Blog 07 – God’s Name
I will give a disclaimer before I begin. This is not as easy as many people believe it was or even should be. But: it is a fact.
Exodus 3:14-15 RSV
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, `I AM has sent me to you.'”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: this is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. In Biblical Hebrew, it reads:
14 וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה וַיֹּ֗אמֶר כֹּ֤ה תֹאמַר֙ לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה שְׁלָחַ֥נִיֵ אֲלֵיכֶֽם
(Exodus 3:14 WTT)
There are a few changes in Biblical Hebrew most readers won’t be familiar with.
1. English reads from left to right, then top to bottom. Biblical Hebrew reads right to left, then top to bottom. Next, English sentence structure is subject-verb-object language (SVO). Hebrew is verb-subject-object (VSO). So the words are positioned in different places in the sentence.
2. Next, words such as prepositions are separate words in English. In Biblical Hebrew they are often particles attached to their predicate word.
3. The subject of a verb is defined by either an initial letter for the imperfect or a trailing letter for the perfect. An ‘aleph’ is used for the first person “I” imperfect, whereas a ‘yod’ is used for “he.”
4. The last important point is that only consonants are written in the original manuscript. Vowels never appeared. Sometime around six hundred CE, the vowels were invented and added to today’s script. These are the small dots and dashes at the top and bottom of the words.
Putting these together, a direct translation of each word and its individual pieces in the order they appear in the Hebrew sentence structure reads (in the English from right to left to correspond to the Hebrew):
you-to sent am-I Israel people-to say thus said-he-and am-I who am-I Moses-to God(Elohim) said-he-and
(Note: I have yellow-highlighted the important words: they are “I”-the aleph and “AM”-heh-vav-heh.)
Now continue to the following verse 16:
Exodus 3:16 RSV
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them, `The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt;
לֵ֣ךְ וְאָֽסַפְתָּ֞ אֶת־זִקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֤ אֲלֵהֶם֙ יְהוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֤י אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ נִרְאָ֣ה אֵלַ֔י אֱלֹהֵ֧י אַבְרָהָ֛ם יִצְחָ֥ק וְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לֵאמֹ֑ר פָּקֹ֤ד פָּקַ֙דְתִּי֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְאֶת־הֶעָשׂ֥וּי לָכֶ֖ם בְּמִצְרָֽיִם׃
(Exodus 3:16 WTT)
The highlighted word had changed from a beginning letter “aleph – 1st person I” to a “yod-3rd person He.” (Aside: yes, the vav has changed shape, but it’s still the same letter.) The significance is that the tetragrammaton יְהוָ֞ה YHWH – pronounced “Yahweh,” uses the 3rd person “He is,” and not the first person “I AM.” And, throughout the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures, God’s name is “He is” and never again “I AM.”
(First aside: despite some Protestant denominations’ claim, God’s name at the time the Bible was written was not “Jehovah”. For example: the letter “J” was not even invented until around 1200 AD/CE. I will not address the change to Jehovah in this blog since it is outside the scope of this blog’s intent)
(Second aside: the vowels that occur in the tetragrammaton are the vowels for “adonai” – the Hebrew word for “Lord.” This tells a reader not to say the tetragrammaton, but speak the word adonai in place of it.)
Repeat: Last important point. In every verse in the Hebrew scriptures after this, God’s name is “He Is” in Hebrew, not “I Am.” The key question is “why?” Its ancillary is “what is going on here?” This question will be addressed in future blogs.