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Grow With Me

Exodus 3:13–15

At the bush, Moses asks God's name and hears "I will be who I will be"

13Moses said to Elohim, “Look, if I come to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

14Elohim said to Moses, “I will be who I will be.” And he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’”

15Elohim also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.

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In its context

11Moses said to Elohim, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?”

12He said, “But I will be with you, and this will be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you have brought out the people from Egypt, you will serve Elohim on this mountain.”

…

16Go and gather the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘YHWH, the Elohim of your fathers, has appeared to me, the Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, “I have surely attended to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt,

17and I have said: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

Read all of Exodus 3

Its words in the original

  • יֹּאמֶרyomer· say

    Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".

  • מֹשֶׁהmoshe· Moses

    Moses, the man God called to bring Israel out of Egypt and through whom he gave the Law. His name sounds like "draw out" (Exodus 2:10).

  • אֱלֹהִיםelohim· Elohim, God, gods

    The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.

  • בָאva· come, go in, bring

    Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.

  • בְּנֵיbene· son

    Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).

  • יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel

    Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.

  • אֲבוֹתֵיavote· father

    Father; also ancestor ("our fathers"), and the founder or head of a family or group.

  • שְׁלָחַshelaach· send, stretch out

    Send; stretch out (the hand); let go, send away, set free.

  • שְּׁמshem· name

    Name. In the Bible a name says who someone is; so it also means fame, renown or reputation.

  • אֶהְיֶהehye· be, become, happen

    Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".

  • יְהוָהyehva· YHWH

    The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.

  • אַבְרָהָםavraham· Abraham

    Abraham, the name God gave to Abram; it sounds like "father of a multitude" (Genesis 17:5). The father of the people of Israel, to whom God promised the land and blessing for all the families of the earth.

  • יִצְחָקyitschak· Isaac

    Isaac, the son promised to Abraham and Sarah, father of Esau and Jacob. His name means "he laughs" (Genesis 17:17, 19; 21:6).

  • יַעֲקֹבyaakov· Jacob

    Jacob, the younger son of Isaac and Rebekah, twin brother of Esau and father of the twelve tribes. In Hebrew "Yaakov" sounds like "heel" and "supplant" (Genesis 25:26; 27:36). God later gave him the name Israel; the name also stands for his descendants, the people of Israel.

  • עֹלָםolam· forever, eternal

    A very long time whose end cannot be seen: looking forward, "forever"; looking back, "of old", "ancient".

  • זִכְרִzichri· remembrance, name

    Remembrance: the name by which someone is remembered and called upon.

  • דֹרdor· generation

    Generation: the people who live in the same period; also an age, "all generations".

Who God Is