Biblical and Qur'anic Divine Names: Past and Future
Rabbi Allen S. Maller
In the days of Abraham, the religions of the Near East and India had hundreds of gods, and hundreds of personal names for their gods. For those religions that trace their prophets back to Prophet Abraham, and his two sons Ishmael and Isaac, the many names of God are not personal names; but only describe different aspects or attributes of the one God's multifaceted personality.
For monotheists, all Divine names except one are appellations of the one and only God: titles and descriptions. Thus, to say that God is a King or Judge describes one of many ways God interacts with humans. To say that God is the Compassionate One is to describe one of many character or personality traits of the one God.
While each name is only one of the many appellations of the one universal creator of space and time, Christianity, Islam and Judaism also have one Divine name that is uniquely personal and always in each religion's believers’ heart and soul.
For Christians that name is Jesus: not just the name of a Jewish prophet and rabbi; but the name of one who is the Prince of Peace, who came to unite Jews and non-Jews. “But now in Christ Jesus you (Gentiles) who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:13-18)
For Muslims that unique name is Allah: the universalistic generic Semitic name of God. In English, God is not a name of the one God like Allah, Jesus or YHVH. It is the generic term for any and every deity, similar to the West Semitic root word EL as it is found in Sumerian and Akkadian, Ellil-Enlil; in Hittite and Hurrian, Ellel; in Hebrew, El-Elohim; and in Arabic, Allat-a pre-Islamic goddess, who is one the three daughters of Al-Ilah. The Qur'an and its prophet thus use the most universalistic term/name for God as the one most suitable for Muslims.
Because in monotheistic religions the many appellations of God call upon the same One God, it is not surprising that many of the 99 beautiful Arabic names of God in Muslim tradition also appear in Hebrew in Jewish tradition, which sometimes refers to the 70 names of God (Midrash Shir HaShirim and Midrash Otiot Rabbi Akiba).
Since Arabic and Hebrew are brother languages; in some cases the names even sound alike:
Arabic Hebrew English
Ar-Rahman, Ha Rakhaman, the Compassionate One;
Ar-Rahim. El Rakhum, the Merciful One;
Al-Quddus, Ha Kadosh, the Holy One;
Al-Bari, Ha Boray, the Creator;
Al-Aliyy, El Elyon, the Most High;
As-Salam, Oseh HaShalom, the Peacemaker,
Malik ul Mulk, Melek Malkay Melakim, the king/ruler over all the
kingdom/kings;
Al-Muhyi, Ha Michayah, the Giver of Life;
and Al-Mumit, Ha Maymeet, the Taker of Life.
In the Bible the words El, Elah, Elohei and Elohim are all pre-Abrahamic west Semitic generic terms for a God or for many Gods. In these various forms they appear almost 3,000 times in the Hebrew Bible. But the most important name of the one God for Jews is the name that God directly reveals to Moses at the burning bush: YHVH, which appears more than 6,800 times in the Hebrew Bible.
In Exodus 3:13-15, Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’—what should I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh”.
Ehyeh is the verb “to be” future tense singular and means I will/could/might/may be/become Who I may/could/will/might be/become i.e. Ehyeh is The God of Potentialities, The God of Possibilities, The Living God of Becoming and Transforming, the One who can liberate Israel from bondage in Egypt.
Unfortunately, the Greek and Latin translations of this verse were influenced by the Greek philosophical idea that God was similar to a permanent ideal form (like an equilateral triangle) or an unmoved mover and is not like a living personality. Since they thought God must be an ideal static unchanging being. they mistranslated “Ehyeh asher Ehyeh' as 'I am who I am' rather than its plain future tense meaning of 'I can be whatever I should be to redeem you” i.e. YHVH Tsvaot-God Almighty
The Torah continues, “And God said, “You must say this to the Israelites, “I am” (the usual false translation for God's self revealed name) has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “You must say this to the Israelites, Ehyeh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’ (Exodus 3:13-15)
When Jews speak of God in the third person, God's name is YHVH-- "the One who causes being and becoming, the One who brings potentials into existence."
This name was spoken publicly from the time of Moses and throughout the centuries of the 1st Temple of Solomon, but it was replaced by Adonai (Lord) before the beginning of the 4th century B.C.E., because God's actual Holy name was eventually considered too holy to utter audibly.
In later centuries even the substitution was considered too holy to utter; and the custom among pious Jews till this day is not to use any name for God at all (except in prayer); but to say HaShem--the name (of God) when speaking about God.
YHVH replaced a much older name of God: El Shaddai. Exodus (6:2-3) relates: God also said to Moses, “I am YHVH. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by my name YHVH I did not make myself fully known to them.”
In the whole Hebrew Bible, the full appellation 'El Shaddai' is used only in connection with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Shaddai by itself appears 31 times in the ancient book of Prophet Job, who was not Jewish, and in a few other poetic passages. In the Greek translation of the Torah, El Shaddai was erroneously translated Pantokrator, all powerful/omnipotent, instead of 'The God who is sufficient”. The Greek philosophical idea of omnipotence leads to the false contradiction between God's power and human free will.
But God is indeed, more than sufficient. God is and will always be YHVH, the God who enables human hopes of future possibilities of improvement to become realized. El Shaddai can also be translated as the Nourishing or Nursing God because in Hebrew Shaddaim means female breasts. This feminine image may help many women today replace the ancient image of God as an old man with a long beard; with something more representative of God's classical attribute of loving concern for His children.
One name of God that few Christians or Jews even know, much less use today, is a name that I believe will become more important in the future as Christians, Jews and Muslims learn more about each other's religions. This name, El Ro'ee, only appears twice in the Hebrew Bible and, as far as I know, is not used at all in the Talmud or Midrash as a Divine appellation.
Abraham's wife Hagar uses El Ro'ee as her special name for God. El Ro'ee means A God Who Sees Me. It also becomes the name for a well (Zamzum?).
“Then she (Hagar) called the name of YHVH, who spoke to her, El Ro'ee, 'You are a God who sees me'; for she said, 'Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?' Therefore, the well (where this happened) was called Beer-laHai-roee; the well of the Living One (Al-Hayy) who sees me. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael…” (Genesis 16:13-15)
Neither Sarah nor Hagar/Ha-jar are mentioned by name in the Qur'an, but the story of Ha-jar's exile from Abraham's home is traditionally understood to be referred to in a line from Ibrāhīm's prayer in the Qur'an (14:37): "I have settled some of my family in a barren valley near your Sacred House (Kaaba)"
Muslim tradition relates that when Hā-jar ran out of water, and Ismā'īl, an infant at that time, began to die; Hā-jar panicked and ran between two nearby hills, Al-Safa and Al-Marwah repeatedly searching for water. After her seventh run, Ismā'īl hit the ground with his heel and miraculously caused a well to spring out of the ground called Zamzum Well. It is located a few meters from the Kaaba in Mecca.
Perhaps these two Torah names of God, El Ro'ee and Hai (Hayy) Ro'ee; which are Hagar’s names for God, which mean A Self-reflecting God or A God Who Sees Me, and the name for the Zamzum well 'Beer-laHai-roi'; the well of the Living One (Hayy) who sees (mirrors) me; can help bring Christians, Jews and Muslims, who all share respect for Abraham and his family, to see each other better and thus become closer together in the future.
The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah; then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided. And prior to the 20th century Arabs and Jews never did make war with each other.
If all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that ‘the descendants of Abraham’s sons should never make war against each other’ is the will of God; we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-5)
This would be an excellent example of the power of God's name to cause future seemingly impossible transformations in all kinds of people and places.