Balancing Provisional Language with Awe-Inspiring Descriptions of God
The Bible consistently presents God as an awe-inspiring, all-powerful being, often using language that conveys His transcendence and unique nature. At the same time, biblical authors frequently employ anthropomorphic or metaphorical language to describe God, making Him comprehensible to human understanding. This creates a balance between provisional, human-centered descriptions and declarations of God's ultimate, ineffable glory.
The very names used for God in the Hebrew Bible reflect His power and distinctiveness. "El" signifies strength, while "Elohim," though plural, refers to the singular Divine Being [1]. The name "Jehovah" (or YHWH), often rendered "LORD" in English translations, is another primary designation for the Supreme Being [1]. The existence of God is not argued for in Scripture but is taken as a foundational given [1].
Biblical texts frequently emphasize God's creative power as a testament to His might. Jeremiah, for instance, addresses God with "Ah Lord God! . . . behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm" [3]. This highlights the immense power required to bring the cosmos into being from a state described as "formless and empty" or "wild and waste" [5]. The creation account in Genesis portrays God's "creative utterances" as bringing order out of this initial chaos [5].
Descriptions of God's attributes often evoke a sense of wonder and majesty. The opening of the Epistle to the Hebrews, for example, is noted for its "exceedingly elevated" sentiments, immediately presenting the "infinite God" not through His essential attributes but through the "manifestations of his love to the world" and His revelation through His Son [4]. Isaiah also speaks of the "Lord . . . JEHOVAH" as the "mighty One of Israel," mighty both to save and to punish, with God's language "condescend[ing] to human conceptions" [7].
This "condescension" is key to understanding the provisional nature of much biblical language about God. While God is infinite and beyond full human comprehension, the Bible uses imagery and metaphors to communicate His character and actions. For instance, the parables of Jesus often employ "surprising, evocative imagery" to convey truths about the Kingdom of God, such as its growth from insignificant beginnings to a glorious consummation [2]. This approach allows for understanding without fully defining the undefinable.
The personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8 is another example of this balance. While some might interpret it as an essential property of the divine nature, others, like Matthew Henry, see it as an "intelligent and divine person," specifically the Son of God, to whom "personal properties and actions" are attributed [9]. John Calvin, in his commentary on Isaiah, notes that attributes ascribed to God are either "perpetual or accommodated to the case in hand," suggesting that some descriptions are tailored to specific contexts or human understanding rather than being exhaustive definitions of God's essence [8].
Even when discussing the names of God, scholars acknowledge the careful balance. Hengstenberg, for instance, argues against overly refined interpretations of the names of God in the Pentateuch, suggesting that while important truths may be hidden within them, they should not be obscured by "fanciful developments" that move beyond the "simplicity of the Holy Scriptures" and the comprehension of their intended audience [6]. This underscores the idea that biblical language about God, while awe-inspiring, is also designed to be accessible and functional for human understanding and faith.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: God — (A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew 'El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of 'Eloah_, plural _'Elohim. The singular form, Eloah, is used only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by "LORD," printed in small capitals. The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argume”
- Matthew (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Matthew 13:31: 13:31-33 Jesus used surprising, evocative imagery in these parables, either to emphasize the inevitable growth of the Kingdom through proclamation of the gospel or, more probably, to emphasize the contrast between insignificant beginnings and glorious consummation, and to exhort the disciples to patience (see also 16:24–17:13).”
- Jeremiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Jeremiah 32:16: Ah Lord God!.... Which the Vulgate Latin version repeats three times, "Ah, ah, ah", as being greatly distressed with the trouble that was coming upon his people; and, it may be, not without some doubts and temptations about their deliverance; or, at least, was pressed in his mind with the difficulties and objections started by the Jews that were with him in the court: behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm; with great propriety is the making of the heaven and the earth ascribed to the mighty power of God; for noth”
- Hebrews (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Hebrews 1:1: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners - We can scarcely conceive any thing more dignified than the opening of this epistle; the sentiments are exceedingly elevated, and the language, harmony itself! The infinite God is at once produced to view, not in any of those attributes which are essential to the Divine nature, but in the manifestations of his love to the world, by giving a revelation of his will relative to the salvation of mankind, and thus preparing the way, through a long train of years, for the introduction of that most glorious Being, his own Son”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 1:2: 1:2 This verse gives the background for the summary in 1:1 and the detailed description in 1:3–2:3. God’s creative utterances bring order to the chaotic state of the universe. • formless . . . empty (Hebrew tohu . . . bohu): This terse idiom means something like “wild and waste.” It sets a stark contrast to the final ordered state of the heavens and the earth (1:1). • deep waters (Hebrew tehom): Some scholars say this alludes to the Mesopotamian goddess Tiamat (representing chaos), but Genesis views tehom as inhospitable chaos, not as a deity or goddess that God e”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1 (Gen 1-23), section 6.10: be found to Vitringa and others. Against this view, however, Hengstenberg argues with considerable force, in his Dissertation “on the Names of God in the Pentateuch;” and if some of his reasonings in the use of these names seem too refined for the simplicity of the Holy Scriptures, and for the comprehension of those to whom the Scriptures are chiefly addressed, yet we may discover the germ of very important truths, thought they may be, in some degree, hidden beneath a variety of fanciful developments. By a very careful examination”
- Isaiah (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Isaiah 1:24: Lord . . . Lord--Adonai, JEHOVAH. mighty One of Israel--mighty to take vengeance, as before, to save. Ah--indignation. ease me--My long tried patience will find relief in at last punishing the guilty (Eze 5:13). God's language condescends to human conceptions.”
- CCEL (Reformed) “Calvin, Commentary on Isaiah, Vol. 1, section 15.17: evident that this proceeds from a desire, or rather from a licentious eagerness, to obscure the glory of Christ; for if they had not labored with excessive keenness to rob him of his Godhead, the passage would run on very smoothly as interpreted by our divines. Besides, what necessity was there for ascribing to God those attributes, if the Prophet meant nothing more than that God gave a name to Messiah? For the attributes which are usually ascribed to God are either perpetual or accommodated to the case in hand, neither of which suppositions”
- Proverbs (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Proverbs 8:22: That it is an intelligent and divine person that here speaks seems very plain, and that it is not meant of a mere essential property of the divine nature, for Wisdom here has personal properties and actions; and that intelligent divine person can be no other than the Son of God himself, to whom the principal things here spoken of wisdom are attributed in other scriptures, and we must explain scripture by itself. If Solomon himself designed only the praise of wisdom as it is an attribute of God, by which he made the world and governs it, so to recommend to men th”