Why is God, Elohim and LORD, Yahweh or Jehovah - used almost interchangeably? The LORD opened the eyes of Baalam….God’s anger was kindled….
Is there a pattern I am missing? Something grammatical? I acknowledge that each and every word is intentional but it is confusing for the average reader.
I think it's a reflection of how we converse. I'll start a conversation by introducing the characters by name and then use pronouns. If someone new joins the discussion or the discussion has run for a while I'll throw in the name/names again just to make sure we're all tracking.
Some translations display Hebrew distinctions by using "LORD" when the Hebrew name of God ( יְהוָ֔ה ) is used, "Lord" for Adon (Lord master), "God" when it comes from El or Elohim (God or Most High God).
There are some other interesting dynamics at play with "the names" used to refer to God. I think it may be...fun?...helpful?interesting?... to put up another post and address that one. Give me a day or two and I'll tackle that one. ...as for me, in the interest of full disclosure, I try to use certain words with discussing or commenting on "our Heavenly Father"...words that are more familiar and (maybe?) more comfortable with everyone in our group. But I have begun to address him and discuss him...differently than I used to... at my house, with my people. (I'll tackle that one on the blog post also.) ...I know that people can get really worked up in a hurry over the names of God or his Son. I think their names are their names, and it's important to call others by their names...but I also think that "names" isn't a life-or death issue, by any stretch. - jeffrey
Why is God, Elohim and LORD, Yahweh or Jehovah - used almost interchangeably? The LORD opened the eyes of Baalam….God’s anger was kindled….
ReplyDeleteIs there a pattern I am missing? Something grammatical? I acknowledge that each and every word is intentional but it is confusing for the average reader.
I think it's a reflection of how we converse. I'll start a conversation by introducing the characters by name and then use pronouns. If someone new joins the discussion or the discussion has run for a while I'll throw in the name/names again just to make sure we're all tracking.
DeleteSome translations display Hebrew distinctions by using "LORD" when the Hebrew name of God ( יְהוָ֔ה ) is used, "Lord" for Adon (Lord master), "God" when it comes from El or Elohim (God or Most High God).
-Stacy
There are some other interesting dynamics at play with "the names" used to refer to God. I think it may be...fun?...helpful?interesting?... to put up another post and address that one. Give me a day or two and I'll tackle that one.
Delete...as for me, in the interest of full disclosure, I try to use certain words with discussing or commenting on "our Heavenly Father"...words that are more familiar and (maybe?) more comfortable with everyone in our group. But I have begun to address him and discuss him...differently than I used to... at my house, with my people. (I'll tackle that one on the blog post also.)
...I know that people can get really worked up in a hurry over the names of God or his Son. I think their names are their names, and it's important to call others by their names...but I also think that "names" isn't a life-or death issue, by any stretch.
- jeffrey