Shemot HaShem
The Sacred Names of the One
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. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
- Exodus 3:14–15
The One whom the patriarchs worshipped is named, and unnamed, and named again — for the names of God are not labels but openings, gates set into the wall of speech through which the soul approaches the unapproachable. Each Name reveals a face of the Holy One. None contains Him. The whole tradition of Israel guards this paradox: that He must be named, lest He be forgotten; and that no name is sufficient, lest He be reduced.
What follows is a gathering of the Names by which the One has made Himself known — in scripture, in liturgy, in mystery. The Hebrew Bible preserves them. The Kabbalah arranges them upon the Tree. The Targums translate them into Aramaic. The Gospels deepen them in the new tongue of the Spirit. The rabbis taught that seven of these Names, once written, may not be erased.
The Seven Holy Names
The Names of God that, once written, cannot be erased because of their sanctity are: the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), Adonai, El, Elohim, Shaddai, and Tzevaot — and some include Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, I Am That I Am, from which the Tetragrammaton is held to be derived. The contracted form Yah, because it forms part of the Holy Name, is similarly protected. The other names — Merciful, Gracious, Faithful — are accounted attributes that may also be applied to creatures, and these may be written and erased without violation. The tanna Jose ben Halafta in the second century treated Tzevaot as a common name, and Rabbi Ishmael did the same with Elohim; the lineages differ in the strictness of their reckoning.
The Tetragrammaton: YHWH
יהוה — the four-lettered Name; the Ineffable; the Most Holy. Revealed to Moses at the burning bush, written upon the High Priest's golden plate, inscribed in the foundations of the Temple. Pronounced once a year by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. After the destruction of the Temple, no longer pronounced at all. In synagogue and prayer it is read as Adonai or Hashem; in some Christian traditions written with vowel-points borrowed from Adonai, producing the hybrid form Jehovah in older translations — that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth (Psalm 83:18).
The Name is composed of the four letters Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh — read in some lineages as the four worlds (Atziluth, Beriah, Yetzirah, Assiah), in others as the fourfold breath of the divine Self. It contains within itself the verbs was, is, and shall be — Hayah, Hoveh, v'Yihye — God as the eternal Now of presence.
Yah (Jah) — The contracted form, sounded in the great word Hallelu-Yah, Praise ye Yah. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name; extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH (Psalm 68:4).
The Names of the Patriarchs
The Names by which the Most High made Himself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the Names of covenant, of the open sky, of the long pilgrimage.
El — God, Mighty One. The oldest Semitic name of deity; head of the Canaanite pantheon transfigured in Israel into the singular God of the patriarchs. Found in the compound names below.
Elohim — God; the Gods. Plural in form, singular in sense — the divine majesty expressed in the language of multitude. The Name of the Creator in Genesis 1: In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. (Aleim is sometimes seen as an alternative transliteration.)
Eloah — God (singular); the poetic and contemplative form, common in the book of Job.
El Elyon — God Most High. The Name by which Melchizedek, priest of Salem, blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18–20). The supremacy of the One over all powers and principalities. Elyon alone is also used: I will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high (Psalm 7:17).
El Shaddai — God Almighty; God All-Sufficient. Name revealed at the covenant of circumcision: I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect (Genesis 17:1). Some derive it from shadai, the breasts, signifying the Mother who nourishes the world.
El Olam — God of Eternity, the Everlasting.
El Roi — God Who Sees Me. The Name given by Hagar in the wilderness when the angel found her by the spring (Genesis 16:13).
El Chai (El Hayy) — the Mighty Living One.
El ha-Gibbor — God the Hero, God the Strong, God the Warrior.
Tzur Yisrael — Rock of Israel. Stability, refuge, foundation. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer (Psalm 18:2).
Kadosh Yisrael — Holy One of Israel.
Netzach Yisrael — Glory of Israel. The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent (1 Samuel 15:29).
The Names of Mercy and Sovereignty
Adonai — My Lord. The Name spoken aloud where the Tetragrammaton is written; the vocative Name of God in prayer. O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth (Psalm 8:1). In Greek translated Kyrios; in the New Testament applied to both the Father and to Christ.
Hashem — The Name. The reverential circumlocution by which observant Jews refer to the Holy One in everyday speech, leaving the Sacred Name itself wholly within the sanctuary.
HaKadosh, Barukh Hu — The Holy One, Blessed Be He. Aramaic: Kudsha, Brikh Hu. The liturgical Name of God in Talmudic and rabbinic usage.
Avinu Malkeinu — Our Father, Our King. The double-titled Name of the High Holy Days, joining tenderness to majesty.
HaRachaman — The Merciful One. Aramaic: Rachmana. The compassionate face of the Lord, named in countless berakhot.
Av HaRachamim — Father of Mercies.
Melech HaOlam — King of the World. The Name with which every Jewish blessing begins: Blessed art Thou, LORD our God, King of the World...
Melech Malchei HaMelachim — King of Kings of Kings. Greater than every earthly title; the threefold sovereignty of the Most High.
Adon Olam — Master of the World. The hymn of the same name praises Him who reigned before all creation.
Ribono shel Olam — Master of the World. The familiar address of Hasidic prayer.
Ribon Kol HaOlamim — Master of All Worlds.
Abir — Strong One.
Adir — Great One.
The Names of Office and Action
The Lord makes Himself known not only by what He is but by what He does. The compound Names YHWH-X belong to this register — God revealed in the act of provision, healing, banner, peace.
YHWH-Yireh — The Lord Will Provide. Name given by Abraham on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:14).
YHWH-Rapha — The Lord that Heals. (Exodus 15:26)
YHWH-Nissi — The Lord Our Banner. (Exodus 17:15)
YHWH-Shalom — The Lord Our Peace. The altar of Gideon at Ophrah (Judges 6:24).
YHWH-Tzevaot — The Lord of Hosts. The commander of the heavenly armies; the angelic legions arrayed before the Throne. Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:3).
YHWH-Ro'i — The Lord My Shepherd. (Psalm 23:1)
YHWH-Tsidkenu — The Lord Our Righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:6)
YHWH-Shammah — The Lord Is Present. The new name of the City in Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 48:35).
The Names of the Liturgy
Names drawn from the daily and seasonal prayer of Israel — by which the Lord is known in His acts of grace within creation.
Bore — The Creator.
Bore Olam — Creator of the World.
Yotzehr Or — Fashioner of Light.
Mi She'amar V'haya Ha'olam — He Who Spoke, and the World Came into Being.
Oseh Shalom — Maker of Peace.
Mechayeh Metim — Life-Giver to the Dead. (Mechayeh HaKol — Life-Giver to All, in the Reform liturgy.)
Pokeach Ivrim — Opener of Blind Eyes.
Malbish Arumim — Clother of the Naked.
Matir Asurim — Freer of the Captives.
Zokef Kefufim — Straightener of the Bent.
Rofeh Cholim — Healer of the Sick.
Somech Noflim — Supporter of the Fallen.
Shomer Yisrael — Guardian of Israel.
Magen Avraham — Shield of Abraham.
Ro'eh Yisrael — Shepherd of Israel.
The Hidden Names
Names that veil the One in His transcendence — the Names of mystical Judaism in which the Lord is named precisely as that which cannot be named.
Ein Sof — The Infinite, the Without-End. The Kabbalistic Name of God beyond all attributes; the unmanifest Godhead from which the Sephiroth emanate. Not biblical but mystical, rooted in the Zohar and the Kabbalah of the Spanish school. Of Ein Sof nothing may be said. He is before predication and after silence.
Makom (HaMakom) — The Place. Why is the Holy One called Makom? Because He is the Place of the world, and the world is not His place (Genesis Rabbah 68:9). The omnipresent One in whom all things subsist; the inner space within the Tzimtzum.
Hayah, Hoveh, v'Yihye — Was, Is, and Will Be. The eternal tenseless Name; God beyond time.
Aravat (or Avarat) — Father of Creation. On the tenth heaven is God; in the Hebrew tongue he is called Aravat (2 Enoch).
Eibishter (Aybishter) — The One Above. Yiddish.
Emet — Truth. The Seal of God, formed of the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph, Mem, Tav) — the Alpha and Omega of the sacred tongue.
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh — I Am That I Am. The Name spoken from the burning bush. Sometimes given in modern Hebrew as Ehiyeh sh'Ehiyeh or Ani Sh'ani. The wellspring of every Name that follows.
Dibbura (Dibbera) — The Word. Used in the Palestinian Targums to translate the active speech of God; precursor of the Logos of John's Gospel: the Word spoke to Moses from between the cherubim in the holy of holies (cf. Numbers 7:89).
Memra d'Adonai — The Word of the LORD. The Aramaic Targumic mediator-Name; the active divine presence speaking, revealing, dwelling. Where the Hebrew Bible has the LORD, the Targums often have the Memra of the LORD.
The Christic Names
In the Gospels and Epistles the Names of the One are translated, deepened, and personalized in the figure of Yeshua and in the Trinitarian revelation.
Theos — Greek for God; the Septuagint's translation of Elohim.
Kyrios — Lord; the Septuagint's translation of Adonai, applied in the New Testament both to the Father and to the Son. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).
God the Father — The First Person of the Trinity. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9). The intimate Name; Abba in the Aramaic of Yeshua's own prayer.
God the Son — The Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Logos incarnate in Yeshua of Nazareth. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
God the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh; Pneuma Hagion) — The Third Person of the Trinity, the indwelling Presence and Comforter; in Hebrew, the breath, wind, and spirit of holiness. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me (Psalm 51:11).
I AM (Ego Eimi) — The Name of the burning bush spoken upon the lips of Yeshua: Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58); I am the bread of life... I am the light of the world... I am the way, the truth, and the life. The Tetragrammaton uttered as the self-disclosure of the Christ.
Logos — The Word. The active, creative, revealing self-expression of the Father, eternal in the bosom of God and incarnate in the world. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1).
The Lamb of God (Agnus Dei) — The sacrificial Name; the Christ as Paschal offering.
Alpha and Omega — I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13). The Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Emet — God as the totality of the alphabet of creation.
The Ten Names of the Sephiroth
The Kabbalists arranged ten of the divine Names upon the Tree of Life — one for each Sephirah, each naming the manner in which the Ein Sof self-discloses through the unfolding of the worlds.
- Ehyeh — I Am (Exodus 3:14). Kether, the Crown.
- Yah — The contracted Tetragrammaton. Chokmah, Wisdom.
- YHWH (Jehovah / Elohim) — Trust ye in the LORD for ever, for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength (Isaiah 26:4). Binah, Understanding.
- El — the Mighty One. Chesed, Mercy.
- Eloah — God. Gevurah, Severity.
- Elohim — God (plural of majesty). Tiphereth, Beauty.
- YHWH Tzevaot — Lord of Hosts. Netzach, Victory.
- Elohim Tzevaot — God of Hosts. Hod, Splendor.
- El Chai (El Hayy) — the Mighty Living One. Yesod, Foundation.
- Adonai — the Lord. Malkuth, the Kingdom.
The Ten Choirs of Angels
Corresponding to the ten Names and the ten Sephiroth, the Kabbalists number ten orders of angels — each celestial host the servant and expression of the divine Name proper to its Sephirah.
- Chayoth Ha-Kodesh (ζῷον) — Holy Living Creatures; the four-faced beings of Ezekiel's vision. Kether.
- Ophanim (κύκλος) — Wheels; the throne-bearers, eyes upon their rims. Chokmah.
- Erelim — Valiant Ones. Isaiah 33:7. Binah.
- Chashmalim — Amber-Shining Ones. Ezekiel 1:4. Chesed.
- Seraphim — Burning Ones. Isaiah 6:6; six-winged, their cry the trisagion. Gevurah.
- Shinanim — The Brilliant. Tiphereth.
- Tarshishim — Beryl-Bodied. Daniel 10:6. Netzach.
- Bnei Elohim — Sons of God. Genesis 6:4. Hod.
- Ishim — Manlike Ones. Psalm 104:4. Yesod.
- Cherubim — Throne-guardians; set at the gate of Eden with the flaming sword. Malkuth.
Each Name calls forth its choir, each choir voices its Name, and the whole Tree resounds as a single chord — Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.
The Scriptures of the Names
I AM THAT I AM.
— Exodus 3:14
Trust ye in the LORD for ever, for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.
— Isaiah 26:4
Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without; the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
— Isaiah 33:7
And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
— Ezekiel 1:4
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.
— Isaiah 6:6
His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
— Daniel 10:6
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
— Genesis 6:4
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire.
— Psalm 104:4
Within the Royal Art Opus
The Names of God are the gates by which the soul ascends the Tree of Life. To pronounce a Name in truth is to invoke the Sephirah it belongs to; to meditate upon a Name is to be drawn into the world it opens.
In the Nigredo, the Prince knows God as Ein Sof — the One who has hidden Himself; the silence beyond the wreckage of separation. In the Albedo, He is known as Adonai, the Lord who answers prayer; as El Roi, the One who sees the orphan in the wilderness. In the Citrinitas, He is YHWH-Yireh and YHWH-Rapha, the Provider and the Healer; YHWH-Nissi, the Banner under which the soul marches; YHWH-Shalom, the Peace that comes after the battle. In the Rubedo, He is the Christ in His glory: I AM upon the lips of Yeshua, Alpha and Omega upon the throne, the Word made flesh.
At the consummation of the Work, the soul knows that all the Names are one Name, and that the one Name is the Word that was in the beginning, and is, and shall be — the Logos by whom all things were made and unto whom all things return. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow (Philippians 2:9–10). And the Name written upon the white stone, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it (Revelation 2:17), is the Name of the soul itself spoken at last in the Father's voice.