Hebrew Word Study – The Name – Hashem השם  Hei Shin Mem

Does God Have A Name? 

Genesis 3:13-14: “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? (14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

As a Hebrew teacher I am often criticized by some Christians for not using the proper name for God which they say is YHWH.  If you will look closely at the word YHWH you will notice a problem with this word when it comes to putting it into an audible voice. There are no vowels and it is impossible to speak a word without a vowel.  So, I would like to respond by asking; “Well, how do you pronounce His name?  Do you say Yahoah, Yehoah, Yihoah, Yahoeh, Yehoeh etc. There are many possible combinations to the pronunciation.  The usual response I get is that there is some Dr. so and so who has done an extensive study on this and he knows the proper pronunciation of YHWH.  Until you show me that study, I will just relegate that little bit of knowledge to urban legend. Scholars for sake of clarity have agreed to refer to YHWH as yahway just so they can pronounce it with understanding among themselves. None will say that it is absolutely the correct pronunciation. 

These enlightened Christians persist saying it is insulting God to use the name Jehovah when His name is really YHWH and then they add: “How do you feel when someone mispronounces your name? Do you not feel insulted?”  My response to that is a simple “No, I don’t”   People mispronounce my name all the time it doesn’t bother me.  If they say mispronounce my name to mock me, then yes that bothers me.  I hardly think the bulk of Christianity who call him Jehovah are mocking Him.  Jehovah is simply an attempt to pronounce YHWH.  They simply take the vowels from the word Adonai (Lord) and put them with YHWH. Ok, so they use a “J” rather than a “Y” but if you criticize that then I personally would consider your pride over how  enlightenment and studied you are is a greater sin that the misuse of a letter. 

But, let’s take this a step back even further.  Does God really have a name?  To name something is to describe and define it. But is not God indescribable and undefinable?  In essence, God has no name. He is infinite and cannot be given any titles or descriptions.  Only in light of creation and God becoming involved with His own thought of a physical world and descending within it creating a relationship with us can he assume a description.  But He only has names or descriptions of various behavioral patterns that would be ascribed to His influence in our lives. Such descriptions would be Creator, Judge, the Merciful one, etc.  In other words, each name is a different manner in which we experience God’s presence in our lives.  In the Midrash Exodus 3:6, we read: “You want to know My Name? I am called according to my actions.” 

In Exodus  3 Moses asks God what he should tell the people if they ask for God’s name.  The word name in Hebrew is shem which means the type of behavior one sees in someone.  The significance of Moses’s question is; “How do I respond if they say: ‘If God had has seen the suffering of His people in Egypt, has heard their cries and knows their pain there where has He been for the last eighty-six years when we have been suffering under this tyrant in Egypt? What name is He now assuming?”  Note God does not say YHWH but “Eheyeh ‘asher Eheyeh – “I am that I am” YHWH which means I am, I was and I will be.  But God tells Moses to say that ‘Eheyeh has sent Him.  This name identifies Himself to Moses and to Israel and the one who is the assumption of Being and Existence.  

But God is also identified as Havayah which is showing His assumption of compassion. He is also identified as Elohim which describes His assumption of justice. These are not names like you sign on a check or to ratify a document as we use names today they are only descriptions of Divine Attributes. 

In Classic Judaism we have ten divine names.  

1. Ketter Desire
2. Chochman Wisdom
3. Binah Understanding
4. Chessed Kindness
5. Gevurah Mighty
6. Tifferet Compassion
7. Netzach Victory
8. Hod Glory
9. Yesod Foundation
10. Malchut Royalty. 

I know, they are not the names are familiar with and have tattooed on your arm, but don’t remove the tattoo as there are many other descriptions of God such as Jehovah Jireh- God is my provider – Jehovah Rapha, God is my healer, and El Elyon – Most High God to name just a few. 

If we are talking names of God he either has no name or many names, but not just one name. You cannot assign just one name to the Almighty God of the Universe (which is just another name). 

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