The God of the Hebrew people is considered ineffable, meaning God cannot be fully described, pictured, or defined using human language.

The Ineffable Name
The Tetragrammaton: The proper name of God is written in Hebrew as four letters, YHWH.

Lost Pronunciation: Because the name was too sacred to speak aloud outside the Temple, the exact original pronunciation was lost over time.
[Actual pronounciation and meaning: Y'haweh. Meaning: "He that Causes Being or Existence" originating from the Hebrew root word for "to be."]

Substitutes: Devout readers use terms like Adonai ("Lord") or HaShem ("The Name") instead of trying to pronounce the four-letter name.

Negative Theology
Defining by Limits: Medieval Jewish philosophers, most famously Maimonides, argued that humans cannot attribute positive human traits to God.

Apophatic Approach: This philosophy states that we can only truly describe God by stating what God is not—such as not mortal, not physical, and not limited.