The Names of
God

Elohim is the first name for God in the Bible and the most common Hebrew word for God in the Old Testament. It speaks of His power and majesty as Creator. The form is plural, but it is used with singular verbs for the one true God.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 · NIV

El Shaddai means God Almighty. God gave this name to Abram when he was ninety-nine and still waiting on a promise that looked impossible. The exact root of Shaddai is debated by scholars, but its meaning in Scripture is clear: the God who is more than enough, and able to do what He said.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.

Genesis 17:1 · NIV

Adonai means Lord or Master, and it speaks of God’s authority and His right to rule. When your Bible prints “Lord” with ordinary lowercase letters, the Hebrew behind it is often Adonai. In Psalm 8:1 you can see both names side by side: “LORD” is Yahweh, and “our Lord” is Adonai.

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

Psalm 8:1 · NIV

Also in Genesis 15:2, where Abram calls Him “Sovereign LORD” (Adonai Yahweh)

Yahweh is God’s personal, covenant name, the name He gave Moses at the burning bush. It is connected to the Hebrew verb “to be”: He is the One who simply and eternally is. English Bibles usually print it as LORD in capital letters.

Why do some Bibles say Jehovah? Hebrew was first written without vowels, so the name appears as four letters, YHWH. Out of reverence, Jewish readers said Adonai instead of pronouncing it, and scribes added Adonai’s vowel marks to the four letters as a reminder. Later Christian readers combined the two, and the result in English was Jehovah. Jehovah and Yahweh are the same name; Yahweh is generally thought closer to the original sound.

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:14 · NIV

Also in Exodus 3:15 and Psalm 83:18 (KJV), one of the few verses where the King James prints “JEHOVAH”

Abraham gave this name to the mountain where God provided a ram in place of his son Isaac. The Hebrew word jireh literally means “will see,” so the name carries the sense that the LORD sees ahead and sees to it. He knows what you need before you get there.

So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

Genesis 22:14 · NIV

If you are looking for the name of God for healing, this is it. God revealed Himself as the LORD who heals just after He made bitter water sweet for His thirsty people in the wilderness. He heals bodies, hearts and lives, in His wisdom and His timing.

for I am the LORD, who heals you.

Exodus 15:26 · NIV

After a battle against the Amalekites, Moses built an altar and gave it this name. A banner was the flag an army rallied around. To call God your banner is to say that your victory, your identity and your safety are found in Him.

Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner.

Exodus 17:15 · NIV

Gideon was hiding, afraid and sure he was about to die when God met him and said, “Peace!” Gideon built an altar and named it this. Shalom is more than the absence of conflict. It means wholeness, and God does not only give it; He is it.

So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace.

Judges 6:24 · NIV

Also written Jehovah Rohi. David, who had been a shepherd himself, knew what the job involved: guiding, feeding, protecting, and going after the one that wandered off. This is the name behind the best-known psalm in the Bible.

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Psalm 23:1 · NIV

Jeremiah gave this name to a coming King from David’s line, a promise Christians see fulfilled in Jesus. Many translations render it “The LORD Our Righteousness”; the NIV has “The LORD Our Righteous Savior.” Either way, it means our right standing with God is His gift, not our achievement.

Also in Jeremiah 23:6 and 33:16

These are the last words of the book of Ezekiel, given as the new name of the restored city of God. Ezekiel had watched God’s glory leave the temple. This name is the promise that He will come back and stay.

Also in Ezekiel 48:35

Sabaoth means armies or hosts, so the Lord of hosts meaning is the Commander of heaven’s armies, sovereign over every power in heaven and on earth. The King James says “LORD of hosts”; the NIV usually translates it “LORD Almighty.” It first appears in 1 Samuel 1:3, in the story of Hannah, who prayed to Him for a son.

The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:7 · NIV

Sometimes written Elroi. Hagar was a servant who had been mistreated and had run away into the desert, pregnant and alone. God found her there, and she gave Him this name. If you feel invisible, El Roi sees you.

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Genesis 16:13 · NIV

Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, blessed Abram by this name after a battle and called Him Creator of heaven and earth. El Elyon means there is no power above Him, no authority He answers to, and nothing outside His reach.

Also in Genesis 14:18–20 and Psalm 91:1

Abraham planted a tree at Beersheba and called on the LORD by this name; the NIV translates it “the Eternal God.” He has no beginning and no end. Whatever season you are in, He was there before it began and will be there after it ends.

Also in Genesis 21:33 and Isaiah 40:28

Abba is the Aramaic word for father. Jesus prayed it in Gethsemane on the night before the cross (Mark 14:36). It is often said to mean “daddy,” but it was also what grown children called their fathers: warm and close, yet full of respect. Through the Spirit, God invites you to call Him the same thing.

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

Galatians 4:6 · NIV

Also in Romans 8:15

Isaiah promised a child who would be called Immanuel, and Matthew tells us the promise was kept in Jesus. Immanuel meaning “God with us” is the heart of the Christmas story, and the heart of the whole Bible: God did not stay far away.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:23 · NIV

Also in Isaiah 7:14