Bible Question:
When and how did the word "God" come from? I know of Jehovah, Elohim, Jah, El, Eloah, Elyon,Adon(Adon, Adonai, Adonim) and Shaddai but why God? Why haven't they left the names how they were originally written? Thanks, Love Fountain |
Bible Answer: Hi Love Fountain, I would say that the first time that the word God was found in print would be on the tablets of stone when the ten commandments were given. Exodus 20:1, "Then God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me.'" They should have remembered that God is Spirit and that they were not to make any graven image in order to make Him simply a god. Deuteronomy 4:33, "Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? Or has a god [sic] tried to take for himself [sic] a nation from within another nation...as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him." The Scriptures say that there are other gods and other lords, but indeed there is no other God besides Him. 2 Samuel 7:22, "For this reason Thou are great, O Lord God; for there is none like Thee, and there is no God besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears." Mark 12:32, NKJ, "So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He."" I like the NASB version for this verse and for verse 29, for it expresses better for me the fact that the Lord our God is one Lord. Indeed, there is no Lord besides Him, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Mark 12:32, NASB, "And the scribe said to Him, "Right, Teacher, You have truly stated that He is One; and there is no one else besides Him." In my personal copy right now I have "and there is no *One else besides Him. And to love (Him)... is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When I know that He is the Holy (One) of God then I know that I am not far from the kingdom of God. verse 34. My Study Bible here in Mark refers me to Deuteronomy 6. Let me type some verses for comparison with Mark's "And to love (Him). The parentheses are mine. Deuteronomy 6:13, "You shall fear [reverence] only the (Lord) your God; and you shall worship Him, and swear by His name. You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God is a jealous God..." Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel! The (Lord) is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Mark 12:29, "Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; And you shall love the (Lord) your God with all your heart...Verse 33, "And to love (Him) with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as yourself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And again, Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before (Me)." So that's my long answer to why we should get to know (Him) and to give Him the honor due His name in capitalization. For He is not a god nor a son of man, but He is God with us. |