In Judaism, God has many names. Some are quite ancient, others not so much. And many stem from the fact that we are not allowed to say God’s true name at all.
In Hebrew, the true name of God is יהוה. As with most Hebrew writings, including the Torah, the vowels are not included, so we don’t actually know how to pronounce it, nor are we supposed to try.
In written English we often just say “YHWH” and pronounce it as “yawed hey vawv hey” (Yōd, Hē, Vav, Hē) or Yahweh (rhymes with “hey”) or even just Yah.
The formal euphemism is Adonai (אֲדֹנָי), which translates to “Lords.” Many other names for God come from this avoidance of the true name, including common ones like Lord or HaShem (which literally means “The Name”). (Please note that Christians have several euphemistic names and attempts at pronunciation that they use, but us Jews do not.)
For my purposes though, it turns out I have to avoid the whole lot. Why? Because at the point that my story takes place, there are no priests and the name YHWH is not known. There can’t be euphemisms for a word that doesn’t yet exist. The Torah was written much later than the time in which it was set, so YHWH the word does occur as early as Genesis.
I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name GOD [יהוה].
Exodus 6:3
In my draft, I’ve been using a variety of names, including HaShem. After a discussion with my Rabbi, Irwin Keller, I learned that the timelines are off. While all these names are in use in 1995 where my modern characters come from, those characters simply don’t know them. Most have been raised purely secular, with some Christian teaching thrown in either as part of popular culture or through going to church with gentile family members. So they will use “God” and “Lord” but not much else. The Hebrew characters, from 1313 BCE, will have many names for God, but none that stem from use or avoidance of YHWH.
What God names can I use?
El Shaddai. El means “God.” The traditional translation of El Shaddai is “God Almighty” but Rabbi Irwin suggests a better translation for Shaddai would be “breast” or “nurture.”
El Rachum. Often translated as the Merciful One or the Compassionate One. Reb Irwin’s translation is the Womb God (mother’s mercy, mother love). A related form is Rachamim, mercy. Another potential name for God would be Harachaman, The Merciful One. The Aramaic for Merciful One is Rachamana. Which is the name of a popular worship song in modern times, and one I use in the novel.
El. Though often used with words to indicate a quality of God, it can also be used alone (though it is usually in conjunction with some attribute). Also Eloah, or the more common plural (but grammatically singular) form, Elohim.
Elyon or El Elyon. Supreme or God most high.
Names of God in Judaism. Wikipedia. Fairly comprehensive without much depth into individual names. Appends a long list of less common names, including: Great One (Adir); The Word/The Law (Dibbura or Dibbera); Ehiyeh sh’Ehiyeh – “I Am That I Am”: a modern Hebrew version of “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh”; Truth (Emet); the Holy One (HaKadosh); and many more.
The 13 Attributes of Mercy are given to Moses after the Golden Calf is destroyed. While this happens towards the end of the novel, it is reasonable to assume that these names could have been already in common use.
References
- Names of God in Judaism. Wikipedia.
- Rabbi Irwin Keller, personal correspondence, 2020.
- YHWH: The Original Arabic Meaning of the Name. Prof. Israel Knohl. The Torah.com.
- The 13 Attributes of Mercy: Asking God for forgiveness. Ronald L. Eisenberg. My Jewish Learning.
- The determination of the first two of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. Letter No. 387: From correspondence of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; translated by Eli Touger. From the Sichos in English Collection. This letter was addressed to R. Yehudah Tzvi Fogelman, the shaliach in Worcester, Massachusetts. B”H, 20 Menachem Av, 5708 [August 25, 1948]. Chabad.org, a division of the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center.
The Lord! The Lord! God, Compassionate and Gracious, Slow to anger and Abundant in Kindness and Truth, Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations, Forgiver of iniquity, willful sin, and error, and Who Cleanses (but does not cleanse completely, recalling the iniquity of parents upon children and grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations) (Exodus 34:6-7)
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