144 Names of God in the Hebrew Bible: Part One

The list of names of God I offer in this and upcoming posts breaks with previous tradition but is indebted to tradition in various ways. The Tetragrammaton does not appear, either by itself or in conjunction with other elements. On the other hand, names that seem fundamental to a description of the biblical God, but were neglected by tradition, are included.

Outside the list, in scripture that frames sections of the list, the Tetragrammaton recurs in accordance with its unique importance.

The list is designed for memorization, along with, not apart from, the scripture that frames it. Commentary on the components of the list is offered ad seriatim.

The text to be memorized is given in unvocalized Hebrew. It should be mastered in this form. In the commentary the components of the list are given with vowels added.

שמע ישראל

יהוה אלהינו

יהוה אחד

אל חנון

אל רחום

 

ארך אפים

רב־חסד ואמת

 

נצר חסד לאלפים

נשא עון ופשע

פקד עון־אבות על־בנים

 

אל קנא

אל אמונה

 

אל גדול

אל עולם

אל אלהי הרוחת

 

אל זעם

אל נקמות

 

אל צדיק

אל גמלות

 

אל השמים

אלהי הצבאות

 

ישוב ירחמנו

יכבש עונתינו

ותשליך במצלות ים

כל חטאותם

 

תתן אמת ליעקב

חסד לאברהם

אשר נשבעת לאבתינו

מימי קדם

The Shema serves as a preface to the entire list of 144 names. The last two verses of the book of Micah serve to cap the 18 designations which stand at the list's head and are given above. The first seven of the 18 are derived from the description of God’s attributes God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Moses asks to behold the Lord in all his glory. The request is not granted. The Lord allows Moses to catch a glimpse of his back and no more.

But the Lord reveals himself to Moses in words. The words are “the name of the Lord” proclaimed, spelled out, expounded. They are foundational to the biblical understanding of God. They echo throughout later tradition.

Insofar as they elaborate on the name of the Lord, it is exact to refer to them as names of God. The key graph reads as follows:

וַיֵּרֶד יהוה בֶּעָנָן

וַיִּתְיַצֵּב עִמֹּו שָׁם

וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם יהוה

 

וַיַּעֲבֹר יהוה עַל־פָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא

 

יהוה יהוה

אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן

אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם

וְרַב־חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת

 

נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים

נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה

וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה

 

פֹּקֵד עֲוֹן אָבוֹת

עַל־בָּנִים וְעַל־בְּנֵי בָנִים

עַל־שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל־רִבֵּעִים

YHVH came down in a cloud,

        stood next to him there,

                and expounded the name YHVH.

 

YHVH passed in front of him and called out:

 

YHVH, YHVH!

        A compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger,

        and abounding in kindness and faithfulness,

 

who maintains kindness to the thousandth generation,

        forgives iniquity, transgression, and fault,

                but will not remit punishment;

 

who visits the iniquity of parents

        on their children and children’s children,

                on the third and fourth generations.

Exodus 34:5-9

 

אל חנון without רחום following makes perfect sense as biblical Hebrew, but is not actually attested (אל רחום without following חנון, however, is). I nevertheless list אל חנון among the biblical names of God for the express purpose of leaving no doubt in the reader’s mind that the list is not a string of excerpted phrases from the Bible. It is a recasting and arranging of them in accordance with a perception of acceptable diction in biblical Hebrew.

The contents of Exodus 34:6-7, traditionally referred to as the “Thirteen Middot,” are found elsewhere.[1] In each case, details are omitted, compressed, embroidered upon, or fundamentally altered. The compendium of 144 names of God in the Bible I offer occasionally omits and compresses, but does not add to or fundamentally alter.

רחום comes before חנון in Exod 34:6, Ps 86:15, and Ps 103:8. More often, חנון comes first: Joel 2:18, Jonah 4:2; Ps 111:8; 116:5; 145:8; 2 Chron 30:9; and Neh 9:17, 31. In prayer, it is always appropriate to ask God to show favor, as in חנני יהוה (Ps 6:3 is the classic instance). In a more limited set of circumstances, it is appropriate to ask God to show compassion (Ps 51:3 is the classic instance).

It is all too common to think of compassion or mercy as a form of indulgence and justice as the opposite of mercy. On the contrary, faithfulness to another sometimes takes the form of retributive justice and expresses itself as anger in the face of transgression which has become the overriding reality of the life of the other. Not to get angry and not to confront would be signs of cowardice and lack of interest.

Is it possible to be both forgiving and a stickler with regard to meting out punishment for defiant behavior? I try to be both with my children. Predictability and unpredictability of parental response to the behavior of children are both strategic in the pursuit of behavioral modification. The dual strategy vis-à-vis humankind is attributed to God in the Bible.

The fact that the (consequences of) sins of person A are visited on person B has always been a stumbling block for many. The books of Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel take up the issue. Each resolves it in a different way.[2]

No one minds that the (consequences of the) good person A does redounds to the benefit of person B. We are happy to benefit from the good others do. We just don’t want to pay the piper for the bad someone else does.

What do the vows say? “To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.”

The analogy will be obvious. Life involves being joined at the hip, for better or worse, with other human beings. You can’t have the better without the worse. That God is the author of this situation is affirmed in the Bible.

Five more biblical designations of God follow the initial seven. Like the first seven, they are all derive from the Torah, the first division of the Tanakh.

The contents of the first four echo throughout the Hebrew Bible: אל קנא, אל אמונה, אל גדול, and אל עולם. The last of the five, found in an intercessory prayer, is unusual: אל אלהי הרוחת "El, God of the spirits," that is, of the life-breaths he gives and takes away from all creatures (Num 16:22; cf. Ps 104:29-30).

Six more names conclude the first tranche of 18. They are not found in the Torah, but are characteristic expressions of the theology or “God-speak” of ancient Israel nonetheless. I have grouped them thematically into three pairs.

Here are the 18 names all over again, framed by Deut 6:4 and Mic 7:19-20, the whole furnished with vowels. Sources for the names are listed. A translation follows.

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל

יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ

יהוה אֶחָד

אֵל חַנּוּן

אֵל רַחוּם

 

אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם

רַב־חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת

 

נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים

נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע

 פֹּקֵד עֲוֹן־אָבוֹת עַל־בָּנִים

Exod 34:6-7; Jon 4:2; Deut 4:31; Joel 2:13; Num 14:18; Exod 20:5

 

אֵל קַנָּא

Exod 20:5; Deut 4:24; 5:9; 6:15; cf. Josh 24:19; Nah 1:2

אֵל אֱמוּנָה

Deut 32:4; cf. Pss 88:12; 89: 2, 3, 6, 9; Isa 25:1; Hos 2:22; Lam 3:21

 

אֵל גָּדוֹל

Deut 7:21; cf. Deut 10:17; Neh 1:5; Dan 9:4

אֵל עוֹלָם

Gen 21:33; cf. Isa 40:28; Ps 89:53

אֵל אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת

Num 16:22

אֵל זֹעֵם

Ps 7:2

אֵל נְקָמוֹת

Ps 94:1

 
אֵל צַדִּיק

Isa 45:21; cf. Deut 32:4; Jer 12:1; Ps 7:10; Job 34:17

 
אֵל גְּמֻלוֹת

Jer 51:56; cf. Ps 94:2; Isa 35:4

 

 
אֵל הַשָּׁמָיִם

Psalm 136:26; cf. Jonah 1:9; 2 Chron 36:23 = Ezr 1:2

אֱלֹהֵי הַצְּבָאוֹת

Amos 3:13; 6:14; Hos 12:6; cf. Amos 4:14; Mic 4:4; Ps 24:10

 
יָשׁוּב יְרַחֲמֵנוּ

יִכְבֹּשׁ עֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ

וְתַשְׁלִיךְ בִּמְצֻלוֹת יָם

כָּל חַטֹּאותָם

 

תִּתֵּן אֱמֶת לְיַעֲקֹב

חֶסֶד לְאַבְרָהָם

אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ

מִימֵי קֶדֶם

 
Hear, o Israel,

        the Lord is our God,

                the Lord alone!

 

A gracious God,

a compassionate God,

slow to anger,

abounding in kindness and faithfulness,

who maintains kindness to the thousandth generation,

        who forgives iniquity and transgression,

                who visits the iniquity of parents on their children.

 

A passionate God,

        a faithful God,

a great God,

        an everlasting God,

                God, the source of life-breath.

 

A raging God,

            a God of vengeance,

a God who makes things right,

            a God of retribution,

the God of heaven,

the God of hosts.

 

He will again have compassion on us,

            and tread our iniquity underfoot.

May you cast to the sea-depths

all their sins,

May you show faithfulness to Yaacov,

            kindness to Avraham

as you promised our ancestors

            in days long ago.

---

[1] Exod 20:5-6; Num 14:18; Deut 5:9-10; Mic 7:18-20; Jer 32:18; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Nah 1:3; Pss 86:16; 103:8; 145:8; and Neh 9:17.

[2] Deut 7:9-11; Isa 53; Jer 31:27-30; Ezek 18:1-4.

Comments

[Tony Siew]

Thanks very much for this John. I even mentioned your blog in my preaching today and encouraged my church members to read your posts and deepen their understanding of the OT. I look forward to your posts on "The 144 Names of God".

[Lingamish]

Dude! You got mentioned in a sermon. I am jealous. Are these "names" or descriptions? Seems like cheating. But I'll have to take your word for it as all those squiggles mean nothing to me. ;-)

[JohnFH]

When you get to be my age, you too may get mentioned in a sermon.

You're right to ask about what I mean by names. Something close to what Islam means when it speaks of 99 names of God.

Something close to what Jewish tradition means by "middot" or attributes of God.

Nothing like the Jewish tradition, which Madonna and many others have latched onto, of the "72 names."

[Lingamish]

Madonna, 72 names. I don't get out much. You might have to blog on that since you've already enlightened us on Victoria's scarification.

Suzanne kicked this whole thing off with a desire to tackle the names of God but she meant something different. Thanks for the clarification.

[Dead Man Walking 2]

I’m still slightly confused. Why would you call it names when they aren’t really names? Wouldn’t it just be easier to call them attributes? What is the difference between Islams names and Jewish names or did you add them up?

[JohnFH]

Yes, it might be simpler to call them "attributes." But they are called "names" in the Muslim tradition.

It makes sense when you know that a name in a language like Hebrew or Arabic can consist of an attribute.

[True Grit 4]

I find it interesting that you have one hundred and forty-four names for God in this post. The reason I find it interesting is the fact that if you take one hundred and forty-four and find the square root you get the number twelve. And the number twelve isn’t just an ordinary number in the Bible.
The number twelve is a perfect number in the Bible it symbolizes governmental perfection. It is also interesting because the number 1twelve is the numbers three times the number four. The number three symbolizes God. And the number four symbolizes man and creation.
Now this is probably all not intended but I just found it interesting. I am sure a person could draw similar comparisons with other things as well. After the numbers down it just made me think that maybe th number one hundred and forty four means that God and infinite names.

[The Truman Show 5]

I was baffled to read this post, 144 names of God! That's insane, but I can see how that can occur, with abbreviations, different languages, etc. I do however just think that there should just be a standardized name for him, such as the Lord or just plain old God. This just makes me wonder whether God has infinite names.

[Dead man walking 4]

TG4,
That is a very interesting finding of numerical logic you have found, but I would think that’s not how the original writers put the Bible together. They weren’t that smart to figure out patterns and hidden connections like that centuries ago.

Also, we only refer to “God” for a reason that is his proper name. The other words would be more descriptions of type of person he is. If a fireman saves a person from a burning building, and the newspaper proclaims him a savior. We don’t now label his name as “savior.” It is just an adjective to illustration their image, not a name to be referred too as. So I don’t really believe God has 144 different names, just a lot of solid foundations that he is great.

[True Grit 3]

I enjoy this post. It helps remind me of all the great things God can be! I think that this is why they are stated in the Bible in the first place. I feel as if the writers wanted to constantly remind us of how great God is and all his wonderful attributes.

[anthony buzzard]

Thanks for a great reminder of who God is.
Would you comment on the word ONE for us. Christians try to say that echad is compound, ie three. As a language prof. I would say this is intolerable nonsense. There is no Triune God in the BIble.

[JohnFH]

Hi Anthony,

The link under your name is no longer valid.

It's true that a number of exegetical arguments traditionally advanced in favor of the threeness of God are ingenious but weak. On the other hand, the whole debate has changed shape, for those who are up to date, given what we now understand about concepts of God in ancient Israel and among Jews in Greco-Roman antiquity. I can provide references if you wish.

The doctrine of the Trinity doesn't seem strange at all, from the point of view of the development of Jewish and then Christian teaching about God. The idea that somehow Christians went off the rails when they began to systematize teaching about the pre-existence of the Messiah and the oneness referred to in the Gospel of John uniting Father and Son is preposterous on its face, and pernicious to the unity of the body of Christ.

I see no reason why there cannot be room in that body for high and low Christologies of various sorts, though I take it for granted that the majority of Christians will continue to uphold a very high Christology and uphold Trinitarian teaching, however unversed they are on the details.