rosends
Well-Known Member
There are many different labels that we use when discussing Hashem. Two that are often found are the word "Elokim" and the 4 letter name. Rashi explains the difference in his commentary to the first verse in the Chumash
ברא אלהים וְלֹא נֶאֱמַר בָּרָא ה', שֶׁבַּתְּחִלָּה עָלָה בְמַחֲשָׁבָה לִבְרֹאתוֹ בְּמִדַּת הַדִּין, רָאָה שֶׁאֵין הָעוֹלָם מִתְקַיֵּם, הִקְדִּים מִדַּת רַחֲמִים וְשִׁתְּפָהּ לְמִהַ"דִּ, וְהַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת ה' אֱלֹהִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם:
It does not state 'ברא ה “The Lord (the Merciful One) created, because at first God intended to create it (the world) to be placed under the attribute (rule) of strict justice, but He realised that the world could not thus endure and therefore gave precedence to Divine Mercy allying it with Divine Justice. It is to this that what is written in (Genesis 2:4) alludes — “In the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven”.
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But I noticed something -- in Hebrew, we often take the justice name (Elokim) and do things with it: it can become Elokeinu (effectively, "our Elokim"). This is not just a matter of adding a prefix to a static set of letters; the actual word is changed. Other forms (Elokai, Elokei, Elokeichem) also appear. But we can't do any of that with the 4 letter name. The "mercy name" can have a prefix of a letter or two, but the letters stay the same at the core. Does this bespeak any difference between the role, scope or other attribute of the particular names and the characteristic which they represent? Looking homiletically.
ברא אלהים וְלֹא נֶאֱמַר בָּרָא ה', שֶׁבַּתְּחִלָּה עָלָה בְמַחֲשָׁבָה לִבְרֹאתוֹ בְּמִדַּת הַדִּין, רָאָה שֶׁאֵין הָעוֹלָם מִתְקַיֵּם, הִקְדִּים מִדַּת רַחֲמִים וְשִׁתְּפָהּ לְמִהַ"דִּ, וְהַיְינוּ דִּכְתִיב בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת ה' אֱלֹהִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם:
It does not state 'ברא ה “The Lord (the Merciful One) created, because at first God intended to create it (the world) to be placed under the attribute (rule) of strict justice, but He realised that the world could not thus endure and therefore gave precedence to Divine Mercy allying it with Divine Justice. It is to this that what is written in (Genesis 2:4) alludes — “In the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven”.
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But I noticed something -- in Hebrew, we often take the justice name (Elokim) and do things with it: it can become Elokeinu (effectively, "our Elokim"). This is not just a matter of adding a prefix to a static set of letters; the actual word is changed. Other forms (Elokai, Elokei, Elokeichem) also appear. But we can't do any of that with the 4 letter name. The "mercy name" can have a prefix of a letter or two, but the letters stay the same at the core. Does this bespeak any difference between the role, scope or other attribute of the particular names and the characteristic which they represent? Looking homiletically.
