The names of God and why the KJV prints LORD in capitals
The English Bible encodes the Hebrew names of God in its typography. LORD in small capitals is the personal name YHWH (讬讛讜讛 ). Lord in lowercase is the title Adonai (讗植讚止谞指讬 , “master”). GOD in capitals marks the combination Adonai YHWH.
The typography code
| Printed | Hebrew underneath | Example |
|---|---|---|
| LORD (small caps) | 讬讛讜讛 YHWH | “The LORD is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1 ) |
| Lord (lowercase) | 讗植讚止谞指讬 Adonai | “the Lord shall have them in derision” (Psalm 2:4 ) |
| Lord GOD | Adonai YHWH | “O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness” (Deuteronomy 3:24 ) |
| God | 讗直诇止讛执讬诐 Elohim | “In the beginning God created” (Genesis 1:1 ) |
| JAH / LORD | 讬指讛旨 Yah (short form) | “extol him… by his name JAH” (Psalm 68:4 ) |
Names built on God’s name keep the short form: Eliyahu (讗值诇执讬指旨讛讜旨 , “my God is Yah”), Yesha’yahu (讬职砖址讈注职讬指讛讜旨 , “Yah saves”); the ending is almost always -yah.
Psalm 110:1 is the code working at full load: “The LORD said unto my Lord”: YHWH said to adoni (讗植讚止谞执讬 , “my lord”). Two speakers, distinguished only by typeface. The verse stands behind Jesus’ unanswerable question in the temple (Matthew 22:41-46 ) and behind the two-powers texts.
The convention exists because Jewish reading practice substituted Adonai aloud wherever YHWH stood written; the translators mirrored the substitution but marked it. The pointed Hebrew text already ran a version of the code: the Masoretes vocalized 讬讛讜讛 to direct the reader to Adonai, the vocalization that reached English as “Jehovah.” Where the text already says Adonai YHWH, the pointing directs to Elohim, and “Lord Lord” being unreadable, the name became GOD.
Elohim: the category
Elohim (讗直诇止讛执讬诐 ) is grammatically plural and functions as the Bible’s category word for the inhabitants of the spiritual realm: used for the God of Israel (with singular verbs), for the divine council members (Psalm 82:1, 6 ), for the sons of God, and even for the spirit of Samuel (1 Samuel 28:13 ). Genesis 1 is Elohim’s chapter: the creator in relation to the cosmos. Its gematria is 86.
YHWH: the name
The Tetragrammaton 讬讛讜讛 appears roughly 6,800 times, by far God’s most common designation. It is built on the root hayah (讛讬讛 , “to be”), the root God expounds at the bush: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (讗侄讛职讬侄讛 讗植砖侄讈专 讗侄讛职讬侄讛 , “I will be that I will be”), the name whose 37 occurrences and their arithmetic have their own article. Its gematria is 26, a number that surfaces across the structural counts of the text.
Genesis 2 shifts from Elohim to YHWH Elohim the moment the narrative turns from cosmos to covenant.
The El compounds
El (讗值诇 ) is the singular, oldest Semitic word for deity, and the Bible’s compound names build on it:
| Name | Meaning | First appearance |
|---|---|---|
| El Elyon 讗值诇 注侄诇职讬讜止谉 | God Most High | Genesis 14:18 : Melchizedek’s priesthood; the ranking title over the allotted council |
| El Roi 讗值诇 专殖讗执讬 | God who sees me | Genesis 16:13 : named by Hagar, a runaway slave, to the Angel of the LORD; the only name of God coined by a woman |
| El Shaddai 讗值诇 砖址讈讚址旨讬 | God Almighty | Genesis 17:1 : to Abram at 99, before the promise of Isaac; the patriarchal-era name (Exodus 6:3), frequent in Job, rare afterward (Psalm 91:1 is one of two uses in Psalms) |
| El Olam 讗值诇 注讜止诇指诐 | Everlasting God | Genesis 21:33 : Abraham at Beersheba |
| El Qanna 讗值诇 拽址谞指旨讗 | Jealous God | Exodus 20:5 : inside the covenant stipulations; “the LORD, whose name is Jealous” (Exodus 34:14 ) |
Exodus 6:3 states the progression outright: “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty (El Shaddai), but by my name JEHOVAH (YHWH) was I not known to them.”
The YHWH compounds: names from events
A cluster of names arise as place-names or titles minted at the moment of an act. Each is a one-verse law-of-first-mention study:
| Name | KJV | Occasion |
|---|---|---|
| YHWH-Yireh 讬职讛讜指讛 讬执专职讗侄讛 | Jehovah-jireh, “the LORD will provide” | Genesis 22:14 : the ram in place of Isaac; the verb also means “will see”: on the mount, providing and seeing are one act |
| YHWH-Rapha | “the LORD that healeth thee” | Exodus 15:26 : Marah’s bitter water, the first covenant of health |
| YHWH-Nissi 讬职讛讜指讛 谞执住执旨讬 | Jehovah-nissi, “the LORD my banner” | Exodus 17:15 : after the battle where Moses’ hands stayed steady (emunah, the first mention of faith) |
| YHWH-Shalom | Jehovah-shalom, “the LORD is peace” | Judges 6:24 : Gideon’s altar after surviving the sight of the Angel of the LORD |
| YHWH-Ro’i | “the LORD is my shepherd” | Psalm 23:1 |
| YHWH-Tsidkenu 讬职讛讜指讛 爪执讚职拽值谞讜旨 | “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” | Jeremiah 23:6 : the name of the coming Branch of David; the tzedek of Melchizedek made a royal title |
| YHWH-Shammah | “The LORD is there” | Ezekiel 48:35 : the last words of Ezekiel, the name of the future city |
Each name was coined at a site, by a person, after an event.
References
- KJV translators’ convention: LORD/Lord/GOD typography distinguishing YHWH, Adonai, and the combination.