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Eloah appears to be derived from a root meaning "to worship", and presents God as
the one, supreme, Object of adoration and worship. Its first occurrence associates the
name with worship:--
"He forsook God which made him . . . . . They sacrifice unto devils, not to God'
(Deut. 32: 15-17).
The title occurs about 56 times, 41 of which are in Job.
The third of these similar sounding titles is Elyon. It may be helpful to warn the
reader against attempting derivations of the Hebrew words by their appearance in
English. For instance, the likeness between El and Elyon is superficial, the letter "E"
having to stand for both of two very different letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The word is
derived from elah or alah, "to ascend". Elyon itself is translated 26 times by the
following:--
"uppermost" (Gen. 40: 7); "upper" (Josh. 16: 5); "high" (Neh. 3: 25);
"higher" (Psa. 89: 27); "highest" (Psa. 87: 5); "on high" (Deut. 28: 1).
and 27 times by "most high".
Jah.--This title is considered to be a contraction of Jehovah. Its first occurrence is in
Exod. 15: 2:--
"The Lord (JAH) is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation"
(Exod. 15: 2).
"Extol Him that rideth upon the heavens by His name JAH" (Psa. 68: 4).
The title recurs in verse 18, thereby revealing the glorious fact that it, too, belongs to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The total number of occurrences is exactly 49, a number of
significance, being seven times seven, thus denoting perfection and completeness.
There remain three titles, variants of the word meaning "Lord" or "Ruler".
Adon.--This word is used both of God and man. Sarah uses it of Abraham
(Gen. 18: 12); and Eleazar uses it of Abraham when he speaks of him as his "Master"
(Gen. 24: 27). The first occurrence of the title is in Exod. 23: 17--"Adon Jehovah."
Adonai (literally "My lords") is the plural form, and its first occurrence is found in
Gen. 15: 2--"Adonai Jehovah."
We learn, then, that God, Who is spirit, Whom no man hath seen nor can see, has yet
manifested Himself, so far as it is possible for the human mind to receive and apprehend,
under these titles which we now assemble, and all of which reveal God in some one or
more of His condescending Self-limitations; for it must ever be that God Himself is
transcendently above every name.
As El, a name in the singular number, we have the idea of Almighty Power, in Whom
are to be conceived all the attributes of the Godhead. As El Shaddai, this Omnipotence