What’s In A Name?, Pt 19: HaAv, Abba
John 15:1-2 1“I am the real vine, and my Father [HaAv] is the gardener. 2Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.
Galatians 4:6 6Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Every language contains words which have been brought into them from other languages. This is called transliteration and the English word “Ok” is an example as it has been transliterated into most major languages today. The ancient Hebrew language is no exception.
In this posting we are looking at two Hebrew words for Father; the one HaAv being more formal means “the Father” and the other Abba being more colloquial also means Father, or perhaps “daddy”. Abba originally was an Aramaic word adopted or transliterated into ancient Hebrew. Aramaic is a sister Semitic language very similar to Hebrew with much the same similarity, say, as Portuguese has to Spanish. There was much sharing of words between the two and Abba was one. Now you may notice in the Galatians verse above the phrase “Abba, Father” is used and you also may be aware this phrasing occurs several times in the New Testament. And you may ask, “Isn’t this repetitious?” Well, yes, it is because that is a grammatical way of reinforcing a point.
Jesus came to earth for the main purpose of healing it and bringing redemption to human beings. One of the sub-purposes was to upset the status quo and one of the ways he did that was to emphasize the Father/Son relationship he had with the LORD God. This was enormously offensive to the religious leaders of the day for a variety of reasons. First, pious Jews were aware of the enormous gap between a holy, righteous God and sinful human beings and would never have dared refer to God as their personal father. He was certainly father to the nation of Israel, but not father to individuals. And referring to God as ‘our Father’ as in the Lord’s prayer was just too much intimacy. Jesus referred to God not in terms commonly used to describe a typical Middle Eastern patriarch wielding considerable power within the family, but as a tender and compassionate Father who gave grace to both righteous and sinful humans. Second, claiming such a relationship with God implied equal status with God. This was the shocker as Jesus was clearly a man and to make such claims was heresy.
Whereas Father (HaAv) is the more acceptable term, daddy (Abba) has developed some baggage. When imported into Hebrew the Aramaic Abba carried the sense of ‘dear father’—a slightly more intimate name than just father. Recently preachers have tried to communicate this intimacy and have said Abba carries the sense of daddy. According to Chad Harrington of Him Publications, Abba carries two connotations: One, intimacy as in daddy, and two, obedience. It’s like the word’s full meaning is ‘Daddy, I will obey you.’ I relate to this understanding myself because while I understand God loves me, I also understand He is my Master, Creator of all that is seen and all that is unseen. This sense of respect and honor is imbedded in the term father but absent in the term daddy and is exactly the reason why daddy is an inappropriate translation for Abba.
So, these issues aside, why is father important in our understanding of God? Some people have difficulty accepting the image of a loving father. Their own natural father/child relationship was perhaps flawed deeply. In the eighties it was even semi-fashionable to blame parents for current feelings or failures. But God is a good, good Father, as the song goes, and Psalm 103 describes just what a good Father he is.
· He forgives our failures.
· He lifts us up when we are low.
· He encourages us with love and compassion.
· He brings justice on our oppressors.
· He teaches us.
· He maintains his cool and is slow to anger.
· His love for us is so great we can’t understand it.
· He understands we are weak and frail and has compassion for us.
So even though our earthly fathers did not maintain this same standard of love, we need to remember that they too had fathers who failed to meet this same standard. God presents the example of how a good father should lead his family. But none of us are capable of maintaining this Godly example so it is unfair for us children to blame our fathers because they never had much of a chance either. Remember, someone in your family has to be the first to love properly, or at least attempt to do so. Can it be you?
I grew up with a great father, but he was distant. Dad never once talked about his father and so I gather he didn’t have much of an example to follow. He did the best he knew how to do. Mom was the caregiver, dad the disciplinarian. Pretty much the normal American upbringing, and I projected this same expectation on God the Father. This was manifestly unfair of me, but I eventually discovered Psalm 103 and realized He had been showing those characteristics to me. I totally missed that it was happening. At that time in my life, I was estranged from my two girls. I was divorced from their mom when they were young, and I became even more distant to them than my father had been to me. I wasn’t just distant, I was absent. But I resolved to repair that breach and now my girls and I are about as close as any can be.
Maybe this is a description of your relationship with your father. Or maybe, worse, he was an abuser. Either way you can change the pattern of behavior in your family. You can contribute to generational healing. And it will all start by accepting God the Father as your father and letting Him teach you what true love, acceptance, and forgiveness is like. Let Him.
Harrington, C. (2020). HIM Publications: The Biblical Meaning of “Abba”, and It’s Not Daddy. Retrieved from: The Biblical Meaning of “Abba,” and It’s Not Daddy - HIM Publications