ABSTRACT
Knowing and uttering the name of God had important implications: this invocation was found at the heart of all prayer* and defined the action of worship, since it signified the relationship of belonging and called down divine blessing* (see Nm 6:22-27). The Hebrew Bible* uses various terms to speak of God: Elohim (with or without an article), which is generally translated as “God”; “El” and different expressions based on this name (El Shaddai, El Olam, etc.), which can be attributed to Israel’s Canaanite heritage; and YHWH, the proper name of the God of Israel, which some translations render by “the Lord” or “the Eternal.” This phenomenon is exploited for theological purposes by the “priestly” author (P) or the final compiler of the Pentateuch: God is known as Elohim (see e.g. Gn 9:6), then he reveals himself to the patriarchs under the name of El Shaddai (Gn 17:1; 28:3, etc.),
and finally to Moses under his name of YHWH (Ex 6:2f.). Thus we receive a progressive revelation* of the God of Israel by himself.
