ineffable name was invested with
magic powers, as if God himself dwelt therein.(613) Thus it came to be
used as a talisman by the popular saints.(614) Indeed, God is described as
conjuring the depths of the abyss by His holy name, lest they overflow
their boundaries.(615) Moreover, the Name, like the Word, or Logos, was
regarded as a creative power, so that we are told that before the world
was created there were only God and His holy Name.(616) Owing to the
introduction of _Adonai_ (the Lord) for JHVH, the pronunciation of the
Name fell into oblivion and the Name itself became a mystery; therefore
its cosmic element also was lost and it dropped into the sphere of mystic
and philosophical speculation.

7. Another attribute of God which received some attention, owing to the
frequent mention of the omnipotence of God in the Bible, was _ha Geburah_
(the Power). A familiar rabbinic expression is: "We have heard from the
mouth of the Power," that is, from the divine omnipotence.(617) Two
fundamental principles were early perceived in the moral order of the
world: the punitive justice and compassion of God. These were taken as the
meanings of the two most common Biblical names of God, _JHVH_ and
_Elohim_. Elohim, being occasionally used in dispensing justice,(618) was
thought to signify God in His capacity as Judge of the whole earth, and
hence as the divine Justice. JHVH, on the other hand, meant the divine
mercy, as it was used in the revelation of the long-suffering and merciful
God to Moses after the sin of Israel before the golden calf.(619) Thus
both the rabbis and Philo(620) often speak of these two attributes,
justice and mercy, as though they constituted independent beings,
deliberating with God as to what He should do. The Midrash tells in a
parable how before the creation of man, Justice, Mercy, Truth, and Peace
were called in by God as His counselors to deliberate whether or no man
should be created.(621)

8. One Haggadah concludes from the passage about Creation in Proverbs,
that there are three creative powers, Wisdom, Understanding, and
Knowledge.(622) Another derives from Scripture seven creative principles:
Knowledge, Understanding, Might, Grace and Mercy, Justice and Rebuke;(623)
and seven attributes which do service before God's throne: Wisdom,
Judgment and Justice, Grace and Mercy, Truth and Peace.(624) By combining
these lists of three and seven this was finally enlarged to ten, which
became the basis fo