From God’s 15+ Biblical Names To 70 For Jews And 99 For Muslims – OpEd

There are 70 different Jewish names for God. Fifteen are found in the Hebrew Bible. These are the meanings of each Biblical name

'Ĕlōhı̄m - is one of the most frequently used names in the Bible is אלהים , 'Ĕlōhı̄m is a pre-Abraham genetic Semite name translated as "God".

Ĕlōah - The singular form of Elohim used poetically to address God chiefly in the Book of Job. The Aramaic form of it , 'ĕlāh , is often used in Ezra and Daniel.

'Ēl - The most common word for Deity in the group of Semitic languages found throughout the Hebrew Bible but more frequently in Job and Psalms than in all the other books. It is often combined with nouns or adjectives to express the Divine name with reference to particular attributes or phases of God's being, as 'Ēl ‛Elyōn , 'Ēl - Rō'ı̄ , etc.

Ādhōn , 'Ǎdhōnāy - Is translated as, "the Lord" or "my Lord" ( Judges 6:15; Judges 13:8; Psalms 2:4; 16:2 ; Isaiah 7:7 ). It is sometimes combined with Yahweh (Genesis 15:8; Isaiah 7:7 , etc.) and with 'Ĕlōhı̄m (Psalms 86:12 ).

Yahweh - The name YHVH was first openly made known at the burning bush of Moses (Exodus 3:13-16; 6:2-8). It means, "I WILL BE WHATEVER I WANT TO BE-BECOME" i.e. I am a Dynamic God of potentials. It is the name most distinctive of God, as the God of Israel  (יהוה , a combination of the four letters (YHWH) with the vowels of 'Ǎdhōnāy, transliterated as Yehōwāh  but read aloud by Jews as 'ădhōnāy)." 

By the time of the end of the books of the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish People had decided that theYHVH name was too powerful to be used out loud. The YHVH name is the most powerful of all names because it is silent. As Exodus 14:14 states:  "Yahweh will fight for you, and you will keep silent." 

There are often internal or unseen struggles—loneliness, fear, hopelessness or difficult situations that cannot be fixed quickly just  by human effort. God's protection is often silent, working to shield the Children of Israel, and all loving individuals, from dangers they cannot see.

Shadday - The name occurs sometimes in the compound 'ēl shadday, sometimes alone. El Shaddy means "Sufficient God".Tsūr (Rock) - The word צוּר ,  "Rock," is used as a title of God. It appears 5 times in the "Song" of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:4 ,15 , 18, 30, 31) and it is found also in the Psalms, Isaiah and poetical passages of other books of the Bible.

 
Kādhōsh - The name means "holy" and it is found often in Isaiah and Psalms, and occasionally in the other prophets. It appears usually in the phrase ḳedhōsh yisrā'ēl , "The Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 40:25; 43:3; 48:17)

'Ēl -'Ĕlōhē -Israel - "The name 'Ēl can be combined with a number of descriptive adjectives to represent God's various attributes; and these by usage have become names or titles of God." 

El-‛Elyōn - The name literally means "Highest" or "Exalted One" (Deuteronomy 32:8; Psalms 18:13) It is also applied in combination with other names of God, most often with El (Genesis 14:18; Psalms 78:35) and with Elohim Psalms 78:56).

Gibbōr - The name denotes "Mighty Warrior" (Psalms 24:8; 45:3). It can stand alone or may be combined with El (Isaiah 9:6; Jeremiah 32:18).

Ēl - Rō'ı̄ - This name occurs only in Genesis 16:13. It means "The God that sees me." This name will become more popular in the future because it relates to future Jewish-Muslim amity. 

Tsaddiḳ - God is called "Righteous" or "the Righteous One." It is used of God's faithfulness to His covenant-promise with the Jewish People. (Isaiah 41:10; 42:6; cf. Hosea 2:19); it appears alone (Psalms 34:17), with El (Deuteronomy 32:4 ), with Elohim (Ezra 9:15; Psalms 7:9; 116:5), but most often with Yahweh (Psalms 129:4 , etc.)

Kannā - It expresses "righteous zeal,"(cf. Isaiah 9:7 , "the zeal of the LORD," ; also Zechariah 1:14; 8:2).

Yahweh Tseva'oth - The word Tseva'oth or Sabaoth means "hosts" (Isaiah 1:9; Psalms 46:7, 11. A  word used of heavenly objects and earthly forces (Genesis 2:1 ); of the army of Israel (2 Samuel 8:16); of the Heavenly beings (Psalms 103:21; 148:2; Daniel 4:35) The title, "the Lord of Hosts,"  signifies that God is the maker of all agencies, activities and beings.

The basic Semitic word 'allah/'eloh has three root letters: alef, lamed, hey (' l h). It means "a god." The Arabic does not come from Hebrew and it does not translate the Hebrew. The Hebrew does not come from Arabic and it does not translate the Arabic. Both forms, like both languages, come from a prehistoric, long-gone common ancestral Semitic language. 

Since the name of God (YHVH), the Hebrew name which God used to identify Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai or Horeb (Exodus 3:14). is not pronounced in Hebrew, a variety of words and expressions to indicate YHVH are used: Adonai (my Lord), haKadosh Baruch Hu (the Blessed One), haMakom (the Place) HaTzur (the Rock), and many more. 

El is also a name for God as is Elohim, a pagan name for plural Gods but used as a single in the Hebrew Bible just as the Qur'an uses we for the single I of Allah. "Allah" in Arabic is equivalent to El, the name of an ancient Canaanite Deity, and as Hebrew and Arabic are related languages, it has the same meaning in both languages.

If a rose by any other name would still smell the same; would God be any different with a different name? Polytheistic religions have many names for their gods because they have many gods. Yet monotheists who worship the one and only God still have many names for their one God.

Monotheists call the one God by many different names because we believe that the Divine is not an impersonal, universal force or power like gravity: but rather the Divine One is a multifaceted  personality. A unique, disembodied, undying, always creative personality, who cares about the whole created world. We even use a pronoun of gender, although God includes both genders, because we do not wish to refer to the Divine One as 'it'.

The Qur'an tells us (17:110) "Say, "Call upon Allah or call upon Ar-Rahman-Ha Rakhaman, the Most Merciful. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names." 

Prophet David's Zabur Psalm 105 proclaims: "Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice." (Psalm 105: 1-3) And Prophet David says: (Psalm 5::11) "But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them always sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in You."

For those religions that trace their prophets back to Prophet Abraham, and his two sons Ishmael and Isaac; the many names or appellations (titles and descriptions) of God simply describe different aspects or attributes of the one God's multifaceted personality. 

Thus, to say that God is a King or a Judge describes one of many ways God acts. To say that God is Ar-Rahman or Ha Rakhaman, the Merciful-Compassionate One is to describe one of many character or personality traits of the one and only God. While each name is only one of the many appellations of the one universal creator of space and time; both Islam and Judaism also have one Divine name that is always deepest within the believer's heart and soul. 

This name, Allah for Muslims and YHVH for Jews, differs from all the other names that are just  philosophical terms for various universal aspects or important roles of God. This Divine name has a very intimate  meaning for each religious community of believers; that is lacking in all the other names. This personal name is connected to the covenant that the one God made with Moses (YHVH) and with Muhammad (Allah), as well as Noah, Abraham and Jesus (Qur'an 33:7).

In English the word God is not the name of the one and only God like Allah or YHVH. It is the generic term for any and every deity, similar to the West Semitic root word EL; as in Sumerian and Akkadian, Ellil-Enlil, in Hittite and Hurrian as Ellel, in Hebrew El-Elohim in Arabic as Al-Ilahi, the God or Allat, a pre Islamic Goddess, one of three daughters of Al-Ilah worshiped in Palmyra as Allat and referred to by Herodotus as Alilat, and worshiped as Allatu by North African Carthaginians.