Shemot - A Matter of Names

Shemot - Ex 1:1-6:1

 

A Matter of Names

As we commence a new year, we begin the second book of the Pentateuch. It is important to note that as with the whole biblical narrative, the book of Exodus is a continuation of Genesis, and therefore strongly connected. Perhaps it would be better to consider it as chapter 2 rather than book 2. The title Exodus is based on the Greek for ‘going out’ (similar to our word, exit) which is based on an old Hebrew ascription that reads: “The book of the departure from Egypt.” But in the Hebrew tradition, it is known as Shemot, which is based on the opening words of the book: “These are the names (shemot) of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob…” This too is the title of this week’s portion. And in the spirit of this title, I want to look at something that I believe is quite significant in this section of scripture, namely, the name of God. Although it had been used as early as Genesis 2:4, it is not until this portion of the Bible that it is made explicit. Because now is a very busy season for me, I thought I would take this opportunity to share a condensed excerpt of a chapter in the book I have been working on: Falling Asleep at Traffic Lights called, A Matter of Names. 

 

I remember when I was in late high school, concluding that God is the only god who has no name. Zeus has a name. Ra has a name. Ganesh has a name, but the god of the Bible has no name. Throughout the Bible, we only find Lord, God and other titles, but no name. This is reflected in Cecil B Demille’s The Ten Commandments, when God is referred to by Ramses as ‘the god with no name.’ Yet, for a deity with no name, there are a surprising number of passages in the Bible that refer to the significance of the name of God, such as Genesis 4:26:

To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

But what is His name? If I am to call on his name and not his title Lord, nor his ontological taxonomy God, but his name, I need to know it. The Hebrew for name, shem most often refers to a literal name like Adam or Sampson, but can also refer to a person’s renown or character. And this is what some scriptures are referring to specifically when mentioning the name of the Lord.

Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. (1Kg 8:17)

But many instances of the significance of His name lend themselves more naturally to a more literal understanding of ‘name’. When I call on the name of one of my children, I’m not summoning their personality, but rather their whole self. When I bless my wife, I’m not praying for her renown; I’m wanting God to do good things for her. So, it appears that God does have an actual name, and that name is to represent His identity.

Through some study in my adult years, I discovered that when we come across LORD in our English Old Testaments, the original Hebrew had used what is known as the tetragrammaton (four letters) of ‘YHVH’ which occurs 6828 times. The example of most significance is the reply to when Moses asked God for His name, which is found in this weeks portion:

Say this to the people of Israel, ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. (Ex 3:15)

Thus, our God’s name is YHVH. Its exact specific meaning is not clear, although it is commonly understood to mean ‘He who eternally is’ or ‘He who brings everything into existence.’

The phrase ‘thus I am to be remembered…’ can be a little misleading. This is because the word for remembered is not actually the verb zakar, but rather, it is the noun zeker which means a memory, memorial, or in the case of Exodus 3:15, an invocation. Other translations such as the KJV reflect this in translating it as “…this is my memorial unto all generations.”  Thus, YHVH wants His people to honour the zeker of His name YHVH by recalling it verbally and mentally. The NIV brings this out by translating it as “This is my name forever; the name you shall call me from generation to generation.” The reason YHVH wants His name memorialised is because to stop its usage is actually curse, as we see later on in Exodus:

Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. (Ex 17:14)

And this is why there is blessing for honouring His name, for “Wherever I cause my name to be honoured, I will come to you and bless you.” (Ex 20:24)

Unfortunately, through the transmission of the Old Testament and the disuse of His name, the vowel sounds were lost and no one knows for certain how to accurately pronounce YHVH. Some say Yahweh, others Yehovah or Jehovah, and there are some who might use ‘Yehowahi’ and many a hundred other possibilities. Although I do find the use of YHVH to be not only more meaningful, but also more personal than ‘Lord’, I don’t think saying God or Lord is wrong like those in the sacred name movement do. Nor do I think it makes you a lesser Christian. Moses referred to God as Lord (Adoni), and in places like Genesis 1, He is referred to as God (Elohim). But keep in mind that He also used YHVH much more. Adoni is used 18 times, God is used around 600, but YHVH is used 6218 times in the Tanakh.

Another reason using YHVH is important is that it is more specific. Of course in our Christianised nations we know exactly who ‘God’ is, but in different places around the world, ‘god’ means a number of different things. For the Hindu, god is Ganesh or Vishnu or even a supreme deity. For the Nordic, god is Thor or Odin. For the Muslim, God is Allah. All of these gods share little in the character and purposes of YHVH, and therefore, because of their connotations, I doubt YHVH would like to be called by any of these names. And we see this in Hosea 2:16

And in that day, declares YHVH, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’”

It appears that the Israelites had been caught up in a syncretism of their faith, identifying YHVH as the Canaanite god Baal. And even though Baal simply means husband, master, or lord, all of which YHVH is, the connotations of Baal means that He does not want to mixed up with this name, as He says in the next verse, “… I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth…” (Hos 2:17)

We see the importance of specificity in this kind of situation in Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek and the King of Sodom in Genesis 14. When Melchizedek greeted Abram he proclaimed, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth.” But when Abram spoke to the King of Sodom, it appears that for the sake of clarity he refers to ‘YHVH, the God Most High…’ The reason for this is that God Most High, or El Elyon, is the ancient Canaanite term for Baal. Therefore, Abram did not want the King of Sodom to think he was giving honour to Baal. This level of specificity, however, is for those who should know better. I believe that when someone calls on YHVH by a different name because that is the only one they know, then He will respond and seek them out because He knows the intent of their heart. And that is the grace of God in action: meeting people where they are. When a Muslim converts to Christianity, of course they are going to call on Allah because that is all they know. And in His grace, He will honour that. But I am also sure that they can no longer do that when they realise how different Allah and YHVH actually are.

 

And thirdly, it adds significance to the name of Jesus. This name is an Anglicisation of the Greek Iesous, which is a transliteration of the Hebrew Yeshua. The reason they are so different is because of the limitation of the Greek alphabet and rules of grammar. The name Yeshua is a shortened version of the name Yehoshua (Joshua), which is a contraction of Yehovah Yoshia which means: YHVH saves. This is the significance behind the declaration by the angel that Mary and Joseph were to call Him, Jesus (Yeshua), for He will save (yasha) His people from their sins (Matt 1:21). When we recognise the relationship of YHVH to the name of Yeshua, we see that His name is not merely a word pun, but rather a revelation that YHVH was directly involved in the person and work of Christ as Immanuel, God with us in the flesh, dealing with our sins.

So how does this apply to us today? well, primarily our society has a number false notions of ‘God’ that are not biblical. There is the liberal progressive’s ever forgiving, omni-tolerant god of love. There’s the mean, hateful god of the Westborough Baptists in the sky waiting to destroy you. There’s the god of Bette Midler that doesn’t get involved in everyday life, ‘watching us from a distance’. There's the sky-genie God who just gives you everything you want. And the list goes on. Not one of these notions of God are reflective of the Bible, and so by using YHVH we are separating the God of popular culture from the God of the Bible.

And this is not just a ‘Jewish thing’. As YHVH said through the prophet Isaiah: “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of YHVH, and to be his servants… these I will bring to my holy mountain.” (Isa 56:6-7). It is clear from scripture that YHVH wants all of His people regardless of their origin to call Him by His name, and so that is what I want to do.

 

Next week, a friend of mine, Marcaus Muller, will be writing on our next portion (Exodus 6:2-9:35), and I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say on this passage.