He Will Be

Exo. 3:13-15 

     Then Moses said to the Mighty One, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The Mighty One of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 

     And the Mighty One said to Moses, “I will be what I will be.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I will be has sent me to you.’”  

     Moreover, the Mighty One said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘YHWH the Mighty One of your fathers… has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’ 

 

There is a misunderstanding concerning this text. The English Bible versions translate the Hebrew term ehyeh as I AM. However, this term is correctly translated as “I will be” one verse earlier (Exo. 3:12) 

And the Mighty One said, “I will be with you…” 

By itself, the imperfect form of the verb hayah (to be) occurs thirty times in Scripture. In all cases, apart from Exodus 3:14, the Bible versions agree that the correct translation is I will be.

Exo. 3:12; Jos. 1:5; 3:7; Jdg. 6:16; 11:9; 1 Sa. 18:18; 2 Sa. 7:14; 15:34; 16:18, 19; 1 Ch. 17:13; 28:6; Job 3:16; 10:19; 12:4; 17:6; Psa. 50:21; Sng. 1:7; Isa 3:7; 47:7; Jer. 31:1; 32:38; Eze 11:20; 14:11; 34:24; 37:23; Hos. 14:5; Zec. 2:5; 8:8. 

[There are ten other places in Scripture where this term appears and is proceeded by the word anokhi (a different form of ani). Together, these words would signify the present tense.  Exo. 4:12, 15; Deu. 31:23; Rth. 2:13; 1 Sa. 23:17; Jer. 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; Eze. 36:28; Hos. 1:9. By itself, anokhi (or ani) would be used for “I am”.]

The Messenger did not stop speaking with Moses in verse fourteen. He continued to tell Moses that His name is YHWH. He then told Moses: 

“This is My name forever” -Exo. 3:15 

 This statement is repeated throughout Scripture. Exo. 15:3; Psa. 83:18; 135:13; Isa. 42:8; Jer. 16:21; 33:2; Hos. 12:5; Amo. 5:8; 9:6; etc. Of the nearly 7,000 times His name appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, the KJV, for example, transliterates it four times: Exo. 6:3, Psa. 83:18, Isa 12:2, & Isa. 26:4. 

His name itself appears to come from another (related) verb meaning to be—hawah or havah (Strong’s H1933). In Biblical Hebrew, the prefix yod attached to a verb indicates the third person imperfect tense (i.e. He will). So Y-hawah or Y-havah would literally mean He will be. [Pronunciation is not part of this study. There are various Semetic Language speakers who pronounce the sixth letter of the Aleph-Bet differently, including Yemenite Jews.]

In Biblical times, when a name is given, the meaning of that name is also provided. The name Adam comes from the word for clay—adamah—because he was formed from clay. Gen. 2:7. The name Yaaqob comes from the word heal—aqeb—because he came out grabbing his brother’s heel. Gen. 25:26. Yeshua is given this name because it was said that he will save (yoshia) His people from their sins. Mat. 1:21.

When YHWH’s name is given, He told Moses “I will be.” His name—YHWH—therefore means He will be.  

The beautiful thing about this statement is that it shows the eternal nature of YHWH and His Word. “Grass withers and the flowers fade” (Isa. 40:8), “heaven and earth will disappear” (Mat. 5:18; 24:35), “but the Word of YHWH endures forever” (1 Pe. 1:25).