12. Biblical Names and Titles
Biblical Names and Titles
Chapter 11
There is a distinct science of nomenclature—a system of names—in the Word of God. Usually the prominent human names have a historic or symbolic significance, closely related to the narrative. But uniformly divine names and titles are full of meaning, and used sparingly and significantly. Upon them as a basis a whole scheme of interpretation rests; even the order in which such names occur is not accidental but designed, as constituting part of the lesson taught. The compound names of Jehovah have a particular interest and importance. The Name and Nature of God are uniformly used as equivalents. The leading name, Jehovah, occurs 11,600 times, and it is a blemish, if not a blunder, that it finds its way into the English translation four times only (Exodus 6:3; Psalms 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 26:4), shutting out the common reader from the full significance of hundreds of passages, such as Psalms 8:1, which should read, “O, Jehovah, our Lord.” The Jews, superstitiously fearful of needlessly pronouncing this august name, substituted for it when reading aloud, “Adhonai,” “Lord;” and, so came in the Septuagint version, the Greek equivalent, “kurios,” and in the English, which followed the Septuagint, “Lord,” capitals indicating that the original is “Jehovah;” but, practically, this covenant name, upon which Jehovah himself laid such stress, is eliminated from both these versions. The meaning of Jehovah is too complete to put into words. It seems a compound of the three tenses of the Hebrew verb, “to be,” expanded in the familiar sentence, “Who is and was and is to come,” conveying the idea of an existence to which past and future are also present, the “I AM,” or the Ever-living One (Exodus 3:14; Revelation 1:8). As used it suggests also the ever-loving One, being connected with grace and salvation that have their origin in an eternal past, their outworking in progressive present, and their perfect goal in an eternal future. Jehovah, therefore, as the covenant name, conveys the conception of the Immutable One, Whose purpose and promise are as unchanging as Himself, “the same yesterday and today and forever.” Were this great name always reproduced in the English, and especially in New Testament quotations from the Old, it would prove that our Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely equal and identical with the Father; for passages which, in the Old Testament contain the name, “Jehovah,” are so quoted and applied to Him in the New as to demonstrate Him to be Jehovah-Jesus, one with the God of the Eternal Past, Himself God manifested in the flesh, in the present, and the coming God of the Future. This is the climax of all arguments and evidences touching our Lord’s Deity, for example:
Hebrews 1:10 : “Thou, Jehovah, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the Earth,” etc. This is from Psalms 102:25-27, which whole psalm is addressed to Jehovah, whose name occurs eight times. Yet this magnificent tribute to the eternity and immutability of Jehovah, the Creator and Covenant God, is here applied to His Son.
“Prepare ye the way of Jehovah” (Matthew 3:3, from Isaiah 40:3).
“Jehovah, our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6; Romans 3; 1 Corinthians 1:30).
Most complete and conclusive is Revelation 1:8; Revelation 1:11; Revelation 1:17-18.
Taken together these passages present the Son of God in four aspects, anyone alone proving His Deity: He is “The Alpha and Omega;” “The Beginning and the Ending;” “The First and the Last;” “The Lord, who is and was and is to come, the Almighty”—four descriptive phrases which are not mere repetitions of one idea in different words.
“Alpha and Omega,” first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, suggest literature—the written Scriptures; “Beginning and Ending,” the material creation; “First and Last,” the Historic Ages, or Time-Worlds; “Who is and was and art to come,” Jehovah’s Eternity.
Thus He is here declared, declares Himself, The Subject Matter of all Scripture;
The Creator of all worlds and creatures;
The Controller of all History;
The Eternal, unchangeable Jehovah.
Rabinowitz said: “What questioning and controversies the Jews have kept up over Zechariah 12:10 : ‘They shall look upon Me whom they pierced.’ They will not admit that it is Jehovah whom they pierced, hence the dispute about the word ‘whom;’ but this word is simply the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet—Aleph, Tav. Filled with awe and astonishment, I open to Revelation 1:7-8, and read these words of Zachariah, as quoted by John: ‘Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him;’ and then heard the glorified Lord saying: ‘… I am the Alpha and Omega.’ Jesus seemed to say: ‘Do you doubt who it is whom you pierced? I am the Aleph, Tav—the Alpha and Omega—Jehovah the Almighty.’”
Three representative names are applied to the Son of God—“Jesus or Savior,” “Christ” and “Lord.”
Jesus (Savior) is the human name, linking Him with humanity, whom He came to save; Christ (anointed), the messianic name, with prophecy which He came to fulfill; and Lord, the Jehovah name, with Deity, whom He came to represent and reveal. These three names have, when used, a definite order. The historic order is in the angelic announcement to the shepherds of Bethlehem—“a Savior Who is Christ, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). On the Day of Pentecost, “God hath made that same Jesus, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36), Peter put last the name “Christ”—“the anointed One”—for it was on that day that, having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He shed forth this anointing upon His people (Acts 2:33). When Paul uses the three names (Php 2:11) “Jesus, Christ is Lord,” he puts “Lord” last, emphasizing the fact that every tongue is to confess His divine Lordship.
These three names hint the historic development, for up to His crucifixion, He was conspicuous as Jesus—after His resurrection and ascension, pre-eminent as Christ, the anointed and anointing One; He will come again as Lord to reign.
These three names indicate also His threefold office and work—“Jesus” suggests His career as a prophet, teaching men the truth; “Christ,” His priesthood, atoning for sin; “Lord,” His kingship ruling over men. The priesthood came into full exercise where the prophetic work ended, and the kingly begins where the priestly terminates. These lines of separation are not absolute, yet they indicate general facts. These three names likewise suggest man’s relation and responsibility—Obedience to Him as Prophet; Faith in Him, as Priest; Surrender to Him, as King.
It is very interesting to trace the compound names of Jehovah, such as “Jehovah-Elohim,” “Jehovah-Jireh,” “Jehovah-Rophi,” “Jehovah-Nissi,” “Jehovah-Shalom,” “Jehovah-Tsidkenu,” “Jehovah-Shammah” (compare Genesis 1:4; Genesis 22:14; Exodus 15:26; Exodus 17:15; Judges 6:24; Jeremiah 23:6; Ezekiel 48:35.) The first of these seven compounds identifies Jehovah, God of the Covenant, with the Creator; the second, with the Provider; the third, with the Healer; the fourth, with the Victor; the fifth, with the Pacificator, or Reconciler; the sixth, with the Justifier; the last, with the Indweller, the presiding center and absorbing charm of the heavenly city. It would seem as though there were not only a marvelous completeness here, but a designed order, the thought progressing toward a culmination and consummation.
“Jehovah” is compounded with Jah three times in Isaiah, so that, in one case, the names of God are duplicated and in another, triplicated! The name “Jah” is probably not an abbreviation for Jehovah, but the present tense of the verb, to be, and suggests Jehovah as the Present Living God. Though found but once in our English Bible it is in the Hebrew in forty-nine cases—seven times seven.
Exodus 15:2; Exodus 17:16; Psalms 68:4; Psalms 68:18; Psalms 77:11; Psalms 89:8; Psalms 94:7; Psalms 94:12; Psalms 102:18; Psalms 104:35; Psalms 105:45; Psalms 106:1; Psalms 106:48; Psalms 111:1; Psalms 112:1; Psalms 113:1; Psalms 113:9; Psalms 115:17-18 (2); Psalms 116:19; Psalms 117:2; Psalms 118:5 (2), Psalms 118:14; Psalms 118:17-19; Psalms 122:4; Psalms 130:3; Psalms 135:1; Psalms 135:3-4; Psalms 135:21; Psalms 146:1; Psalms 146:10; Psalms 147:1; Psalms 147:20; Psalms 148:1; Psalms 148:14; Psalms 149:1; Psalms 149:9; Psalms 150:1; Psalms 150:6 (2); Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 26:4; Isaiah 38:11 (2).
Why Jah should be thus used, if only a contraction for Jehovah, cannot be seen. But if meant to emphasize Jehovah’s present activity and oversight, the Presence of God in daily life, we can easily account for its use. In each case, there is some reason why this aspect of present, living interposition is emphasized. Canon Cook says it was doubtless chosen by Moses in the first instance of its use to draw attention to the promise ratified by the name, "I am.” This name is first found in Exodus 15:2.
“My strength and my song is Jah;
He is become my Salvation,” Exodus 15:2.
Here obviously, the stress is upon Jehovah’s immediate interposition in appearing at the very instant of peril to overwhelm foes close on their heels, when delay would have made escapes impossible. Hence, this the first choral refrain of Miriam’s triumphal hymn first uses the name Jah. The name next occurs in connection with Moses’ altar, called Jehovah Nissi—after the defeat of Amalek—when again Jehovah showed Himself a present deliverer. In the first instance of Jah in the Psalms, Jah is extolled as One Who rideth upon the heavens, a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, bending over us, as the overreaching skies, and to the destitute and desolate, an ever present Helper.
Again in Isaiah 12:2, when the refrain of Miriam’s song is quoted, the same exact name is combined with Jehovah:
“My strength and my song is Jah Jehovah,” for both present and future deliverances are celebrated. Again in Isaiah 26:4 the Song of Salvation:
“Trust ye in Jehovah forever; For in Jah Jehovah is the Rock of Ages!”
He is a present and a perpetual support and security. In the last instance of the use of Jah by Isaiah (Isaiah 38:11) it occurs twice, in Hezekiah’s lament. Facing immediate death, he says, “I shall not in the land of the living, see JahJah,” that is, no more in the experiences of a present daily life is he to behold this present God. The compounds of Jah are equally instructive:
“Hallelujah”—“praise ye Jah”—first occurring in Psalms 106:1. “Jehovah, the omnipotent God, reigneth”—a present ruler. When the names of God are interwoven with human names, it is always with a particular purpose and meaning; including the exact name chosen in each case. The name “Abram” was enlarged to “Abraham,” and “Sarai” to “Sarah,” by incorporating a syllable of Jehovah’s name, as “Hoshea” was changed to “Jehoshua,” or “Joshua,” indicating in these parties a special property of Jehovah, a special relation to Him. “Jeconiah” and “Jehoiachin” differ only in the transposition of the two elements composing the names: both mean “Jehovah will establish.” In Jeconiah, the sign of the future tense being cut off, the meaning becomes, “Jehovah establishes.” Probably, originally called Jehoiachin (2 Samuel 7:12) when he ascended the throne, and required to take a new name, he chose simply to transpose the two parts of the old one so as to keep its good omen. But Jeremiah shortened this name to “Coniah” (Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 27:1), cutting off the notion of futurity, implying that Jehovah would not establish such a prince, as the events proved, for, after a reign of three months, he was carried captive to Babylon.
Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel,” not “Jehovah,” but “El,” being incorporated with the new name, “El” hints at Almighty Power, as specially manifested to Jacob, and is in all God’s transactions with him, it is “El,” not “Jah” that is memorialized. In Genesis 35:11, God said to him, “I am El Shaddai,” the third instance in which these two names occur (Genesis 17:1; Genesis 28:3). Note the names “Bethel,” “Peniel,” “Israel,” “El-elohe-Israel,” meaning; “House of El,” “Face of El,” “Prince of El,” etc. Jacob refers to God’s revelation to him by this name. In Genesis 43:14, he says, as to Benjamin, “El Shaddai give you tender mercy before the man!” In his final, prophetic blessing of Joseph (Genesis 49:25):
“From the El of thy father there shall help be to thee, And with Shaddai there shall blessings be unto thee.”
“El” set forth God’s might, and Shaddai His exhaustless bounty, so that together they express The All-bountiful One.
Marked significance often attaches to human names such as “Adam,” red earth; “Jacob,” Supplanter; “Samuel,” asked of El; “Micah,” who is like Jah? “Malachi,” my messenger. Our Lord called James and John “Boanerges,” sons of thunder, because of their impetuous temper; Simon He called Peter, etc.