God’s Names & Titles in Scripture

Jesus said of God His Father in Jn.17:3, “That they might know You, the only true God”.  Learning the Divine Name & titles of God from the Bible languages can help us to better know the true Deity.

Our English word “God” is commonly used in Christianity to denote the Supreme Creator-Ruler of the universe and Source of right moral authority.  The word comes from proto-Germanic words which were originally neuter, applying to both genders, but during Christianization the term God became masculine.  The apostle Paul wrote in 1Co.8:5, “There are many gods and many lords”.  In the 1^st century AD there were many regional heathen gods with their various names & titles.  In today’s English, the God who is supreme Deity usually is indicated by a capital “G”, to make a distinction from the gods of polythéism.

Old Testament (OT) scriptures used several terms to refer to the true righteous Deity, the uni-plural Godhead, who cannot be depicted by physical things.  The New Testament (NT) uses fewer terms.  The word God in most English translations of the OT most often represents four Hebrew & Aramáic terms.

1. EL: Strongs h410 – This was a masculine singular word for God/god common to many ancient Semitic cultures.  There are over 200 OT occurrences.  Its counterpart in the (Jewish) old Greek OT & Septúagint/LXX & NT is Théos, Strongs g2316.  Theos occurs 1,340 times in the NT.  El was also the proper name of the Canaaníte high god, whose son was Báal.  Basically El denotes power/might.  The word El appears within many proper names, e.g.: Beth-El (house of God), Isra-El (overcomer with God), Micha-El (who is like God), Immanu-El (with us is God).  The word El is also combined with other characteristic terms, such as El Elyón (God Most High), ref Ge.14:19-20, Ps.78:35; and El Shaddái (God Almighty or the Mighty Breasted One) in Ge.17:1, 49:25, Ex.6:3.  The term El can also be used for strange gods or idol gods, ref Ex.34:14 & Ps.44:20; Messiah Himself, Is.9:6; and possibly angels.

2. ELÓAH: Strongs h433 – This word is found mostly in Job and poetic passages.  It is derived from, and means the same as, El.  The LXX uses the term Theos g2316.  Eloah is the feminine singular (or possibly the dual) of Elohim.  It’s used 55 times, e.g. Jb.27:3, De.32:15, Is.44:8, Ne.9:17.  Eloah can be used for strange idol gods, e.g. 2Ch.32:15, Da.11:38.  Although the feminine -ah ending is in this title, there’s not universal agreement regarding the exact relationship of Eloah to the deity of our Bible and to the terms El & Elohim.  However, in scripture Eloah is never called Elyon h5945 the Most High.

3. ELAÁH: h426 – This term is Aramaic, not Hebrew.  There are 90 occurrences in the Aramaic (not the Hebrew) chapters of Ezra & Daniel.  e.g. Ezr.4:24, 7:15, Da.2:18.  It too can refer to strange gods; Je.10:11, Da.3:12.  The LXX uses Theos.  It is uncertain whether or not Elaah corresponds to Eloah.

4. ELOHÍM: h430 – This is the most common term for God/gods in the OT.  It occurs 2,600 times, beginning with Ge.1:1.  It too denotes might/power.  In one sense, Elohim connotes God as Creator, the Mighty Ones.  The LXX & NT uses Theos.  Elohim is a masculine plural ending -im combined with the feminine singular root Eloah (or possibly El).  When it is used for the true God, the word is considered a singular noun, usually taking singular verbs & adjectives.  Elohim is also used for foreign gods/goddesses, e.g. Ge.35:2 & Ex.18:11; the singular Dagón in 1Sm.5:7; ghost in 1Sm.28:13; human judges of Israel (arbitrating for God), Ex.21:6 & 22:8; Moses himself, Ex.4:16 & 7:1; Messiah Himself, Ps.45:6-7; and possibly regional rulers/principalities in the heavenlies (Ps.82:1) and angels & demons.  In these cases, the word denotes a (seemingly) supernatural being or a representative of the true God.

Many explanations for the plural form Elohim have been proposed.  Most Christians relate it to the plural nature of the one Godhead/Tri-unity.  The masc plural –im form of God appears to designate a plural of fullness or intensive plural.  That is, the true Godhead embodies the fullness of deity or the totality of qualities that humans would call “God”.  The Trinity of the Bible is the only One (of all elohim or gods) who warrants the description ‘God is true DEITY in the complete sense of the word’.

YHVH/YHWH: h3068 – In the KJV, this is rendered “LORD” in all caps.  This Name of four letters is 3^rd person singular.  The Hebrew letters are yod hey vav hey, which together may have sounded like ee–áh–oo–aye (Yáhweh) said rapidly in ancient Hebrew.  The meaning…He is/He exists, e.g. Ex.3:15.  These four letters appear on the Moabite Stone (dated 830 BC) and on Láchish pottery (dated 580 BC).

For YHVH, the LXX & NT uses the term Kúrios g2962, meaning ‘Lord’; there’s 700 NT occurrences.

AHYH is the 1^st person singular.  The letters are áleph hey yod hey, and may have sounded like ehyéh asher ehyéh.  Ex.3:14 meaning I AM, I AM who I AM, I will exist, I will be, I will become that I will become.  cf. the Greek “I AM” Jesus spoke in Jn.18:4-6 with the Greek LXX Ex.3:14 “I AM the Being”.  Jesus, the preexistent Word of God (Jn.1:1, 14), also said in Jn.8:56-58, “Before Abraham was, I AM”.

Today the ancient Hebrew pronunciations are uncertain.  Both YHVH/YHWH and AHYH are state of being verbs from the root HYH, hey yod hey, which perhaps sounded like háyah, meaning…to exist.  In Hebrew, they signify the family Name of the Godhead/Tri-unity (uniplural).

The Name YHVH/YHWH (h3068) is called the Tetragrámmaton, the ‘Name of Four Letters’.  This théonym is thought by most Bible historians to be the personal proper Name of the Elohim of Israel.  It occurs over 6,500 times, more than any other proper name or noun in the entire OT!

In old Hebrew scrolls, this Name had no vowel marks (níqqud) for pronunciation.  Alphabet letters in the ancient Paleo-Hebrew script were consonants.  It seems the letters YHVH or YHWH could also be used as vowels (therefore they’ve been called semi-vowels.)  Josephus wrote in Wars of the Jews 5:5:7 that the letters of the Name were vowels.  The general consensus of Bible scholars is…the Name was originally said as Yáhweh (ee-áh-oo-aye) or Yáhuah or Yehuah.  The pronunciation Jehóvah was based on a different set of vowel marks, and didn’t appear until the Middle Ages.  The term Jehovah is used a few times in the KJV, but is considered less likely to be an authentic pronunciation.

Because of its use in several key passages, this Name/theonym is said to connote (in addition to its above literal meaning) God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises and His nearness to His people.  The Name is representative of God’s righteous nature & character.

It is significant to note that the Name YHVH/YHWH h3068 was never used in those chapters & verses of Ezra and Daniel which were written in Aramaic!  God is identified as Elaah 90 times in those chapters!  Elaah pertained to a non-Hebrew-speaking society.  (The OT chapters & verses written in Aramaic were Ezra 4:8 – 6:18, Ezra 7:12-26, Daniel 2:4 – 7:28, Jeremiah 10:11.  see the topic “Aramaic in the Bible”.)

Today there are Sacred Name groups so-called which think the Hebrew Name YHVH/YHWH should be spoken & used predominantly for “God” in all nations/cultures.  I took a correspondence course from a Sacred Name group in the early 1990s.  Some Sacred Name adherents believe that not using His Name YHWH/YHVH is taking His Name in vain, and violates the 3^rd commandment of the Decalogue.

My personal practice is to only infrequently use the Tetragrammaton Name in general communications.  It’s not customary to use it.  We aren’t certain how it was pronounced in Old Hebrew.  There are Bible scholars & archaeologists who can read the ancient Hebrew and Aramaic…yet they admit they can’t be certain exactly how the Name was pronounced!  Also some Jews take offense over use of the Name YHVH/YHWH.  My intent is to use names & titles that facilitate communication and understanding.

The prophet Daniel was one of three righteous men named by Ezekiel (Ezk.14:14, 20).  Daniel wasn’t the kind of man who’d customarily break the 3^rd commandment!  Yet even in inspired scripture, wise Daniel and Ezra didn’t think it necessary to transliterate the Tetragrammaton when communicating in a language (Aramaic) other than Hebrew!  And the Name isn’t transliterated in the OT Greek LXX either, as it has come down to us.  So it’s unnecessary to always utter the Name.  That’s not to say Sacred Namers aren’t well-meaning.  But their inflexibility and presumption in requiring an exact Hebrew pronunciation causes a measure of confusion and needless division in the Body of Christ.  Moving on….

YAH: h3050 – This is an abbreviated form, used nearly 50 times (in Psa. & Isa.).  ref Ps.68:4b, Is.12:2, Ex.15:2.  The Greek LXX uses Kurios.  Re.19:6 reflects Hallelú-Yah, shown as Allelú-ia in some NT’s.

In the KJV and most English Bibles, the name YHVH is rendered…the “LORD” (all caps).  This is a euphemism to avoid using or (incorrectly) pronouncing God’s personal name.  The Jewish Encyclopedia said the using of YHVH in common speech became forbidden due to an extreme interpretation of Le.24:16 (where an individual cursed and spoke God’s Name with contempt) combined with Ex.20:7 (regarding taking God’s Name in vain or for no good purpose or to attest an untruth).  So Jews often refer to God as HaShém (The Name), or just write “G-d”.

adówn: h113 – The English word “lord” (not all caps) represents this Hebrew term, which means master/lord/ruler (human or divine).  It occurs 330 times.  e.g. Ps.110:1 “The LORD (YHVH) said to my Lord (Adown).”  When reading the Bible aloud, Jews began to substitute this term for YHVH.

Adonái: h136 – In English, rendered “Lord”.  This plural noun, appearing 430 times, is an emphatic form of adon h113 (lord).  When the divine Name YHVH was next to Adonai in the text, usually the Jewish scribes substituted the vowels for elohim h430 instead…translated as “the Lord God” (instead of “the Lord LORD”); h3069 ee-ah-oo-vee a variation of h3068 YHVH (300 times).  e.g. De.9:26, Is.25:8.  Brittanica.com “The Masorétes, from the 6^th to the 10^th centuries CE, added to ‘YHWH’ the vowel signs of Adonai [h136] or Elohim [h430].”  So the reader/speaker would substitute it for the Tetragrammaton.

Jewish translators of the old Greek (now the LXX) used Kurios for both adon h113 and Adonai h136.

Furthermore, in Bullinger’s Companion Bible Appendix #32 “The 134 Emendations of the Sopherim” are listed all 134 places in the OT where the Name YHVH h3068 (“LORD” in KJV) was thought to be intentionally altered to Adonai h136 (“Lord”) by the scribes!  also ref Ginsburg’s Massórah.  (They did note the changes in the margins.)  e.g. Ps.110:5, Ge.18:3 (v.17 & v.19 has 1^st & 3^rd person singular), 27, 30, 32, 19:18, 20:4, Ex.4:10, Is.6:1, etc.  It seems the 134 alterations were done in verses where YHVH was seen/anthropomórphised (took on human attributes/form) or plural in the text!  The Aramaic Targums referred to the anthropomorphised or a 2^nd YHVH as “the Mémra of the Lord” YHVH.  In NT Greek, John called the Memra “the Lógos” (g3056), “the Word” in English, Jn.1:1.  Targum Jonathán Ge.19:24 “The Memra [Word] of the Lord [in Sodom] caused fire…to descend from the Lord in heaven.”  Two divine Persons/YHVHs were in text, so the Targum called the 2^nd the Memra/(Word).

Almighty: g3841 Pantokrátor – This term appears in the Greek OT & NT.  The 10 NT occurrences are: 2Co.6:18, Re.1:8, 4:8, 11:17, 15:3, 16:7, 14, 19:6, 15, 21:22.  According to Vines Expository, p.50, “The word is introduced in the Old Testament Septuagint as a translation of LORD h3068 (or God h430) of hosts h6635. e.g. Je.5:14 and Am.4:13”.  That is, in the Greek LXX & NT…“Almighty” g3841 is often used (though not in Isaiah) for the OT “YHVH of hosts”.  (g3841 pantokrator isn’t used for the OT h7706 “El Shaddai”, the “Almighty” God of Ge.17:1, Job, etc.)

Also, in scripture God’s divine Name or a title was joined with one of God’s attributes, resulting in a characteristic Name in some translations.  e.g.: the Everlasting (olám h5769) El in Ge.21:33, YHVH Jéereh/Provider (h3070) in Ge.22:14, YHVH Rapháh/Healer (h7495) in Ex.15:26.

Theophórics – These are abbreviations or shortened forms of the Name YHVH which appear within several human names in the Bible.  At the beginning of names it appears as Yeho-, Ye-, or Yo-.  For example: Yeho-shúa (Joshua) Ye-hu (Jehu), Yo-natan (Jonathan), or Yo-El (Joel ‘the Lord is God’).  At the end of names it appears as –Yah.  For example: Yesha-Yah (Isaiah), Yirme-Yah (Jeremiah), Zechar-Yah (Zechariah).  The word Hallelujah is literally Hallelu-Yah (Praise YHVH/the LORD).

Father – g3962 patér.  Jesus often spoke of/to God as His Father.  e.g. Mk.14:36, Jn.5:26.  In the OT, the term father (h1 awb) rarely referred to God as Father.  But God as Father is common in the NT.  Also Abbáh g5 (Father), derived from Aramaic, occurs 3 times in the NT; Mk.14:36, Ro.8:15, Ga.4:6.

To conclude…the greatest in the Godhead is God the Father, from Whom the whole Family is named (Ep.3:14-15)!  He’s even greater than His Son Jesus (Jn.14:28), who consistently deferred to His Father.  Father God is Supreme!  For more on this aspect, see the topics “Godhead in Prehistory” and “Tri-unity of God”.  For more about Jesus’ Name, see “Savior’s Name in Bible Languages”.

 

Jesus Is God…Jesus Has a God

Different views are extant among Christians about the Godhead, the Deity.  Such as, the Unitarian view; but is it scriptural?  How about the purported Oneness doctrine; is it scriptural?  Also, does scripture indicate there’s complete equality in the Godhead; Deity in all respects?

John wrote this about Jesus/Yeshúa.  Jn.1:1-4, 9, 14 “In the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God…The true Light…The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  This reflects a high Christology.  The Word/Light, who also was God, was made flesh.  John identifies Him as Jesus.

Targum Neofití Ge.1:1, written in Aramaic pre-200 AD, “In the beginning, with Wisdom the Mémra (the Word) of the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the earth”.  The Memra (Aramaic), the Word (English), the Lógos (Greek)…are equivalent terms.  Then Ge.1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image.”  In the Old Testament text, when YHVH was anthropomorphized (appeared as human) or there were plural YHVHs…the second YHVH was called the Memra (Word) in Aramaic Targums.

Ancient writings such as: the Aramaic Targum paraphrases (written when most Jews no longer knew Hebrew), the intertestamental Apocrypha, Philo and Josephus of the 1st century AD, other non-canonical literature…has much historical value, and some of it may be inspired.

The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria was born around 20 BC (prior to John).  Philo referred to the Word (logos Strongs g3056) as involved in the Creation, and as the second God.  The Works of Philo: p.541, The Special Laws 1 “Now the image of God is the Logos, by which all the world was made.”  p.747, On Providence 1 “The second God, who is the Word.”  p.293, Who Is the Heir of Divine Things “The Logos is continually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the mortal race.”  Philo exemplifies a more ancient path of Hebrew thought than the rabbinics of the Middle Ages!

John 1 regarding the Word, quoted above, resembles somewhat the writing of Philo (who wrote in Greek) and the Targum Neofiti Ge.1:1 (written in Aramaic).

Jeremiah had prophesied in Je.23:5-6. “I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch. This is His Name [shem Strongs h8034, Hebrew] by which He will be called, YHVH our righteousness.”  He will become the God-man.  He will be YHVH and the Son of David…both!  Philo On the Unchangeableness of God, p.162 “God is not as a man…God is as a man.”  The Targum Jonathan and the Talmud Lam Rab 1:51 also agree that the Branch in Je.23:6 refers to the Messiah.  Fulfilling v.5-6 via the virgin birth, Jesus is both…Son of God and Son of Man!  Mt.1:20 Jesus as Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit…God.  (see the topic “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

{Sidelight: Je.33:15-16 the English word “name” in v.16 is in italics, meaning that word wasn’t in the actual Hebrew text of the verse.  It was added by translators.  Furthermore, the Cháldee, Syriac and Vulgar Latin all render Je.33:16 without the “she”…rather, “whereby they shall call Him.”}

Jesus is God!  Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.  (see “Jesus Is the Messiah”.)  He said in Jn.10:30, “I and My Father are One”.  Father and Son are both of the same essence and God-kind.  Kind begets kind.  Ge.1:11, 21, 25-26 reflect this biogenesis.

De.6:4 “The Lord is one”, echád (h259) in Hebrew.  God is unified, but not numerically or solely, one.  e.g. in Ge.2:22-24 Adam & Eve also were one/echad…the two of them!  Ezr.2:64 an assembly of 42,360 was as one/echad! 

Following are several New Testament (NT) verses which confirm Jesus is God.

Again, Jn.1:1, 14 the Word who became flesh “was God”.  Mt.1:23 Jesus is “Emmanuel, God (is) with us”.  Jn.20:28 Thomas called Jesus, “My Lord and my God”.  Php.2:5-7 the apostle Paul said Jesus had “existed in the form of God” (not in the form of angels, but as the Word/Logos of God) prior to His human birth.  Col.2:9 in Jesus Christ “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”.  He.1:3 Jesus the Son is “The radiance of His (Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature”.  He.1:6-8 “Let all the angels of God worship Him. Of the Son He says, ‘Thy throne, O God, is forever.”

In Re.1:8 Jesus calls Himself “the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty”.  Jesus says in v.17-18, “I AM the first and the last, the living One, and I was dead”.  Re.22:13 “I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.”  In v.16 He specifically identifies Himself by Name, “I, Jesus”.  Jesus Himself says He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Almighty (God)!

Again, in Je.23:6 the Messiah would also be YHVH.  Re.5:11-14 “Worthy is the Lamb! And they fell down and worshiped.”  In Re.5, all those angels, living creatures and elders seen around the heavenly Throne are worshiping the sacrificial Lamb Jesus…they aren’t idolators!  They’re worshiping Jesus because He also is very God!  It’s plain that the many above verses show…Jesus is God/YHVH too!

Compare Jn.8:57-59 & 18:5-6, where Jesus calls Himself “I AM”, with…Ex.3:14 “I AM” in the LXX/Septúagint.  Again, Jesus is of the God-kind.  Jn.6:62 Jesus refers to Himself as “ascending where He was before [His human birth]”.  Also Jn.6:51 “I AM the living bread.”  And v.54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.”  These astounding words of Jesus aren’t the words of some deranged human martyr!

Even the opposing Jewish leaders understood Jesus as saying He’s more than a mere man.  Jn.10:33 “You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”  And Jn.19:7 “He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”  They understood Jesus was indicating He is God!

Unitarianism ignores some of the NT scriptures.  It’s the belief that Jesus is the Son of God but isn’t God the Son; that Jesus isn’t divine, isn’t Deity.

Jesus declared in Mt.28:18, “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”.  In Ac.7:56, 59 the dying Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of God in heaven, and said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”.  (Ec.12:7 “The spirit returns to God who gave it.”)  Ruling at God’s very throne, Jesus is more than a good man! 

Yet Jesus indicated in Mt.28:18 that Someone else gave Jesus His power.

Jesus has a God!  Following are several verses which attest to this.

Jesus said in Jn.14:28, “My Father is greater than I”.  His Father is God Most High!  The angel Gabriel spoke of the unborn Jesus to the virgin Mary in Lk.1:32. “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.”  Jesus the Son isn’t the Most High God…His Father is.

Jesus cried out while on the cross in Mt.27:46. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  The human Jesus at that time called upon His God.  Soon afterwards, Jn.20:17 “I ascend to My God and your God”.  Here the resurrected Jesus spoke of ascending to His God.  He.1:9 also refers to Jesus’ God. “God, Your God.”  Paul wrote in 1Co.3:23, “Christ belongs to God”.  And, “God is the head of Christ.” (1Co.11:3)  Paul indicates in 1Co.15:27-28 that at the end Jesus will still be in subjection to His Father God!  Finally, in Re.3:12 Jesus refers to “My God”…four times!  Here in Re.3:12, even the glorified Jesus (ref Re.1:13-15) affirms that He still has a God!  

So from the preceding passages, it is also plain that God the Father and Jesus are both God…but not equal in authority or position.

Jesus has been given all authority (Mt.28:18), except…the Father’s authority is greater.  Again, Jesus said in Jn.14:28, “My Father is greater than I”.  The Father, God Most High, is Jesus’ God.

Mt.20:23 Jesus said in regards to ruling with Him in the Kingdom,“To sit on My right and My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father”.  God’s Word Translation paraphrase “I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at My right or left.”  Pulpit Commentary Mt.20:23 “The boon was solely at His Father’s disposal.”  The Father has greater authority than Jesus.

Jesus isn’t His Father!  When Jesus was only a few weeks old, in Lk.2:21-24 Joseph & Mary brought Him up to Jerusalem to “present Him to the Lord”.  To presume they presented baby Jesus to Himself would be nonsensical!  Here “the Lord” referred to His Father God.

At Jesus’ water baptism in Lk.3:21-22, “The heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in a bodily form as a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, with You I Am well-pleased”.  That wasn’t Jesus on earth saying He loved Himself; nor was that Jesus speaking in heaven above!  And a being in the order of heavenly angels didn’t lie and call Jesus “My beloved Son”.  Again, in Lk.1:32 the angel Gabriel as God’s agent told Mary that Jesus is the “Son of the Most High”; not even Gabriel referred to Jesus as ‘my Son’!  Lk.3:21-22 indicates the voice from above belonged to Father God, not an angel.  Jesus heard Father God’s voice.  The Two exist simultaneously.

Before Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus fell face-down on the ground in Mt.26:39 and supplicated in prayer. “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will”.  No need for Jesus to lay prostrate if He was just talking to Himself!  Rather, He entreated Someone else.

Again, while hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out in Mt.27:46. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Jesus wasn’t crying out to Himself!  He was addressing His Father as His God.

In Jn.8:17-18, Jesus cites God’s law about plural witnesses (cf. De.19:15), indicating His Father is a second witness. “I AM He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”  According to Jesus, He and the Father comprise two witnesses (not one).  They’re not the same entity or ‘Person’ or hypostasis.  They’re echad (h259), of the one essence or God Family, yet distinct.

Furthermore, Re.3:12 precludes us from assuming that after Jesus’ ascension His Person assimilated or melded into the Father’s Person.  Again, in that verse even the glorified Jesus says He still has a God!

Oneness ignores some of the NT revelation, as seen in the preceding verses.  It’s a form of Modalism belief that God is no distinction of Persons, that God is only one ‘Person’ or entity, that Jesus is also His/the Father, that there’s no ‘Trinity’.  Wikipedia: Oneness Pentecostalism “It first emerged in America around 1914. Oneness believers state that Jesus is the one name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”  But the NT doesn’t specifically name the Father and/or the Holy Spirit…‘Yeshua/Jesus’.

Is.9:6 is in regards to Jesus the Messiah.  Is.9:6 the child/Son will be called the “Father of eternity” (Hebrew).  Is.9:6 Alexandrian LXX “The Father of the age to come.”  To Jews, the Messiah is the father of the Messianic age.  Benson Commentary Is.9:6 “Christ, the father of the new and eternal age.”  Barnes Notes “The Chaldee renders this expression, ‘The man abiding forever’. The Vulgate, ‘The Father of the future age’. The Hebrews used the term ‘father’ in a great variety of senses.”  Is.9:6 LXX “His name is called the Messenger of great counsel.”  This verse didn’t mean Jesus is Father God.

Some try to make a case for either Oneness or Unitarianism, based on part of the scriptural evidence.  But as we examine & compare more of the whole of the Bible…we see both of those views are lacking.

{{Sidelight: God said in Ge.2:18-20, it isn’t good for the human (LXX ánthropos) to be alone.  There was then no one else, no other person, of the human-kind with Adam.  How lonely Adam must have been!  Adam’s singularity was not good, according to God!  All the other creatures had another of its kind (Ge.1:24-25), except for Adam.  Imagine you being on the proverbial deserted island for your lifetime with no one else, no other person, of your kind in existence…only creatures of a different kind than you.  Loneliness personified!  But have we ever thought it is somehow good for God to be alone (for eternity!), with none other Person of His God-kind in existence?}}

Father God is the Source of all Life!  In Jn.17:24, Jesus said that the Father gave Jesus His glory!  “My Glory, which You gave Me.”  Jesus didn’t have glory of Himself.  And Jesus said in Jn.6:57, “I live because of the Father”.  Also Jn.5:26 “the Father…gave to the Son to have life in Himself.”  Jesus attributed His own Existence to the Father!  Jesus said in Jn.5:19, “The Son can do nothing of Himself”.  Furthermore Jn.5:30, “I can do nothing on My own initiative”.  Jesus only did the will of the Father who sent Him!  Jn.14:10 “The Father abiding in Me does the works.”  Jesus so subjugated His own will to His Father’s will!  The Father did the miraculous works through Jesus, we may say.

How is it that Father God has more authority, and Jesus only did that which His Father willed for Him?  First, we understand that fathers precede their sons.  Orthodox Study Bible “The Son is begotten before all time and ages from the essence of the Father. The Son (has no beginning but) has the Father as His Source from eternity.”  The oldest manuscripts of Jn.1:18 render Jesus as the “only begotten God”.  Begotten, not created.  Philo On Flight and Finding, p.331 “The Word of God…God being His Father, who is also the Father of all things.”  The Father had generated or emanated the Word in prehistory.  (see “Godhead in Prehistory”.)  Again Jn.17:24, the Father had given Jesus His glory…and Jn.6:57, Jesus lives because of the Father.  The Father has precedence and is greater (than all).

Where in scripture might we see the Word/Jesus originating from eternity?  Ge.1:2-4 on the 1^st day God brought forth cosmic Light!  Yet no sun, moon, stars (luminaries) were visible until the 4^th day (v.14-19).  In v.3, both the Hebrew and the Greek LXX terms for “light” differ from their terms for “light” in v.14.  The Light in the beginning was different.  In 2Co.4:6, Paul said that God caused “Light to shine out of darkness in the face of Christ”.  Jesus as the great primordial Light!  (In analogy, at the least.)  Jn.1:5 the Light of the Word (Logos) shined!  Jn.1:9, 14 identifies Jesus as that true Light.  In Jn.8:12, Jesus Himself said, “I AM the Light of the world”!  Jesus/the Word was Light and came as Light.  (Moses’ face even shined after speaking with Him, Ex.34:29.  see “Jesus Was the Old Testament God”.  (Also ref Mt.4:16, Ac.9:3.)  He/Jesus is the emanating radiance of His Father’s glory (He.1:3).  The Father gave Jesus His glory (Jn.17:24).

Jesus is subordinate to His Father because…the Father preceded Jesus, and the Father has greater authority!  Anciently God and the Word didn’t flip a heavenly coin to determine Who would serve as Father and Who would become Son Jesus on earth.  No, the Father always had precedence.  Fathers precede their sons. 

The form of Trinitarian belief that thinks Father God and the glorified Jesus are completely co-equal in all respects is not in agreement with the entirety of the scriptural evidence.  Again, 1Co.11:3 “God is the head of Christ.”

And yet, a person who doesn’t honor the Son of God doesn’t really honor Father God either.  Jesus said in Jn.5:23, “He who does not honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent Him”.  Father and Son are One, unified in purpose and as the God-kind (Jn.10:30)…both are God.  Praise God!