Sect. 58Revealed Names of GodRevealed Names of God
I. Divine Revelation gives a progressive development of the idea of God, even if we abstract from the final revelation of the mystery of the Trinity. Nothing new was revealed to the Patriarchs concerning the Divine Nature and attributes; their knowledge was the same as natural knowledge and as that handed down by tradition. The object of the Mosaic Revelation was to preserve in its purity the idea of one God against the corruptions of idolatry and polytheism. It proclaimed God’s exalted power over all things finite and material, and His absolute dominion over mankind; it revealed the essential characteristic of God in the name Jehovah. The Prophets point out and describe in magnificent language the Divine attributes which can be known by the light of reason; especially unity, eternity, unchangeableness, infinite greatness, creative omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, wisdom, goodness, justice, and holiness. But all these attributes are spoken of simply to bring out the infinite Majesty of God, and not in order to reveal anything further concerning His Essence. This latter aspect is first opened up in the Sapiential books (Prov. 8, Wisd. 7, Ecclus. 24), where, under the name of the Eternal Wisdom, the inner life of the Deity is exhibited in its internal and external communication, and the theology of the New Testament is thereby anticipated. The object and tendency of Christian Revelation is to raise man to a most intimate union with God, his Father, and consequently it manifests the inner perfection of the Divine Life of which man becomes a partaker. It presupposes the Old Testament Revelation without making any further disclosures concerning the Divine Nature; but, as it tells us of the mystery of the Trinity, it enables us to gain some insight into the Divine internal fecundity, and to conceive the Divine Nature as the purest spirituality—as the Light, the Life, the Truth, the Love, and so as the principle and ideal of the supernatural perfection to which we should tend.
II. The names applied to God are either substantives or adjectives. In the present section we shall confine ourselves to the former. There are seven substantives applied to God in the Old Testament. These “Holy Names” may be divided into three classes.
I. The first class comprises the names which designate the supreme excellence of God rather than His Essence: אֵל, אֱלוחִים, אֲרוֹנָי.
אֵל, El, the Mighty, is often used with appositions, such as אֵל שַׁדַּי, παντοκράτωρ, omnipotens, almighty; אֵל אֱלוהִים, God of Gods. The name El, even without apposition, is seldom used of false gods.
אֱלוהִים Elohim, plural of Eloah, the Arabic Allah, the Powerful, with the correlative significations of Awe-inspiring, Worthy of adoration. This name is given ironically to false gods, and in a true but weak, inferior sense to beings inferior to God as reflections of His Majesty, e.g. angels, kings, judges. When applied to the one, true God, Elohim must be taken as the majestic plural rather than as an indication of the Trinity. Appositions are sometimes used to define the sense, e.g. Elohim Zebaoth, the God of hosts,—that is, the hosts or armies of angels, of the stars, or of men; sometimes it means the God of all creatures.
אֲרוֹנָי, Adonai, Κύριος, δεσπότης, Dominus, Judge, Commander, Lord pre-eminently. This name combines the meanings of El and Elohim, because God, the Supreme Lord, not only inspires fear on account of His physical might, but also exacts reverence and submission as a moral power. Adonai is used without apposition as a proper name of God. Other beings can indeed be judges and commanders, but they are so only inasmuch as they represent God, and not in the eminent sense indicated by the plural of majesty. It is never used of the false divinities of the heathen, because the idea of supreme moral power and sovereignty was not associated with them.
2. The second class contains only one name, essentially a proper name, because it describes the Divine Essence. It is יְהוָֹה, Jehovah (Exod. 3:14–16), “I am Who am.” The correct pronunciation is probably Yahweh, whence the abbreviation יָה, Yah. Its meaning is that God is the One Who is, purely and simply; Whose Being is dependent on no external cause, Who therefore can neither be limited nor changed by anything, and Who, by reason of this mode of existence, is distinguished from all other beings, real or possible, especially from all pretended divinities, and also from powerful, ruling, or unearthly beings, which might possibly be designated by the other Divine names. Hence it is, in the strictest sense of the word, a proper name, such as Moses asked for in order to make known to the people the characteristic name of the God, Elohim, of their fathers. It is moreover a name of alliance, as being intimately connected with the covenant between God and Israel; the knowledge of the true God as revealed in the name Jehovah was the pledge, the medium, and the proof of the alliance. As the name Jehovah was in use before the time of Moses, the question arises as to the sense in which God said to Moses (Exod. 6:3) that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, El Schadai, and did not reveal to them His name Jehovah. The best solution of the difficulty is, perhaps, that Jehovah was His most appropriate name, and that it was, as a matter of fact, adopted by Him to serve as a symbol and watchword of the public worship of the one God, whereas El Schadai expresses more accurately the relation of God to the families of the Patriarchs as their powerful protector.
3. The third class embraces those names akin to the first class, but expressing with more force the sublime excellence of the true God. In their substantive form they are, however, applied to false divinities.
הַשַׁרָי, Haschadai—from schadad, to overpower (?)—the Strong, Mighty, akin in meaning to El, but designating with more energy the independence, self-sufficiency, and inviolability of the Power, and therefore it is equivalent to “the Almighty.”
הַעֶלְיון, Haelion, Altissimus, the High, Sublime, the Most High, akin to Elohim.
הַקָּרוֹשׁ, Hakadosch, the Holy, found chiefly in the Prophets and among these especially in Isaias: the Holy One of Israel, the Holy Lord, Judge and Lawgiver of the chosen people. Akin to Adonai.
In the New Testament these names are replaced by their Greek or Latin equivalents, e.g. ὁ Κύριος, ὁ ὤν, ὁ ὕψιστος, etc. The most frequent name applied to God is the classical word Θεός, Deus.
I. Divine Revelation gives a progressive development of the idea of God, even if we abstract from the final revelation of the mystery of the Trinity. Nothing new was revealed to the Patriarchs concerning the Divine Nature and attributes; their knowledge was the same as natural knowledge and as that handed down by tradition. The object of the Mosaic Revelation was to preserve in its purity the idea of one God against the corruptions of idolatry and polytheism. It proclaimed God’s exalted power over all things finite and material, and His absolute dominion over mankind; it revealed the essential characteristic of God in the name Jehovah. The Prophets point out and describe in magnificent language the Divine attributes which can be known by the light of reason; especially unity, eternity, unchangeableness, infinite greatness, creative omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, wisdom, goodness, justice, and holiness. But all these attributes are spoken of simply to bring out the infinite Majesty of God, and not in order to reveal anything further concerning His Essence. This latter aspect is first opened up in the Sapiential books (Prov. 8, Wisd. 7, Ecclus. 24), where, under the name of the Eternal Wisdom, the inner life of the Deity is exhibited in its internal and external communication, and the theology of the New Testament is thereby anticipated. The object and tendency of Christian Revelation is to raise man to a most intimate union with God, his Father, and consequently it manifests the inner perfection of the Divine Life of which man becomes a partaker. It presupposes the Old Testament Revelation without making any further disclosures concerning the Divine Nature; but, as it tells us of the mystery of the Trinity, it enables us to gain some insight into the Divine internal fecundity, and to conceive the Divine Nature as the purest spirituality—as the Light, the Life, the Truth, the Love, and so as the principle and ideal of the supernatural perfection to which we should tend.
II. The names applied to God are either substantives or adjectives. In the present section we shall confine ourselves to the former. There are seven substantives applied to God in the Old Testament. These “Holy Names” may be divided into three classes.
I. The first class comprises the names which designate the supreme excellence of God rather than His Essence: אֵל, אֱלוחִים, אֲרוֹנָי.
אֵל, El, the Mighty, is often used with appositions, such as אֵל שַׁדַּי, παντοκράτωρ, omnipotens, almighty; אֵל אֱלוהִים, God of Gods. The name El, even without apposition, is seldom used of false gods.
אֱלוהִים Elohim, plural of Eloah, the Arabic Allah, the Powerful, with the correlative significations of Awe-inspiring, Worthy of adoration. This name is given ironically to false gods, and in a true but weak, inferior sense to beings inferior to God as reflections of His Majesty, e.g. angels, kings, judges. When applied to the one, true God, Elohim must be taken as the majestic plural rather than as an indication of the Trinity. Appositions are sometimes used to define the sense, e.g. Elohim Zebaoth, the God of hosts,—that is, the hosts or armies of angels, of the stars, or of men; sometimes it means the God of all creatures.
אֲרוֹנָי, Adonai, Κύριος, δεσπότης, Dominus, Judge, Commander, Lord pre-eminently. This name combines the meanings of El and Elohim, because God, the Supreme Lord, not only inspires fear on account of His physical might, but also exacts reverence and submission as a moral power. Adonai is used without apposition as a proper name of God. Other beings can indeed be judges and commanders, but they are so only inasmuch as they represent God, and not in the eminent sense indicated by the plural of majesty. It is never used of the false divinities of the heathen, because the idea of supreme moral power and sovereignty was not associated with them.
2. The second class contains only one name, essentially a proper name, because it describes the Divine Essence. It is יְהוָֹה, Jehovah (Exod. 3:14–16), “I am Who am.” The correct pronunciation is probably Yahweh, whence the abbreviation יָה, Yah. Its meaning is that God is the One Who is, purely and simply; Whose Being is dependent on no external cause, Who therefore can neither be limited nor changed by anything, and Who, by reason of this mode of existence, is distinguished from all other beings, real or possible, especially from all pretended divinities, and also from powerful, ruling, or unearthly beings, which might possibly be designated by the other Divine names. Hence it is, in the strictest sense of the word, a proper name, such as Moses asked for in order to make known to the people the characteristic name of the God, Elohim, of their fathers. It is moreover a name of alliance, as being intimately connected with the covenant between God and Israel; the knowledge of the true God as revealed in the name Jehovah was the pledge, the medium, and the proof of the alliance. As the name Jehovah was in use before the time of Moses, the question arises as to the sense in which God said to Moses (Exod. 6:3) that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, El Schadai, and did not reveal to them His name Jehovah. The best solution of the difficulty is, perhaps, that Jehovah was His most appropriate name, and that it was, as a matter of fact, adopted by Him to serve as a symbol and watchword of the public worship of the one God, whereas El Schadai expresses more accurately the relation of God to the families of the Patriarchs as their powerful protector.
3. The third class embraces those names akin to the first class, but expressing with more force the sublime excellence of the true God. In their substantive form they are, however, applied to false divinities.
הַשַׁרָי, Haschadai—from schadad, to overpower (?)—the Strong, Mighty, akin in meaning to El, but designating with more energy the independence, self-sufficiency, and inviolability of the Power, and therefore it is equivalent to “the Almighty.”
הַעֶלְיון, Haelion, Altissimus, the High, Sublime, the Most High, akin to Elohim.
הַקָּרוֹשׁ, Hakadosch, the Holy, found chiefly in the Prophets and among these especially in Isaias: the Holy One of Israel, the Holy Lord, Judge and Lawgiver of the chosen people. Akin to Adonai.
In the New Testament these names are replaced by their Greek or Latin equivalents, e.g. ὁ Κύριος, ὁ ὤν, ὁ ὕψιστος, etc. The most frequent name applied to God is the classical word Θεός, Deus.
Seção 21% da obra, de A Manual of Catholic Theology (Wilhelm & Scannell, sobre a Dogmatik de Scheeben). Ver o original.