Elohim and Jehovah in Latter-day Saint Teaching: Two Divine Beings?

Latter-day Saint teaching uses Elohim for God the Father and Jehovah for Jesus Christ, the Son. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve said that in 1916: Elohim is the literal parent of Jesus Christ and of human spirits, and Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called Father in a further sense. Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the LORD our God is one LORD. Isaiah 44:6Isaiah 44:6 · King James VersionThus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.Isaiah 44:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source has that LORD say there is no God beside him. The Hebrew pairs the name Jehovah with Elohim. It does not introduce two gods.

Key Points

• The 1916 exposition, reprinted in the April 2002 EnsignThe Father and the Son, 1916 · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsGod the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title “Elohim,” is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of the spirits of the human race.The Father and the Son, 1916 · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source, says God the Eternal Father, “whom we designate by the exalted name-title ‘Elohim,’” is the literal parent of Jesus Christ and of the spirits of the human race.
• The same statement says Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called “the Father,” and even “the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth,” and it applies Isaiah 9:6, “The Everlasting Father,” to him.
• The church’s Guide to the Scriptures on JehovahGuide to the Scriptures, Jehovah · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsJehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ and came to earth as a son of Mary.Guide to the Scriptures, Jehovah · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source says Jehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ and came to earth as a son of Mary.
• The exposition names four meanings of “Father.” The first, literal parent, is Elohim. In the other three, Creator, Father of those who abide in his gospel, and Father by divine investiture of authority, the title is given to Jesus Christ.
• Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the LORD our God is one LORD. The Hebrew is the name YHWH (H3068) with Elohim (H430).

What Is the Difference Between Elohim and Jehovah?

In 1916 the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve issued a doctrinal exposition to clarify scriptures in which Jesus Christ, or Jehovah, is designated as the Father. The April 2002 EnsignThe Father and the Son, 1916 · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsGod the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title “Elohim,” is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of the spirits of the human race.The Father and the Son, 1916 · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source reprints it. Under the heading of Father as literal parent, it says:

God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title “Elohim,” is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and of the spirits of the human race.

April 2002 Ensign · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elohim, in that paragraph, is the Father of spirits. The statement adds that Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ “and also the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh.” A second section says “Father” can mean Creator. In that sense, the statement says, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called the Father, and even the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. It points to Isaiah 9:6, “The Everlasting Father,” and says the titles Everlasting and Eternal are synonymous. It says Jesus Christ, whom Latter-day Saints also know as Jehovah, was the executive of the Father, Elohim, in the work of creation.

A third section calls Jesus Christ the Father of those who abide in his gospel, “through the second birth—the baptismal regeneration.” A fourth calls him Father “by Divine Investiture of Authority,” because “in all His dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority.” It says this was true of Christ “in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as Jehovah.”

That is the church’s own distinction. Elohim is the Father. Jehovah is the Son, and the Son bears the title Father as Creator, as the father of those reborn in his gospel, and as the one who speaks for Elohim. The exposition is not a claim that the Hebrew Bible already uses the two words as two persons’ proper names. It is latter-day usage, stated so that scriptures which call Jehovah “Father” can be read beside a Father named Elohim.

What Do Latter-day Saints Believe? quotes the church’s Bible Dictionary and the Living Christ on the same identification, and it quotes Isaiah 44:6 and Deuteronomy 6:4 beside them. This page stays with the 1916 text.

Do Latter-day Saints Worship Elohim?

They pray to the Father. The 1916 statement says that because Elohim is the Father of spirits, “we are taught by Jesus Christ to pray: ‘Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.’” When the Old Testament has Jehovah speak as Father, the fourth section above reads it as the Son speaking with the Father’s authority. The Godhead in Latter-day Saint Teaching quotes the Gospel Topics essay: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, one in purpose. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source says the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, the Son also, and the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit.

Nicene Christians worship one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one being. The Trinity is that confession. The 1916 exposition’s “literal Parent” is a real teaching of the church. It is not the Nicene sentence that the Son is begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father.

Do Latter-day Saints Call God Jehovah?

The Guide to the ScripturesGuide to the Scriptures, Jehovah · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsJehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ and came to earth as a son of Mary.Guide to the Scriptures, Jehovah · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source says:

Jehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ and came to earth as a son of Mary.

Guide to the Scriptures · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The entry calls Jehovah the covenant or proper name of the God of Israel, and it says the name denotes “the eternal I Am,” citing Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58. It says that when the word Lord appears in the Old Testament, it usually means Jehovah, and that Paul taught that Christ was the Jehovah of the Old Testament. John 8:58John 8:58 · King James VersionJesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.John 8:58 · King James VersionOpen the Source is Jesus saying, before Abraham was, I am. Yahweh Texts Applied to Jesus lists New Testament lines that use the LORD’s words for Jesus. Latter-day Saints and Nicene Christians both read some of those lines as about Christ. They do not mean the same thing by “Jehovah.” For the church, Jehovah is the Son, a being distinct from Elohim the Father. For the Shema, the LORD is the one God.

What the Hebrew Says

Genesis 2:4Genesis 2:4 · King James VersionThese are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,Genesis 2:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. The Hebrew is YHWH Elohim, the name and the word God together, one maker. Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source says, Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD. That is YHWH, Elohim, and the word for one. What Does Elohim Mean? is the word page: the form is plural, and when it means the God of Israel it takes singular verbs, as in Genesis 1:1Genesis 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.Genesis 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source.

Isaiah 43:10–11Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionYe are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.Isaiah 43:10 · King James VersionOpen the Source has the LORD say that the people are his witnesses, that before him there was no God formed, and that beside him there is no savior. Isaiah 44:6Isaiah 44:6 · King James VersionThus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.Isaiah 44:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source has the LORD, the King of Israel, and his redeemer, the LORD of hosts, say he is the first and the last, and beside him there is no God. One speaker holds both the kingship and the redeeming. Splitting that speaker into Elohim the Father and Jehovah the Son is the 1916 exposition’s later map. The Hebrew sentence does not mark two divine beings.

Who Is Jehovah? is a different church’s account of the same name: Jehovah alone is Almighty God, and Jesus is not that one. Latter-day Saints say Jehovah is Jesus. Jehovah’s Witnesses say Jehovah is the Father only. Both are answering the name. Deuteronomy 6:4 and Isaiah 44:6 are the texts they are answering.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Jesus Call God Jehovah?

The Gospels have him say Father, and my God. John 20:17John 20:17 · King James VersionJesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.John 20:17 · King James VersionOpen the Source says my Father and your Father, my God and your God. John 8:58John 8:58 · King James VersionJesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.John 8:58 · King James VersionOpen the Source says before Abraham was, I am. The church’s guide connects that “I am” with the name Jehovah and identifies Jehovah with the premortal Christ. The Gospel sentences themselves say Father and I am.

What Religion Uses the Name Elohim for the Father?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does, in the 1916 exposition and in the guides that follow it. Jews and Christians read Elohim in Genesis and Deuteronomy as the word God, joined to the name of the one LORD. What Does Elohim Mean? is that Hebrew word, without the later split into two beings.

Why Did the Church Issue the 1916 Statement?

The Ensign introduction says the First Presidency and the Twelve issued it “to clarify the meaning of certain scriptures where Jesus Christ, or Jehovah, is designated as the Father.” It quotes Ether 3:14 in the Book of Mormon, “Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son,” as one of those texts.

Keep Reading

• The Godhead in Latter-day Saint Teaching
• What Do Latter-day Saints Believe?
• What Does Elohim Mean?
• Who Is Jehovah?
• Yahweh Texts Applied to Jesus
• The Trinity
• Isaiah 9:6: Does “Mighty God” Mean Less Than “Almighty God”?