The Hebrew names of God are the words the Old Testament was first written with, before any English Bible existed. Most of them are short. A few letters can carry a whole idea: power, height, forever, seeing, peace. When you read "God," "LORD" or "Almighty" in the King James Version, one of these Hebrew words is standing underneath. This page walks through them one at a time, with a chart you can come back to.
Two quick notes before you start. First, nearly all of the Old Testament is in Hebrew, with a few chapters of Daniel and Ezra in Aramaic, a related language. Second, Hebrew uses its own alphabet, so every English spelling here is only a guide to the sound. You will see Elohim, Elohiym and Eloheem in different books. They are the same word.
El: the shortest word for God
El is two letters in Hebrew. It means God, and it carries the sense of a mighty one. On its own it is used for the true God and sometimes for false gods. Its real work, though, is as a building block. Put a describing word after it and you get a name: El Shaddai, El Elyon, El Olam, El Roi.
El also hides inside people's names. Daniel means "God is my judge." Elijah means "my God is YHWH." Samuel, Ezekiel and Israel all have El in them too. Parents in Bible times put God's name into their children's names as a kind of lifelong prayer.
Elohim and Eloah
Elohim is the word in the very first verse of the Bible: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
(Genesis 1:1). It is by far the most common word for God in the Old Testament.
Here is the surprise. Elohim has a plural ending, the Hebrew -im, the way English adds an "s." Yet when it means the one true God, the verbs that go with it are singular. In Genesis 1:1 the Hebrew word for "created" is singular. Hebrew word books call this a plural of intensity, a way of saying "God in the fullest sense." Bible readers have talked for centuries about what the plural form might point to, but the grammar itself is clear that one God is meant. The same word can also mean "gods" when it refers to the idols of the nations, so the setting tells you which is meant.
Eloah is the singular form. It shows up most often in the book of Job, which also uses Shaddai more than any other book.
YHWH: the name God gave Himself
When Moses asked God at the burning bush what name to give the people, God answered with I AM THAT I AM, and then with four Hebrew letters: Yod, He, Vav, He. In English letters they are written YHWH. Scholars call this the Tetragrammaton, a Greek word that simply means "four letters." God added: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations
(Exodus 3:15).
The name is tied to the Hebrew verb hayah, "to be." That is why it sits right next to I AM in Exodus 3. It points to a God who simply is, who does not depend on anyone, and who is present with His people.
It is also the most common name of God in the Old Testament, used thousands of times. And here is where the story gets interesting:
- Out of deep respect, Jewish readers stopped saying it aloud. When they came to YHWH in the text, they said Adonai, "Lord," instead. Many Jewish people still do this today, or simply say HaShem, "the Name."
- The vowels were lost. Hebrew was first written with consonants only. Centuries later, scribes added small vowel marks to the text, and over YHWH they placed the vowels of Adonai, as a reminder to say Lord.
- That is where "Jehovah" comes from. Christian readers in the late Middle Ages put the four consonants together with those borrowed vowels, and the form Jehovah was born. Most scholars today think the original sounded closer to Yahweh, though no one can be completely sure.
There is also a short form, Yah. You say it every time you say "hallelujah," which is Hebrew for "praise Yah." The King James translates that phrase Praise ye the LORD
in the last line of the book of Psalms, and in Psalm 68:4 it prints the short name itself as JAH.
Reading LORD, Lord and GOD in the King James
The King James translators used capital letters to show you which Hebrew word is behind the English. Once you know the pattern, you can read the Hebrew names right off the English page.
| What you see in the KJV | The Hebrew behind it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| LORD (all capitals) | YHWH, God's personal name | Psalm 23:1 |
| Lord (small letters) | Adonai or adon, Master | Psalm 110:1, second "Lord" |
| GOD (all capitals) | YHWH again, when it follows Adonai | Genesis 15:2 |
| God (small letters) | Elohim, El or Eloah | Genesis 1:1 |
| JEHOVAH (spelled out) | YHWH, written as a name | Exodus 6:3, Psalm 83:18 |
So O LORD our Lord
(Psalm 8:1) means "O YHWH, our Master." In Genesis 15:2, Abram says Lord GOD
: in Hebrew that is Adonai YHWH, and printing it "Lord LORD" would have looked odd, so GOD in capitals stands in for the personal name. The spelled-out word JEHOVAH stands alone only four times in the King James text: Exodus 6:3, Psalm 83:18, Isaiah 12:2 and Isaiah 26:4.
Adonai: Lord and Master
Adon is the ordinary Hebrew word for a lord or master, the word a servant would use for the head of the house. Adonai is a special form kept for God. It means "my Lord," and it is a word of submission: I belong to You, and You are in charge. Abram was the first to speak to God with it, in Genesis 15:2, while asking honestly how God's promise of a son could come true.
The words that go with El
Many Hebrew names of God are El plus one more word. That second word is where the meaning lives.
- Shaddai is translated "Almighty" every time in the King James. Experts do not agree on where the word comes from. Some tie it to power that overwhelms, some to a word for mountain. All agree that in the Bible it describes a God strong enough to keep promises that look impossible.
- Elyon means highest. It comes from a verb meaning to go up. El Elyon is the Most High God, above every king and every power.
- Olam means a very long time, reaching back past memory and forward past sight. El Olam is the Everlasting God.
- Roi comes from the verb to see. El Roi is the God who sees.
- Chai means living. El Chai is the Living God, set against idols that cannot move.
- Qanna means jealous, in the sense of a love that will not be shared with false gods.
Chart of Hebrew names of God
Here are the main Hebrew names, what they mean in plain words, where to find them, and the page on this site that tells each one's story.
| Hebrew | Plain meaning | Key verse | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elohim | God, the Creator | Genesis 1:1 | Elohim |
| YHWH | God's personal name, the One who is | Exodus 6:3 | Jehovah |
| Adonai YHWH | Lord GOD, Master and LORD | Genesis 15:2 | Adonai |
| Ehyeh asher ehyeh | I am that I am | Exodus 3:14 | I AM THAT I AM |
| El Elyon | God Most High | Genesis 14:18 | El Elyon |
| El Roi | The God who sees me | Genesis 16:13 | El Roi |
| El Shaddai | God Almighty | Genesis 17:1 | El Shaddai |
| El Olam | The everlasting God | Genesis 21:33 | El Olam |
| El Elohe Yisrael | God, the God of Israel | Genesis 33:20 | Elelohe-Israel |
| El Chai | The living God | Joshua 3:10 | The Living God |
| El Qanna | A jealous God | Exodus 34:14 | Jealous God |
| YHWH Tseva'ot | The LORD of armies, of heaven and earth | 1 Samuel 1:3 | LORD of Hosts |
| Qedosh Yisrael | The Holy One of Israel | Isaiah 43:3 | Holy One of Israel |
| Tsur | Rock | Deuteronomy 32:4 | God Is My Rock |
| Go'el | Redeemer, the relative who buys you back | Job 19:25 | My Redeemer |
| Attiq yomin (Aramaic) | The Ancient of Days | Daniel 7:9 | Ancient of Days |
The Jehovah names in Hebrew
A second family of Hebrew names joins YHWH to a word about what God does. Three were names given to places or altars. Two were names given to a King and a city in the prophets. The rest are statements about God, two of them spoken by God Himself.
| Hebrew | The extra word means | Key verse | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| YHWH Yir'eh | will see (to it), will provide | Genesis 22:14 | Jehovah Jireh |
| YHWH Rophe'ekha | who heals you | Exodus 15:26 | Jehovah Rapha |
| YHWH Nissi | my banner, the flag soldiers rally to | Exodus 17:15 | Jehovah Nissi |
| YHWH Meqaddishkem | who makes you holy, sets you apart | Exodus 31:13 | Jehovah Mekoddishkem |
| YHWH Shalom | peace, being whole | Judges 6:24 | Jehovah Shalom |
| YHWH Ro'i | my shepherd | Psalm 23:1 | Jehovah Rohi |
| YHWH Tsidqenu | our righteousness, what is right | Jeremiah 23:6 | Jehovah Tsidkenu |
| YHWH Shammah | is there | Ezekiel 48:35 | Jehovah Shammah |
You can study all of these as a group on the Jehovah names of God page.
Learning the Hebrew without learning Hebrew
You do not need a language class to get the good out of these words. Try this: pick one Hebrew word a week, El, Shaddai, Olam, and every time you see its English form in your reading, stop and say the Hebrew word. Within a month the English page will start to feel layered, like a song you finally hear in harmony.
For the whole list of 70, in the order of the book, go to the names of God in the Bible page. The book 70 Names of God gives each name a full chapter, with the Hebrew, how the name was carried into Greek, and where it leads in the rest of Scripture. And the 70 Names of God shirt puts Proverbs 18:10, a verse about the name of the LORD, on something you can wear.