Why I Don't Say "Lord"
Scripture is quoted from the 1599 Geneva Bible with modernized spelling (words and word order unchanged), with the names Yahweh and Yashua restored throughout. This article has to name the titles it explains; outside of that, the site's name rule applies.
Most of us grew up praying to "the Lord." It sounds reverent and it's what the preacher said. But open the Hebrew Scriptures and you'll find something most English Bibles quietly cover up. The Creator has a personal Name, and He put it in His Book thousands of times.
A Name, not a title
When Moses asked who was sending him, the answer came back with a Name and a promise to keep it:
"this is my Name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all ages." (Exodus 3:15)
Through Isaiah He said it again: "I am Yahweh, this is my Name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images" (Isaiah 42:8). Through Jeremiah He said the nations would learn it: "they shall know that my Name is Yahweh" (Jeremiah 16:21).
That Name is the four Hebrew letters YHWH. The Jewish Encyclopedia counts it 6,823 times in the Old Testament, and a University of Tübingen study by Thomas Hieke counts 6,828. Either way, it appears about 6,800 times. It's by far the most common way Scripture refers to Him.
So where did "LORD" come from?
The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion explains that by the Second Temple era, people reading the Scriptures aloud said Adonai, Hebrew for "Lord," in place of YHWH. Later Greek copies of the Old Testament wrote kyrios, Greek for "lord," right into the text. English translations kept the custom and printed LORD in small capitals wherever the Hebrew has the Name.
The Jewish Encyclopedia explains that scribes wrote the vowels of Adonai into the Name to signal that it should be read as "Adonai." It also notes that reading those mixed letters literally is where the form "Jehovah" came from.
The motive was reverence. Oxford's article says the custom probably traces back to commands like "Thou shalt not take the Name of Yahweh in vain" (Exodus 20:7). That's the third commandment, as most Protestants count them. But the commandment says not to take His Name in vain. It doesn't say to stop saying it. Over time the Name was hidden so carefully that most believers today have never heard it.
Even the 1599 Geneva Bible slips once in a while and prints it: "thou, which art called Jehovah, art alone, even the most High over all the earth" (Psalms 83:18). Another verse reads: "but by my Name Jehovah was I not known" (Exodus 6:3).
Baal means "lord"
This is where it gets serious. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Hebrew word ba'al meant "owner" or "lord." Baal was also the name of the Canaanite storm god whose worship Jezebel pushed on Israel.
Yahweh didn't want to be confused with him. Through Hosea He promised:
"And at that day, saith Yahweh, thou shalt call me Ishi, and shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall be no more remembered by their names." (Hosea 2:16–17)
Ishi means "my husband." Baali means "my lord" or "my master." Yahweh wanted His people to stop using the same title they had used for an idol, and to relate to Him as a husband and not as an owner.
Jeremiah condemned prophets who tried "to cause my people to forget my Name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their forefathers have forgotten my Name for Baal" (Jeremiah 23:27). Forgetting the Name was what Israel did when it drifted toward Baal.
Calling on the Name
Joel promised that "whosoever shall call on the Name of Yahweh, shall be saved" (Joel 2:32). Peter quoted that promise on Pentecost (Acts 2:21). Isaiah told Israel to "call upon his Name: declare his works among the people: make mention of them, for his Name is exalted" (Isaiah 12:4). David wrote that "they that know thy Name, will trust in thee" (Psalms 9:10).
Malachi says that in a faithless time, "a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon his Name" (Malachi 3:16).
The Son's name carries the Father's Name too. In Hebrew it is Yehoshua, short form Yeshua, which means "Yahweh is salvation." We write it Yashua. Proverbs asked long ago: "What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?" (Proverbs 30:4).
Why it matters to me
Saying "Lord" isn't a sin, and I'm not writing to condemn anyone who grew up with it. Most believers were simply never told. But Yahweh said His Name is His memorial "unto all ages." He said He'd take the names of Baal out of His people's mouths. And Yashua taught us to pray "hallowed be thy name" (Matthew 6:9).
So on this site, I use His Name. "Lord" is a title that any master can claim. Yahweh belongs only to Him.
Sources
- Jewish Encyclopedia, "Names of God": https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11305-names-of-god
- T. Hieke, "Gottesbezeichnungen im Alten Testament," University of Tübingen: https://publikationen.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/handle/10900/96287
- Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion, "Names of God in the Hebrew Bible": https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/62249/chapter/551353129
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Baal": https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity
- New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Jesus (The Name)," via encyclopedia.com