Editing Names of God in Judaism (section)

=== Adonai ===
[[File:Shefa Tal.png|thumb|right|300px|Shefa Tal – A [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] explanation of the [[Priestly Blessing]] with ''Adonai'' inscribed]]
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{{lang|he|אֲדֹנָי}} ({{Transliteration|he|ăḏōnāy}}, {{IPA|he|adoˈnaj}}, {{translation|My Lords|literal=yes}}, {{lang|la|[[pluralis majestatis]]}} taken as singular) is the possessive form of {{transliteration|he|[[adon]]}} ('Lord'), along with the [[first person singular|first-person singular]] pronoun [[enclitic]].{{refn|group=n|[[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]], ''Hebrew Grammar'', §124i (on [[pluralis majestatis]]): "Further, {{lang|he|אֲדֹנִים}}, as well as the singular {{lang|he|אָדוֹן}}, (lordship) lord, e.g. {{lang|he|אֲדֹנִים קָשֶׁה}} a cruel lord, Is 19:4; {{lang|he|אֲדֹנֵי הָאָרֶץ}} the lord of the land, Gn 42:30, cf. Gn 32:19; so especially with the suffixes of the 2nd and 3rd persons {{lang|he|אֲדֹנֶיךָ, אֲדֹנַיִךְ}} ψ 45:12, {{lang|he|אֲדֹנָיו}}, &c., also {{lang|he|אֲדֹנֵינוּ}} (except 1 S 16:16); but in 1st sing. always {{lang|he|אֲדֹנִי}}. So also {{lang|he|בְּעָלִים}} (with suffixes) lord, master (of slaves, cattle, or inanimate things; but in the sense of {{lang|la|maritus}}, always in the singular), e.g. {{lang|he|בְּעָלָיו}} Ex 21:29, Is 1:3, &c."}} As with {{transliteration|he|Elohim}}, Adonai's grammatical form is usually explained as a [[pluralis excellentiae|plural of majesty]]. In the Hebrew Bible, the word is nearly always used to refer to God (approximately 450 occurrences). As pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton came to be avoided in the [[Hellenistic period]], Jews may have begun to drop the Tetragrammaton when presented alongside Adonai and subsequently to expand it to cover for the Tetragrammaton in the forms of spoken prayer and written scripture. Owing to the expansion of {{transliteration|he|[[chumra]]}} (the idea of "building a fence around the [[Torah]]"), the word {{transliteration|he|Adonai}} itself has come to be too holy to say for Orthodox Jews outside of prayer, leading to its replacement by {{transliteration|he|[[#HaShem|HaShem]]}} ('The Name').

The singular forms {{transliteration|he|adon}} and {{transliteration|he|adoni}} ('my lord') are used in the Hebrew Bible as royal titles,<ref>{{citation |title=International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |page=157 |contribution=Lord}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Focus on the Kingdom |url=http://focusonthekingdom.org/ |contribution=Adonai and Adoni (Psalm 110:1) |contribution-url=http://focusonthekingdom.org/articles/adonai.htm |publisher=[[Restoration Fellowship]] |access-date=5 June 2015 |archive-date=9 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150609164010/http://focusonthekingdom.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> as in the [[First Book of Samuel]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Samuel|29:8|HE}}</ref> and for distinguished persons. The [[Phoenician religion|Phoenicians]] used it as a title of [[Tammuz (deity)|Tammuz]] (the origin of the [[ancient Greek religion|Greek]] [[Adonis]]). It is also used very occasionally in Hebrew texts to refer to God (e.g. Psalm 136:3.)<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalm|136:3|HE}}</ref> [[Deuteronomy]] 10:17 has the Tetragrammaton alongside the superlative constructions "God of gods" ({{transliteration|he|elōhê ha-elōhîm}}, literally, "the gods of gods") and "Lord of lords" ({{transliteration|he|adōnê ha-adōnîm}}, "the lords of lords": {{lang|he|כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הוּא אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַאֲדֹנֵי הָאֲדֹנִים}}; JPS 2006: "For your God יהוה is God supreme and Lord supreme").<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|10:17|HE}}</ref>

The final syllable of Adonai uses the vowel {{transliteration|he|[[kamatz]]}}, rather than {{transliteration|he|[[patach]]}} which would be expected from the Hebrew for 'my lord(s)'. Professor Yoel Elitzur explains this as a normal transformation when a Hebrew word becomes a name, giving as other examples [[Nathan (given name)|Nathan]], [[Yitzchak]], and [[Yigal]].<ref>Yoel Elitzur, ''Shemot HaEl VeTaarichei Ketivat Sifrei HaMiqra'', published in ''Be'einei Elohim VaAdam'', Beit Morasha Jerusalem: 2017, p. 407 footnote 24; see also [https://www.academia.edu/27330839/%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%95%D7%AA%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%99_%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%91%D7%AA_%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90 link] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826205735/https://www.academia.edu/27330839/%D7%A9%D7%9E%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9C_%D7%95%D7%AA%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%9B%D7%99_%D7%9B%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%91%D7%AA_%D7%A1%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%99_%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90 |date=2019-08-26 }}.</ref> As {{transliteration|he|Adonai}} became the most common reverent substitute for the Tetragrammaton, it too became considered un-erasable due to its holiness. As such, most prayer books avoid spelling out the word {{transliteration|he|Adonai}}, and instead write two {{transliteration|he|[[yodh]]s}} ({{large|{{lang|he|יְיָ}}}}) in its place.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Robert James Victor Hiebert |title=The Old Greek Psalter: Studies in Honour of Albert Pietersma |author2=Claude E. Cox |author3= Peter John Gentry |date=2001 |publisher=Sheffield Acad. Press |isbn=1-84127-209-4 |location=Sheffield |page=129 }}</ref>

The forms {{transliteration|he|Adaunoi}}, {{transliteration|he|Adoinoi}}, and {{transliteration|he|Adonoi}}<ref>{{cite book
 |author1           = Salomon Ibn Gebirol
 |author-link1      = Solomon ibn Gabirol
 |editor-last1      = Myer
 |editor-first1     = Isaac
 |translator-last1  = Myer
 |translator-first1 = Isaac
 |chapter           = Excerpts from the Zohar
 |year              = 1888
 |title             = Qabbalah: The Philosophical Writings of Solomon Ben Yehudah Ibn Gebirol or Avicebron and their connection with the Hebrew Qabbalah and Sepher ha-Zohar, with remarks upon the antiquity and content of the latter, and translations of selected passages from the same [...]
 |url               = https://books.google.com/books?id=96pb89Wg4X4C
 |location          = Philadelphia
 |publisher         = Isaac Myer
 |page              = 341
 |access-date       = 8 September 2023
 |quote             = [...] the Perfect Name Adonoi or Adonai.
 |archive-date      = 8 September 2023
 |archive-url       = https://web.archive.org/web/20230908045743/https://books.google.com/books?id=96pb89Wg4X4C
 |url-status        = live
}}</ref>
represent [[Ashkenazi Hebrew]] variant pronunciations of the word {{transliteration|he|Adonai}}.