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Part One · Chapter Sixty-One — Divine Names: Only the Tetragrammaton Is a Proper Noun
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All the names of God, exalted be He, that are found in all the books are derived from actions — and this is hidden from no one except for a single name, which is Yod Heh Waw Heh; for it is a proper noun for Him, exalted be He, and for that reason it is called the Explicit Name, meaning that it indicates His essence, exalted be He, with a clear indication in which there is no sharing. As for the other great names, they indicate through sharing, because they are derived from actions that have their like in us, as we explained. Even the name used as a substitute for Yod Heh Waw Heh is itself derived from lordship: 'the man, my lord, spoke' (Gen 42:30) — and the difference between saying adoni with a short nun and saying it with a lengthened nun and a qameṣ is like the difference between saying sari, meaning 'my chief,' and saying sarai, the wife of Abram — for in the latter there is a generalization and broadening for others. Even the angel was addressed: 'My lord, pray do not pass' (Gen 18:3). I have highlighted this for Adonai in particular — the substitute name — because it is the most specific of the well-known names of Him, exalted be He. As for the others, such as Judge (Dayan), Just (Ṣaddiq), Gracious (Ḥannun), Merciful (Raḥum), and God (Elohim) — their generality and derivation are manifest. But the name that is spelled from Yod Heh Waw Heh — no known derivation is known for it, nor does any other share in it. And without doubt this great name, which is not pronounced — as you know — except in the Temple by the consecrated priests of the Lord specifically, in the Priestly Blessing, and by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, indicates a meaning in which no sharing between God, exalted be He, and anything other than He exists; and perhaps it indicates, according to the language of which today we have but the barest trace, and according to its pronunciation as well, the meaning of necessary existence. In general, the greatness of this name and its protection from being pronounced is because it indicates His essence, exalted be He, from the angle that nothing among the creatures shares in that indication — as they said of it, of blessed memory: 'My name that is unique to Me.'
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As for all the other names — they all indicate attributes, not an essence alone, but an essence with attributes; because they are derived. For that reason they create the illusion of multiplicity — I mean, they create the illusion that there are attributes, and that there is an essence and a meaning additional to the essence; for such is the indication of every derived name, as it indicates a meaning and an unstated subject with which that meaning is associated. And since it has been demonstrated that God, exalted be He, is not a subject with which meanings are associated, it follows that the derived names are either according to the relation of His action to Him, or according to the guidance toward His perfection.
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For that reason Rabbi Ḥanina had an aversion to saying 'the Great, the Mighty, the Awesome' — were it not for the two necessities he mentioned — because these create the illusion of essential attributes, meaning that they are perfections that exist in Him. And when these derived names from actions of Him, exalted be He, multiplied, they created the illusion for some people of multiple attributes for Him, as many as the actions from which they were derived. For that reason he promised that people will eventually attain an apprehension that removes from them this confusion, saying: 'On that day the Lord shall be one and His name one' (Zech 14:9) — meaning: just as He is one, so too will He then be called by a single name only, which is that which indicates the essence alone without being derived. And in Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer they said: 'Before the world was created, the Holy One blessed be He and His name alone existed.' Reflect on how he explicitly stated that all these derived names came into being only after the world came into being — and this is correct, for they were all names coined according to the actions that exist in the world. But when one considers His essence stripped, abstracted from every action, He has no derived name whatsoever; but a single coined name to indicate His essence. And we have no non-derived name except this one — which is Yod Heh Waw Heh, which is the Explicit Name without qualification. Think nothing other than this.
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Do not let enter your mind the nonsense of the amulet books and what you hear from them or find in their foolish writings — names they fabricate that indicate no meaning whatsoever, calling them 'names' and claiming they require holiness and purity and that they perform wonders. All these things are reports that it does not befit a perfect person even to hear, much less to believe.
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The Explicit Name is not to be called by that designation under any circumstances other than this written four-letter name, which is not read according to its spelling. They said in Sifre: 'So you shall bless — so in this language; so with the Explicit Name.' And there it was said: 'In the Temple as it is written; in the provinces with its substitute.' And in the Talmud it was said: 'So with the Explicit Name — you say it with the Explicit Name; or perhaps only with its substitute? Scripture teaches: and they shall place My name — My name that is unique to Me.'
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It has thus become clear to you that the Explicit Name is this four-letter name, and that it alone is the indicator of the essence without the association of any other meaning — and for that reason they said of it: 'unique to Me.'
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And I shall explain to you what led people to what they believe regarding the matter of the names, and clarify for you the root of this question, and uncover its covering — so that no problem remains in it unless you choose to deceive yourself in the chapter after this.