Samaritan Name for God in the Hebrew Bible

The Samaritans referred to God as the "Name" or "The Lord", but more specifically, they used the term "YHWH" or "Yahweh" which is the personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible. However, when speaking to outsiders, they often used the more general term "Shema" which is derived from the Hebrew word for "name". Paul writes in Acts 17:22-23 that the unknown God the Athenians worshipped was actually the God of the Bible, showing that even in other cultures, there was a recognition of the one true God.

This truth addresses the concept of general revelation, where God's existence and character can be known through creation and human conscience, even if the specifics of His nature and plan are not fully understood. The Samaritans' understanding of God, though incomplete and influenced by their cultural and historical context, still reflected a deep reverence for the divine.

The significance of this lies in the fact that God's revelation of Himself is not limited to a single culture or people group, but is instead a universal reality that can be perceived by all humans. This is a fundamental aspect of Reformed theology, which emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the sufficiency of Scripture as the ultimate authority for understanding God's nature and plan.