By My Name Jehovah

A. L. C. of Rhyl raises a very interesting point when he remarks that although God, in speaking to Moses, says “I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them”,1 yet in connection with the offering up of the famous ram caught in a thicket, in place of his only son Isaac, we read “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh,”2 that is, “the Lord will see or provide”.

The question therefore is, if God was not known to Abraham as Jehovah, how could Abraham embody the word Jehovah in a place-name?

This has every appearance of contradiction and confusion, and over-zealous apologists sometimes fall back on the interrogative sense of the negative particle lo, not, often found in Hebrew, and suggest that we should read the words as a question, thus, “I appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name of God Almighty, and by my name Jehovah was I not also made known unto them?”

To continue reading this Bible article, click here.

Author: F. Whiteley

Keywords: Lord, Jehovah, Yhwh, Jehovah Jireh, never knew

Bible reference(s): Genesis 22:14, Exodus 6:3

Source: “Readers’ Problems,” The Testimony, Vol. 8, No. 91, July 1938, pp. 318-9.

Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.