His name is the LORD: “This is My name forever.” Scripture also calls him God, I AM, our Lord, and our Father. In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word is Elohim (H430): It is the most common Hebrew word for God. Strong’s notes that it is plural in form and is used of ‘the supreme God’; it can also mean ‘gods’,...
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind the word “God” in this verse is the Hebrew word Elohim (said eh-lo-HEEM).
It is the most common Hebrew word for God. Strong’s notes that it is plural in form and is used of ‘the supreme God’; it can also mean ‘gods’, the gods of the nations.
This form, Elohim, ends in -im, a plural ending, but the verb before it, bara, ‘created’, is singular: ‘he created’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘God’ 2299 times and ‘gods’ 202 times:
Word by word
| בְּרֵאשִׁית | בָּרָא | אֱלֹהִים | אֵת | הַשָּׁמַיִם | וְאֵת | הָאָרֶץ |
| in · beginning | created | God | — | the · heavens | and · — | the · earth |
Original form
What this tells us
These are the Bible’s first words. Before there is light, land or a single living thing, there is God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The next verse adds that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:2), and then God speaks, and “there was light” (Genesis 1:3). The word for “God” is Elohim, the most common Hebrew word for God. It has a plural ending, yet the verb beside it is singular: one God, who creates. The Bible does not begin by arguing that God exists. It begins by telling you what he does. He makes, and what he makes is good. The same word runs through the whole chapter, and at its end “God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). John’s Gospel opens with an echo of this verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Readers explain the plural ending in different ways, as a way of expressing greatness and fullness, and some Christians also hear in it a hint of the Trinity; the verse itself simply says that God created. Think of an artist’s signature on a painting: Genesis puts the name at the very top. Everything around you, and you yourself, begins with this name. What changes in your day if it starts from the fact that God made it?
What the original says
Behind the words “I AM” in this verse is the Hebrew word hayah (said hah-YAH).
It means to be, to exist, to become, to happen. Strong’s says it is ‘always emphatic, and not a mere copula’: not just a small joining word like English ‘is’.
This form, ehyeh, means ‘I am’ or ‘I will be’: Hebrew uses this one form for both. God says it three times in this verse.
In the Berean Standard Bible this word is mostly tied to small helper words (‘be’, ‘was’, ‘came’, ‘became’), so its renderings are hard to count. Here the Berean gives it as “I AM”:
Word by word
| אֶהְיֶה | אֲשֶׁר | אֶהְיֶה |
| I will be | who | I will be |
Original form
What this tells us
Moses is a shepherd in the wilderness when “the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush” (Exodus 3:2). God sends him back to Egypt to free his people, and Moses answers with worried questions. First, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh” (Exodus 3:11)? Then, if the people ask, “What is His name?” (Exodus 3:13), what is he supposed to tell them? The answer is built on hayah, the Hebrew verb ‘to be’: “I AM WHO I AM.” The same form can mean ‘I am’ or ‘I will be’. God had already used it a moment earlier, when he told Moses, “I will surely be with you” (Exodus 3:12). Now he gives a name that says it in one breath: the One who is, and who will be there. Jews and Christians have read this name in different ways, as God’s very being, as his faithful presence, or as both, and the words hold all of them. Centuries later Jesus said, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58), and many Christians hear in his words this same name. Think of a friend who answers your fear not with a plan but with a promise: I will be there. Moses’ real question was whether he could do what God asked. The answer was not a description of Moses but a name: I AM, the One who goes with him. The same name stands beside your own ‘Who am I?’
What the original says
Behind the word “LORD” in this verse is the Hebrew word YHWH (said YAH-weh).
It is God’s own name, written with four Hebrew letters, YHWH. The Berean prints it ‘LORD’ in capital letters, as in “by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them” (Exodus 6:3). Strong’s says it comes from hayah, the “I AM” of the verse before.
This is a name. Its exact old pronunciation is not certain; ‘Yahweh’ is the form most scholars give. Out of reverence, Jewish readers say Adonai, ‘Lord’, in its place, and the Berean, like most English Bibles, follows that custom with ‘LORD’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘LORD’ 6357 times, more than any other name of God:
Word by word
| יְהוָה | אֱלֹהֵי | אֲבֹתֵיכֶם | אֱלֹהֵי | אַבְרָהָם |
| the LORD | God of | fathers · your | God of | Abraham |
Original form
What this tells us
Still at the burning bush, God tells Moses exactly what to say to the people in Egypt: “The LORD, the God of your fathers”, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, “has sent me to you.” The God they had heard about in old family stories was about to act for them. The word behind “LORD” is YHWH, God’s own name, four Hebrew letters that Strong’s links to the ‘I AM’ of the verse before. Whenever your Bible prints LORD in capital letters, this name is standing there. And God adds why it matters: “This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.” A name is something you can call on. Israel was told, “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain” (Exodus 20:7), because the name was precious, not because it was secret. Later the LORD proclaimed his name to Moses together with what it means: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). Jewish readers say ‘Adonai’ in its place out of reverence; Christians differ on whether to say ‘Yahweh’ aloud, and most English Bibles keep ‘LORD’. God did not stay a nameless power. He gave a name to be remembered in every generation, and that includes yours.
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind the word “Lord” in this verse is the Hebrew word adon (said ah-DOHN).
It means lord, master: the one in charge. It is used of people too, as a servant speaks of his ‘master’. The Berean writes it ‘Lord’ in small letters, so you can tell it from ‘LORD’.
This form, adoneinu, is ‘Lord’ with ‘our’ on the end: “our Lord”. The verse opens with two names side by side: “O LORD, our Lord”, YHWH and adon.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘lord’ 181 times and ‘master’ 123 times. Abraham’s servant prays, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham” (Genesis 24:12):
Word by word
| יְהוָה | אֲדֹנֵינוּ | מָה | אַדִּיר | שִׁמְךָ |
| the LORD | Lord · our | how | majestic | name · your |
Original form
What this tells us
David begins and ends this psalm with the same line: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1 and Psalm 8:9). In between he looks up at the night sky, at “the moon and the stars, which You have set in place” (Psalm 8:3), and he is overwhelmed. The second ‘Lord’ in the line is adon: lord, master, the one in charge. The same word was used of a servant’s master. So the line holds two things together: God’s own name, the LORD, and a title of belonging, our Lord. The God whose name fills the whole earth is also the one David serves and calls his own. Standing under the stars, David feels how small he is: “what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:4). Yet the answer is honor, not insignificance: “You crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5). The New Testament carries the title on, and Paul writes that “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:11). Think of lying outside on a clear night, feeling tiny under all those stars, and then remembering that the One who set them there knows your name. To say ‘our Lord’ is to say that the God of the stars is also yours, and that you belong to him.
What the original says
Behind the word “Father” in this verse is the Greek word patēr (said pah-TAYR).
It means father. Jesus taught his disciples to call God this when they pray.
This form, pater, is the form used to speak to someone: ‘Father!’ With hēmōn, ‘our’, after it: “Our Father”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘father’ 353 times, and ‘fathers’ 46 times:
Word by word
| Πάτερ | ἡμῶν | ὁ | ἐν | τοῖς | οὐρανοῖς |
| Father | our | the one | in | the | heavens |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus is teaching on the mountain, and he has been warning against showy prayer: “when you pray, do not babble on like pagans” (Matthew 6:7). Then he gives the reason prayer can be simple: “your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). And he gives the words to use. The word for “Father” is patēr. Jesus puts it first, before any request: “Our Father in heaven.” He does not teach his friends to open with a title that keeps God at a distance, but with a family word. And he says ‘our’, not ‘my’: no one prays this prayer alone. Paul writes that God’s Spirit leads believers to cry out the same way, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15). The Old Testament had already prayed, “But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter” (Isaiah 64:8). If ‘father’ is a hard word for you because of your own story, Jesus is not pointing to any earthly father but to the One in his story who saw his son far off and “ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). The first request follows from that: “hallowed be Your name.” However you came to this prayer, you can begin where Jesus began: Our Father.
Behind "Lord" are 11 different words
Your English Bible says "Lord" 7636 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Moses asked God his name at the burning bush. Read the answer slowly:
Name it
Which of these names do you most need today: God, I AM, the LORD, our Lord, our Father? Write why.
Carry with you
Exodus 3:15 says “This is My name forever.” What does it mean to you that God has a name and tells it?