We pray in the name of him who received not a fulness at first, but the Prototype who showed us how to gain salvation. In His name we pray because it is the path that he took that we must follow to the father. When we pray in His name, our aim is to follow the path to salvation that was followed by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and our prayers in His name should tend toward those goals. When we ask or act contrary to those goals, we are not really praying or acting in His name.
Name of God
In our modern culture a title defines the position, or character, of an individual while a name is nothing but an identifier with no meaning. In Hebrew all names are words with meaning and represent the character of the individual. Using English as an example my name, from an Hebraic perspective, could be Jeff, father, husband, son or manager.
| Hebrew | English Transliteration | Literal Translation | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| אל | El | mighty one | Genesis 14:19 |
| אלוה | Elo'ah | power | Deuteronomy 32:15 |
| אלהים | Elohiym | powers | Genesis 1:1 |
| יהוה | Yehu | he exists | Genesis 4:1 |
| אהוה | Ehyeh | I exist | Exodus 3:14 |
| אדוני | Adonai | lords | Genesis 18:27 |
| אחד | Ehhad | one | Zechariah 14:9 |
| מלך | Melekh | king | Psalm 47:6 |
| אב | Av | father | Isaiah 64:8 |
| מושיע | Moshi'ah | deliverer | Isaiah 45:15 |
| רוח | Ru'ahh | wind | Genesis 1:2 |
| בורא | Borey | filler | Isaiah 40:28 |
| באל | Ba'al | master | Isaiah 54:5 |
| עושה | Oseh | maker | Isaiah 54:5 |
| אל שדי | El Shaddai | mighty breasts | Genesis 17:1 |
| אדוני יהוה | Adonai Yehu | Adonai of Yehu | Genesis 15:2 |
| יהוה אלהים | Yehu Elohiym | Yehu of Elohiym | Genesis 2:4 |
| יהוה יראה | Yehu Yireh | Yehu sees | Genesis 22:14 |
| יהוה נסי | Yehu Nisi | Yehu is my standard | Exodus 17:15 |
| יהוה שלום | Yehu Shalom | Yehu is completeness | Judges 6:24 |
| יהוה צדקנו | Yehu Tsid'qanu | Yehu is our righteousness | Jeremiah 23:6 |
| יהוה צבאות | Yehu Tseva'ot | Yehu of the armies | 1 Samuel 1:3 |
| אלהים צבאות | Elohiym Tseva'ot | Elohiym of the armies | Psalm 80:7 |
Tetragrammaton in Early Hebrew, read from right to left.
Early letters and meaning:
- yad: Picture is of a closed hand. Means work, throw, worship.
- hey: Picture is of a man with his arms raised up, shouting and pointing at a great site as if to say "behold, look at that". This letter is used to mean "the" in the sense of pointing to something of importance. Means look, reveal, breath, sigh.
- waw: Picture is of a tent peg or nail. Means add, secure, hook.
- hey: see #2