Names of God in Ijaw language and their meaning

June 27, 2024

Given Ijaw people are multilingual society, there are different names of God in Ijaw language and their meanings also differ. But all of them are united with the mission to praise God and his almightiness. So, let's discover them and see what they mean.

Names of God in Ijaw language

Nigeria is considered to be a multi-ethnic community. Each territory, each clan has its different unique customs, traditions and cultural peculiarities. Religion and religious customs are no exception. So it is definitely of no surprise, that each tribe have different names to denote the God.

Generally, God is described as the Supreme Being, who created everything in the world and the world itself, in various religious theories and dogmas. And under the circumstances of people's acceptance of this Supreme Being existence, a necessity to find a name for Him occurred.

And today we are going to talk about names for God and their meaning in Ijaw language. So what is the name of god in Ijaw?

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There are two common ones that are used to regard a name of God in Ijaw language. The most frequently used name is Tamara. From Ijaw language it can be translated as "He who creates" or "Creator". There are some other variations of this name, which we are happy to introduce to you:

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The most related name of God to Tamara is Woyingi. The difference is in the gender belonging. The thing is, the structure of the word is made up of two stems - "wo" and "yingi" - which are translated from Ijaw language as "our" and "mother".

Here is a detailed explanation from E. J. Alagoa's work "God is Mother: A Historical Review of Women in the Development of Niger Delta Communities":

To the Ijo, God is not merely Creator but Procreator. The divine power to bring life into being is understood in the light of the function of women to replenish the earth. Accordingly, among many Central Delta and Western Delta Ijo, God was simply Woyengi, Our Mother. Among the Ijo groups of the Eastern Niger Delta, God was referred to in the feminine gender, as She, before the ascendency of the Western Christian idea of God the father, or “Our Father who art in Heaven.

African gods: Who are Ijaw water spirits?

God, as a rule, is only one, although besides him there are a host of lower otherworldly beings: spirits, deceased ancestors, ghosts, demons, etc. In Ijaw religious traditions, water spirits are the most worshiped ones.

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In the myths of the Ijaw people, owo - spirits of water - are the first beings created by God. They are changelings, whose true appearance is rather unpleasant: white skin, two heads, also they have membrance like those of geese instead of palms and feet. Owo are friendly to people but punish those who violate the customs.