Exodus 6:3
in Exodus 6I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them.
KJV
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.
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This verse in Exodus 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verseBy the name of God Almighty - אל שדי EL-Shaddal, God All-sufficient; God the dispenser or pourer-out of gifts. See Clarke on Gen 17:1 (note). But by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them - This passage has been a sort of crux criticorum, and has been variously explained.
This site's exposition
And God spake unto Moses
on Exodus 6:2-3
Verse 3 raises a real problem, because Genesis uses the name from 2:4 onward and Abraham speaks it at Genesis 15:2. Matthew Henry, John Wesley and John Gill read known as known in the character the name declares, so the fathers heard the name and did not yet see it act. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the clause as a question instead, by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. The source-critical reading treats the verse as evidence of separate documents standing behind the Pentateuch.
This site's exposition
as God Almighty
The LORD contrasts two stages of revelation. The patriarchs knew Him as God Almighty, El Shaddai, yet the name LORD already appears in Genesis, so interpreters differ on the meaning. Adam Clarke calls the verse long debated; John Wesley holds that the patriarchs knew the name but had not yet seen its meaning worked out in kept promises, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the clause as a question.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The God of gods is the Lord Christ; with the Father and Holy Spirit he is truly called God of gods, though the title is not wholly appropriate to the Godhead because the human tongue cannot, as we have already said, indicate the height of …
It will naturally be asked how he that is beyond the universe, himself the only almighty God, appeared to the fathers. And the answer will be found if we realize the accuracy of Holy Scripture.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The patriarchs knew this name, but they did not know him in this matter by that which this name signifies. God would now be known by his name Jehovah, that is, 1. A God performing what he had promised, and so giving being to his promises.
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty,.... Able to fulfil all his purposes, promises, and covenant, with whom nothing is impossible; or Elshaddai, God all-sufficient, who has a sufficiency of happiness in himself, and everything to supply the wants of his creatures in things temporal and spiritual, see Gen 17:1, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them; which he had in the preceding verse called himself by.
When the salvation of the saints is completed in eternal life, then he will be known by his name Jehovah ( Rev. xxii. 13 ); in the mean time they shall find him, for their strength and support, El-shaddai, a God all-sufficient, a God that is enough and will be so, Mic. vii. From his covenant: I have established my covenant,
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
God Almighty--All enemies must fall, all difficulties must vanish before My omnipotent power, and the patriarchs had abundant proofs of this. but by my name, &c.--rather, interrogatively, by My name Jehovah was I not known to them? Am not I, the Almighty God, who pledged My honor for the fulfilment of the covenant, also the self-existent God who lives to accomplish it?
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֵרָ֗א | vaera' | and I appeared | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַבְרָהָ֛ם | ʾavraham | Abraham | H85 → | 175 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יִצְחָ֥ק | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| וְאֶֽל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֖ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| בְּאֵ֣ל | beel | <in> God | H410 → | 241 times |
| שַׁדָּ֑י | shadai | Almighty | H7706 → | |
| וּשְׁמִ֣י | ushemi | and name my | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נוֹדַ֖עְתִּי | noda'ti | I made myself known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ | lahem | to <the> them |
וָאֵרָ֗אand I appeared
vaera'H7200 →1300 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַבְרָהָ֛םAbraham
ʾavrahamH85 →175 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יִצְחָ֥קIsaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
וְאֶֽל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
יַעֲקֹ֖בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
בְּאֵ֣ל<in> God
beelH410 →241 times
שַׁדָּ֑יAlmighty
shadaiH7706 →
וּשְׁמִ֣יand name my
ushemiH8034 →864 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נוֹדַ֖עְתִּיI made myself known
noda'tiH3045 →945 times
לָהֶֽם׃to <the> them
lahem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 44:6Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
it leads to
- Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 41:4
Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD—the first and the last—I am He.”
- Isaiah 43:10–11
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed,…
- Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
- Isaiah 44:8
Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
- Revelation 1:8
Through
Exodus 3:14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
it leads to
- John 8:58
“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- Psalms 90:2
Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
- John 8:58
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsAbrahamCalled out of Ur, the father of all who believe, justified by faith, and the friend of God through whose seed all nations are bles…
- PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 49:1; Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 5.13.240; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.