"LORD" What Does it Mean?
LORD What does it Mean?
We have looked at two ways the word “lord” is used in Scripture. Now we will examine the third use. It is with all capital letters: LORD.
The word that is translated in English scripture as LORD comes from the name for God that is the deepest, very personal and the most mysterious.
The words we translate to LORD in Hebrew is YHVH.
Before we look at where the word comes from in Hebrew, first let’s concentrate on what God’s personal name means.
YHVH means THE EXISTING ONE.
If we read this or say this quickly, we sort of skim over it. But don’t. Let it sink in. The one true, everlasting God told His people His personal name.
HE IS THE EXISTING ONE (YHVH.)
Don’t skim over that either. The LORD has always existed and will always exist.
LORD = THE EXISTING ONE.
The Old Testament uses YHYV (LORD) more than 6000 times. The first time it appears is in the creation story in Genesis.
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.” Genesis 2:4.
This personal name of God appears ten more times in chapter 2 of Genesis.
The story of creation is so much deeper and personal when you see that THE EXISTING ONE (LORD) crafted each and every thing. He didn’t just speak these things into existence. He actively brought them into being. Look at these examples all from Genesis 2:
THE EXISTING ONE (LORD) formed man from dust and breathed life into his nostrils, verse 7.
THE EXISTING ONE (LORD) planted a garden in Eden and placed Adam there, verse 8.
THE EXISTING ONE (LORD) formed out of the ground every beast and bird and allowed Adam to name them, verse 19.
THE EXISTING ONE (LORD) fashioned a woman out of one of Adam’s ribs so they would be one flesh together, verses 21-23.
Names in scripture describe character. Therefore, the name and the character of “LORD” is THE EXISTING ONE. This is the personal name of the one true God.
Now that we have a glimpse into the character of the LORD through His personal name, I’ll try my best to explain where this name comes from in Hebrew.
In Hebrew the word translated as LORD is made up of four Hebrew letters:
Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey
When written, these four letters are:
YHVH
The original written language of Hebrew did not use vowels in the same way that English uses vowels. Most scholars today believe that no one knows how YHVH would have ordinally been pronounced.
Jewish people considered this personal name of God (YHVH) to be too sacred to speak aloud. Instead, they used the word Adonai. Eventually, scholars added vowels to YHVH using the letters from the word they used for God: Adonai. This come out to be something close to: Yahwey or Yahovah. There is no “J” sound in Hebrew, so Yahwey/Yahovah morphed into Jehovah in English. (Likewise when we say the name Jesus, that is an English version of the name Yeshua.)
In English, when we see Jehovah, or Yahwey, it means THE EXISTING ONE-which is translated in English Bibles as LORD.
So to review the three ways the word “lord” is translated in English Bibles:
“lord” means a human who has authority over others.
“Lord” is another name for God.
“LORD” is the personal name for God which means The Existing One.
ANOTHER DISCLAIMER:
As I’ve said before, I am not a Hebrew language scholar. Here, my hope is to share what I’ve learned that has made studying scripture deeper and more meaningful to me.
Carla Killough McClafferty