Lesson 17 – The Calling of Moses
1.
Most
people today would say, “God”! But
ancient people tended to worship many gods, each of whom then had a name. If a god talked to you out of a burning bush,
you would want to know which god.
2.
Several
things are at stake when Moses asks God’s name.
1.
Moses’
last encounter with an Israelite (Exodus
2.
Also,
as the “Bible Background” explains, the ancients believed you could use a god’s
name for blessings and curses. Later,
God will issue a special commandment about God’s name (Exodus 20:7). For now, revealing it is a sign of trust and
commitment.
3. It’s a bit confusing that in the
NRSV and most other English translations, God never does give a regular name,
but only a title, “the Lord.” Beneath this title lies a name written with
the Hebrew consonants YHWH and probably pronounced “Yahweh.”
In Medieval times these Hebrew consonants were written JHVH. A scholar using the wrong set of vowels
expanded this into Jehovah. In other
words, Jehovah is a misspelled
version of the name Yahweh.
(In the scripture for this lesson the name “the Lord” has been changed to “the HOLY ONE.”)
Why do translations write, “the Lord” instead of “Yahweh”? In late biblical times, Jews became reluctant
to say the God’s name – to avoid misusing it, and to avoid implying that there
might be any other god. Instead they
addressed God as “Lord.” The Greek
Bible (in both Testaments) follows this custom, and so do most English
translations. But the translation here
uses special capital letters – Lord – to
show that what really appears in the original text is a name, not a title.
Look through your Bible and notice places where Lord is used. Read some verses saying “Yahweh” instead. How
does it feel to use an actual name?
1.
Why
is Moses so reluctant to accept his mission?
2.
Does
he really think so little of himself, or doesn’t he want his life and family
turned upside down?
3.
How
confident can he be that the God in the bush really means all this?
4.
Whatever
his thoughts, his protests and excuses sound familiar.
5.
When
was a time when you thought you couldn’t do something, and God helped you do it
anyway?
6.
Where
is God calling you right now, and are you afraid? If so, why?
I AM
THE God of your father,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Bible Background (taken from Journey through the Bible, Christian
Board of Publications, 1995, p. 57)
Moses is in the
0ur storyteller reports that
God heard the cry of pain, the people's call for help. God remembered the
covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, looked at these suffering people, and
took notice of them. Over and again in our biblical records, this assertion is
made: God hears the cry of oppressed peoples, and God will not let this cry for
help go unheeded-not forever. God finds a way to help, and that way regularly
includes God's use of faithful human beings.
God's call to special
service often comes when a person is busy with an entirely different kind of
vocation. That was true of the judges of
Then, as Moses inspects the
bush, he hears a voice. It is God's voice, first warning him to be careful--God
is present, and the place is holy. In this holy place Moses hears God's
message, talks with God, and gets the message clear and straight. When Moses
returns with the people the covenant will be sealed and God's Law will be given
to the people on this very same
But for now, this spot is
marked by a flaming bush, from which a voice comes. It was not the bush
speaking, but God, telling Moses about the suffering of Moses' people back in
God promises that Moses will
in fact worship God at this very place, after delivering the Israelites from
slavery. Later, Moses has more spectacular signs: He can turn his walking stick
into a snake and back again. He also can put an arm into his cloak and bring it
out white and grisly, looking as though he has contracted leprosy. Then he can
make the leprosy disappear. But the important sign is God's presence and God's
assurance of success. Moses has to learn to trust in the truth of that promise
of God.
Moses asks for God's name.
The name given is an unusual sentence in Hebrew: "I will be what I will
be," or "I am what I am." This explanation of the meaning of the
personal name of
Why is there such concern
that God's name be known? Because ancient people could use the name of God to
do harm to people, pronounce curses on them in God's name, and the like. There
is power in names, and one has to be careful to use God's name respectfully and
with reverence. So Moses gets the name, but Moses does not get the power to use
this powerful name against his enemies. God
will go with Moses, and God will provide the power needed to free these
enslaved people from the Egyptians.
As Moses keeps objecting,
God provides him with a helper, his older brother Aaron, who is gifted in
speech. This Aaron will become the first priest for the whole family of
Israelites that leaves
Exodus 2:22-4:17
22
Moses wife, Zipporah, bore a
son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, "I
have been an alien residing in a foreign land."
23
After a long time the king of
24
God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob.
25
God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.
CHAPTER
3
1
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,
the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to
Horeb, the
2
There the angel of the HOLY ONE appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a
bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
3
Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see
why the bush is not burned up."
4
When the HOLY ONE saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of
the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
5
Then God said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the
place on which you are standing is holy ground."
6
God said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was
afraid to look at God.
7
Then the HOLY ONE said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in
8
and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up
out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey,
to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the
Egyptians oppress them.
10
So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my
people, the Israelites, out of
11
But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring
the Israelites out of
12
God said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it
is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of
13
But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The
God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?'
what shall I say to them?"
14
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." God said further, "Thus you
shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
15
God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The HOLY
ONE, 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 title
for all generations.
16
Go and assemble the elders of
17
I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt, to the land of
the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites,
the Hivites, and the Jebusites,
a land flowing with milk and honey.'
18
They will listen to your voice; and you and the elders of Israel shall go to
the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The HOLY ONE, the God of the Hebrews, has
met with us; let us now go a three days'
journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the HOLY ONE
our God.'
19
I know, however, that the king of
20
So I will stretch out my hand and strike
21
I will bring this people into such favor with the Egyptians that, when you go,
you will not go empty-handed;
each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in the
neighbor's house for jewelry of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall
put them on your sons and on your daughters; and so you shall plunder the
Egyptians."
CHAPTER 4
1
Then Moses answered, "But suppose they do not
believe me or listen to me, but say, 'The HOLY ONE did not appear to
you.'"
2
The HOLY ONE said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said,
"A staff."
3
And God said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw the staff on the
ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it.
4
Then the HOLY ONE said to Moses, "Reach out your hand, and seize it by the
tail"--so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in
his hand--
5
"so that they may believe that the HOLY ONE, the God of their ancestors,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to
you."
6
Again, the HOLY ONE said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak."
He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous,
as white as snow.
7
Then God said, "Put your hand back into your cloak"--so he put his
hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the
rest of his body--
8 "If they will not believe you or heed the first
sign, they may believe the second sign.
9
If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some
water from the
10
But Moses said to the HOLY ONE, "O my HOLY ONE, I have never been
eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have
spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
11
Then the HOLY ONE said to him, "Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes
them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the HOLY ONE?
12
Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you
what you are to speak."
13
But he said, "O my HOLY ONE, please send someone else."
14
Then the anger of the HOLY ONE was kindled against Moses and he said,
"What of your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak
fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart
will be glad.
15
You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your
mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.
16
He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you,
and you shall serve as God for him.
17
Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall
perform the signs."
the God of the Israelites, his name being
revealed to Moses as four Hebrew CONSONANTS (YHWH) CALLED THE TETRAGRAMMATON.
AFTER THE EXILE (6TH CENTURY BC ), and especially from
the 3rd century BC on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two
reasons. As Judaism became a universal religion through its proselytizing in
the Greco-Roman world, the more common noun elohim, meaning "god," tended to replace Yahweh
to demonstrate the universal sovereignty of
The Masoretes, who from about the 6th to the 10th century
worked to reproduce the original text of the Hebrew Bible, replaced the vowels
of the name YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai
or Elohim. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH) came into being. Although Christian scholars after
the Renaissance and Reformation periods used the term Jehovah for YHWH, in the
19th and 20th centuries biblical scholars again began
to use the form Yahweh. Early Christian writers, such as Clement of
Alexandria in the 2nd century, had used a form like Yahweh, and this
pronunciation of the tetragrammaton
was never really lost. Other Greek transcriptions also indicated that YHWH
should be pronounced Yahweh.
The meaning of the personal
name of the Israelite God has been variously interpreted. Many scholars believe
that the most proper meaning may be "He Brings Into
Existence Whatever Exists" (Yahweh-Asher-Yahweh). In I
Samuel, God is known by the name Yahweh Teva-'ot,
or "He Brings the Hosts Into Existence," the
hosts possibly referring to the heavenly court or to
The personal name of God
probably was known long before the time of Moses. The name of Moses' mother was
Jochebed (Yokheved), a word
based on the name Yahweh. Thus, the tribe of Levi, to which Moses
belonged, probably knew the name Yahweh, which originally may have been
(in its short form Yo, Yah, or Yahu)
a religious invocation of no precise meaning evoked by the mysterious and
awesome splendour of the manifestation of the holy.
Copyright © 1994-2001 Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.
Elohim
singular ELOAH (Hebrew: God), the God of
Israel in the Old Testament. A plural of majesty, the term Elohim--though
sometimes used for other deities, such as the Moabite god Chemosh,
the Sidonian goddess Astarte,
and also for other majestic beings such as angels, kings, judges (the Old
Testament shofetim), and the Messiah--is usually
employed in the Old Testament for the one and only God of Israel, whose
personal name was revealed to Moses as YHWH, or Yahweh . When referring to
Yahweh, elohim very often is accompanied by the
article ha-, to mean, in combination, "the God," and sometimes with a
further identification Elohim hayyim,
meaning "the living God."
Though Elohim
is plural in form, it is understood in the singular sense. Thus, in Genesis the
words, "In the beginning God (Elohim) created
the heavens and the earth," Elohim is
monotheistic in connotation, though its grammatical structure seems
polytheistic. The Israelites probably borrowed the Canaanite plural noun Elohim and made it singular in meaning in their cultic
practices and theological reflections.
Copyright © 1994-2001 Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.
Level: Basic
Please note: This page contains the Name of God. If you print it out, please treat it with appropriate respect.
In Jewish thought, a name is not merely an arbitrary designation, a random combination of sounds. The name conveys the nature and essence of the thing named. It represents the history and reputation of the being named.
This is not as strange or unfamiliar a concept as it may seem at first glance. In English, we often refer to a person's reputation as his "good name." When a company is sold, one thing that may be sold is the company's "good will," that is, the right to use the company's name. The Hebrew concept of a name is very similar to these ideas.
An example of this usage occurs in Ex. 3:13-22: Moses asks God what His "name" is. Moses is not asking "what should I call you;" rather, he is asking "who are you; what are you like; what have you done." That is clear from God's response. God replies that He is eternal, that He is the God of our ancestors, that He has seen our affliction and will redeem us from bondage.
Another example of this usage is the concepts of chillul Ha-Shem and kiddush Ha-Shem. An act that causes God or Judaism to come into disrespect or a commandment to be disobeyed is often referred to as "chillul Ha-Shem," profanation of The Name. Clearly, we are not talking about a harm done to a word; we are talking about harm to a reputation. Likewise, any deed that increases the respect accorded to God or Judaism is referred to as "kiddush Ha-Shem," sanctification of The Name.
Because a name represents the reputation of the thing named, a name should be treated with the same respect as the thing's reputation. For this reason, God's Names, in all of their forms, are treated with enormous respect and reverence in Judaism.
I have often heard people refer to the Judeo-Christian God as "the nameless God" to contrast our God with the ancient pagan gods. I always found this odd, because Judaism clearly recognizes the existence of a Name for God; in fact, we have many Names for God.
The most important of God's Names is the four-letter Name represented by the Hebrew letters Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh (YHVH). It is often referred to as the Ineffable Name, the Unutterable Name or the Distinctive Name. Linguistically, it is related to the Hebrew root Heh-Yod-Heh (to be), and reflects the fact that God's existence is eternal. In scripture, this Name is used when discussing God's relation with human beings, and when emphasizing his qualities of lovingkindness and mercy. It is frequently shortened to Yah (Yod-Heh), Yahu or Yeho (Yod-Heh-Vav), especially when used in combination with names or phrases, as in Yehoshua (Joshua, meaning "the Lord is my Salvation"), Eliyahu (Elijah, meaning "my God is the Lord"), and Halleluyah ("praise the Lord").
The first Name used for God in scripture is Elohim. In form, the word is a masculine plural of a word that looks feminine in the singular (Eloha). The same word (or, according to Rambam, a homonym of it) is used to refer to princes, judges, other gods, and other powerful beings. This Name is used in scripture when emphasizing God's might, His creative power, and his attributes of justice and rulership. Variations on this name include El, Eloha, Elohai (my God) and Elohaynu (our God).
God is also known as El Shaddai. This Name is usually translated as "God Almighty," however, the derivation of the word "Shaddai" is not known. According to some views, it is derived from the root meaning "to heap benefits." According a Midrash, it means, "The One who said 'dai'" ("dai" meaning enough or sufficient) and comes from the fact that when God created the universe, it expanded until He said "DAI!" (perhaps the first recorded theory of an expanding universe?). The name Shaddai is the one written on the mezuzah scroll. Some note that Shaddai is an acronym of Shomer Daltot Yisrael, Guardian of the Doors of Israel.
Another significant Name of God is YHVH Tzva'ot. This Name is normally translated as "Lord of Hosts." The word "tzva'ot" means "hosts" in the sense of a military grouping or an organized array. The Name refers to God's leadership and sovereignty. Interestingly, this Name is rarely used in scripture. It never appears in the Torah (i.e., the first five books). It appears primarily in the prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, as well as many times in the Psalms.
Jews do not casually write any Name of God. This practice does not come from the commandment not to take the Lord's Name in vain, as many suppose. In Jewish thought, that commandment refers solely to oath-taking, and is a prohibition against swearing by God's Name falsely or frivolously (the word normally translated as "in vain" literally means "for falsehood").
Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better.
The commandment not to erase or deface the name of God comes from Deut. 12:3. In that passage, the people are commanded that when they take over the promised land, they should destroy all things related to the idolatrous religions of that region, and should utterly destroy the names of the local deities. Immediately afterwards, we are commanded not to do the same to our God. From this, the rabbis inferred that we are commanded not to destroy any holy thing, and not to erase or deface a Name of God.
It is worth noting that this prohibition against erasing or defacing Names of God applies only to Names that are written in some kind of permanent form, and recent rabbinical decisions have held that writing on a computer is not a permanent form, thus it is not a violation to type God's Name into a computer and then backspace over it or cut and paste it, or copy and delete files with God's Name in them. However, once you print the document out, it becomes a permanent form. That is why observant Jews avoid writing a Name of God on web sites like this one or in newsgroup messages: because there is a risk that someone else will print it out and deface it.
Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing "G-d" instead of "God." In addition, the number 15, which would ordinarily be written in Hebrew as Yod-Heh (10-5), is normally written as Tet-Vav (9-6), because Yod-Heh is a Name. See Hebrew Alphabet for more information about using letters as numerals.
Nothing in the Torah prohibits a person from pronouncing the Name of God. Indeed, it is evident from scripture that God's Name was pronounced routinely. Many common Hebrew names contain "Yah" or "Yahu," part of God's four-letter Name. The Name was pronounced as part of daily services in the Temple.
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).
Although the prohibition on pronunciation applies only to the four-letter Name, Jews customarily do not pronounce any of God's many Names except in prayer or study. The usual practice is to substitute letters or syllables, so that Adonai becomes Adoshem or Ha-Shem, Elohaynu and Elohim become Elokaynu and Elokim, etc.
With the Temple
destroyed and the prohibition on pronouncing The Name outside of the
Some people render the four-letter Name as "Jehovah," but this pronunciation is particularly unlikely. The word "Jehovah" comes from the fact that ancient Jewish texts used to put the vowels of the Name "Adonai" (the usual substitute for YHVH) under the consonants of YHVH to remind people not to pronounce YHVH as written. A sixteenth century German Christian scribe, while transliterating the Bible into Latin for the Pope, wrote the Name out as it appeared in his texts, with the consonants of YHVH and the vowels of Adonai, and came up with the word JeHoVaH, and the name stuck.