EXOb
Info Box: Personal Names and Their Meanings
Isaac (יִצְחָק) means "he laughs." Isaiah (יְשַׁעְיָהוּ) means “Yah(weh) is salvation.” Note esp. the sign-names of the children in Isaiah 7-8: Shear-jashub (שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב, “a remnant will return"), Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל, “God is with us"), and Maher-shalal-hash-baz (מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז, “speedy spoil, hasty prey”). The same is true of many divine names. El Elyon (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן) in Gen 14:18-22 means "El/God Most High." Baal, as he was known in Canaan and at Ugarit, means "Lord.” Hadad, as he was known in Syria, means “Thunderer,” that is, the storm-god.
While God answers the question, he is also being elusive. What after all does the enigmatic “I am” mean? We should first note that this "I am" declaration occurs in close context with several other "I am" statements: "I am/will be with you" (Exod 3:12) and "I am/will be with your mouth" (Exod 4:12, 15). God’s “I am” could thus point to both his existence and his presence with his agents. Later, in Exodus 33:19 God makes another proclamation of his name “Yahweh” (“I will call upon the name Yahweh before you”), and does so using a similar sentence structure formed by complementary phrases around the relative pronoun “who”:
“I will be gracious with whom I will be gracious,
and I will show compassion with whom I will show compassion.”
“I am who I am.”
While this proclamation may sound redundant, in context Yahweh is affirming his independence and sovereignty to determine his own choices. In other words, “I, not you Moses, decide to whom I will show mercy.” Hence, “I am who I am” should likely be heard as a statement of independence. In other words Yahweh says, “while I am giving you my name, I am not giving myself away.”
In connection with these "I am" statements, God discloses his personal name: "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you': This is my name forever, and this my invocation name for all generations” (Exod 3:15, my translation). The deity worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob here discloses his personal name, Yahweh. He is not simply a divine being, God, nor does he simply have a title, Lord. His personal name underscores his personal character and his personal interaction with the Hebrews in particular.
There is a word play between God’s personal name, "Yahweh" (yhwh) and the Hebrew verb, "to be" (hyh, or in its more primitive form, hwh). This is not an etymology of the divine name, as the connection between “I am” and “Yahweh” is not direct. Nowhere else in the Bible is any significance attached to a connection between Yhwh and the Hebrew verb “to be.”
Of particular significance is the close association between “Yahweh” and the exodus liberation. When Moses first publicly announces to the Israelites that the name of the God of their fathers is Yahweh, Yahweh here declares that he knows their plight in Egypt and promises to bring them up out of Egypt to another land (Exod 3:16–17). Thereafter and throughout the Law, Psalms, and the Prophets he will be known as “Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt” (Exod 20:2; Lev 26:13; Ps 81:10; Hos 12:9; 13:4; Ezek 20:5, 9). The name of Yahweh will always ring in the ears of the Israelites as a name of liberation.
Moses obeys God and returns to Egypt to declare Yahweh’s demands to Pharaoh. But matters get worse. Pharaoh now forbids the Egyptian taskmasters from supplying the Hebrew slaves with the straw needed for brick production while insisting they produce the same quota of bricks. A second dialogue ensues, one with themes similar to the burning bush episode, except that Moses initiates this conversation. He complains in no uncertain terms:
“Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you send me? From the moment I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has done evil to this people, but you have not in fact delivered your people.”
Although Pharaoh is clearly to blame for Israel’s plight, Moses alleges that Yahweh is ultimately liable and negligent. To our surprise, God does not dismiss Moses as insolent. Rather, he reiterates his promises and the connection between his name, Yahweh—repeated 5 times—and the upcoming exodus. In this respect, he stakes his divine reputation on delivering his earlier promises. This divine speech is the Priestly counterpart (P) to Yahweh’s disclosure of his name and the upcoming exodus at the burning bush (JE). Again, the theology of Yahweh is unpacked by verbal action, not theological descriptors. In addition to the common verbs of “bringing out” and “delivering,” Yahweh also promises, “I will redeem you,” which engages an economic metaphor of “reclaiming/buying back” often out of debt slavery.
This passage highlights several priestly themes of its own by echoing Genesis 17 (also P) in particular. While Abraham had identified God as “God Almighty” (Gen 17:1), God is henceforth to be known by this new name “Yahweh,” ever associated with the exodus deliverance. God affirms his “covenant” with the ancestors to give them “the land” and his promise to be “their God” (Gen 17:7–8).
The plague narrative portrays a contest between Pharaoh, who strengthens his resolve, and Yahweh, who publicizes his name.
Moses’ confrontations with Pharaoh and the nine plagues (Exod 7–10). A theme central to the plague narrative is the publication of Yahweh’s name, not only to the Israelites, but also to the Egyptians: “Egypt shall know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and I will bring the Israelites from their midst” (Exod 7:5; cf. 8:22; 9:14, 16; 10:1–2).
To promote this publicity Yahweh promises to boost the drama: “I will harden (qšh) Pharaoh’s heart” (Exod 7:3). The drama will be played out as an escalating contest between Yahweh, the hero, and his antagonist, Pharaoh. Such a characterization could be construed as manipulative, whereby Yahweh forces Pharaoh to do something he would not otherwise do. Indeed, most modern English translations give this impression. A closer examination of the Hebrew text, however, reveals a more subtle story.
Wherever English translations refer to Pharaoh’s heart being “hardened,” three different Hebrew roots are used: to harden (qšh) is used once (Exod 7:3), to make heavy (kbd) is used 8 times, and “to strengthen” (ḥzq) is used 12 times. In most cases, the literal sense is that one’s heart is “strengthened,” or in today’s idiom, one’s resolve is strengthened. This conveys a considerably different portrayal than most English translations present. While Yahweh promises in advance that he will actively “strengthen Pharaoh’s heart” (Exod 4:21) or “harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Exod 7:3), in the unfolding narrative it is Pharaoh’s own heart that is “strengthened” (Exod 7:13, 22; 8:19; 9:7, 35) or that he deliberately “makes heavy” himself (Exod 8:11, 28; 9:34; cf. 7:14) during the first five plagues.
Only during the sixth, eighth, and ninth plagues does Yahweh become the subject of the verb and take the initiative to strengthen Pharaoh’s resolve (Exod 9:12; 10:20, 27; 11:10; cf. 14:4, 8, 17) or to make his heart heavy (Exod 10:1). In other words, Pharaoh had initially made his own decision to refuse Yahweh’s demands. Only later does Yahweh push him to continue in his chosen course of action.
While not emphasized, the narrative does indicate that “also an ethnically mixed multitude went up with them” in the actual exodus out of Egypt (Exod 12:38), implying that many Egyptians were persuaded to join the Hebrews.
The Tenth Plague and the Passover (Exod 11-13). The decisive plague is the tenth: death to the firstborn in Egypt. While explicit mention is made that the Israelites are automatically spared from several of the preceding nine plagues (Exod 8:22–23; 9:4, 26), such is not the case in this final plague.
The climactic plague strikes Egypt's firstborn and is commemorated in the Passover ritual.
Exodus 12–13 contains at least two accounts of the required ritual (Exod 12:1–20, 43–51 = P, Exod 12:21–23 = J, Exod 12:24–27; 13:3–16 = likely a Deuteronomic supplement). Both agree that each Hebrew household is to slay a lamb and then to put its blood on the door posts and lintel. Yahweh will then pass through (‘br) the land of Egypt and strike its firstborn, but when he sees the blood he will “pass over” (pasaḥ) that household. For this reason the rite is called “Passover” (pesaḥ).
As expected, the Priestly version offers more ritual details. After roasting it over a fire, they are to eat it—in its entirety—“with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Exod 12:8). In addition, “thus you shall eat it: with your waist belted, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is a Passover for Yahweh” (Exod 12:11). The bread must be made without leaven or yeast so the ritual can reenact the haste with which the Egyptians urged the Hebrews to exit Egypt (Exod 12:33). In connection with the striking of Egypt’s firstborn, including human and animal, Yahweh declares, “upon all the gods of Egypt I will perform judgments,” thus highlighting the cosmic dimension of the conflict.
Both accounts also emphasize that this ritual is to be performed annually throughout the generations to commemorate this event as a memorial: “When your children say to you, ‘What is this service about for you?,’ You shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice for Yahweh because he passed over all the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when he struck Egypt but our houses he delivered’” (Exod 12:26–27). Memory is a critical component of Old Testament faith. There is to be a seven-day festival to Yahweh that begins with the removal of leaven from the households and continues with the consumption of unleavened bread for each of the seven days.
The Priestly account, by calling a “holy assembly” on the first and seventh days (Exod 12:6, 16), anticipates when Passover will be observed as a pilgrimage festival at the central sanctuary. Similar to Sabbath observance, work is prohibited during the seven days. The penalty of excommunication is pronounced on anyone who consumes what is leavened (Exod 12:15, 19). Further regulations, concerning natives, foreigners, and sojourners, were apparently added later to the P account in Exod 12:43–51.
Using Deuteronomistic language (esp. Deut 6:7–8, 10, 20; Josh 1:8), Exodus 13:3–16 stipulates that, “when Yahweh brings you into the land …, which he swore to your fathers to give you …, you shall tell your son” the meaning of this festival. “And it shall be for you to as a sign on your hand and a memorial between your eyes, in order that Yahweh’s law may be in your mouth” (even though in the chronology of the book of Exodus, Yahweh’s law has yet to be presented!). This passage picks up a leitmotif of the Exodus narrative, namely the firstborn. After the burning bush dialogue, Yahweh gives Moses a message for Pharaoh: “Israel is my firstborn son.… Send out my son so he may serve me. If you refuse to send him, I will kill your firstborn son” (Exod 4:22–23). After Yahweh strikes Egypt’s firstborn and spares Israel’s, the firstborn of Israel now belong to Yahweh. But this passage here provides for their “redemption.” This rite is to serve as a personal reminder to each family unit that “by a strong hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt.”
The meaning of “Passover” and its connection to the verb, here translated “pass over,” has been much debated among scholars. In other passages the verb generally means “to limp,” as in the case of Saul’s son, Mephibosheth (2 Sam 4:4), and the limping dance of the prophets of Baal around their altar (1 Kgs 18:26). Some scholars have suggested that the Jewish Passover could have been a creative reinterpretation of an earlier pagan ritual. In any case, it is clear that the principal function of the blood sacrifice is apotropaic, that is, a ritual to avert evil. The OT nowhere connects the Passover sacrifice with the atonement of sin.
The Exodus from Egypt (Exod 14–15). The English translation “Red Sea” (Exod 10:19; 13:18; 15:4, 22; 23:31) derives from the ancient translations of the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. The Hebrew phrase, however, is “Reed Sea,” the same word used for the “reeds” along the riverbank from which the baby Moses was launched in a basket (Exod 2:3, 5). Although Red Sea could not be defined as a sea of reeds, there are other, suitable bodies of water, like the Bitter Lakes, between the mainland of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula.
In the prose account(s) of the Reed Sea crossing, the Israelites murmur and Moses is center stage as Yahweh's agent.
If Israel’s faith and indeed the identity of Yahweh their God were to be defined by a moment, the deliverance at the Reed Sea would be it. There are several accounts of the one event: the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15 and likely two others combined in the prose narrative in Exodus 14.
In the prose version the Israelite’s character is frightened, forgetful, and blaming. In both versions Yahweh’s character appears as the God of the skies and a divine warrior fighting for Israel. While they cry out to Yahweh, Moses gets the blame: “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What is this you have done to us by bringing us out from Egypt? Was this not the word we spoke to you in Egypt, ‘leave us alone, so we may serve the Egyptians, where is better for us to serve the Egyptians and to die in the wilderness’” (Exod 14:11–12).
The narrative sequence clearly implicates the Israelite’s failure of memory, thus forgetting Yahweh’s “signs and wonders” of the plague sequence. Moses’ response is unequivocal: “Fear not, take your stand and see Yahweh’s salvation which he will do for you today. For the Egyptians you see today you will never see again. Yahweh will fight for you, but you will be silent” (Exod 14:13–14). Only after “Israel saw the great hand that Yahweh used against the Egyptians” “did the people fear Yahweh and believe in Yahweh and Moses his servant” (Exod 14:31). In spite of their prior forgetfulness and disbelief, Yahweh intervenes. Their only correct behavior lies in their response of faith and singing with Moses a hymn praising Yahweh’s mighty deeds.
The Song of the Sea has two parts (Exod 15:1–12, 13–18). The focal point of the first is Yahweh’s name and identity: “Yahweh is a man-of-war; Yahweh is his name” (Exod 15:3).
In the hymnic account Yahweh is both "man of war" and God of the skies, who casts Pharaoh's chariots in the sea.
Just prior to this new designation he is identified with the old familiar epithet from the religion of the Ancestors, “the God of my father,” thus linking the old and the new understandings of God. The parallel phrase, “my God” is familiar from the old individual prayers found in the book of Psalms (e.g., Pss 13:3; 18:2, 6; 22:1–2, 10).
As a man-of-war, Yahweh achieves victory with his “right hand” (Exod 15:6, 12), but as a divine warrior the hymn recounts, “with the wind/breath of your nostrils the waters piled up” and “you blew with your wind; the sea covered them” (Exod 15:8, 10). Then in mythic personification, “the earth/underworld swallowed them” (Exod 15:12). This archaic hymn employs the well-known Semitic tradition of the God of the skies, best exemplified in the Baal myth discovered at ancient Ugarit. The first episode’s climax narrates the battle between the storm god, Baal, and the sea god, Yam. As soon as the storm god is victorious, there is the acclamation, “Baal reigns!” But in the Song of the Sea the characters are given a novel twist: Yahweh’s opponent is Pharaoh, and the sea/deeps/waters become his instruments of warfare.
The poem includes a citation from Yahweh’s opponent to highlight his arrogance: “I will pursue, I will overtake, I will apportion the spoil, my soul shall have its fill of them” (Exod 15:9). In the Song of the Sea, West Semitic myth has been transformed into Hebrew epic (so Frank Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic). Once victorious, the hymn celebrates Yahweh’s divine incomparability and reign: “Who is like you among the gods?” and “Yahweh reigns forever and ever” (Exod 15:11, 18). Strange as it might sound, this rhetorical question works as praise only if “the gods” are regarded as real beings (“who is like you among the nothings?” would be damning with faint praise!). The theological perspective at this point is not monotheistic (belief in one God), but henotheistic, that is, belief in one superior deity among many divine beings.
The second half narrates Yahweh’s guiding of the people to his sacred mountain and sanctuary (Exod 15:13, 17), which from the narrative perspective of the book of Exodus is yet to unfold in the books of Joshua and beyond. Some scholars have suggested these verses represent a later insertion, though there is nothing to imply this in the poem itself. In fact, this episode is integral to the Semitic storyline of the God of the skies. Once the divine warrior becomes the divine king, he requires a palace/temple on his sacred mountain. In the myth’s second episode Baal celebrates “the holy mountain of my heritage,” which is very similar to the Song of the Sea, which praises Yahweh and “the mountain of your heritage,” where “your holy place” is established.
It is noteworthy that the hymn’s portrayal of the Israelite settlement of Canaan is in sharp contrast to that of the book of Joshua. In this case, the inhabitants and leaders of Philistia, Edom, Moab, and Canaan are so dismayed and immobilized that Yahweh’s people simply “pass by” (Exod 15:14–16). No military engagement is hinted.
Most scholars regard the Song of the Sea as one of the most ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible. The prose account of Exodus 14 was likely composed later. Their perspectives on the event differ. According to the hymn, “with the wind/breath of your nostrils the waters piled up, the flowing waters stood like a heap, the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea” (Exod 15:8). This description is very similar to the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan River when the waters stood in a “heap” because the waters were dammed upstream (Josh 3:13, 16). In the exodus, one could imagine a tsunami, where the waters initially retreat only to return in a horrifying flood.
The prose account contains two distinct explanations in a single verse (Exod 14:21). It is possible we are reading two originally separate strands woven into a single account. In the first half of the verse, “Yahweh made the sea go back with a strong east wind” (likely J), which conforms the poetic account. (The poem and the J strand are also in agreement how Yahweh dealt with the Egyptians by "throwing" them into the midst of the sea [Exod 14:27; 15:1].) In the second half of the verse, “the waters were divided,” so “the Israelites entered in the midst of the sea on dry ground and the waters to them were a wall on their right and on their left” (Exod 14:22, likely P).
One wonders how both could be the case. If the east wind is sufficient to push the sea back, how could the Israelites walk against this unidirectional force that splits the waters? In any case, the woven narratives of this pivotal event are in agreement that Yahweh’s intervention is marked by the use of agents: a human agent to stretch the staff in his hand over the sea (Exod 14:16, 21) and a natural agent to push back the sea.