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One of the names for [[God]] is '''Adonai''', which is Hebrew for "Lord" (Hebrew: דֹנָי). Formally, this is a plural ("Lords"), but the plural is usually construed as a respectful, and not a syntactic plural. The singular form is ''Adoni'' ("lord"). This was used by the Phoenicians for the pagan god Tammuz and is the origin of the Greek name ''Adonis''. [[Jew]]s only use the singular to refer to a distinguished person.
Some suggest that "Adonai" and other names of God may be written in the plural form to point out that this one God embodies all of the many gods that were worshipped by the ancestors of the [[Ancient Israel|Israelites]] and concurrently by the surrounding peoples.
Since pronouncing God's personal name [[Yahweh|YHWH]] is considered sinful by the Jews, they use ''Adonai'' instead in [[prayer]]s and the reading of the [[Bible|Scripture]]s. When the Masoretes added vowel pointings to the text of the [[Old Testament|Hebrew Bible]] in the first century A.D., they gave the word YHWH the vowels of ''Adonai'', to remind the reader to say ''Adonai'' instead.
==See also==
* [[Elohim]]
* [[Yahweh]]
{{Christianity Knowledge Base|Adonai}}
Some suggest that "Adonai" and other names of God may be written in the plural form to point out that this one God embodies all of the many gods that were worshipped by the ancestors of the [[Ancient Israel|Israelites]] and concurrently by the surrounding peoples.
Since pronouncing God's personal name [[Yahweh|YHWH]] is considered sinful by the Jews, they use ''Adonai'' instead in [[prayer]]s and the reading of the [[Bible|Scripture]]s. When the Masoretes added vowel pointings to the text of the [[Old Testament|Hebrew Bible]] in the first century A.D., they gave the word YHWH the vowels of ''Adonai'', to remind the reader to say ''Adonai'' instead.
==See also==
* [[Elohim]]
* [[Yahweh]]
{{Christianity Knowledge Base|Adonai}}