Christians: what is the Abrahamic god's proper name?

Question

I’ve heard Jewish people call him Yahweh (from Hebrew YHWH).

I know Muslims call him Allah.

But other than Jehovah's Witnesses, the only way I’ve ever heard Christians refer to him as, is “God,” “Lord,” or “Father” - all of which are titles, not names.

Exodus 34:14 says that his name is “Jealous.” From the Christian viewpoint, is this his proper name? Is it something else? Is he nameless?

Answer 1

Well God told Moses that He had only revealed Himself to Abraham as El Shaddai (God Almighty) but that his name was YHVH (Yod Hey Vav Hey) the pronunciation of which has been lost.

Exodus 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH (יהָוֹה) was I not known to them.

יהָוֹה

yehōwāh: A noun meaning God. The word refers to the proper name of the God of Israel, particularly the name by which He revealed Himself to Moses (Exo_6:2-3). The divine name has traditionally not been pronounced, primarily out of respect for its sacredness (cf. Exo_20:7; Deu_28:58). Until the Renaissance, it was written without vowels in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, being rendered as YHWH. However, since that time, the vowels of another word, ’aḏōnāy (H136), have been supplied in hopes of reconstructing the pronunciation. Although the exact derivation of the name is uncertain, most scholars agree that its primary meaning should be understood in the context of God's existence, namely, that He is the "I AM THAT I AM" (Exo_3:14), the One who was, who is, and who always will be (cf. Rev_11:17). Older translations of the Bible and many newer ones employ the practice of rendering the divine name in capital letters, so as to distinguish it from other Hebrew words. It is most often rendered as LORD (Gen_4:1; Deu_6:18; Psa_18:31 [32]; Jer_33:2; Jon_1:9) but also as GOD (Gen_6:5; 2Sa_12:22) or JEHOVAH (Psa_83:18 [19]; Isa_26:4). The frequent appearance of this name in relation to God's redemptive work underscores its tremendous importance (Lev_26:45; Psa_19:14 [15]). Also, it is sometimes compounded with another word to describe the character of the Lord in greater detail (see Gen_22:14; Exo_17:15; Jdg_6:24).

Answer 2

You can refer to God by his attributes as well

# Transliteration Translation
1 Allah (الله) (The) God
2 Ar-Rahman (الرحمن) The All Beneficent
3 Ar-Rahim (الرحيم) The Most Merciful
4 Al-Malik (الملك) The King, The Sovereign
5 Al-Quddus (القدوس) The Most Holy
6 As-Salam (السلام) The Peace and Blessing
7 Al-Mu'min (المؤمن) The Guarantor
8 Al-Muhaymin (المهيمن) The Guardian, The Preserver
9 Al-Aziz (العزيز) The Almighty, The Self Sufficient
10 Al-Jabbar (الجبار) The Powerful, The Irresistible
11 Al-Mutakabbir (المتكبر) The Tremendous
12 Al-Khaliq (الخالق) The Creator
13 Al-Bari' (البارئ) The Maker
14 Al-Musawwir (المصور) The Fashioner of Forms
15 Al-Ghaffar (الغفار) The Ever Forgiving
16 Al-Qahhar (القهار) The All Compelling Subduer
17 Al-Wahhab (الوهاب) The Bestower
18 Ar-Razzaq (الرزاق) The Ever Providing
19 Al-Fattah (الفتاح) The Opener, The Victory Giver
20 Al-`Alim (العليم) The All Knowing, The Omniscient
21 Al-Qabid (القابض) The Restrainer, The Straightener
22 Al-Basit (الباسط) The Expander, The Munificent
23 Al-Khafid (الخافض) The Abaser
24 Ar-Rafi (الرافع) The Exalter
25 Al-Mu'izz (المعز) The Giver of Honour
26 Al-Mudhill (المذل) The Giver of Dishonour
27 As-Sami (السميع) The All Hearing
28 Al-Basir (البصير) The All Seeing
29 Al-Hakam (الحكم) The Judge, The Arbitrator
30 Al-`Adl (العدل) The Utterly Just
31 Al-Latif (اللطيف) The Subtly Kind
32 Al-Khabir (الخبير) The All Aware
33 Al-Halim (الحليم) The Forbearing, The Indulgent
34 Al-Azim (العظيم) The Magnificent, The Infinite
35 Al-Ghafur (الغفور) The All Forgiving
36 Ash-Shakur (الشكور) The Grateful
37 Al-Ali (العلى) The Sublimely Exalted
38 Al-Kabir (الكبير) The Great
39 Al-Hafiz (الحفيظ) The Preserver
40 Al-Muqit (المقيت) The Nourisher
41 Al-Hasib (الحسيب) The Reckoner
42 Al-Jalil (الجليل) The Majestic
43 Al-Karim (الكريم) The Bountiful, The Generous
44 Ar-Raqib (الرقيب) The Watchful
45 Al-Mujib (المجيب) The Responsive, The Answerer
46 Al-Wasi (الواسع) The Vast, The All Encompassing
47 Al-Hakim (الحكيم) The Wise
48 Al-Wadud (الودود) The Loving, The Kind One
49 Al-Majid (المجيد) The All Glorious
50 Al-Ba'ith (الباعث) The Raiser of The Dead
51 Ash-Shahid (الشهيد) The Witness
52 Al-Haqq (الحق) The Truth, The Real
53 Al-Wakil (الوكيل) The Trustee, The Dependable
54 Al-Qawiyy (القوى) The Strong
55 Al-Matin (المتين) The Firm, The Steadfast
56 Al-Waliyy (الولى) The Protecting Friend, Patron and Helper
57 Al-Hamid (الحميد) The All Praiseworthy
58 Al-Muhsi (المحصى) The Accounter, The Numberer of All
59 Al-Mubdi' (المبدئ) The Producer, Originator, and Initiator of all
60 Al-Mu'id (المعيد) The Reinstater Who Brings Back All
61 Al-Muhyi (المحيى) The Giver of Life
62 Al-Mumit (المميت) The Bringer of Death, The Destroyer
63 Al-Hayy (الحي) The Ever Living
64 Al-Qayyum (القيوم) The Self Subsisting Sustainer of All
65 Al-Wajid (الواجد) The Perceiver, The Finder, The Unfailing
66 Al-Majid (الماجد) The Illustrious, The Magnificent
67 Al-Wahid (الواحد) The One, the All Inclusive, The Indivisible
68 As-Samad (الصمد) The Self Sufficient, The Impregnable, The Eternally Besought of All, The Everlasting
69 Al-Qadir (القادر) The All Able
70 Al-Muqtadir (المقتدر) The All Determiner, The Dominant
71 Al-Muqaddim (المقدم) The Expediter, He Who Brings Forward
72 Al-Mu'akhkhir (المؤخر) The Delayer, He Who Puts Far Away
73 Al-Awwal (الأول) The First
74 Al-Akhir (الأخر) The Last
75 Az-Zahir (الظاهر) The Manifest, The All Victorious
76 Al-Batin (الباطن) The Hidden, The All Encompassing
77 Al-Wali (الوالي) The Patron
78 Al-Muta'ali (المتعالي) The Self Exalted
79 Al-Barr (البر) The Most Kind and Righteous
80 At-Tawwab (التواب) The Ever Returning, Ever Relenting
81 Al-Muntaqim (المنتقم) The Avenger
82 Al-'Afuww (العفو) The Pardoner, The Effacer of Sins
83 Ar-Ra'uf (الرؤوف) The Compassionate, The All Pitying
84 Malik-al-Mulk (مالك الملك) The Owner of All Sovereignty
85 Dhu-al-Jalal wa-al-Ikram (ذو الجلال و الإكرام) The Lord of Majesty and Generosity
86 Al-Muqsit (المقسط) The Equitable, The Requiter
87 Al-Jami' (الجامع) The Gatherer, The Unifier
88 Al-Ghani (الغنى) The All Rich, The Independent
89 Al-Mughni (المغنى) The Enricher, The Emancipator
90 Al-Mani'(المانع) The Withholder, The Shielder, the Defender
91 Ad-Darr (الضار) The Distressor, The Harmer (This attribute can only be found in hadith)
92 An-Nafi' (النافع) The Propitious, The Benefactor
93 An-Nur (النور) The Light
94 Al-Hadi (الهادي) The Guide
95 Al-Badi (البديع) The Incomparable, The Originator
96 Al-Baqi (الباقي) The Ever Enduring and Immutable
97 Al-Warith (الوارث) The Heir, The Inheritor of All
98 Ar-Rashid (الرشيد) The Guide, Infallible Teacher and Knower
99 As-Sabur (الصبور) The Patient, The Timeless

Answer 3

"Yahweh" is the usual way of spelling it in English. (I don't know how to do Hebrew letters in Yahoo!) YHWH is the general of transliterating it from Hebrew because in ancient Hebrew the vowels were extraneous. They were only added later.

However, as you may have noticed, Jews don't say the name of God. In Hebrew they substitute "Elohim," meaning "Lord."

Over time, when they added vowels (literally, the jots and tittles), rather than put the pronunciation vowels for Yahweh, the imprinted the vowels for Elohim. This led to the term Yehowih.

Now this moved through the centuries and language accents variations. Y changed into J. (In Germany, the J sound is a Y.) The W similarly became a V. (Again, the same as German.)

Those who therefore began to look at the Hebrew bible began to write it in Roman letters as "Jehovih" or later "Jehovah."

As for Allah, it is related to the term Elohim, sharing a root word, meaning again, "The Lord."

The translation of the Exodus passage of the burning bush where God declares himself to be the great "I am" (i.e., "I am the one who exists.") fits well enough. If you're one who gets hung up on names, any of the above will suffice. I, for one, and known by several names, too.

Answer 4

GOD’S NAME - YHVH

The Massorah has a rubric calling attention to these first 4 acrostics. This locks in the name of God according to Hebrew and Biblical scholars. The name also being spelled backwards for Divine reasons, a subject for another time.

Est.1:20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
( shall give to their husbands honour both to great and small ) Hebrew ( Hi Vekal Hannashim Yittenu ) HVHY

Est.5:4 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
( let the king and Haman come this day ) Hebrew ( Yabo Hammelek Vehaman Hayyom ) YHVH

Est.5:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.
( this availeth me nothing ) Hebrew ( zeH eynennV shoveH leY ) HVHY

Est.7:7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.
( that there was evil determined against him ) Hebrew ( kY kalethaH elayV haraaH ) YHVH

Also a 5th acrostic of “ I am”, ( I am that I am ) Hebrew ( ehyeh asher ehyeh ) Exo.3:14
Est.7:5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
( Who is he, and where is he ) Hebrew ( huE zeH veeY zeH ) EHYH “I am”

The Massorah has a special rubric calling attention this acroustic.
Psa.96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Hebrew ( Yismehu Hashshamayim Vethagel Haarez ) YHVH

Answer 5

It is true that the Almighty did not say, "Listen, thousands of years from now when a new language called English comes along, they can pronounce my name as 'Jehovah' and that's fine."

Instead, like with any and every personal name, different languages TRANSLATE personal names to fit their lingual tendencies. George becomes "Hor-hey" in Spanish or "Gay-org" in German and no one gets upset.

The name "Jehovah" is an English translation of the Hebrew name pronounced as or similar to "Yahweh" or "Yehowah"; the exact original pronunciation is unknown. The four Hebrew characters corresponding to the letters "YHWH" are well-recognized as the biblical personal name of Almighty God, and are universally designated as "the Tetragrammaton" or "the Tetragram".

For centuries, most Jews have superstitiously refrained from pronouncing aloud any form of the divine Name. They base that superstition on the third of the Ten Commandments given to Moses:
(Exodus 20:7) You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way
http://watchtower.org/e/bible/ex/chapter_020.htm?bk=Ex;chp=20;vs=7;citation#bk7

Over the centuries, that Jewish superstition has expanded to also forbid writing or engraving any form of "YHWH", even when simply copying from one of the nearly 7000 occurences in the Hebrew Scriptures. In recent centuries, some superstitious Jews have even forbade unabbreviated EUPHEMISMS for "YHWH"; capitalized terms such as "Tetragrammaton" and (amazingly) even "the Name" are forbidden by such superstitions.

More recently, the Jewish superstition has ballooned out of all reasonableness by also forbidding respectful impersonal TERMS referring to the Almighty; thus many Jews insist upon writing "G-d" or "G~d" rather than "God". They may even refrain from capitalizing impersonal terms such as "Creator" and "Almighty".

Naturally, the religious and superstitious practices of a person are between him and his Creator. However, in recent decades these superstitious Jews have worked to impose their superstitious sensibilities beyond their religious communities, and onto the entire populace. Thus, although "YHWH' is unanimously recognized as the personal name of God, few today use any form of it in their writings and conversation.

Interestingly, Christendom has largely joined with superstitious Jews in suppressing the use of "Yahweh" and "Jehovah". However, it seems that Christendom's anti-YHWH bias largely devolves from their hatred of Jehovah's Witnesses, the religion almost single-handedly responsible for the growing public recognition that the Almighty God of Judaism and Christianity actually does a personal name.

It seems that too many are more interested in coddling superstition than in allowing intellectual honesty and respect for the Almighty.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/na/
http://watchtower.org/e/20040122/


Interestingly, Encyclopaedia Judaica says that “the avoidance of pronouncing the name YHWH ... was caused by a misunderstanding of the Third Commandment.”
http://www.jehovantodistajat.fi/e/20040122/article_02.htm

(Psalms 83:18) That people may know that you, whose name is Jehovah, You alone are the Most High over all the earth

(John 17:26) [Jesus said] I have made your name known to them and will make it known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them

Answer 6

finding the true name of god is quite a pastime.

from Yahweh and the tetragrammaton you mention to Allah, God, El, Eloah, Elohim and many more...
I think they are all a reference of title or being rather than a name.

Answer 7

allah yahweh and god are three words in different languages meaning the same thing. not sure what language abraham spoke but hebrew is a possibility. seems yahweh doesnt translate as god but allah and god certainly mean the same thing.
i know christians in the middle east called god allah

Answer 8

Gods name surpasses human capacity of comprehension.

Answer 9

Jehovah-Jireh-Genesis 22:13-14
14 And Abraham began to call the name of that place Je•ho´vah-ji´reh. This is why it is customarily said today: “In the mountain of Jehovah it will be provided.”

Jehovahh-Rafa-Exodus 15:26
26 And he went on to say: “If you will strictly listen to the voice of Jehovah your God and will do what is right in his eyes and will indeed give ear to his commandments and keep all his regulations, I shall put none of the maladies upon you that I put upon the Egyptians; because I am Jehovah who is healing you.”

Jehova-Nissi Exodus 17:8-15
15 And Moses proceeded to build an altar and to call its name Je•ho´vah-nis´si,

Jehovahh-Shalom Judges 6:24
26 And you must build an altar to Jehovah your God at the head of this stronghold, with the row of stones, and you must take the second young bull and offer it up as a burnt offering on the pieces of wood of the sacred pole that you will cut down.”

Jehova-Ra'ah Psalms 23:1
1 Jehovah is my Shepherd.
I shall lack nothing.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu Jeremiah 23:6
6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel itself will reside in security. And this is his name with which he will be called, Jehovah Is Our Righteousness.”

Jehovah-Shama Ezekiel 48:35
35 “Round about [there will be] eighteen thousand [cubits]; and the name of the city from [that] day on will be Jehovah Himself Is There.”

If I say Bill is wise, handsome, and merciful, I don’t have 4 names for Bill. I have one Bill who is wise, handsome, and merciful.

We have one Jehovah, who is my Sheppard, who is Righteous, who provides healing, etc.

Ex 3:14 At this God said to Moses: “I SHALL PROVE TO BE WHAT I SHALL PROVE TO BE.” And he added: “This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘I SHALL PROVE TO BE has sent me to YOU.’” 15 Then God said once more to Moses:
“This is what you are to say to the sons of Israel, ‘Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to YOU.’ This is my name to time indefinite, and this is the memorial of me to generation after generation.

vs 15 Shows that it is Jehovah is his name.

On one celebrated occasion, God pronounced his own name, repeating it in the hearing of Moses. Moses wrote an account of that event that has been preserved in the Bible down to our day. (Exodus 34:5) God even wrote his name with his own “finger.” When he had given Moses what we today call the Ten Commandments, God miraculously wrote them down. The record says: “Now as soon as [God] had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai he proceeded to give Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone written on by God’s finger.” (Exodus 31:18) God’s name appears eight times in the original Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-17) Thus God himself has revealed his name to man both verbally and in writing. So, what is that name?

In the Hebrew language it is written יהוה. These four letters, called the Tetragrammaton, are read from right to left in Hebrew and can be represented in many modern languages as YHWH or JHVH. God’s name, represented by these four consonants, appears almost 7,000 times in the original “Old Testament,” or Hebrew Scriptures.

The name is a form of a Hebrew verb ha•wah´ (הוה), meaning “to become,” and actually signifies “He Causes to Become.” Thus, God’s name identifies him as the One who progressively fulfills his promises and unfailingly realizes his purposes. Only the true God could bear such a meaningful name.

Answer 10

GOD IS LOVE ,AND THE NUMBER THAT LOVE COMES IS THE NAME OF GODS NAME///I SEE ALL OF YOU ARE STILL STUCK ON PAGE ONE.I TAKE YOU TO THE LAST PAGE.