For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba Father!" (Romans 8:15, ESV)
How many of you have heard the term "Abba Father" being translated as daddy? I am sure many of you have especially if you attend a church in the South. When I first heard it, I thought it was weird calling God, "daddy." I was encouraged to call Him that when I pray. Thankfully, I never did that.
So does Abba mean daddy? Here is what a study from the ESV Study Bible says, Abba "was used by Jewish children for their earthly fathers...the claim that 'Abba' meant 'Daddy' is misleading and runs the risk of irreverance."
True, Abba does not directly translate to Daddy, Abba is "my father." It is a intensely familial word so "Daddy" could fit. The contextual use of the word as Daddy only runs the risk if the hearer is not explained the context of why that word was so uniquely used to describe the majestic holy God in a intensely purposeful familial word. It is a covenant term of how God's child (Jesus) and his adopted children (the Church) are uniquely God's children. We call him Abba, in the Southeast USA that concept is for many Southerners could be expressed in the idea of Daddy. Though it should be well explained that the idea is more on the personal covenant aspect than the actual word.
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