The name of God in the Old Testament is unpronounceable these days. Modern Jews call God Hashem sometimes. Hashem as I understand it just means The Name. There has been a prohibition against speaking the four Hebrew letters of God’s name since at least the time of Jesus. The word means “I am that I am” and Jesus saying “Before Abraham I am” was scandalous not simply because he may have been claiming divinity but also because he was speaking the unspeakable name
But here’s the thing. I am relatively certain that when Moses talked to God in the burning bush He said His name and at some point that name was lost so it would never be used in vain. That leads me along the weird notion that the God of the Old Testament started as a tribal god. Jehovah or whatever you want to call Him now was a nameable god and a specifically Jewish god. As the name became too sacred to speak the nature of the understanding of God changed from tribal to transcendent. As Jehovah became Hashem a god became The God. Just a thought. Please comment if you have any insight into this perception.
Latter Day Sinner 