What is God's Name?

 What is God’s Name?
A question which many people have is what is God’s name? Is there anything in Scripture which states this? The answer is yes. There are two specific places where we are told what is His name.

Moses Meets the LORD in the wilderness
Moses is in the wilderness shepherding Jethro’s flock. He sees a burning bush. He decides to turn aside and investigate the bush. The LORD introduces Himself to Moses.

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:4-6)

Since there were numerous gods during this time, the LORD introduces Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. This phrase for the rest of the Torah is almost always attached to the tetragrammaton when a proper title is needed for God.

Later in the conversation, Moses asks the LORD who should he say sent him when he goes back to the sons of Israel.
15 God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. (Exodus 3:15-16)

Jesus also uses the phrase the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when talking to the Sadducees:

On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife, and raise up children for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us; and the first married and died, and having no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 It was the same also with the second brother, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her in marriage.”
29 But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, since you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. (Matthew 22:23-33)


I am the Lord, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to idols. (Isaiah 42:8)


I am the Lord, and there is no one else;
There is no God except Me.
I will arm you, though you have not known Me,
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So that people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no one else,
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The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating disaster;
I am the Lord who does all these things. (Isaiah 45:5-7)


May they be ashamed and dismayed forever,
And may they be humiliated and perish,
So that they will know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:17-18)


Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
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Serve the Lord with jubilation; 
Come before Him with rejoicing.
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Know that the Lord He is God; 
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
 We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
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Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
 And His courtyards with praise.
 Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
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For the Lord is good;
 His mercy is everlasting
 And His faithfulness is to all generations. (Psalm 100)

Erroneously using the word Jehovah for the tetragrammaton 
Today, the word yud-hey-vav-hey is sometimes translated into English as Jehovah. This is where we get the certain phrases such as Jehovah jireh (the LORD will provide), Jehovah nissi (the LORD is our banner), Jehovah rophe (the LORD is my healer) and the religious domination Jehovah Witnesses. Translating the tetragrammaton into the word Jehovah is very inaccurate. Although we do not know how to properly say the four letters, we can be sure it is not Jehovah. There is no “j” in Hebrew.

The best guess as to how to pronounce the tetragrammaton is yahweh or yahwo-eh.

Why was the LORD’S name changed to Jehovah?
When the Bible was translated from Latin to German, the translators tried to make words sound like their Latin counterparts. In German, the “J” is pronounced like a “Y” in English. So, writing the LORD’S name as “Jehovah” would sound like “Yehovah”. This is very close to the Hebrew.
When the German Bible was translated into English, translators did not take into account that J’s in German sound like Y’s in English. Instead, they transliterated words, leaving Jehovah as Jehovah.
Does it matter how you pronounce the LORD’S name?
The answer to that question is up to you. Personally, I say yes it does. If you know how someone’s name is not pronounce, but you pronounce it wrong anyway, it is very disrespectful.

In Spanish, J’s are pronounced like H’s in English. The name Juan is pronounced wah-an. If we used English to pronounce Juan, it would be jew-an. Most English speakers know how to say the name Juan. If a man came to work for you whose name was Juan, you would not decide to pronounce his name in English as jew-an. If you did, the man probably would not respond to you.

I feel God is the same way. We know the LORD’S name is not Jehovah. We should avoid calling the LORD Jehovah. However, since we do not know His exact name, I feel it is ok to say Yahweh which is a close guess at what the actual name of God is. I see it similar to the following.

When I lived in Spain, my roommate’s name was Jessie. As mentioned above, J’s in Spanish are pronounced like H’s in English. The house mom tried listening to how Jessie pronounced her name. Since the English “J” does note exist in Spanish, the house mom tried her best to say Jessie as Jessie. However, the closest the woman could get was “Yessie”. My roommate thought it was very sweet the house mom tried her best to pronounce her name correctly. Jessie responded to the name Yessie when the house mom called for her. I cannot be sure, but I believe if we try our best to pronounce the LORD’S name as best as we can, He also will answer us.

Personally, I avoid using the word Yahweh. I feel it is too sacred of a name. I do not want to make the LORD’S name common and mundane. I often use the word God to refer to the LORD. I feel even using the word LORD (although it is just the English name for the Hebrew word Adonai) should be used as little as possible. Since God is a word which is non-specific, I feel more comfortable using it, knowing many religions around the world use the word god to represent their deities.