Again, it is said, in Psal. lxxxiii. 18. That men may know, that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth. This is never said of any other divine names, which are, in a limited sense, sometimes given to creatures; and, indeed, all creatures are expressly excluded from having a right hereunto.
Again, there are other scriptures, in which this name Jehovah is applied to God, and an explication thereof subjoined, which argues that it is peculiar to him. Thus when Moses desired of God, that he would let him know what his name was for the encouragement of the faith of the Israelites, to whom he sent him, Exod. iii. 13. q. d. he desires to know what are those divine glories, that would render him the object of faith and worship; or how he might describe him in such a way to the children of Israel, whereby they might express that reverence and regard to him, that was due to the great God, who sent him about so important an errand. In answer to which God says, ver. 14. I AM THAT I AM. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you; which description of him doth not set forth one single perfection, but all the perfections of the divine nature; as though he should say, I am a God of infinite perfection; and then he adds, in the following verse, Thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, The Lord, or Jehovah, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; where Jehovah signifies the same with I AM THAT I AM. And he adds, This is my memorial unto all generations; therefore this glorious name is certainly peculiar to God.
What has been already observed, under this head, is sufficient to prove that the name Jehovah is proper to God alone. But we might hereunto add another argument, of less weight, which, though we do not lay that stress upon, as though it was sufficient of itself to prove this matter; yet, being added to what has been already suggested, it may not be improper to be mentioned, viz. that the word Jehovah has no plural number, as being never designed to signify any more than the one God; neither has it any emphatical particle affixed to it, as other words in the Hebrew language have; and particularly several of the other names of God, which distinguishes him from others; who have those names sometimes applied to them; and the reason of this is, because the name Jehovah is never given to any creature.
And to this we might add, that since the Jews best understood their own language, they may, in some respects, be depended on, as to the sense they give of the word Jehovah; and it is certain they paid the greatest regard to this name, even to superstition. Accordingly, they would never pronounce it; but, instead thereof, use some other expressions, by which they describe it. Sometimes they call it, that name, or that glorious name, or that name that is not to be expressed;[[107]] by which they mean, as Josephus says,[[108]] that it was not lawful for them to utter it, or, indeed, to write it, which, if any one presumed to do, they reckoned him not only guilty of profaneness, in an uncommon degree, but even of blasphemy; and therefore it is never found in any writings of human composure among them. The modern Jews, indeed, are not much to be regarded, as retaining the same veneration for this name; but Onkelos, the author of the Chaldee paraphrase on some parts of scripture, who lived about fifty years after our Saviour’s time, and Jonathan Ben-Uzziel, who is supposed to have lived as many years before it, never insert it in their writings; and, doubtless, they were not the first that entertained these sentiments about it, but had other writings then extant, which gave occasion thereunto. Some critics conclude, from Jewish writers, that it was never pronounced, even in the earliest ages of the church, except by the High Priest; and when he was obliged, by the divine law, to pronounce it, in the form of benediction, the people always expressed an uncommon degree of reverence, either by bowing, or prostration; but this is not supported by sufficient evidence. Others think it took its rise soon after their return from captivity, which is more probable; however, the reason they assign for it is, because they reckoned it God’s incommunicable name.
And here I cannot but observe, that the translators of the Greek version of the Old Testament, commonly called the LXX. which, if it be not altogether the same with that mentioned by Aristæus, which was compiled almost three hundred years before the Christian Æra, is, without doubt, of considerable antiquity; these never translate the word Jehovah, but, instead thereof, put Κυριος, Lord;[[109]] and, even when it seems absurd not to do it, as in Exod. vi. 3. when it is said, by my name, Jehovah, was I not known, they render it, by my name, the Lord, was I not known.[[110]]
This we take occasion to observe, not as supposing it is a sufficient proof of itself, of the argument we are maintaining, but as it corresponds with the sense of those scriptures before mentioned, by which it appears that this is the proper, or incommunicable, name of God.
Object. It is objected, by the Anti-Trinitarians, that the name Jehovah is sometimes given to creatures, and consequently that it is not God’s proper name; nor does it evince our Saviour’s Deity, when given to him. To prove that it is sometimes given to creatures, they refer to several scriptures; as Exod. xvii. 15. where the altar that Moses erected is called Jehovah Nissi, i. e. the Lord is my banner; and, in Judges vi. 22. another altar that Gideon built, is called Jehovah Shallom; and Gen. xxii. 14. it is said, that Abraham called the name of the place, in which he was ready to offer Isaac, Jehovah Jireh; and, in Ezek. xlviii. 35. it is said, that Jerusalem, from that day, should be called Jehovah Shammah; they add also, that the Ark was called Jehovah, upon the occasion of its being carried up into the city of David, when it is said, Psal. xlvii. 5. The Lord, i. e. Jehovah is gone up with a shout, even the Lord with the sound of a trumpet, and also on other occasions. And the name Jehovah is often, in the Old Testament, given to angels, and therefore not proper to God alone.
Answ. 1. When they pretend that the name Jehovah was given to inanimate things, and in particular to altars, as in the instance mentioned in the objection, that one of the altars was indeed called Jehovah Nissi, it is very unreasonable to suppose, that the name and glory of God was put upon it; had it been a symbol of God’s presence, it would not have been called by this name, especially in the same sense in which our Saviour and the Holy Spirit have it applied to them; and therefore the meaning of this scripture, as I apprehend, is nothing but this, that there was an inscription written on the altar, containing these words, Jehovah Nissi, the design whereof was to signify, to the faith of those who came to worship there, that the Lord was their banner: therefore this name, strictly speaking, was not given to the altar, but to God; upon which some, not without good reason, render the word; he built an altar, and called the name of it, the altar of Jehovah Nissi. The same may be said with respect to the altar erected by Gideon, which was called Jehovah Shalom, or the altar of Jehovah Shalom, to the end that all who came to offer sacrifice upon it, might hereby be put in mind that God was a God of peace, or would give peace to them.
2. As for the place to which Abraham went to offer Isaac, which is called Jehovah-Jireh, it was the mount Moriah; and it is certain that this was not known by, or whenever spoken of, mentioned, as having that name; neither had Abraham any right to apply to it any branch of the divine glory, as signified thereby; therefore when it is said, he called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh, it is as though he should have said, let all that travel over this mountain know, that the Lord was seen, or provided a ram instead of Isaac, who was ready to be offered up; let this place be remarkable, in future ages, for this amazing dispensation of providence, and let them glorify God for what was done here, and let the memory hereof be an encouragement to their faith. Or else we may farther consider him speaking as a prophet, and so the meaning is, this place shall be very remarkable in future ages, as it shall be the mount of vision; here Jehovah will eminently appear in his temple, which shall be built in this place. Or if you take the words in another sense, viz. God will provide, it is as though he should say, as God has provided a ram to be offered instead of Isaac, so he will provide the Lamb of God, who is to take away the sin of the world, which was typified by Isaac’s being offered. So that the place was not really called Jehovah; but Abraham takes occasion, from what was done here, to magnify him, who appeared to him, and held his hand, whom alone he calls Jehovah.
And to this we may add, that when Jerusalem is called Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there, the meaning hereof is only this, that it shall eminently be said in succeeding ages of the new Jerusalem, that the Lord is there; the city, which was commonly known by the name Jerusalem, is not called Jehovah, as though it had any character of divine glory put upon it; but it implies, that the gospel church, which is signified thereby, should have the presence of God in an eminent degree; or, as our Saviour promised to his disciples, Matth. xxviii. 20. that he would be with them always, even unto the end of the world; and, as the result thereof, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it, Matth. xvi. 18.