Exodus 3:15

3:11-15 Formerly Moses thought himself able to deliver Israel, and set himself to the work too hastily. Now, when the fittest person on earth for it, he knows his own weakness. This was the effect of more knowledge of God and of himself. Formerly, self-confidence mingled with strong faith and great zeal, now sinful distrust of God crept in under the garb of humility; so defective are the strongest graces and the best duties of the most eminent saints. But all objections are answered in, Certainly I will be with thee. That is enough. Two names God would now be known by. A name that denotes what he is in himself, I AM THAT I AM. This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies, 1. That he is self-existent: he has his being of himself. 2. That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 3. That he is incomprehensible; we cannot by searching find him out: this name checks all bold and curious inquiries concerning God. 4. That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature; let Israel know this, I AM hath sent me unto you. I am, and there is none else besides me. All else have their being from God, and are wholly dependent upon him. Also, here is a name that denotes what God is to his people. The Lord God of your fathers sent me unto you.

And God said moreover unto Moses,.... As a further explanation of the above name, and of the design and use of it: thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel: for their further instruction in the said name, and for the confirmation of the mission of Moses, and the success of it: the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; he who is Jehovah, and the covenant God of the ancestors of the people of Israel, and of them, so he is called, Ecclesiastes 3:6. this is my name for ever: meaning either "Ehjeh, I am", in the preceding verse, or, which is the same, Jehovah in this, and so both of them, and including also the name of the God of Abraham, &c. which he was always to be known by: and this is my memorial unto all generations; the name by which he should be made mention of both by himself and others, and by which he would be called to remembrance by his people, and what he had promised unto them, and done for them.

Exodus 3:15 . God will be known, 2d, By a name that speaks what he is to his people. Lest they should not understand the name I AM, Moses is directed to make use of another name of God more familiar to them. The Lord God of your fathers hath sent me unto you — Thus God made himself known, that he might revive among them the religion of their fathers, which was much decayed, and almost lost. And, that he might raise their expectations of the speedy performance of the promises made unto their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are particularly named, because with Abraham the covenant was first made, and with Isaac and Jacob often expressly renewed, and these three were distinguished from their brethren, and chosen to be the trustees of the covenant. This God will have to be his name for ever, and it has been, is, and will be his name, by which his worshippers know him, and distinguish him from all false gods.

(15) The Lord God of your fathers. —Heb., Jehovah, God of your fathers. The “I AM” of the preceding verse ( ‘ehyeh ) is modified here into Jahveh, or Jehovah, by a substitution of the third person for the first. The meaning of the name remains the same. This is my name for ever.—Jehovah is the pre. dominant name of God throughout the rest of the Old Testament. (On the meaning of the name see Note on Genesis 2:4.) Rendered by the LXX. κύριος, [“Lord”] the name appears under that form everywhere throughout the Authorised Version printed in capitals. It does not occur in the New Testament, since “Lord” takes its place. An equivalent of the name occurs, however, frequently in the Revelation of St. John, where God appears as “He which is, and which was, and which is to come” (Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 11:17; Revelation 16:5). Necessary, self-sustained, independent, eternal existence, must always be of his essence. My memorial—i.e., the designation by which I shall be remembered.

The Lord, Heb. Jehovah ; a word of the same root and signification with I am . See Exodus 6:3 . This he adds, because God was best known to the Israelites by that name; and to show, that though he had given himself a new name, yet he was the same God. This is my memorial, by which I will be remembered, owned, and served by my people, and distinguished from all others. See Psalm 102:12 135:13 .

Verse 15. - The Lord God . In the original Jehovah elokey - "Jehovah, God of your fathers," etc. The name is clearly an equivalent of the "I AM" in the preceding versa The exact mode of its formation from the old root hava , "to be," is still disputed among the best Hebraists. This is my name for ever . Henceforth there will be no change - this will be my most appropriate name so long as the world endures - "The Existent" - "The Alone Existent" - "He that is, and was, and is to come" ( Revelation 1:4, 8 ; Revelation 4:8 ; Revelation 11:17 ; Revelation 16:5 ). My memorial. The name whereby I am to be spoken of. Exodus 3:15

The Lord God ... - Better, Jehovah יהוה yehovâh, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. It corresponds exactly to the preceding verse, the words "I am" and "Jehovah" (Yahweh) being equivalent. This name met all the requirements of Moses, involving a two-fold pledge of accomplishment; the pledges of ancient benefits and of a new manifestation. Name ... memorial - The name signifies that by which God makes Himself known, the memorial that by which His people worship Him.

15. Yahweh , the Israelites are to be told, is the name of the God of their fathers, who has sent Moses to them. this is my name , &c.] The sentence, with its two parallel clauses, has a poetical tinge: the Heb. for ‘to all generations,’ also, occurs elsewhere only Proverbs 27:24 Kt. Cf. Psalm 135:13 . memorial ] The Heb. zçker means usually ‘remembrance’ (e.g. Exodus 17:14 ): here it is a poet. synonym of ‘name’; so Hosea 12:5 ; Psalm 30:4 = Psalm 97:12 (see RVm.); Isaiah 26:8 .

10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee—Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfully met and removed—and the happy issue of his labors was minutely described.

When Moses had been thus emboldened by the assurance of divine assistance to undertake the mission, he inquired what he was to say, in case the people asked him for the name of the God of their fathers. The supposition that the people might ask the name of their fathers' God is not to be attributed to the fact, that as the Egyptians had separate names for their numerous deities, the Israelites also would want to know the name of their own God. For, apart from the circumstance that the name by which God had revealed Himself to the fathers cannot have vanished entirely from the memory of the people, and more especially of Moses, the mere knowledge of the name would not have been of much use to them. The question, "What is His name?" presupposed that the name expressed the nature and operations of God, and that God would manifest in deeds the nature expressed in His name. God therefore told him His name, or, to speak more correctly, He explained the name יהוה, by which He had made Himself known to Abraham at the making of the covenant ( Genesis 15:7 ), in this way, אהיה אשׁר אהיה, "I am that I am," and designated Himself by this name as the absolute God of the fathers, acting with unfettered liberty and self-dependence.