The LORD My God

Occasionally I make comments about the use of LORD, Lord, and God in the Old Testament.  Allow me a moment to clarify.

Bible translators make choices when bringing Hebrew (in this case) and Greek words into our English Bibles.  This is of special note when discussing the word YHWH, the personal name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  In English we say, “Jehovah” or “Yahweh.”  How we should pronounce YHWH is a mystery because the Jews refused to utter God’s name.

So, the King James translators decided to use the word “LORD” (in all capital letters) to represent YHWH and most English translations follow suit.  YHWH is one of three words commonly used to refer to God in Hebrew.

YHWH   = LORD      The personal name of the God of creation and all life.

Elohim  = God          This word can mean “a god.”  As in: Molech was considered “a god” to the people of Canaan.  It is mainly used to refer to the true God.

Adonai  = Lord         The word means “master.”  The Jews would use this word (also spelled Adonay) to replace YHWH and is used with lowercase letters in English Bibles.

Solomon declared, “the LORD (YHWH) my God (Elohim) has given me rest on every side.”-I Kings 5:4.  Exodus 4:10 contains a similar construction but uses Adonai instead of Elohim: “Moses said to the LORD (YHWH), ‘Oh, my Lord (Adonai), I am not eloquent,’”

Who is your god?  It is a question we all must answer.  The LORD (YHWH) is my God (Elohim).  He indeed is my Lord (Adonai).

 

Editor’s note:  If you are interested in a little more information on this subject; here is the link to the ESV’s preface which explains their method of translation.  Scroll down to the heading: The Translation of Specialized Terms.-JS

https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/preface-to-the-english-standard-version/