Why Do So Many Believe ehyeh at Ex. 3:14 means "I AM"?

[Sinthesis]

The majority of names in the Bible are untranslated. We first learn a particular name, then learn it's meaning, yet we continue to call the person by his name, not by the translation of the name. We all call the builder of the ark "Noah". We then learn that "Noah" means "rest", but we continue to call him "Noah".

How can you say the Tetragrammaton was "not even pronounceable in the original language" if people spoke the name throughout the OT? Eve said, I have gotten a man from Yahweh." She knew nothing of "assumed vowels" and yet pronounced the name. We do not need to add vowels to the name to pronounce it. Josephus said the name consists of "four vowels". All we need to do is pronounce them.

One name may not adequately describe Him, but He desires us to call Him by the name He revealed to us over 7,000 times in Scripture. To remove His name from the text and substitute "the LORD" in its place is a transgression of Dt 4:2; "You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you."

Yes, there is a difference between translation, and transliteration, and transcription. Understanding the translation of the transcripted transliteration can provide insight to any who don't read or speak the original language. So who gave Seth to Eve? Why did God not reveal the Tetragrammaton to Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob? The answers are not in the letters of the law, but the spirit of its meaning. Legalism will eventually result in declaring allegiance to anything other than
יְהֹוָה
a transgression of Deu 4:2, which in itself is a form of idolatry.

 

[jocor]

Abraham knew God's name which is why he called the place of Isaac's offering "Yahweh Yireh" (Gen 22:14). Isaac used the name in Genesis 26:22 and Jacob used the name in Genesis 28:16. There are many more examples of them knowing and using the name YHWH.

Using our Creator's name is not legalism. It is obedience and respect out of a heart of love for Him and for truth.

 

[WIP]

My spelling is a phonetic rendering into English. If we pronounce each vowel Y-H-W-H we get ee-ah-oo-eh, Yah-weh when pronounced quickly.

With the little researching I've done it would appear there is considerable debate about this. If I understand correctly, it appears the debate goes back to ancient time and it was supposedly this debate that prompted the replacing of God's name in the scriptures with other titles out of fear His name would be mispronounced.

 

[Sinthesis]

Abraham knew God's name which is why he called the place of Isaac's offering "Yahweh Yireh" (Gen 22:14). Isaac used the name in Genesis 26:22 and Jacob used the name in Genesis 28:16. There are many more examples of them knowing and using the name YHWH.

Using our Creator's name is not legalism. It is obedience and respect out of a heart of love for Him and for truth.

Exo 6:3 - And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, bythe name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Of course the Hebrew word which is translated here as JEHOVAH is the Tetragrammaton. When Moses recorded the Torah he used the Tetragrammaton as the name of the God of the patriarchs all the way back to Adam for consistency, but that doesn't mean those first faithful knew God by that name, as Exo 6:3 clearly shows. Insisting otherwise contradicts both scripture and reason, and delves into legalism.

 

[Sinthesis]

With the little researching I've done it would appear there is considerable debate about this. If I understand correctly, it appears the debate goes back to ancient time and it was supposedly this debate that prompted the replacing of God's name in the scriptures with other titles out of fear His name would be mispronounced.

Yes, there is quite a difference between fear and love for God. Love involves trust, and as Christians we trust that God will not condemn us if we somehow associate the wrong sound with a particular chicken scratch.

 

[jocor]

With the little researching I've done it would appear there is considerable debate about this. If I understand correctly, it appears the debate goes back to ancient time and it was supposedly this debate that prompted the replacing of God's name in the scriptures with other titles out of fear His name would be mispronounced.

As I understand it, it was not a fear of mispronouncing the name, but that it was thought too holy to pronounce. The following quote is from jewfaq.org:

The Mishnah confirms that there was no prohibition against pronouncing The Name in ancient times. In fact, the Mishnah recommends using God's Name as a routine greeting to a fellow Jew. Berakhot 9:5. However, by the time of the Talmud, it was the custom to use substitute Names for God. Some rabbis asserted that a person who pronounces YHVH according to its letters (instead of using a substitute) has no place in the World to Come, and should be put to death. Instead of pronouncing the four-letter Name, we usually substitute the Name "Adonai," or simply say "Ha-Shem" (lit. The Name).​

 

[jocor]

Exo 6:3 - And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, bythe name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Of course the Hebrew word which is translated here as JEHOVAH is the Tetragrammaton. When Moses recorded the Torah he used the Tetragrammaton as the name of the God of the patriarchs all the way back to Adam for consistency, but that doesn't mean those first faithful knew God by that name, as Exo 6:3 clearly shows. Insisting otherwise contradicts both scripture and reason, and delves into legalism.

You are misunderstanding Exo 6:3. Consider this verse:

Gen 28:13 And, behold, YHWH stood above it, and said, I am YHWH God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;​

This was spoken by Yahweh to Jacob in his dream about the ladder. Therefore, Yahweh was known to Jacob by the name YHWH. Yahweh did not spell His name to Jacob, but pronounced it. If Yahweh really didn't tell Jacob His name, but Moses merely put that name in Torah after the fact, then Moses lied and deceived all who read Torah. However, Moses didn't lie. Exo 6:3 can be understood at least two other ways.

1) It was a question. "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Yahweh was I not known to them?"
2) They did not know Him by all that the name "YHWH" represents or means.​

 

[jocor]

Yes, there is quite a difference between fear and love for God. Love involves trust, and as Christians we trust that God will not condemn us if we somehow associate the wrong sound with a particular chicken scratch.

Did anyone say Christians are condemned if they don't use the name? As true believers, we should seek to worship our Creator in truth.

John 4:23-24 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.​

 

[Butch5]

The translation of ehyeh as “I Am” (at Ex. 3:14 only) in most Bibles is based primarily on the KJV tradition. Note that even some trinitarian Bibles go against tradition and translate it correctly as “I will be” either in the text or as an alternate translation in footnotes.

For example, the Coverdale Bible of 1535 renders it “God saide vnto Moses: I wyl be what I wyll be. And he sayde: Thus shalt thou saye vnto ye children of Israel: I wyl be hath sent me vnto you.”

“Then sayde God vnto Moses: I wilbe what I wilbe: a[n]d he sayde, this shalt thou saye vnto the children of Israel: Iwilbedyd send me to you.” - Tyndale Bible, 1534.

“Then sayd God vnto Moyses: I wilbe what I wyll be: & he said, this shalt thou say vnto the children of Israel: I wilbe did send me to you.” - Matthew’s Bible, 1549. [emphasis added in above 3 translations]


Other translations of Ehyeh at Ex. 3:14 in

Moffatt’s translation - “I WILL BE”;

Byington’s - “I WILL BE”;

Rotherham’s - “I WILL BECOME”;

Concordant Literal Version - “I-SHALL-COME-TO-BE”;

Julia Smith’s - “I SHALL BE”;

Leeser’s - “I WILL BE”

In addition are the following alternate translations in footnotes:

American Standard Version - “I WILL BE”;

NIV Study Bible - “I WILL BE”;

Revised Standard Version - “I WILL BE”;

New Revised Standard Version - “I WILL BE”;

New English Bible - “I WILL BE”;

Revised English Bible - “I WILL BE”;

Living Bible - “I WILL BE”;

Good News Bible - “I WILL BE.”

Adam Clarke’s Bible Commentary

Ex. 3:14

“…. As the original words [ehyeh asher ehyeh] literally signify, I will be what I will be, some have supposed that God simply designed to inform Moses, that what he had been to his fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he would be to him and the Israelites; and that he would perform the promises he had made to his fathers, by giving their descendants the promised land.” [emphasis added]

Today’s Dictionary of the Bible, 1982, Bethany House, pp. 330-331, says of Ex. 3:14 -

“It has been rendered, ‘I WILL BE that I WILL BE’ as an indication of God’s sovereignty and immutability” and “the translation ... that probably comes closest to the intention of God at this point is, ‘I will be there’.” [emphasis added]

Also see the scholarly reference The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Eerdmans, 1984 printing, Vol. 2, p. 1254 (#3), p. 1266 (#5), and p. 1267 (#9), and A Dictionary of the Bible, Hastings, Vol. 2, pp. 199, 200, Hendrickson Publ., 1988 printing.

The Encyclopedia Britannica had this to say on the subject:

“The writer of Exodus 3:14-15 ... explains it [the meaning of God’s name] by the phrase EHYEH asher EHYEH (Ex. iii., 14); this can be translated ‘I am that I am’ or more exactly ‘I am wont to be that which I am wont to be’ or ‘I will be that which I will be.’” - p. 995, fourteenth ed., v. 12. [emphasis added]

So not only could ehyeh in Ex. 3:14 be translated as “I Will Be” (instead of "I Am"), it is highly probable that it should be so rendered!

This is very interesting thanks for posting this Teddy!

 

[Sinthesis]

Did anyone say Christians are condemned if they don't use the name? As true believers, we should seek to worship our Creator in truth.

John 4:23-24 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.​

Which name? Because the truth is that the Tetragrammaton is not found in John 4:23-24.

 

[jocor]

Which name? Because the truth is that the Tetragrammaton is not found in John 4:23-24.

The truth of the name "YHWH" is revealed throughout the OT. It doesn't need to be in John 4.

 

[JohnD]

Keeping in mind the tenses in Hebrew are perfect and imperfect...

ehyeh asher ehyeh is akin to the Greek "he who was and is and is to come."

 

[teddy trueblood]

Keeping in mind the tenses in Hebrew are perfect and imperfect...

ehyeh asher ehyeh is akin to the Greek "he who was and is and is to come."

I believe you are mistaken (concerning the writings of Moses at least). Please review the first 4 or 5 posts of this discussion.