In a previous article, we looked at the personal name of God in the Hebrew Old Testament “YHWH” or “Yahweh.” According to learnhebrewforchristians.com website, when the Hebrew Bible was read aloud in ancient Israel, every time readers encountered the four-letter name “YHWH” they would say “Adonai”– out of reverence so deep that the divine name “YHWH” was considered too holy to pronounce. The word “Adonai” means “My Lord” or “My Master,” using a special plural form that intensifies the concept of lordship beyond any human authority. It comes from the Hebrew word “adon” meaning lord, master, sovereign with the first person possessive suffix “-ai” (my). The noun “Adonai” occurs approximately 449 times in the Hebrew Bible and almost every time it refers to the God of Israel.

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord (Adonai) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬

“Therefore you are great, O Lord God (Adonai Yahweh). For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.” 2 Samuel‬ ‭7‬:‭22‬

“I say to the LORD (Yahweh), “You are my Lord (Adonai); I have no good apart from you.” Psalm‬ ‭16‬:‭2‬

In these passages, “Adonai” is clearly a designation that refers to “Yahweh” as one person. It is estimated that there are over 20,000 grammatically singular references to the only true God of the Bible.

Singular verbs: like God “created”

Singular adjectives

Singular pronouns: like “He” or “Him”

Singular pronominal suffixes: like “His”

Singular participles

Singular predicates and appositional nouns: like “God is King”

Singular demonstratives: like “this God”

Before we move on to “who God is” in the New Testament, the following passage is one of my favorites about some of the attributes and characteristics of God in the Bible.

“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him (Moses) there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,” Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭5‬-‭7‬a.

Mark Rohde can be reached at marklrohde@icloud.com.