The 72 names of God – What are they, where do they come from, and what do they mean? The first two questions are a simple matter of trivia. The third one can get a bit complicated and we will answer it tomorrow.
The 72 names of God come from a reorganization of three consecutive verses from the Book of Exodus, chapter 14, verses 19-21. In Hebrew, each of the verses contain exactly 72 letters each. Their context is one of the three most intense public manifestations of God’s presence that takes place in the Bible.
The first, and surprisingly less popular, is the falling of the Manna-bread in the desert, which was a Divine miracle that happened every day except Saturday, and happened right in front of the entire nation of Israel. The second is the revelation of the Law at Sinai, a one time miracle, but still just as public. The third is what our verses describe, and that is the splitting of the Sea of Reeds.
The verses read: 19) Then, the Angel of God who had been going in front of the Israelite camp, moved behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind. 20) And he (the angel) came between Israelite and Egyptian camps, and the cloud was there, and darkness, and it illuminated the night, and the camps did not approach each other all night. 21) Moses stretched his hand over the sea and God moved the sea all night with a strong east wind, and He made the sea dry and the water split.
So where do the 72 names of God come in? Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac of 11th century France, writes that each of the 72 names contains three letters. If you take the first letter of verse 19, the last of verse 20, and the first of 21, you end up with the Hebrew “VeHo.” That’s the first name. Next, you, take the second letter of 19, the second-to-last of 20, and the second of 21. Proceed in that pattern and you end up with 72 names, each 3 letters, totaling 216.
So that’s what they are, and that’s where they come from. But what do they mean? In Part Two…
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