The LORD, Our God

In the Old Testament, when Scripture uses “LORD” in all capitals, it represents God’s personal covenant name, YHWH (Yahweh), while “Lord” in lowercase usually translates the Hebrew word Adonai, meaning “master” or “sovereign.”  

Examples includes: 

Exodus 3:15 - "The LORD, the God of your fathers.... has sent me (Moses) to you."

Deuteronomy 6:4 — “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

Psalm 23:1 — “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Isaiah 42:8 — “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

LORD (Yahweh) highlights God’s personal relationship with His people. Lord (Adonai) highlights God’s authority and kingship. Christian translators do not directly mentioned YHWH or Yahweh in the English bible, as according to the ancient Jews who considered the name is too sacred to pronounce. 

Even the New Testament letters called or equate Jesus as "LORD" - example includes:

  • Romans 10:13 — Paul quotes Joel 2:32 (“Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD [YHWH] will be saved”) and applies it to Jesus.
  • Philippians 2:10–11 — Paul echoes Isaiah 45:23 (where YHWH says “to me every knee shall bow”) and applies it to Jesus: “every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”
  • Hebrews 1:10–12 — The author quotes Psalm 102:25–27 (addressed to YHWH as Creator) and applies it to the Son.
  • John 12:41 — John interprets Isaiah’s vision of YHWH’s glory (Isaiah 6) as a vision of Jesus’ glory.
  • 1 Corinthians 8:6 — Paul reformulates the Shema (Deut. 6:4: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one”) to include Jesus: “one God, the Father… and one Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Many other verses call Jesus "Lord" (Kyrios) which is equivalent to the Greek translations of the OT (Septuagint) where YHWH was consistently rendered as Kyrios (“Lord”). By quoting OT texts about YHWH and applying them to Jesus, the NT authors are saying: Jesus shares in the divine identity of YHWH.

 

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