Genesis 15:2
And Raised-Father is saying, `My master554 Yahweh, what do you give to-myself, and myself he-walking stripped?555 And a builder of Meshek in my house, himself is Dammeshek El-is-Help.`556
| 554 | Adonaiאֲדֹנָי Strong’s #136, אֲדֹנָי adonay. Tradition made this a proper title. The concrete meaning however is clear according to Gesenius who writes, “The termination ־ַי is an older form of pluralis excellentiœ, for the common ־ִים (as in שַׁדַּי) …but for ־ַי, the lengthened form ־ָי has been put by the grammarians, so as to distinguish it from אֲדֹנַי ‘my masters.’” What this means is that the plural form was taken to be a formal title and the Masoretes modified a vowel point to make the distinction. But originally there was no distinction. The word then became the traditional word to use to refer to God or Yahweh in speech as it was considered a taboo to utter the name. Even to write out the Anglo word “God” is taken as a no-no, so instead they write or type “G-d”. This is also the case with אֵ֣ל שַׁדַּי “el Shaddai” which means god of destroyers. See note on Genesis 17:1. |