Exodus 3:13. When they shall say, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? What name shall I use, whereby thou mayest be distinguished from false gods, and thy people may be encouraged to expect deliverance from thee? read more
The God of Israel (3:13-22)If Moses was to present himself to the people of Israel as the one who would lead them out of Egypt, he would need to convince them that he knew God’s purposes for them. But he doubted whether they would understand, since they did not know the character of him whom they vaguely called the God of their ancestors. In asking God for help in explaining his purposes to them, Moses was wanting to know not simply the name of God, but the character of the God who owned that... read more
THE TETRAGRAMMATON (Exodus 3:13-15)"And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of lsrael, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your... read more
Exodus 3:13. Shall say to me, What is his name? &c.— Bishop Warburton judiciously observes, that "at this time, so great was the degeneracy of the Israelites in Egypt, and so sensible was Moses of its effects, in ignorance of, or alienation from, the true God, that he would willingly have declined the office; and, when absolutely commanded to undertake it, he desired that God would let him know, by what NAME he would be called, when the people should ask the name of the God of their... read more
6. Moses’ call 3:1-4:18 read more
Moses’ fear that the Israelite elders would not accept him is understandable (Exodus 3:13). God had not revealed Himself to His people for over 400 years. When Moses asked how he should answer the Israelites’ question, "What is His name?" he was asking how he could demonstrate to them that their God had sent him."According to the conception prevailing in the ancient East, the designation of an entity was to be equated, as it were, with its existence: whatever is without an appellation does not... read more
The Call of Moses and his Commission to be the Deliverer of Israel1. Horeb] The names Horeb and Sinai seem to be synonymous, though it has been suggested that Horeb is the name given to the entire mountain range, while Sinai denotes the particular mountain where the Law was given. Assuming that the Pentateuch is composed of different documents, it is better to believe that Horeb is the name used by one set of writers and Sinai by another. Horeb is here called the mountain of God by... read more
(13) What is his name?—In Egypt, and wherever polytheism prevailed, every god had, as a matter of course, a name. Among the Israelites hitherto God had been known only by titles, as El or Elohim, “the Lofty One; “Shaddai,” the Powerful; “Jahveh, or Jehovah, “the Existent.” These titles were used with some perception of their meaning; no one of them had as yet passed into a proper name. Moses, imagining that the people might have become so far Egyptianised as to be no longer content with this... read more
Exodus 3:2 It is the office and function of the imagination to renew life in lights and sounds and emotions that are outworn and familiar. It calls the soul back once more under the dead ribs of nature, and makes the meanest bush burn again, as it did to Moses, with the visible presence of God. J. Russell Lowell. References. III. 2. A. M. Mackay, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 20. G. F. Browne, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 76. P. McAdam Muir, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 246. E. E.... read more
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Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 3:13
What is his name - The meaning of this question is evidently: “By which name shall I tell them that the promise is confirmed?” Each name of the Deity represented some aspect or manifestation of His attributes (compare the introduction to Genesis). What Moses needed was not a new name, but direction to use that name which would bear in itself a pledge of accomplishment. Moses was familiar with the Egyptian habit of choosing from the names of the gods that which bore specially upon the wants and... read more