Question about the name of God

Craz

Craz

Well-Known Member
Messages
365
Reaction score
365
Points
63
Location
Somerset- England-UK
The copy of the New Testament that I have sometimes used is printed by The Society for distributing the Hebrew Scriptures.
It is written both in English and Hebrew.
Up until today I have only read the English, however I was viewing some discussions about using one of God's names(YHVH) and decided to look at the Hebrew version of the NT.
I opened I randomly on several pages and found that Elohim was used and couldn't find any use of YHVH.
Are there any reasons why this is so? (I'm curious)
or
Did I miss something?
 
As Judaism became a universal rather than merely a local religion, the more common Hebrew noun Elohim (plural in form but understood in the singular), meaning “God,” tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered.
 
'Amir Alzzalam said:
As Judaism became a universal rather than merely a local religion, the more common Hebrew noun Elohim (plural in form but understood in the singular), meaning “God,” tended to replace Yahweh to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of Israel's God over all others. At the same time, the divine name was increasingly regarded as too sacred to be uttered.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. It makes sense to me as I grew up Jewish and we were never to even try to pronounce YHVH(although many of us did).
So, as I understand, the NT was actually written in Greek.
My next question is then did the Greek have different words for elohim and YHVH(if you know)?
 
Craz said:
The copy of the New Testament that I have sometimes used is printed by The Society for distributing the Hebrew Scriptures.
It is written both in English and Hebrew.
Up until today I have only read the English, however I was viewing some discussions about using one of God's names(YHVH) and decided to look at the Hebrew version of the NT.
I opened I randomly on several pages and found that Elohim was used and couldn't find any use of YHVH.
Are there any reasons why this is so? (I'm curious)
or
Did I miss something?
Click to expand...

Strong's Lexicon Search Results - EliYah Ministries

Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
www.eliyah.com

Here's a list someone put together based on the Strong's Concordance.

Not every word / Name is G!d, but those that aren't point in the general direction. One that stood out to me is Strong's 3841;
"3841 pantokrátōr (from 3956 /pás, "all" and 2902 /kratéō, "prevail") – properly, almighty; unrestricted power exercising absolute dominion."

This one is used throughout Revelations and a few other places too.

The Jews already had the Old Testament in the Greek Septuagint for a couple hundred years I think I was told, prior to Yashua / Jesus' birth. So having Greek words for Jewish concepts and ideas wasn't truly remarkable at the time the New Testament was composed. And Greek was the lingua franca throughout the "business zones" of the Mediterranean. Regardless if it sounds "ethnic," many Jewish people have long been drawn to business. To be fair, lots of other folks have been too. Paul, so oft reviled for carrying the message into the Med business zones, was able to do so by utilizing the Greek language, the lingua franca of the common people.
 
juantoo3 said:

Strong's Lexicon Search Results - EliYah Ministries

Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon
www.eliyah.com

Here's a list someone put together based on the Strong's Concordance.

Not every word / Name is G!d, but those that aren't point in the general direction. One that stood out to me is Strong's 3841;
"3841 pantokrátōr (from 3956 /pás, "all" and 2902 /kratéō, "prevail") – properly, almighty; unrestricted power exercising absolute dominion."

This one is used throughout Revelations and a few other places too.

The Jews already had the Old Testament in the Greek Septuagint for a couple hundred years I think I was told, prior to Yashua / Jesus' birth. So having Greek words for Jewish concepts and ideas wasn't truly remarkable at the time the New Testament was composed. And Greek was the lingua franca throughout the "business zones" of the Mediterranean. Regardless if it sounds "ethnic," many Jewish people have long been drawn to business. To be fair, lots of other folks have been too. Paul, so oft reviled for carrying the message into the Med business zones, was able to do so by utilizing the Greek language, the lingua franca of the common people.
Click to expand...

Very interesting.
I did a search using 'god' and could not find and occurrences of YHVH however I did find this
136 'Adonay ad-o-noy' am emphatic form of 113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):--(my) Lord.
Which is what Jews today say in place of (YHVH).
I did find elohim,
430 'elohiym el-o-heem' plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty

Thanks for the info. Cheers.
I found no reference to YHVH.
 
Last edited:
That's not how they pronounce it. It is what they say instead of yhvh because it is supposed to be too sacred to say or write
Craz said:
Very interesting.
I did a search using 'god' and could not find and occurrences of YHVH however I did find this
136 'Adonay ad-o-noy' am emphatic form of 113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):--(my) Lord.
Which is how Jews today pronounce the name(YHVH).
I did find elohim,
430 'elohiym el-o-heem' plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty

Thanks for the info. Cheers.
I found no reference to YHVH.
Click to expand...
 
New testament says Theon and Theos. I heard someone say they think of God as The OS (operating system) of the universe. Is means face or head in Latin. In old English it is God. It also means bone so I think of dead people. The Os.

You could also say The On like how many angel names ending with "on." I found that "on" is from Egyptian word meaning abode of the sun or pillar.
 
Last edited:
Craz said:
Thanks for that. It makes sense to me as I grew up Jewish and we were never to even try to pronounce YHVH(although many of us did).
So, as I understand, the NT was actually written in Greek.
My next question is then did the Greek have different words for elohim and YHVH(if you know)?
Click to expand...
The Greek version of YHVH was ιαω ("iao") pronounced ee-ah-oh and basically translated to "I am".
Elohim means "god" in Hebrew, the Greek word was "theos".
 
Craz said:
Very interesting.
I did a search using 'god' and could not find and occurrences of YHVH however I did find this
136 'Adonay ad-o-noy' am emphatic form of 113; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only):--(my) Lord.
Which is what Jews today say in place of (YHVH).
I did find elohim,
430 'elohiym el-o-heem' plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty

Thanks for the info. Cheers.
I found no reference to YHVH.
Click to expand...
I have heard many references to Adonai, I simply hadn't put it into a context. What you say here makes sense.

Likewise, I was of the impression Elohim was confined to the Old Testament, being a Hebrew word.

I do know the Peshitta comes to us today by way of the Armenians, and that translation was originally in Aramaic, a colloquial Hebrew spoken in and around Galilee at the time of Yashua. The Peshitta was translated into English shortly after 1900a.d., so fairly recent compared to other authorized translations, but it does highlight some of the figures of speech and common use allegories and allusions that are glossed over in most English translations.

I did a quick follow up, per Strong's, I don't see any use of the Hebrew word Elohim anywhere in the New Testament.

Not sure who put out your English / Hebrew Bible with the New Testament, under other circumstances I would be inclined to think maybe it is / was a promotional item to attract recruits. It is the first I've heard of. The Jews typically don't recruit, it's a "family" thing, as I'm sure you are aware. So the only outfits I can think of that might try to recruit would be some kind of Messianic Judaism organization...and if so I would seriously question the Hebrew translation of the New Testament. Naturally the Strong's Concordance would not relate to that translation as it is focused on the King James. And since Greek and Hebrew are structured differently...yeah, I would really question that translation.
 
Last edited:
juantoo3 said:
I have heard many references to Adonai, I simply hadn't put it into a context. What you say here makes sense.

Likewise, I was of the impression Elohim was confined to the Old Testament, being a Hebrew word.

I do know the Peshitta comes to us today by way of the Armenians, and that translation was originally in Aramaic, a colloquial Hebrew spoken in and around Galilee at the time of Yashua. The Peshitta was translated into English shortly after 1900a.d., so fairly recent compared to other authorized translations, but it does highlight some of the figures of speech and common use allegories and allusions that are glossed over in most English translations.

I did a quick follow up, per Strong's, I don't see any use of the Hebrew word Elohim anywhere in the New Testament.

Not sure who put out your English / Hebrew Bible with the New Testament, under other circumstances I would be inclined to think maybe it is / was a promotional item to attract recruits. It is the first I've heard of. The Jews typically don't recruit, it's a "family" thing, as I'm sure you are aware. So the only outfits can think of that might try to recruit would be some kind of Messianic Judaism organization...and if so I would seriously question the Hebrew translation of the New Testame Int. Naturally the Strong's Concordance would not relate to that translation as it is focused on the King James. And since Greek and Hebrew are structured differently...yeah, I would really question that translation.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the informative reply.
You are correct. The person who gave that Bible(over 30 years ago) was a Messianic Jew who may well have wanting to recruit.
I'll see if I can find a different Hebrew or Aramaic translation of the NT.
Cheers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top