Hebrew names of God

Title

Hebrew names of God

Language

English

Source

The Cabletow XXXIII (7) January 1958

Year

1958

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

lion of people feel that they must balance the scales of justice. They nurse personal injuries; they harbor resentment and accept every opportunity to denounce and defame. They can never be great re gardless of honor or glory, position or power. Great men have a calm superiority to resentment and hate. They never want to get even. They are too busy trying to do good for others. HEBREW NAMES OF GOD From the Christian Friends Bulletin we take the following de finitions of Hebrew terms for the name of God. Adonai-Elohim—According to Jewish tradition, the name Adonai notes God’s attribute of mercy, whereas the name Elohim denotes God's attribute of justice. Rabbinic commentators observe that the Book of Genesis, as it relates the account of the creation, at first makes use only of the word Elohim, "In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) Later, however, the name Adonai is introduced, “. . . in the day Adonai Elohim made earth and heaven." (Genesis 2:4) The Rabbis teach: “It had entered His mind to create the world in the attribute of justice only. God perceived, however, that the world could not exist if based on justice alone. He therefore gave precedence to the attribute of mercy and united it with the attribute of justice.” Shadai—In Exodus 6:2, the Lord reveals himself to Moses in a new respect—by His name, YHVII. He recalls to Moses, however, that He is the same Lord who had appeared unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as E) Shadai, a God of Power and Might. The Rabbis taught that God makes himself known to every generation that yearns for Him and seek His guidance; and although He is One, Eternal and Unchanging, He does appear to men differently according to (heir understanding and experience. Yod-He are the first two letters of the TetragTammaton, YHVH. According to Jewish legend, God himself used these two letters to create the universe when He said, “Led there be light.” The Hebrew word meaning “Let there be,” yehi, is formed from these two letters. Unutterable Name of God—The pronouncing of the Tetragrammalon, YJIVJJ, the unutterable name of God, was forbidden by Jewish law, except on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the ancient Temple and called 248 THE CABLETOW upon God by his sacred name to forgive the sins of the people. To day Jews say Adonai (my master) l'or the YHVH; but the most Orthodox will hesitate even to pronounce that substitution except on the holiest occasions, preferring Adoshem instead. Jehovah, frequently used by Christians to refer to the name of God, is due to Petrus Galatinus (c. 1500). He combined the conso nants YHVH with the vowels of the word Adonai, thus forming the word Jehovah, a word never used nor known in Jewish tradition. Shekinah is the Hebrew word for "the holy spirit of the Lord.” — The Royal Arch Mason OLDEST fSE OF "FHEEMASON" When was the word “Freemason” first used in print? It is dif ficult to say, because almost as soon as “the oldest dale” is discovered somebody finds an older one. Here at least is an exceptionally early date. In 1526 William Boude, who signed himself as a "bachelor of divinity,” published a work in which occurs the following paragraph, and which is an essay on Specu lative Freemasonry if ever there was one. . Then after we have been in the furnace of temptations and tribulations, keeping our souls unbroken, wc shall be as pure as the gold. Then if we be touched with a sharp word we shall yield a benign and gentle answer, and give a sweet silver sound as the tried silver. Then we shall be delivered out of our apprenticeship and be made free men. For, as for the four days past, we were but as apprentices, and now in this day we were but as ... , bound to learn the craft of the exercise of virtues; and now this day wc shall be masters of the craft. Example: The freemason setleth his apprentice first long time to learn to hew stones, and when he can do that perfectly, he admilteth him to be a free mason and chooseth him as a cunning man to be a master of the craft, and maketh him a setter or orderer of the same stone, which setting of stones, though it. be far greater cunning than is the hewing of stones, yet it is less labor and more quietness. So, in these four days past, we must as apprentices labor continually, and learn to hew, polish, and square the precious stones of virtues, which be to pul in the temple of God. Iniilded in our souls, of the which temple Saint Paul speaketh in the wise.” — Courtesy I'.'ra It"'!,

pages

246-247

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