“Naming God”
Anthropology’s contribution to biblical studies has opened up new understandings of the word of God. The study of people in cultures in different times and at various places of the world has opened new windows of meaning within the biblical text. When combining a historical-critical method of exegesis with an anthropological study of the significance of names within cultures a richer understanding can be found within the biblical text. In Exod 3:13-16, God speaks the divine name to Moses as the name of the God of the Hebrew ancestors, in the Hebrew account of God’s revelation to the Israelites. Within this revealed understanding is a God that is both immanent and transcendent, a God that is both accessible and inaccessible, and a God in time yet beyond time. Generally speaking, being given the name of someone or something is a kind of giving of that person’s power over to the other. Knowing the name enables the other to have access to the essence of that person.
Looking then to the name giving of Yahweh, written by Jews with the Tetragrammaton, YHVH or YHWH, so as not to pronounce the name, what is within this appearance when Moses says to God, “and [the Israelites] ask me, ‘What is his name? What shall I say to them?” . . . “and God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am” (Exod 3:13). Does this knowledge of the name of God take away the mystery and power of God by placing it in the minds of humans or does it possibly give more mystery and power to God? Can God truly be known through a name? How does this revelation stand within other names known and used for God by the Israelites? This paper will explore an understanding of names and naming among people of antiquity and the name of God revealed to Moses in the biblical text of Exod 3:13-16, with an awareness of the significance of this exchange and the meaning it carries for an understanding of what the name of Yahweh reveals about the nature and identity of God. All scripture passages will be taken from the New Revised Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
Therefore, an examination of what names have meant to people in different times and cultures will help to illuminate the biblical text of Exod 3:13-16 in order to better understand the message of this scripture and the meaning behind the giving of God’s name to the Israelites. Names take a significant place in the study of humanity as they are rich with history and meaning. The practice of naming is central to the human experience. People have been named during all times and names have carried significant insights into the person who was given their unique name, enabling that one to have an identity within the society and to have full capacity to relate to those in the community. It is also the belief that just as names give significance to people the absence of a proper name, can diminish their existence so much so that they are considered removed from reality.
One can see an example of this in the culture of traditional China and the Confucian ancestral rites. In traditional Chinese culture each person was given a personal name with the intention that the person’s being was considered identical to their name, so closely were the two believed to mingle. Therefore, at the time of death when a gravestone would be made, what they called a spirit tablet, and on it would be carved the name of the person enabling the person to continue to exist after they passed from this world through the reality of their name. This was part of the inter-connectedness of generations, and a way that the dead would still be present to the family in following generations. However if the name would be omitted, then so to would the person’s spirit cease to be. A similar understanding can also be found in ancient Egypt, in regards to a strict belief with the connection between name and existence, without the name the vital force or spirit did not exist within that culture.
Furthermore, names have often carried a meaningful message relating to the birth of the child, the hope placed within that life, or the purpose of that life as an expression of the family’s continuation. In various religious traditions this can be seen. In Islam, the Muslim name contained the birthplace, the tribe and a line of thought about the child, deeply placing the child within the social structure of the family. Christians especially Catholics have kept a practice of giving their children names of saints asking that saint’s special protection as well as giving witness to the faith. Christians living as a religious minority for example in areas that were Islamic regions the naming of a child with a saints name was important for preserving their identity as Christians. Then an example found in the Hebrew scripture’s is also an example of a child being named after the event of its birth when Rachel while dying at childbirth named him Ben-oni, meaning “son of affliction.” After her death his father, Jacob gave him the name Benjamin, “son of the right hand.”
Moreover another aspect and example of having a name was its function to give status and a place within the community. The name a person had could give status to them in the community, thus, enabling that one to act with their own sense of power or powerlessness in the community. The Hindu culture reflects status control within a caste system in which people are born, bound as they are to a certain social level, which their name carries. The name of the child should reflect their place within the system.
Therefore, in these examples it can be seen how the name of a person carried with it the very essence of the person, as well as at other times the relationship between the new life and the family and community was expressed in the name. Thus, on some levels to know the name was to engage the power and presence of that one, which in the case of Exod 3:13-16, what does this mean? For this was not only true for people, but was also true of deities, that gods existed and manifested their own power through their name. This was considered a part of cultic worship in ancient times where the name was used in prayer to make the power and presence of that named present. A manifestation of this is found in ancient Israel were God dwelt in the Temple through the name of Yahweh, believing that the revealed presence of God was in that place in the form of God’s power and will, while the inner most being of Yahweh, dwelt in heaven. Therefore, in practice, by the pronouncement of the name of Yahweh, God dwelt in the sanctuary of the Temple in power and by the will of God, which was made available to the Israelites.
Yet, another aspect to be considered in relation to gods manifesting their power and will if people would be able to invoke that god’s name was the practice that people have had in seeking protection and help through divine names, saints names and names of their ancestors. People have been comforted and found help in their petitions by calling on these names so as to connect them to the power of those, considered more powerful, whose names they petition. This invocation not only extends to God, but it also extends to others as a means of obtaining power and favor from the spirit world -the will or power of people who have gone before them. A vivid example of this today, is the practice of calling on the saints in the Catholic Church for what ever favor a person might be seeking. The ancient practices, which differ from this modern example, can be summed up that in their cultures the richness of the name extends even to the depths of the soul, capturing the essence of that one, and that to know the name of someone or some deity was to have access to the power within that being. Although the modern Catholic understanding may be similar in practice, by definition the individual power of the saint is not summoned, rather they are petitioned to go to God with the request. The handling of names in antiquity was taken seriously and had a heavy and real connection to the person’s identity and self whether living or dead.
However, much different can the connection be between a person’s inner most being and the name they were given, in modern-times. It could be disputed as to how real the name of a person makes someone present. The inter-generational, spiritual and event bound expressions of names as a deep connection of the person has largely been lost in modern American culture, as names are used more superficially. People may have their name changed if they do not want the name of their birth, and the name becomes more of a means of simple social identification. Titles of position become more important in modern culture as an identification of success or power, such as “Mr. President” or “Doctor Smith,” giving them a name of respect for what they have become in way of occupation or vocation.
Yet, where names still do have a sense of power operating in a person’s life is governmentally and economically. If a person knows the name of someone a connection has been established. If a person has access to official identification documents of that one then in a real sense they may be able to use the power or authority of that one to act as that person in the world. This can be seen in the cases of identity theft. Certainly identity theft has become a worrisome problem in today’s world, and can in fact take the person’s power to function in a society both legally and economically leaving the person to try and separate their own from the actions of someone else, who has stolen their name, their “identity.” The distinction, however, in identity theft is more of a social and economic power with legal ramifications rather than a spiritual sense of inner life. In this case of using someone’s name to operate in the world gives a lot of importance to the few words of a name, while at the same time words that flood the media do not have the weight of reality behind them as they once did in more oral cultures. Word in ancient times were closely connected to the personal experience of the objects with which people lived which gave life to the words they used.
Beginning then with the biblical text of Exod 3:13-16, an anthropological, historical-critical method will be used to illuminate the passage for insights into the name of God in relation to the Israelites that God, too, invokes, and to further examine what God is revealing or not revealing of God’s self within the text.
Moses said to God, “So I will go to the Israelites and say, ‘Your fathers’
God sent me to you.’ They will immediately ask me what His name is.
What shall I say to them?” “I Will Be Who I Will Be,” replied God to Moses. [God then] explained, “This is what you must say to the Israelites: ‘I Will Be
sent me to you.’” God then said to Moses, “You must [then] say
to the Israelites, ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, sent me to you.’ This is My eternal name, and this is
how I am to be recalled for all generations. “Go, gather the elders of Israel,
and say to them, ‘YHVH, the god of your fathers, appeared to me-the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He said, “I have granted you special providence
regarding what is happening to you in Egypt.
In Exodus 3:13-16, not only does God give God’s name to Moses, but God also names ancestors of the Israelites; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and identifies YHVH as their God. As mentioned earlier in this paper calling on the name of the deceased was a means to bring back the power and presence of the essence of that one. Here YHVH is not invoking the patriarchs, but rather is naming in retrospect their God and saying that their God was this God, YHVH. What purpose could there be that YHVH, would identify this God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, specifically? Within this passage Moses is concerned with “ ‘Your fathers’ God” (3:13). God responds as “the God of your fathers” (3:15), and that “all generations” (3:15), would recall this name of God. YHVH, sends Moses to “the elders of Israel” (3:16) with the message of deliverance.
Surrounding the name revealing of God is a lot of intricacies dealing with a people, for this passage is loaded with names of significance other than that of God. Each of the names speaks of a rich part of Israel’s history, as well as making known much of the social structure of the community. Each name of the patriarchs mentioned has a story of faith, a struggle with God, and a revelation of their own of their part in God’s revelation and salvation in history. This is clearly seen as a patriarchal society, with the repeated mention of “fathers.” Even the people who YHVH, sends Moses to with the message of liberation, although commonly translated as Israelites in the original Hebrew the people are called literally “the sons of Israel,” using the males of the society to name the whole. This revelation comes through the men of the people and tells us that here we are dealing with a patriarchal society.
A form of worship in antiquity was that of ancestor worship. God identifies God’s self to Moses on behalf of the Israelites as the God of “your fathers” the God of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the God who abides, remains, and continues in being, a name which is eternal. Possibly a connection can be made here with the worship of the ancestors of Israel, especially the patriarchs among the Israelites. In the ancient times ancestor worship was a common occurrence. It was a religious practice within ones religion. Generally it was intended to function as a way to uphold the authority of the elders, support social control, maintain traditional values, help to uphold family piety and obedience to the elders. These were all values within Israel’s social structure. When God comes to Moses it is through the knowledge of the faith of the ancestors. “I am “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” From an anthropological perspective this passage could be connecting with a cultural practice of ancestor worship as the Israelites could have likely participated in such beliefs as they fit many of the categories of ancestor worship. But usually within ancestor worship the spirit of the person themselves is evoked, and each person themselves could have a different deity in whom they worship. It is not necessary that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would have all believed they were worshiping the same God. Rather, if they did believe in different gods, then in this passage God not only gives God’s name, but also clarifies that in this theophany the same God is the one God of their fathers in faith. And then proceeds to give the divine name as “I Will Be Who Will Be.”
Therefore, even though this passage has focused much on the name of God, it also gives insight into God in how God relates to the Israelites as they are. Although professing to be a religion of monotheism, throughout Israel’s history questions have been raised that shows that the Hebrew people developed into monotheism as they emerged out of polytheism, henotheism and monolatry, the worship of one god, while at the same time recognizing that there are other gods out there. This theophany also asserts God’s primacy among all gods, but doesn’t necessarily exclude the belief that other gods would exists, only that this is to be Israel’s God. Yet by the nature of the name given by God a certain all encompassing nature to God does seem to be expressed as will be explored in following pages.
Following, the heart of the passage is the name of God, given to the Israelites through Moses. God repeats the divine name three times within verses 13 to 16, and each time a slight change occurs in the naming of God, by God. In fact, all the names being spoken of in this passage are spoken of by God. It is God who calls out to Moses. It is God who recalls the names of the fathers of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses asks God for a name to give the Israelites for surely, he said, they would want to know this god’s name. It is possible that Moses said the Israelites would ask for the name of God, while he wanted to know. It is very likely that Moses himself wanted to know God’s name, especially if names carried such power and force as has already been discussed, believing himself that only if he knows the divine name can he be sure that God will indeed help free Israel from Egyptian slavery. And so, God responds with, אהיה אשר אהיה “I Will Be Who I Will Be” (3:14). Some translations render this as “I am who am,” or “I am who I am.” The response God gives is a phrase, made up of an adverb between an imperfect verb, אהיה first person singular used twice, before and after. In the Hebrew language there is no future or past, only completed or incomplete action. God chooses the incomplete action, suggesting the on-going nature of God’s existence. The imperfect tense is translated into the future or where an action is not complete. The verb God uses is that of being, to be, or to become. Thus, a close literal translation is אהיה I will be, אשר who, אהיה I will be.
Yet, a second time God gives the divine name. In the second utterance it is spoken as אהיה שלהני “I Will Be sent me” (3:14). This phrase has a slightly different expression as it is not joined by the adverb who, but refers directly to the verb as one who will be, indicating a kind of reality in future existence. This naming is not yet complete in its action. It is a being that still holds out for future time to be complete in its action, while at the same time still holds existence within its realm in the present moment. The Hebrew concept of time has to do with events that fill that time. Time doesn’t stand alone in the mentality of the Hebrew people. Time is made up of the events that fill it, especially that time which the community shares. Here we have God in the essence of time and event.
Then lastly, as God sends Moses to “the elders of Israel” (3:16), God specifically commands Moses to “say to them, ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, appeared to me” (3:16). This last version of the name יהוה is known as the Tetragrammaton of the name of God, and it also has a slightly different meaning. This version of the divine name, means to abide, remain, and continue in word, place or time. Thus, reflecting an immanent nature of God. Unlike the imperfect tense in the first two declarations of the name of God, this third pronouncement of it looses its sense of time. The past, present and future are all the same in the final pronouncement of God’s name. God emphasizes the timeless nature of the name of God when God explicitly says, “This is my eternal name, and this is how I am to be recalled for all generations” (v. 15). Therefore a movement can be seen from God identifying God’s self as a being who is, to one who abides and continues to remain in the world through all time. Thus, showing in the name of יהוה the transcendent nature of God.
Moreover, the immanent nature of the divine name could indicate the way God is in relationship with Israel, what God intends to do for them, for it gives a message of stability, fidelity, and dependability. When God sends Moses to the Israelites with the name of יהוה God is saying to them that unlike the unreliable gods of other nations, this God is trustworthy, so that they can put their faith in what God will do through Moses. God is not simply giving the divine name to Moses so he can report this name to the Israelites. No. The purpose of this appearance according to the text is, “to grant [them] special providence regarding what is happening to [them] in Egypt” (3:16). God does not appear and announce this name. God only answers after Moses questions God within the context of God’s original purpose of the visit in verses 7 and 8, when God says, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians.” The nature of God’s visitation is just as important in an understanding of the divine name as is the name given. Clearly אהיה אשר אהיה is couched within an act of liberation from oppression and deliverance and God does not come without some kind of power to free. An anthropological understanding of naming, giving names or names closely connects the essence of the power of the presence of the person to the name. Here is a name that is not an ordinary name. It is an action. It is a verb of incomplete action. It is something that transcends the concrete existence of time and events, while being all that makes up time and events. It is a name which indicates absolute existence, a creative power that has the ability to sustain the universe. Thus, assuring the Israelites to put their confidence in YHVH, and all that YHVH will do through Moses.
This name of YHVH, is entirely unique. It is an important development in the history of Israel, coming to know the name of God, for until a reality is put to words that reality remains meaningless. Here in an ambiguous name is captured an ambiguous reality for Israel, that of God. In the Hebrew language their understanding of a word carries the meaning of not only a word, but it is also an event, and a movement in time, thus giving that word meaning to them. Also, when a new name is spoken a new reality comes to being. This is dealing with a reality that was around since God began to speak to Abraham, as the text indicates that this is the God of Abraham (3:15). However in this time and place a new reality between God and Israel is about to unfold, therefore this new name of God comes into play. This name for God touches on the eternal transcendent nature of God, while making God accessible to them. When God gives commentary on the name of YHVH, God calls it זה-שמי לעלם “My eternal name” (3:15). The word in Hebrew which is used is לעלם capturing the essence of time that stretches from beginning to end, an enduring time. From the Midrash tradition לעלם is rendered “My remembrance,” putting to words the kind of attitude later Jews would have towards God in the divine name. Thus, this God is forever and always all that is. This is the meaning that the word YHVH is trying to capture in a word.
No one name was able to capture the essence of God, but rather there were many descriptions of God, which also give testimony to the transcendent nature of God. Other names of God for Israel have been Elohim, simply God, used when God exercises strict judgment. When performing miraculous deeds, showing power over nature El Shaddai, God Almighty, is often the name of God invoked. Adonai, is that which replaces YHVH, with the reverential title of Lord. El Elyon, a name meaning God most high, consistent with the majesty of God’s being. El Olam, God Everlasting, part of this name is found within the naming of God in Exod 3:13-16. El Roi, God of vision, a name given by Hagar the slave of Sarah, and El Bethel, the God of Bethel a name that shows how God is a God of places as well. These are names that seek to identify God within an experience. Yet, God is more than one experience as the name of YHVH indicates and as can be seen in the multiplication of names used for what is essentially the same reality of the divine manifested in various times and places.
Furthermore, the nature of words themselves, gain strength and limitations from the experience of the objects they express. The experience Israel is about to have of this God, YHVH, is one of a deliverer, powerful, mighty in deed, and trustworthy. This powerful experience which was introduced by this name YHVH, confirms an understanding of God that is an eternal reality and entirely reliable, encouraging the Israelites to place confidence in the covenant God has with them. God is not revealing the divine name as some cultures may have used names of deities to gain secret religious information to manipulate situations for themselves. Here in Exod 3, rather it is a God who shows concern for the affairs of Egypt, and it is a God who is present in life’s situations, not simply idly watching, but acting in human affairs for the sake of justice.
Moreover, in a study of how words, names included, come out of an experience or event that is placed in the concrete world it can be said that not all things in the world are freely accessible. As with all languages, absolute freedom does not exist with all words. Rather stipulations develop that place restrictions on the use of certain words. The name revealed to Moses, soon becomes apart of a tradition that prohibits the use of this name. Many reasons can be ascertained why the name of Yahweh would not be permitted under any circumstances to be pronounced, and thus YHVH replaces the pronounceable name.
Considering the understanding of names and persons in antiquity, and how names were a means to have access to the power, will and presence of the one named, then what does this mean when dealing with the name of God? In Exod 20:7, already one can see the prohibition to the name, “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses [God’s] name.” In the understanding of ancient Israel they would have again been aware of the dynamics of cultic worship, where calling on the name of a deity was to engage in the prayer of cultic worship. Only under prescriptions and rituals was the name of Yahweh to be used. Restrictions applied that governed the use of the name in the forms of swearing of oaths (Deut 6:13; 10:20), the Aaronic blessing, which pronounced the divine name three times (Num 6:24-26), and calling upon the name of Yahweh, in supplication within the liturgical assembly (Deut. 32:3). Only the one designated as appropriate is able to call on the name of Yahweh in these ways, and that one is the priest. Language as part of a system of meaning making among people will then have those words which are off limits. Words that mean too much to the community to be dealt with lightly are placed under restriction and Yahweh, becomes one of these words among the Israelites.
Although the Jews even in this modern age have kept to the taboo in not speaking the name of YHVH, Christians who claim the same scriptures as their own, including the name of YHVH, will pronounce the name without reservation. Yet, even among Christians a reverence is still to be kept, and the name of God still is prohibited from being taken in vain, as the Decalogue contains this teaching.
Among some of the value which can be taken today from an understanding of Exod 3:13-16 as presented above is that of an immanent God who sees the affliction of the Israelites. This understanding of God who is present and one who wants “to be recalled for all generations” (3:15), as a God who revealed God’s self, because God has, “observed the misery of my people” (3:7) is a powerful reassurance for those who are oppressed. That God offers in this biblical account a name that communicates the nature of God who is caring for the oppressed, but also the very being of all that is, with the power to act in human affairs is a great message of hope for liberation of all people who are bound and treated unjustly.
Similarly to YHVH’s concern for the oppressed is the transcendent quality of the divine name that can be very helpful in freeing the male dominant image of God that oppresses so many people who are concerned about equality in the world and seek for language that reflects the inclusive nature of God, which can easily be found within the name YHVH. Among many defining names of God which many find offensive, especially women, are those such as Father, Son, Lord, King, and Mighty Warrior. It is refreshing to look to an ancient text for the way God wished to be named, and to find within it a name which is entirely beyond human categorizing. A name which addresses the current dilemma of male dominate language of God, especially problematic in the American Catholic Church, as well as many other Christian denominations of what to call God. This reading does speak to the depths of the all present and powerful reality of God’s immanent yet transcendent nature, and offers a solution to the question of God’s name for those still seeking to know.
In conclusion, anthropology is a helpful tool in shedding light on biblical texts for new insights into interpretation. In the passage of Exod 3:13-16, naming is an important theme to explore in order to better understand the biblical text. In general an awareness of naming, names are given in order to find a place in the society in which one lives. Also, names reflect a relationship that one has within the family and social group, which can be seen within the name a person is given at birth. And further how important names have been in allowing people to make connections with the essence of the person, even after death. The Israelites show this in the way they honor their ancestors, by recalling their names, most especially the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is important for the preserving of Israelite identity to connect with their ancestors. It is through God’s recalling of their ancestors that God comes announcing the name of God and how God is to be both understood and invoked by them. In this theophany of God to Moses, God is made know by an ambiguous name coming from the Hebrew verb הוה “to be,” indicating the nature and essence of God that is all that is and ever will be, a presence that is faithful and just eternally. It is through this revelation of God’s name that God makes God’s own power and will available to the Israelites to free them from their bondage and suffering in Egypt, and like wise to be present to all generations that call on the name of Yahweh in their time of suffering and need.