The Jews believe that the name of God is more than just a title. In fact, in Judaism, the name symbolizes how the Jewish conceptualizes divine nature. They also used the 72 sacred names of God to describe how God relates not only to the Jewish but to people from all over the world.
In Hebrew, the 72 Sacred Names of God are referred to as “Esoteric Hebrew Names of God”. In this sacred names’ list, one will find names of God which were primarily used in the practice of Kabbalah as well as the Kabbalistic meditation. These names are used apart from referring to him as the God of Israel as depicted in the Tanakh or the Torah, Ketuvim and Nevi’im.
How were the 72 sacred names of God derived?
The sacred names of God, in Jewish tradition, were derived using two groups. The first group is consisted of the Theoretical Kabbalists, who derived and meditated on the Hebrew names of God using their spiritual beliefs. They made use of permutations to study these names. The second group, on the other hand, is comprised of the Practical Kabbalists, who made use of these names to affect both supernatural and physical worlds. From here, they used the sacred names of God and inscribed them on protective names and artifacts.
Some of the other alternate names given to God were derived using Biblical verses. These ones are comprised of: (1) the Notarikon, a method wherein first and last letters of certain verses in the Bible were used to form an acronym; (2) the Temura, a method where substitution of letters are made, that is, a letter within a verse or phrase are exchanged with opposite letters and from there, results were calculated; (3) Gematria, also known as a numerological interpretation of the sacred names of God, is a method that letter and word equivalences to derive God’s names; and (4) Kabbalah, one that uses permutation of God’s sacred name, also makes use of certain attributes of God and associates them with the Tree of Life.
The 72 sacred names of God translated into English
There is much confusion in how to translate the Hebrew names of God into its English equivalent. If one will try to look into Jewish prayers and interpret them in English, it will be noted that the name of God is mentioned more than just once in a paragraph. The first time it appears in a paragraph, the name “God” will be mentioned while in the latter parts, the pronoun, “he” is used. In Christian, Jewish and even Muslim writings, “He” (with a capital letter ‘H’) is used to refer to God.
Using the 72 sacred names of God
David Weitzman, artist for KA Gold Jewelry, has this to say when it comes to the sacred names of God: ” Dividing the 216 letters of the sentence (in Hebrew) to thirds will give us 72 combinations of 3 letters. There are many stories about Special Forces for the letters’ combinations. In fact, in the Jewish tradition there is no mention of any special forces for these names. Only the combination of all the 72 trios together at a very certain order will give us the secret. Apparently, it is a formula which is common to all things in existence.”
This interpretation brings us to realization that the 72 sacred names of God, as interpreted by Practical Kabbalists, can be placed in certain artifacts. This is why pendants like the 72 sacred names of God silver and other Jewish jewelry have been conceptualized. By wearing these pieces, one will surely find peace through being one with God.
