God vs. LORD GOD

It has come to recent attention that the bible explains of two "entities" under the title "God".

One is present throughout the first page and a half or so of the bible under the title "God", as "God" is the name we have translated from the original writings.

However, in addition the remaning thousand and more pages of the bible speak of a LORD God as oppose to the God mentioned in the opening.

I was curious as to what all of you, the spiritual community make of this dichotomy.

Is it a result of many different authors being responsible for the bible's creation?

or, is it so that LORD GOD and God are two very different entities? (God being the nurturing divinity and LORD GOD being the vengeful, punishing, wrathful, jealous ruler)

[inspirit]

There is only one god and he is not vengeful, punishing, wrathful, or jealous.

I'm Christian you might say but I don't think that the bible is entirely infallible so when I see something that attributes God that way I think either that it must be false or that it's not speaking about God at all but someone who has been wrongly attributed to God.

God has many names in the old testament - But in many translations they have just been replaced with God. I am not an expert of the bible, but i would imagine the addition of the word LORD is probably more to do with the time it was written maybe or by who translated them.

No duality. Godliness permeates everything. There can be no other things other than God's presence in this world. The universe is God's manifestation and maybe God's form.

We cannot have duality and anything other than God

Originally Posted by supernova

No duality. Godliness permeates everything. There can be no other things other than God's presence in this world. The universe is God's manifestation and maybe God's form.

We cannot have duality and anything other than God

How can this be? The "lord god" in the bible is described using words that duality gave birth to...

[Spiritlite]

No such thing as "two" Gods.
SPiritlite
Unless you believe in mother God and father GOd :)

Originally Posted by taoistscholar

It has come to recent attention that the bible explains of two "entities" under the title "God".

One is present throughout the first page and a half or so of the bible under the title "God", as "God" is the name we have translated from the original writings.

However, in addition the remaning thousand and more pages of the bible speak of a LORD God as oppose to the God mentioned in the opening.

I was curious as to what all of you, the spiritual community make of this dichotomy.

Is it a result of many different authors being responsible for the bible's creation?

or, is it so that LORD GOD and God are two very different entities? (God being the nurturing divinity and LORD GOD being the vengeful, punishing, wrathful, jealous ruler)

Hi there,

First off, the word אלהים (generally rendered 'God') is actually a concretized abstract plural which just means "divinity" in general. Thus, the 'God' of the first chapters of Genesis (Elohim) is merely referred to as being a divine being.

Then we have יהוה אלהים (LORD God). As you can see, this phrase includes the word 'elohim' and is thus referring to the LORD (YHWH being his name) as a divine being. One might translate יהוה אלהים аs "Yahweh, the divine one".

The two different uses of the phrases are, as you have suggested, the result of two different authors or redactors of the Biblical text. In this specific case, they are generally called the Elohist and the Jahwist redactors/authors.

I do not think in this case we are to understand LORD God as distinct from God, for the word 'God' in the Hebrew texts refers to a divine being. It's just the case that the divine being mentioned in Genesis 1 isn't actually given a name, as in Genesis 2.4ff.

Zenith

Originally Posted by Zenith

Hi there,

First off, the word אלהים (generally rendered 'God') is actually a concretized abstract plural which just means "divinity" in general. Thus, the 'God' of the first chapters of Genesis (Elohim) is merely referred to as being a divine being.

Then we have יהוה אלהים (LORD God). As you can see, this phrase includes the word 'elohim' and is thus referring to the LORD (YHWH being his name) as a divine being. One might translate יהוה אלהים аs "Yahweh, the divine one".

The two different uses of the phrases are, as you have suggested, the result of two different authors or redactors of the Biblical text. In this specific case, they are generally called the Elohist and the Jahwist redactors/authors.

I do not think in this case we are to understand LORD God as distinct from God, for the word 'God' in the Hebrew texts refers to a divine being. It's just the case that the divine being mentioned in Genesis 1 isn't actually given a name, as in Genesis 2.4ff.

Zenith

Great reply... Thanks

Originally Posted by Zenith

Hi there,

First off, the word אלהים (generally rendered 'God') is actually a concretized abstract plural which just means "divinity" in general. Thus, the 'God' of the first chapters of Genesis (Elohim) is merely referred to as being a divine being.

Then we have יהוה אלהים (LORD God). As you can see, this phrase includes the word 'elohim' and is thus referring to the LORD (YHWH being his name) as a divine being. One might translate יהוה אלהים аs "Yahweh, the divine one".

The two different uses of the phrases are, as you have suggested, the result of two different authors or redactors of the Biblical text. In this specific case, they are generally called the Elohist and the Jahwist redactors/authors.

I do not think in this case we are to understand LORD God as distinct from God, for the word 'God' in the Hebrew texts refers to a divine being. It's just the case that the divine being mentioned in Genesis 1 isn't actually given a name, as in Genesis 2.4ff.

Zenith

yes, very good reply :)

If there was ever a way to become a target of opinions, it is to comment on the Bible so let's go for it.
In my understanding Elohim and Jahve are two entities, Elohim a group entity of seven creators, Jahve a single entity. Elohim is the original Earth creator, a loving, gentle god, whereas Jahve was, if possible, an ego-driven or at least "agenda-driven" god that required total submission from humans.
I channel Elohim. I would have nothing to do with Jahve.