This book unlocks the Jewish theology of YHWH in three central stages of Jewish thought: the Hebrew bible, rabbinic literature, and medieval philosophy and mysticism. Providing a single conceptual key adapted from the philosophical debate on proper names, the book paints a dynamic picture of YHWH’s meanings over a spectrum of periods and genres, portraying an evolving interaction between two theological motivations: the wish to speak about God and the wish to speak to Him. Through this investigation, the book shows how Jews interpreted God's name in attempt to map the human-God relation, and to determine the measure of possibility for believers to realize a divine presence in their midst, through language.

Have you ever wondered how to maintain an understanding of monotheism in light of the Christian understanding of the triune Godhead? Have you ever wondered about the identity of “YHWH” in the Old Testament? Have you identified YHWH as the first person of the Trinity as many in the Christian tradition have? If so, this book is for you. Many of the early Trinitarian heresies stemmed from a misunderstanding of YHWH in the Old Testament, especially identifying YHWH as one person and not multiple persons. This book addresses issues relating to the identity of YHWH in the Old Testament and makes the bold claim that YHWH is multiple persons in the OT and therefore, Father is YHWH, Jesus is YHWH, and the Holy Spirit is YHWH. This conclusion is based on sound exegesis of OT/NT passages, the early Christian understanding of God in the Old Testament, and the New Testament’s identification of Jesus in the identity of YHWH. If identified thus, a Christian reading of the entirety of Scripture will take on new meaning, resulting in a robust Trinitarian interpretation of Scripture.

Biblical tradition asserts that the revelation of God to Moses in the burning bush involved also a declaration of the divine name, the Tet (represented by the letters Y, H, W, H), and its meaning. There are indications that the divine name was known prior to the time of Moses, although ultimate questions of origin and precise meaning are shrouded in obscurity. IN fact, even the exact pronunciation of the name (usually pronounced YAHWEH) is by no means certain. The author of The Divine Name in the Bible surveys the immense literature on this subject, and traces the use of various names for deity in Israel from patriarchal times onwards, with special attention to the significance of the Tetragrammaton, which in course of time, became the name by which the God of Israel was known. Various aspects of the theological meaning of the name in the Old Testament writings are explored. The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish Talmudic literature, and later mystical writings are also examined. The translators of the Old Testament into Greek used Kyrios as the equivalent for YHWH—with implications for the New Testament understanding of the person of Jesus Christ, reflected also in subsequent Christological formulations.

Amidst various methodologies for the comparative study of the Hebrew Bible, at times the opportunity arises to improve on a method recently introduced into the field. In YHWH is King, Flynn uses the anthropological method of cultural translation to study diachronic change in YHWH’s kingship. Here, such change is compared to a similar Babylonian development to Marduk’s kingship. Based on that comparison and informed by cultural translation, Flynn discovers that Judahite scribes suppressed the earlier YHWH warrior king and promoted a creator/universal king in order to combat the increasing threat of Neo-Assyrian imperialism. Flynn thus opens the possibility, that Judahite scribes engaged in a cultural translation of Marduk to YHWH, in order to respond to the mounting Neo-Assyrian presence.

A Story of YHWH investigates the ancient Israelite expression of their deity, and tracks why variation occurred in that expression, from the early Iron Age to the Persian period. Through this text, readers will gain a better appreciation for the complexities and contexts in the development of YHWH, from its earliest origins to the Persian period. Two interpretive frameworks–cultural translation and subversive reception–are offered for filtering through the textual data and contexts. Comparative study with ancient Near Eastern deities and select biblical texts lead readers through early YHWHism, YHWH’s original outsider status, and the eventual impact of urbanization on the expression. Perceived and real pressures then challenge urbanite YHWHism and invite new directions for forming a unique expression of divinity in the ancient world. This book is intended for those interested in the study of ancient divinity broadly as well as those who study ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible. The work provides generalists with a better appreciation for the particular challenges in working in the ancient Near East and with the bible specifically, while it provides specialists with a broad theory that can be continually tested. For both, the study provides two reading lenses to work through similar questions and an accounting of why the many contextually driven and varied constructions of YHWH may have occurred.