“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

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“the LORD God” and “the Lord GOD”

The phrases “the LORD God” and “the Lord GOD” appear 8,301 times in 1,533 verses in the New American Standard Bible. They appear in both the Old Testament (the Tanach) and the New Testament. The Hebrew words from which these translations are derived are not the same. The difference is alluded to by capitalizing all the letters in the words LORD and GOD:

1. “the LORD God”: All the letters in LORD capitalized.
2. “the Lord GOD”: All the letters in GOD capitalized.

Unnecessary Confusion

Most people reading the Bible pay no attention to the difference between the two phrases. If you ask them about it, few of them even notice that there is a difference. When you show them the difference, they are surprised. That’s even true for people who have been reading the Bible for many years.

The phrase “the LORD God” first appears in Genesis 2: 4, and that phrase is used exclusively in Genesis. The phrase “the Lord GOD” doesn’t appear until Exodus 23: 17:

• Genesis 2: 4—“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.”
• Exodus 23: 17—“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.”

Most Bibles provide no explanation about why the phrase is written two ways. When an explanation is provided, it typically appears in the front section of the Bible that almost no one reads. Thus, the distinction between the phrases is lost on most people.

God, Gad, Gaud, and Gawd

The word “God” is the typical English  translation of the Hebrew word “Elohim” that appears in the Hebrew text of the Scriptures. God is derived from the name of a pagan deity named God. That name was also pronounced Gad, Gaud, and Gawd. All of those names relate to the same pagan deity.

In the 6^th century AD, “God” was introduced as a generic title of our Creator. Eventually, it became the generic title for Elohim.

Both god and elohim are used when referring to Yahweh and pagan deities. When they refer to Yahweh, the first letter is capitalized: God and Elohim. When they refer to pagan deities, the first letter is not capitalized: god and elohim.

Yahweh

Yahweh is our Creator’s personal Name. It’s called the Tetragrammaton, or “four letter word”, because it has four letters in Hebrew: Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey. All the letters in Yahweh’s Name are consonants.

The letter “vav” didn’t enter the Hebrew language until about 1000 AD. In ancient Hebrew, it was “waw”.

Vav is the Germanized pronunciation of waw. For example, “Volkswagen” is pronounced “Volksvagen” in Germany. The “w” sound becomes a “v” sound. That’s how we got the letter vav.

Therefore, anyone who pronounces Yahweh’s Name with a “v” sound is pronouncing it incorrectly.

See “Translating the Name of the Lord” and “The Correct Pronunciation of Yahweh’s Name”.

“the LORD God”

Where you see the phrase “the LORD God” in English translations of the Bible, the Hebrew text of the Scriptures actually says “Yahweh Elohim”. That combination appears more than 800 times in the Old Testament (the Tanach). Yahweh is translated as “the LORD” with all the letters in LORD capitalized. Elohim is translated as “God”.

Adonai

Adonai is the plural form of the Hebrew word “adon”. Adonai means Sovereign or Master, but it is translated as “Lord” in most English translations of the Bible.

Lord actually means owner, but that’s another issue. I won’t address it here.

“the Lord GOD”

Where you see the phrase “the Lord GOD” in English translations of the Bible, the Hebrew text of the Scriptures actually says “Adonai Yahweh”. It should be translated as “Sovereign Yahweh” or as “Master Yahweh”. But since Adonai is translated as “Lord” by convention and Yahweh is translated as “the LORD” by convention, it made no sense to translate Adonai Yahweh as “Lord the LORD”. Thus, Adonai Yahweh is translated as “the Lord GOD” with all the letters in the word God capitalized.

What can we learn from this?

Lesson #1

First and most important, our Creator’s personal Name is Yahweh. That’s the Name He commanded us to call Him by and the Name He commanded us to declare to the world. Stated bluntly, we should leave Yahweh’s word alone, and let Yahweh speak for Himself.

Sometimes I want to take preachers and rabbis by the collar and shake them. Their job is to tell the truth. The evidence suggests that most of them are not doing their jobs. I hope and I pray that Yahweh will shake them down to their toes.

Below are examples of what the Bible actually says:

• Elohim also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers — the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac and the Elohim of Jacob — has sent me to you.’ “This is my Name forever. It is the Name you shall call me from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
• Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Psalm 23: 1)
• Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth. (Psalm 100: 1)
• Know that Yahweh Himself is Elohim. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. (Psalm 100: 3)
• Declare the name of Yahweh in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem. (Psalm 102: 21)
• Call upon the name of Yahweh. (Genesis 4: 26)
• When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name Yahweh. (1 Chronicles 16: 2)
• “For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My Name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place, frankincense is going to be offered to My Name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My Name shall be great among the Gentiles,” says Yahweh Sabaoth. (Malachi 1: 11)

Lesson #2

Second, we can learn that we should not confuse people by making up conventions that hide the true meaning of the Scriptures. That is especially true about anything connected with Yahweh, His Name in particular. Preachers and rabbis need to wake up while they can. Yahweh won’t put up with their nonsense forever.

Lesson #3

Third, we need to know that it is a sacrilege to call Yahweh by the title God, but most people don’t have a clue. It’s time for everyone to know the truth. Yahweh is not God. He is Elohim. God is a pagan deity.

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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18

See “His Name is Yahweh”.