- Name 3 of 70Lord GOD (Adonai Jehovah)
- HebrewAdonai
- In plain wordsLord, Master, the One in charge
- Where to find itGenesis 15:2, Abram's prayer under the stars
Adonai is a Hebrew word that means Lord or Master, and in the Bible this form of the word is kept for God alone. When it is joined to God's personal name, the King James Bible prints it as Lord GOD, with GOD in capitals. The first person to pray it was Abram: Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me
(Genesis 15:2). It is the name of the One who is in charge and who keeps His promises.
Abram's honest question in Genesis 15
By the time of Genesis 15, Abram had already left his home country because God told him to. God had promised to make a great nation out of him. Years passed, and there was still no baby. Abram and his wife Sarai were getting old.
Then God spoke to Abram in a vision with words of comfort: Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward
(Genesis 15:1). You might expect Abram to say thank you and leave it there. He did not. He told God exactly what was on his heart.
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Genesis 15:2
A steward is a head servant who runs a household. Abram was saying that, at this rate, his servant would inherit everything. A reward did not mean much if there was no child to pass it to.
Look at the first two words again. Abram did not begin with a complaint. He began by saying who God was to him: Master, and the LORD who made the promise. He was frustrated, but he was still talking to his Master.
God did not scold him. He took Abram outside and told him to count the stars, if he could. So shall thy seed be
(Genesis 15:5), God said. Seed here means children and descendants. And then the Bible says one of its most important sentences:
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:6
A little later Abram used the same two words a second time: Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
(Genesis 15:8) Again God answered. That night He made a covenant with Abram, a binding promise, sealed in an ancient ceremony with animals cut in two and laid out in two rows, and a burning lamp passing between the pieces (Genesis 15:9 to 18).
What Adonai means, and why the KJV prints Lord GOD
Adonai comes from adon, the everyday Hebrew word for a lord or master, the person who owns a house, a field or servants. On its own, that word can be used for people. In the King James, a small-letter lord is often a human master, as when Sarah speaks of her husband as my lord being old also
(Genesis 18:12).
The form Adonai is different. Strong's Concordance calls it an emphatic form of the word, used as a proper name of God only. Emphatic means it is said with extra force: not just a lord, but the Lord. The King James translates it Lord, with a capital L, more than 400 times.
Now for the printing puzzle. You may know from the Jehovah page that LORD in capitals stands for God's personal name, YHWH, and that Jewish readers said Adonai whenever they reached that name. So what did they do when the text already said Adonai right before YHWH? Reading it aloud would give Adonai Adonai.
The solution was to read the second word as Elohim, God, instead. Hebrew scribes marked the name with the vowels of Elohim in these places. The King James translators showed this by printing Lord GOD. So here is a simple rule for reading your Bible:
- LORD in capitals is God's name, YHWH.
- Lord with small letters, in the Old Testament, is usually Adonai, Master.
- Lord GOD is Adonai followed by YHWH, God's title and His name side by side.
The two words fit together. Adonai says He has the right to lead. The name YHWH says He can be trusted to keep His word.
Lord GOD in the prophets and the psalms
The words Lord GOD appear about 300 times in the King James, and more than 200 of those are in the book of Ezekiel. Isaiah, Amos and Jeremiah use it often too. These were prophets, people who stood before the Master and carried His message, so it makes sense that they used His title so much. A few of the best verses:
Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Jeremiah 32:17
Jeremiah prayed this while Jerusalem was surrounded by an enemy army. He had just been told to buy a field, which looked foolish in a war. He reminded himself who was in charge.
And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
Ezekiel 37:3
Ezekiel was looking at a valley full of dry bones. He did not pretend to know the answer. He handed the question back to the Master, and God brought the bones to life.
For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
Isaiah 50:7
Confounded means confused and put to shame. Flint is a very hard stone. Because the Master is helping, the speaker can face trouble without backing down.
For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD: thou art my trust from my youth.
Psalm 71:5
This one is for younger readers especially. The writer had trusted the Lord GOD since he was young, and he was still trusting Him when he was old.
Living under Adonai today
Most people like the idea of God's promises. Fewer like the idea of God being in charge. Adonai will not let you split the two. The One who promises good things is the same One who has the right to tell you what to do.
That is not a cold thing. Abram's Master listened to his complaint, took him outside, and showed him the stars. A good master in Bible times was responsible for his whole household. Being under Adonai means you are not on your own.
This name also gives you a way to pray when you are disappointed. You do not have to fake being fine. Abram did not. You can say exactly what is wrong, as long as you start where he started: Lord GOD.
- Think of one area of your life you have kept to yourself, such as money, a relationship, or your phone, and ask whether Adonai is Lord there too.
- Write down the promise you have been waiting on and pray about it honestly, beginning with the words Lord GOD.
- Read Genesis 15 slowly and notice that God answered both of Abram's questions.
Adonai is name 3 of the 70 in the book. Next comes the answer God gave when Moses asked His name at the burning bush: I AM THAT I AM. For more names like this one, visit the Hebrew names of God page.
