A Study of God's Hebrew Names

Book excerpt: What is your name? It is the first question one person asks another upon first meeting. Once names are revealed, the two parties are well on the way to the formation of some form of social relationship. Unlike our modern world, a name in Bible times was not a mere label, but a profile of character. This is especially the case in terms of God's self-disclosure in the unfolding pages of the Old Testament. The progressive revelation of God's name to the Hebrew people is a veritable theology, or study of the attributes of God. In this book, Michael Gowens examines the meaning and significance of the primary names of God - Elohim, Jehovah, & Adonai - together with several of the more salient compound names of each: El-Shaddai, El-Roi, El-Elyon, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, and more. Study along with him and experience how the revelation of God's name in the Bible is a firm foundation on which to cultivate a closer fellowship with him.