Is Jesus Yahweh According to the Bible?
Short answer
Historic Christian teaching affirms that Jesus is Yahweh in the sense that he shares the one divine nature and identity of the LORD God of Israel. Scripture applies Old Testament passages about Yahweh directly to Jesus, while presenting him as a distinct person from God the Father.
Historic Christianity teaches that Jesus shares the divine name and identity of Yahweh, the LORD God of Israel, while remaining personally distinct from the Father. At Find A Prayer, we wrote this guide for readers asking whether Jesus shares the divine name of God. The Hebrew Scriptures reveal God by his personal covenant name, often transliterated as Yahweh.
In most English translations, including the King James Version, translators print this name as LORD in capital letters. When the New Testament authors wrote about Jesus, they applied these Old Testament passages directly to him. Whether a Christian says that Jesus is Yahweh depends on how one defines the term.
In historic orthodox theology, the statement means that Jesus is fully God. It does not mean that Jesus is the Father.
The Divine Identity and Historic Christian Teaching
Historic Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant teaching agrees on the core meaning of the divine name. They teach that the one true God exists eternally in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Under this classical framework, the name Yahweh describes the divine being and nature shared equally by all three persons. Because the Son is fully God, these traditions affirm that Jesus is the LORD of the Old Testament in nature and authority.
To say that Jesus is Yahweh means that Jesus possesses the fullness of deity. John 1:1 says it plainly: the Word was God. This affirmation maintains a clear boundary between the persons of the Trinity. Jesus is not the Father, and the Father is not the Son.
When historic theologians say Jesus is Yahweh, they speak of his divine essence rather than his personal distinction. Jesus prays to the Father, obeys the Father, and carries out the will of the Father as a distinct person.
The Divine Name Yahweh and the English Word LORD
The personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible consists of the four Hebrew consonants YHWH. Scholars refer to this four-letter name as the Tetragrammaton. In the King James Version and many other English Bibles, translators render this specific name using capital letters as LORD or occasionally GOD. English Bibles also use the name Jehovah in a few specific passages.
The King James Version prints the form Jehovah in Exodus 6:3 and Psalm 83:18. This English word developed historically by combining the four consonants of YHWH with the vowel points of the Hebrew noun Adonai, which means Lord. When readers ask if Jesus is Jehovah, they ask the same question as whether Jesus is Yahweh. Both terms point back to the same personal name revealed to Moses.
The pronunciation of the divine name in antiquity remains unsettled today. For English readers, seeing LORD in small capitals remains the standard textual marker indicating the covenant name of God.
Jesus and the Name Yahweh in the Gospel of John
The Gospel of John presents explicit links between Jesus and the covenant name of God. In Exodus 3:14, God revealed his identity to Moses with the words, I AM THAT I AM, commanding Moses to tell Israel that I AM had sent him. Many Christians hear that self-designation echoed in John 8:58. In John 8:58, Jesus spoke to the religious leaders who questioned his authority and origin.
He told them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:59 records that they took up stones to cast at him. Many Christians read that violent reaction as evidence that his hearers took the claim as a direct claim to divine identity. Blasphemy carried the penalty of stoning under the Law of Moses.
Other readers interpret the phrase differently, viewing it as a statement of preexistence rather than a claim to the divine name. John concludes his Gospel in John 20:28 with the confession of Thomas, who addressed the risen Christ directly as my Lord and my God.
Old Testament LORD Passages Applied to Jesus
The New Testament writers routinely took Old Testament passages about Yahweh and applied them directly to Jesus. One clear example appears in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 45:23, the LORD proclaims that unto him every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear allegiance. The Apostle Paul took that exclusive divine claim and applied it to Christ in Philippians 2:10-11.
Paul wrote that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Universal worship belongs to God alone, yet the New Testament directs that honor to Jesus. A second parallel appears between the prophet Joel and Paul's letter to the Romans. Joel 2:32 states that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.
In Romans 10:13, Paul echoes Joel by writing that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Just four verses earlier, in Romans 10:9, Paul identifies that Lord by urging believers to confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus.
How Other Traditions Understand the Divine Name
Not all religious groups read these biblical passages in the same manner. Jehovah's Witnesses hold a different theological view regarding the identity of God and Jesus. In their teaching, Jehovah is the Father alone, while Jesus is a created, distinct being rather than Almighty God.
Their translation, the New World Translation, renders the divine name as Jehovah throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Because of this belief, members of this tradition maintain that Jesus cannot be called Jehovah under any circumstance. They hold that Jesus is distinct from the Father.
Understanding these distinct views clarifies why discussions about the deity of Christ can produce confusion. For historic Christians, applying the name LORD to Jesus confirms his full equality with the Father. Reading Scripture carefully requires noticing how different communities define their terms.
Prayer and Calling upon the Name of the Lord
Recognizing Jesus as Lord shapes how believers approach daily prayer. When the New Testament commands Christians to call upon the name of the Lord, it invites them to place their complete trust in Jesus. Confessing his lordship is not merely an intellectual exercise.
Believers have long prayed to the risen Christ. Thomas addressed him as My Lord and my God. Believers throughout history have followed that identical pattern.
Begin your prayers today by honoring Jesus as the sovereign Lord over your circumstances. You do not pray to an uncertain power or an impersonal force. You speak to the Savior who holds all authority in heaven and earth, yet invites you to call upon his name for salvation.
Key Bible verses
- And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. — Exodus 3:14
- Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. — John 8:58-59
- I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. — Isaiah 45:23
- That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:10-11
- For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. — Romans 10:13
Frequently asked questions
Is Jesus Yahweh?
Yes, in historic Christian theology Jesus is Yahweh because he shares the one divine nature of the God of Israel. This means Jesus is fully God, though he remains a distinct person from the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Is Jesus Jehovah?
In historic orthodox Christianity, Jesus is Jehovah in the sense that Jehovah is an English rendering of the divine name Yahweh, which belongs to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jehovah refers exclusively to the Father.
Why does the Bible say LORD in capital letters?
English Bibles print LORD in capital letters to indicate where the original Hebrew text uses the divine name YHWH. Translators adopted this convention to distinguish the personal covenant name of God from standard titles like master or ruler.
What did Jesus mean by 'Before Abraham was, I am'?
Many Christians understand Jesus in John 8:58 as claiming the divine name I AM from Exodus 3:14, pointing to his eternal divine identity. Other readers interpret the phrase as an assertion of his preexistence rather than a claim to the divine name.
Is Jesus the same person as the Father?
No, Jesus is not the same person as the Father. Historic Christian doctrine teaches that the Father and the Son are distinct persons who share the same eternal divine substance.