In a recent discussion on the Trinity, I was asked whether the name YHWH can function adjectivally to support my Monarchical Trinitarian perspective—specifically, that the Father being YHWH by name does not preclude Jesus from being YHWH by predication (i.e., adjectivally). To support this view, notice what these anti-Christian Jews say about Deuteronomy 6:4, the foundational verse at the heart of both the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish faith:
“Hear, O Israel! The ETERNAL is our God, the ETERNAL alone.” Revised JPS, 2023
Performing the Commandments out of Love
Besides fulfilling God’s commandments because you are legally obligated to do so based on the covenant He made with you at Mount Sinai, you should also fulfill them out of love, because when you are motivated by love, you will fulfill the commandments even when doing so seems inconvenient, burdensome, or inexpedient. This love, in turn, should be based on your awareness that God is the one and only true deity. Therefore, hear, Israel: Although GOD is presently only our God, since only we, as a nation, have accepted Him as our sole sovereign, GOD is nonetheless the one and only true deity, and the day will come when He will be acknowledged as such by all humanity. If you indeed contemplate this truth and all its implications, you will come to love GOD, your God, with all your heart – i.e., with total sincerity, and even by harnessing your inclination to do evil for serving Him; and at the expense of your very soul – i.e., even if doing so requires you to suffer martyrdom; and with all your material means, even if you value these material means more than your own life; and whether He treats you well or seemingly does not.… The Kehot Chumash; Chabad House Publications, Los Angeles
6:4
ומה שהעתיקו קדמונינו ז״ל על ק״ש הוא האמת ואין צורך לחפש דע כי זה השם הנכבד הוא שם העצם ואם כן מה טעם לאמרו פעם שנית והתשובה כי אדם שם עצם ושם מקרה שאיננו כן ואם הוא נקרא מעצם האדמה וכן זה והעד השם שהוא סמוך אל צבאות או העיקר הוא אלהינו ונכפל כמו כן לומר אחד והטעם לבדו וראיות עד אין חקר יש כי השם אחד והפסוק שאמר ביום ההוא יהיה ה’ אחד על מחשבות בני אדם והנכון בעיני שהוא דבק עם מלך כי כן כתוב והיה ה’ למלך על כל הארץ ביום ההוא יהיה ה’ מלך אחד ושמו אחד כטעם כי אז אהפוך אל עמים שפה ברורה והנה כל העולם ידברו שפה אחת על כן יהיה שם ה’ אחד:
HEAR O ISRAEL: THE LORD (YHVH) OUR GOD, THE LORD (YHVH) IS ONE.] That which the ancients, of blessed memory, transmitted regarding the reading of the shema is true, According to Rabbinic tradition there is a biblical command to recite Hear (shema), O Israel, morning and evening. and there is no need for further investigation. Note that the glorious name (YHVH) is a noun. A proper noun. This being the case, why is it said a second time? Why repeat the proper noun? Scripture should have read, Hear, O Israel, the Lord (YHVH) our God is one. It should be noted that I.E. comments elsewhere that it is biblical style to repeat nouns in the same verse. See I.E. on Gen. 19:24, (Vol. 1, p. 208) and on Ps. 1:2. The answer is that Adam is a noun. Adam is also an adjective, and not a noun, In other words, the name Adam is at times a proper name and at other times an adjective. even though he was called after the very earth. The same is true of the name YHVH. It is employed both as a proper noun and as an adjective. See I.E. on Ex. 3:15 (Vol. 2, pp. 67,68). The fact that YHVH is connected to tzeva’ot (hosts) Adonai tzeva’ot (the Lord of hosts) (Is. 1:9). is proof. For Adonai is in the construct with tzeva’ot, whereas a proper name cannot come in the construct. See I.E. on Ex. 3:15 (Vol. 2, p. 65). On the other hand, the term Elohenu (our God) might be the object. In other words, the main purpose of the verse is to teach us that YHVH is our God. The name YHVH was repeated in order to state YHVH echad (the Lord is one) the meaning of which is, only YHVH. After Scripture tells us that YHVH is our God, it goes on to say that only YHVH is our God. There are many proofs that YHVH alone is God. The medieval Jewish philosophers proved that there can be only one God. The verse that states, In that day shall the Lord be One (echad) I.E. renders this, In that day shall the Lord alone be God. (Zech. 14:9), speaks of men’s thoughts. In my opinion, the word one In Zech. 14:9. is connected to the word king, for Scripture writes: And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; In that day shall the Lord alone be King and His name one (Zech. 14:9). *Zech. 14:9 reads: And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; In that day shall the Lord be One, and His name one. I.E.’s interpretation eliminates the implication that today there are more gods than YHVH, for it speaks of all people recognizing one king, i.e., the Lord. The latter is similar in meaning to For then will I turn to the peoples, A pure language, That they may all call upon the name of the Lord (Zeph. 3:9}. Behold, all the nations will speak one language. The name of the Lord will therefore be one. (Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 6:4)
Ibn Ezra’s point depends on a Hebrew grammar rule called the construct state (semikhut). In Hebrew, two nouns can be joined so that the first noun is possessed by or qualified by the second: X of Y functioning like a genitive. So when 2 nouns are connected, the first noun is put in the construct state. For example
“king of Israel”. There is no “of” in Hebrew there. So its literally just “King Israel”. However, “king,” (מֶלֶךְ) is the head noun and therefore is in the construct state and it means “king of…,”. The important point is that the first word in a construct chain is not an independent proper name. It is a noun-title or descriptive term (an adjectival noun) that can be relational: “king of,” “lord of,” “God of,” “army of,” etc. A proper name like “Moses,” “David,” or “YHWH” normally stands independently; it does not naturally mean “Moses of…” or “David of…”. Although Greek can have “Jesus of…” (ιηεσου), this does not work with Biblical Hebrew. So when Ibn Ezra sees expressions like: “YHWH of hosts” or “YHWH God of hosts”, he argues that the first word is functioning like as a noun in construct with “hosts” (צְבָאוֹת,). Since construct forms are available to common nouns or titles, not ordinary proper names, this suggests that YHWH is not always being used purely as a proper name. It can also function adjectivally or descriptively, as a divine title meaning something like “the Eternal/Being One,” “the One who is,” or “the Lord who commands the hosts.” What makes this possible is that Hebrew divine names and titles can overlap in function. A word may be a name in one context and a descriptive title in another. Ibn Ezra is not denying that YHWH is a proper divine name; he is saying its grammatical behavior shows that it can also operate as a descriptive term.
His conclusion is grammatical: if YHWH were only a fixed proper name, it should not stand in construct with “hosts.” But since Scripture uses it in that construction, the word must have more than one function: proper name in some places, descriptive/title-like term in others. To parrallel his point, he gives the example of “Adam”. Adam in Hebrew means “man”. Its used as a common noun to refer to humanity as a whole (Gen 5:1-2; 9:6 etc…). But its also the proper name of the first male. His name is Adam because He is a man, functioning both as a proper name and as an adjectival noun.
Ibn Ezra’s assertion that the Divine Name YHWH functions both as a proper noun and as an adjective, and using Adam as an example, comports perfectly with what I have been saying. YHWH is not only the personal name of the one true God but also conveys a description of His nature. In other words, the name YHWH reveals something essential about what God is like, Self-Existence.
Here is also his commentary on Exodus 3:15:
Now the Lord’s personal name is sometimes used in an adjectival sense because God alone exists forever and the existence of all things is contingent upon Him. God’s proper name is used here in the same way that the name moshe (Moses) is used in Then He remembered the days of old, when He drew (moshe) His people (Is. 63:11). The meaning of Adonai when used as an adjective is: the maintainer of existence. Hence in the phrase Adonai Elohim the holy angels are connected to God. Similarly, in the phrase Adonai tzeva’ot (Lord of hosts) tzeva’ot refers to the hosts of heaven. (Ibn Ezra, Exodus 3:15)