# God's revealing His name to Abraham



## Me Died Blue (Sep 12, 2004)

In Exodus 6:3 (ESV), God said, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them." But in Genesis 15:7 (ESV), "And he [God] said to him [Abraham], 'I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.'"

In the former verse, God states that He did not reveal Himself to Abraham by the name YHWH, but in the latter, He clearly did. What's the traditional interpretation of these two verses in light of each other?


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## Contra_Mundum (Sep 12, 2004)

Currid says that it reflects the fact that the People of God had yet to experience the fullness of the Name, Jehovah, that reflected the nature of the Covenant Making, [i:784e117f6c][b:784e117f6c]and Keeping[/b:784e117f6c][/i:784e117f6c] God. God was about to keep his promise to Abraham.

Another interpretation that bears considering is that translators have persistently rendered this statement as a statement, and not as a rhetorical question. Instead of "I did not make myself known to them," perhaps the line could be translated, "Did I not make myself known to them?" In which case Currid's observation still carries weight, because the Children of the Exodus are being reminded of the One who made the promise.


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## Me Died Blue (Sep 16, 2004)

Interesting. Any other thoughts or comments?


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