The Jehovah names of God are names that join God's own personal name to a word about what He does. Jehovah-jireh means the LORD will provide. Jehovah-shalom means the LORD is peace. Each one was born in a real moment, often at an altar, a battlefield or a dark season, when someone in the Bible learned something new about the God of Israel. This page explains where the word Jehovah comes from, why your King James Bible usually prints LORD instead, and then walks through each Jehovah name in the book 70 Names of God with its story in brief.
Four letters behind the word LORD
In the Hebrew Old Testament, God's personal name is written with four letters: Yod, He, Waw, He. In English letters that is YHWH (some older books write JHVH). Scholars call it the Tetragrammaton, a Greek word that simply means "the four letters." It is by far the most common name for God in the Old Testament, used thousands of times from Genesis to Malachi.
God made this name known to Moses at the burning bush. When Moses asked what name to give the people, God answered first with I AM THAT I AM
(Exodus 3:14), and then He gave the name that would stand for all time:
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Exodus 3:15
The words "The LORD" in that verse are the four letters. A memorial is something that helps people remember. God was saying, in effect, "This is how you will remember Me." The name is closely tied to the Hebrew verb for "to be," which is why many teachers explain it as "He who is" or "the One who always is." You can read more on the Jehovah (The LORD) page and the I AM THAT I AM page.
How the English word Jehovah came about
Ancient Hebrew was written with consonants only. Readers supplied the vowel sounds from memory. Over time, Jewish readers stopped saying God's personal name out loud, out of deep respect, and said Adonai, "my Lord," in its place.
Centuries later, between about the 6th and 10th centuries AD, Jewish scribes called the Masoretes added small vowel marks to the Hebrew text so the right sounds would not be lost. Over the four letters YHWH they placed the vowel marks of Adonai, as a reminder to the reader to say "Lord." Christian readers in the Middle Ages put those borrowed vowels together with the four consonants and read the result as one word. That blend became the Latin and then the English form Jehovah.
William Tyndale brought the name into English in his 1530 translation of the first five books of the Bible. In his day the letters I and J, and U and V, were not yet told apart, so he spelled it Iehouah. The first King James printing in 1611 spelled it Iehovah, and later editions settled on the spelling we know today.
Many scholars now think the original sound of the name was closer to "Yahweh." That is a question about pronunciation, not about which God is meant. Jehovah, Yahweh and LORD all point to the same name that God gave at the bush.
Why the King James prints LORD, and the few places it says JEHOVAH
The King James translators kept the old custom of reverence. Where the Hebrew has YHWH, they printed LORD in capital letters (small capitals in many Bibles). Where the Hebrew has Adonai, they printed Lord with small letters. So the capital letters on the page are a signal: every time you see LORD, God's personal name stands behind it. The Lord GOD (Adonai) page explains the difference in more detail.
In the main text of the King James Version, the word Jehovah appears only seven times. Four times it stands alone:
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Exodus 6:3
That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.
Psalm 83:18
The other two are in Isaiah: the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song
(Isaiah 12:2) and in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength
(Isaiah 26:4). The last three times are inside place names that people gave after God met them: Jehovah-jireh (Genesis 22:14), Jehovah-nissi (Exodus 17:15) and Jehovah-shalom (Judges 6:24). Some printings also give the Hebrew form in a margin note at a few other verses, but those notes are not part of the Bible text itself.
The Jehovah compound names, one by one
A compound name is two words joined to make one name, like "Jehovah" plus "jireh." Some of these compounds are printed as names in the King James. Others are phrases in the text, such as The LORD is my shepherd
, that teachers later wrote in their Hebrew form. Here is a quick chart, followed by the story behind each one.
| Name | Hebrew in English letters | Plain meaning | Where it starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jehovah-jireh | YHWH Yir'eh | The LORD will see to it, the LORD will provide | Genesis 22:14 |
| Jehovah Rapha | YHWH Rophe'ekha | The LORD who heals you | Exodus 15:26 |
| Jehovah-nissi | YHWH Nissi | The LORD is my banner | Exodus 17:15 |
| Jehovah Mekoddishkem | YHWH Meqaddishkem | The LORD who makes you holy | Exodus 31:13 |
| Jehovah-shalom | YHWH Shalom | The LORD is peace | Judges 6:24 |
| Jehovah Rohi | YHWH Ro'i | The LORD is my shepherd | Psalm 23:1 |
| Jehovah Tsidkenu | YHWH Tsidqenu | The LORD our righteousness | Jeremiah 23:6 |
| Jehovah Shammah | YHWH Shammah | The LORD is there | Ezekiel 48:35 |
| Jehovah Sabaoth | YHWH Tseva'ot | The LORD of hosts, the LORD of armies | 1 Samuel 1:3 |
Jehovah-jireh: a father, a son and a ram
God told Abraham to take Isaac up a mountain in the land of Moriah. On the way, Isaac asked where the lamb was, and Abraham said God would provide one. At the last moment, God stopped Abraham's hand and showed him a ram caught in a thicket. Abraham named the place for what God had done. The Hebrew word behind "jireh" is the verb "to see," so the name carries the idea that God sees ahead and takes care of the need. Read the full story on the Jehovah Jireh page.
Jehovah Rapha: bitter water made sweet
Only three days after crossing the Red Sea, Israel reached Marah, where the water was too bitter to drink. Moses cried out, God showed him a tree to throw into the water, and the water turned sweet. Then God gave Himself a name: I am the LORD that healeth thee
(Exodus 15:26). The Hebrew verb rapha means to heal or to mend. There is more on our page of names of God for healing.
Jehovah-nissi: hands held up on a hill
When the Amalekites attacked Israel at Rephidim, Joshua led the fighting while Moses stood on a hill with the rod of God in his hand. As long as Moses held his hands up, Israel prevailed. Aaron and Hur held up his arms until sunset. Afterward Moses built an altar and named it Jehovah-nissi. A banner was a flag or pole that soldiers gathered around, so the name means God Himself is the rallying point. See Jehovah Nissi.
Jehovah Mekoddishkem: set apart on purpose
This one has no altar or battle. It comes in God's instructions about the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest, which God called a sign that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you
(Exodus 31:13). To sanctify means to set apart as holy, the way you would set aside a special dish for one use only. The name says holiness is something God does in His people, not a ladder they climb on their own. See the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Jehovah-shalom: peace for a frightened farmer
Gideon was threshing wheat in hiding, afraid of the Midianite raiders, when the angel of the LORD came to him. When Gideon realized who he had seen, he feared for his life. God answered him: Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die
(Judges 6:23). Gideon built an altar and called it Jehovah-shalom. Shalom means far more than quiet. It means being whole, complete and well. See Jehovah Shalom.
Jehovah Rohi: the shepherd king's song
David spent his young years keeping sheep, so when he wanted to describe how God cared for him, he reached for the picture he knew best. Psalm 23 opens with the LORD's name and the word for shepherd. A shepherd leads, feeds, protects and goes looking for the lost. See Jehovah Rohi.
Jehovah Tsidkenu: a name for a coming King
Jeremiah lived through the last bad kings of Judah. In the middle of that failure, God promised a righteous Branch from David's family, a King who would reign well. Jeremiah gave His name: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
(Jeremiah 23:6). Righteousness means being right with God and doing what is right. Christians have long read this promise as pointing to Jesus. See Jehovah Tsidkenu.
Jehovah Shammah: the last words of Ezekiel
Ezekiel was a priest carried off to Babylon. He saw God's glory leave the temple in Jerusalem, and later he saw a vision of a new city and a new temple. The very last line of his book gives that city its name: The LORD is there
(Ezekiel 48:35). After all the loss, the final word is presence. See Jehovah Shammah.
Jehovah Sabaoth: the LORD of hosts
The King James never prints this as one name in the Old Testament. It translates it as the LORD of hosts
, and the phrase appears there for the first time in 1 Samuel 1:3, in the story of Hannah's family going up to worship at Shiloh. The Hebrew word tseva'ot means armies or hosts, great companies of angels and of God's people under His command. The New Testament keeps the Hebrew sound twice, as the Lord of Sabaoth
(Romans 9:29) and the Lord of sabaoth
(James 5:4). See the LORD of hosts.
Is there a list of 7 or 12 Jehovah names?
People often search for "the 7 Jehovah names" or "the 12 names of Jehovah." Those lists are real, but they come from Bible teachers, sermons and posters, not from the Bible. One teacher counts seven, another eight, another twelve, depending on which phrases are included. Some lists add titles built from verses in the Psalms, such as O LORD my rock
(Psalm 28:1) or the LORD mighty in battle
(Psalm 24:8).
So the honest answer is this: the Bible gives no fixed list and no official count. The nine Jehovah names on this page are the ones that have their own chapters in the book. In the same way, the book's number of 70 names is a number chosen for the book, not a number the Bible sets. The full set is on the names of God in the Bible page, and there is more on that question at how many names does God have.
What the Jehovah names show about God
Look at the list again and a pattern shows up. Almost every Jehovah name was given in a hard place: a test on a mountain, a bitter spring, an enemy attack, a hiding farmer, a ruined nation, a people in exile. God's personal name was joined each time to the exact thing His people needed. He did not give them a new God for each trouble. He showed them a new side of the same faithful LORD.
That is why these names still matter. If you are short on what you need, Jireh fits. If you are hurting, Rapha. If you are in a fight, Nissi. If you are anxious, Shalom. If you feel lost, Rohi. If you feel far from God, Shammah. The verse on our shirt says it plainly:
The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10
Each of these names has a full chapter in the book 70 Names of God, which follows the name into the Greek of the New Testament, takes on the hard questions, and closes with a prayer. If you would like to carry Proverbs 18:10 with you, the 70 Names of God shirt has it printed on the front. To use these names when you pray, start with our page on praying the names of God.