Tag Archives: Adonai

What Is the Difference Between LORD and Lord?

Post Author: Bill Pratt 

In Exodus 3, we see God called “I am” and also “LORD.” Both names are derived from the same Hebrew verb. “LORD” is reused more than 5,000 times in the Old Testament (OT), but “I am” is never used again in the OT.

When the word “LORD” (all caps) is used in the OT, it is a translation of the Hebrew word YHWH (“Yahweh”) that means “he who is present” or “he who is.” The word “Jehovah” is another translation into English of “Yahweh.”

Jewish readers substitute the word Adonai (“Lord”) when they come upon the divine name of God. All of these different names are referring to the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.