the name of Πατηρ. Yet this name is also already used of God in the O. Test. several times, Deut.
32:6, Ps. 103:13, Jes. 63:16, 64:8, Jer. 3:4, 19, 31:9, Mal. 1:6, 2:10, just as Israel is also called his son several times, Ex. 4:22, Deut. 14:1, 32:19, Jes.
1:2, Jer. 31:20, Hos. 1:10, 11:1. The name here expresses the special, theocratic [114] relationship in which God stands to his people Israel; He has formed that people in a wondrous way out of Abraham. In the more general sense of Origin and Creator of all things the Father-name is used in the N. Test. in 1 Cor. 8:6, Ef. 3:15, Hebr. 12:9, Jak. 1:18, cf. Luk. 3:38, Hd.
17:18. But otherwise the name expresses the ethical relationship in which God now through Christ stands to all his children. The relationship which in the O. T. existed between God and Israel is type and example of this; it has now been deepened and expanded, ethicized and individualized. The name of Father now becomes the ordinary name of God in the N. Test. The designation Jahveh is insufficiently rendered by κυριος; it is, as it were, supplemented by the Father-name. This is the highest revelation of God.
God is not merely the Creator, the Almighty, the Faithful One, the King and Lord; He is also the Father of his people. The theocratic kingdom under
Israel passes over into a kingdom of the Father, who is in the heavens. The subjects are at the same time children; the citizens members of the household. Both, right and love, state and household come in the NewTestament relationship of God to his people to complete fulfillment. Here is the perfect Kingship, for here is a King who is at the same time Father, who does not subject his subjects by force but who himself creates and preserves his subjects. They are as children born from Him, they bear his image, they are his family. This relationship has in the N. Test. become possible through Christ, who is the own, only-begotten and beloved Son of the Father. And the believers become partakers of this sonship and also become conscious of it through the H. Spirit, Joh. 3:5, 8, Rom. 8:15 v. In the name Father, Son and Spirit God has revealed himself most richly. The fullness which from the beginning lay enclosed in Elohim has gradually unfolded itself and in the trinitarian name of God has unfolded itself most gloriously and most completely. Lit. on the names of God, Hieronymus, de decem nominibus.
Pseudodion., de div. nom. Thomas, S. Theol. I qu. 13. Petavius, de Deo VIII c. 8, 9. Gerhard, Loci theol. II c. 1-3. Bretschneider, Syst. Entw. 345 f.
Zanchius, Op. II 26-50. Voetius, Disp. V 48 sq. Buxtorf, de nominibus Dei, Dissert. philol. theol., diss. 5. Hottinger, de nominibus Dei orient., Diss. phil. theol. 1660. Moor I 505-552. M. Vitringa I 127-135, and further of the more recent, besides the [115] already above-mentioned, Hofmann,
Schriftbew. I 76-89. Beck, Chr. Gl. II 14 f. Grau, Gottes Volk und sein Gesetz 1895.