GENESIS

THE NAMES OF GOD

‘EL
The oldest Semitic term for God is ‘El (corresponding to Akkadian ilu (m), Canaanite ‘El or ‘IL, and Arabic ‘El as an element in personnel names).

It is commonly thought that the term derived from a root ‘yl or ‘wl, meaning "TO BE POWERFUL" (cf. yesh le-el yadi, "It is in the power of my hand, "Gen. 31:29; cf. Deut. 28:32; Micah 2:1)

In the Bible ‘El is seldom used as the personal name of God, e.g., ‘El-‘Elohei-Yisrael, "El, the God of (the Patriarch) Israel" (Gen. 33:20; cf. Ps. 146:5). Of special interest are the divine names of which El is the first element: ‘El ‘Elyon, ‘El ‘Olam, ‘El Shaddai, ‘El Ro’i, and ‘El Berit.

EL ‘ELYON
The Hebrew word ‘Elyon is an adjective meaning "HIGHER, UPPER," (e.g., the "upper" pool Isa. 7:3) , the "upper" gate (2 Kings 15:35), and "highest," e.g., the "highest" of all the kings of the earth (Ps. 89:28).

When used in reference to God, the word can rightly be translated as "MOST HIGH," (e.g., Deut. 32:8; Isa. 14:14; Ps. 9:3) or in parallelism with YHWH (e.g. Ps. 18:14; 21:8; 83:19). El (Num. 24:16; Ps. 107:11). and Shaddai (Ps. 91:1)

‘EL ‘OLAM
According to Genesis 21:33, "Abraham planted a tamarisk at Beer-Sheba, and invoked there the name of YHWH, the EVERLASTING GOD," is `El ‘Olam, literally, "the God of an indefinitely long time," The epithet is logical in the Context, which concerns a pact meant for all times.

EL SHADDAI
According to the literary source of the Pentateuch that the critics call the "Priestly Document, "YHWH " appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as EL SHADDAI " (Ex. 6:3)

The traditional English rendering of the obscure Hebrew term "EL SHADDAI " as "GOD ALMIGHTY " goes back to ancient times, The (LXX Septuagint) renders SHADDAI as PANTOKRATOR " ALL-POWERFUL’ this is followed by the Vulgate’s OMNIPOTENCE ‘OMNIPOTENT. " Apparently, this rendering is based on an ancient rabbinical interpretation, SHA, ‘WHO, ’ and DAI, "ENOUGH, " i.e., "HE WHO IS SELF-SUFFICIENT’ (e.g., Hag. 1:2 ‘LORD OF HOSTS,’); thus, the Jewish translators Aquila and Symmachus in the early centuries CE translated SHADDAI by Greek HIKANOS, "sufficient, able."

In the Bible the full name, ‘EL SHADDAI, is used only in connection with Abraham (Gen. 17:1). Isaac (Gen. 28:3), and Jacob (Gen./ 35:11; 43:14; 48:3). The word SHADDAI alone occurs as God’s name in the ancient oracles of Balaam (Num. 24:4,16).

‘EL RO’I
The divine name "EL RO’I occurs in Genesis 16:13. The name could mean either "THE GOD OF VISION" (who showed Himself to me). After Hagar was driven away by Sarai (Sarah) and fled into the western Negev, at a certain spring or well she had a vision of God, "and she called YHWH who spoke to her, ‘You are ‘EL RO’I" or it could also mean "THE GOD WHO SEES ME."

‘EL BERIT
The divine name "EL BERIT ("GOD OF THE COVENANT") occurs only in Judges 9:46, where mention is made of "the house (i.e., temple) of ‘EL BERIT " at Shechem.

‘ELOHA, ‘ELOHIM    =  "GOD"

It is apparently a lengthened form of ‘ EL (cf. Aramaic ‘ELAH, Arabic ‘ILAH). In the vast majority of cases, however, the plural form (‘ELOHIM,) is treated as if it were a noun in the singular.

The odd fact that Hebrew uses a plural noun to designate the sole God of Israel has been explained in various ways. It is not to be understood as a remnant of the polytheism of Abraham’s ancestors, or hardly as a "plural of majesty" if there is such a thing in Hebrew.

Some scholars take it as a plural that expresses an abstract idea (e.g. ZEKUNIM, "old age’; NE’URIM, "time of youth"), so that " ELOHIM would really mean "THE DIVINITY." More likely however, it came from Canaanite usage: the early Israelites would have taken over "ELOHIM as a singular noun just as they made their own the rest of the Canaanite language.

‘ADONAI
The Hebrew word ‘ADON is correctly rendered in English as "LORD." Since GOD IS "LORD / ‘ADON/ of all the earth" (Josh. 3:11), He is addressed and spoken of as "MY LORD" -in Hebrew, ‘ADONAI (literally,"MY LORDS." In the plural in keeping with the plural form, "ELOHIM, and always with the "pausal" form of a long a at the end). Later, "ADONAI" was taken to be a name of God, the "LORD".

YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel is written in the Hebrew Bible with the four consonants YHWH and is referred to as the "Tetragrammation."

* Meaning of Hebrew uncertain; variously translated:

The custom was later introduced of saying simply in Hebrew HA-SHEM (or Aramaic SHEMA.’ "THE NAME"). Even in such an expression as "Blessed be he that cometh in the name of YHWH" is generally ascribed to a sense of reverence.

More precisely, it was caused by a misunderstanding of the Third Commandment (Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11) as meaning "Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy God in vain." Whereas it really means "You shall not swear falsely by the name of YHWH your God."

The true pronunciation of the name YHWH was never lost. Several early Greek writers of the Christian Church testify that the name was pronounced "YAHWEH." This is confirmed, at least for the vowel of the first syllable of the name, by the shorter form YAH, which is sometimes used in poetry (i.e., Ex. 15:2) and the -YAHU of —YAH that serves as the final syllable in very many Hebrew names. In the opinion of many scholars, YHWH is a verbal form of the root HWH, which is an older variant of the root HYH "TO BE." The vowel of the first syllable shows that the verb is used as a future-present causative HIPH’IL, and must therefore mean "He causes to be, He brings into existence."

The explanation of the name as given in Exodus 3:14:   
EHEYEH-ASHER-EHEYEH   =   "I-AM-WHO-I-AM."