Why is the word LORD written in all capitals in many places of the Old Testament?
Isaiah 40:27
NKJV - 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: "My way is hidden from the LORD, And my just claim is passed over by my God"?
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Asked October 21 2014
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Demi Pilot
Supporter
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Lena Wms
Supporter
Dear Demi, no matter what Scripture one would approach in the Bible, LORD, according to the Strong's Concordance means Jehovah, the self-existent or eternal one. E-sword.net is a great resource. Our Heavenly Father is so huge, gigantic, colossal; in fact there are not enough words or definitions to describe Him. Therefore, He has given us glimpses of Himself in different words that carry different meanings, yet all point back to Himself, Our Heavenly Father. (Ex 34:5,6,7) This is a wonderful search and discover mission. We will be ever learning of Who He really is. How can you place a limit and confines on an eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God? Yet, He has given us a roadmap to Himself: our Bible. Be Blessed Lena
Tim Maas
Supporter
In Exodus 3, God called Moses to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses said to God in Exodus 3:13-14 that, if he came to the Israelites and told them that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had sent him to them, the Israelites would ask him what God's name was, and he thus asked God how he should answer that question. My understanding is that the name that God gave for Himself in response ("I AM WHAT I AM", or "I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE") was considered by the Jews as too sacred to write, so they abbreviated it to the four Hebrew letters standing for the first letters of the words of the name that God gave for Himself, which is rendered in English as either "YHWH" or "JHVH". (This name is referred to as the Tetragrammaton, from the Greek term for "having four letters".)
When the Bible was translated into English under King James I, the translators adopted the word "LORD" (in all capital letters) to stand for this specific name that God gave for Himself. So, whenever the Hebrew text used the Tetragrammaton, the translators used the word "LORD".
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