The following was sent to me in an email from an Orthodox Jewish friend of mine following a discussion about the name of YHWH. We agreed that the Hebrew god is YHWH and that his name is important (in fact we agree about quite a lot to my surprise). It is certainly interesting to see an Orthodox Jew who is willing to even write the characters for YHWH!
I would be interested to see what you all make of it, there are certain parts I really disagree with, such as the use of 'eloha' (my Tanakh says 'Elohim') and the 7 names? bit, but some bits of it seem to be quite 'kosher', heh heh :-P
Shemot 3:9-10 “Now, behold, the cry of the children of Yisra'el has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Mitzrim oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send you to Par`oh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Yisra'el, out of Mitzrayim.”
– HaShem reveals himself to Moshe because of the great compassion that he had for the people who were oppressed. In order to be an effective leader, one must share in the Eternal’s emotions. Moshe had to come to know an Eloha of mercy and compassion, who feels what the people feel and cares about their situation and is aware of their suffering. If a leader does not have the compassion of the Eternal for his people, he will never be successful in the Kingdom. This was the first thing that Moshe had to learn at this heavenly encounter. This revelation of the compassionate Eloha is intimately connected with the name YHWH. This is the name that expresses the Eternal’s mercy and compassion.
According to the second level of interpretation, remez, the allegorical level, we can say that Mitzrayim symbolizes the present world system, Paroh symbolizes satan, who rules in this world of evil, and the slavery symbolizes the state of man under sin. These are man’s three main enemies, the world, satan, and sin. The last is the most dangerous. It leads to death. Moshe was now given the assignment to deliver the people from these three; from Mitzrayim, from Paroh’s influence, and from slavery. In the same way, the Messiah has the assignment of delivering the people of Israel from this world system, from the influence of satan, and from the power of the yetzer ha-rah, the evil urge within man, which leads to death.
3:14-15 “Eloha said to Moshe, ‘I will be who I will be.’ And he said, ‘You shall tell the children of Yisra'el this: “I will be has sent me to you.”’ Eloha said moreover to Moshe, ‘You shall tell the children of Yisra'el this, “The Eternal, the Eloha of your fathers, the Eloha of Avraham, the Eloha of Yitzchak, and the Eloha of Ya`akov, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.’”
– In this extraordinary experience we find altogether seven names of the Eternal. These seven are:
1. I will be who I will be – Ehiyeh asher ehiyeh.
2. I will be – Ehiyeh, a shorter form of the first.
3. The Eternal – YHWH (I avoid writing it out completely since I am not sure how it is pronounced).
4. The Eloha of your fathers.
5. The Eloha of Avraham.
6. The Eloha of Yitzchak.
7. The Eloha of Ya’akov.
Targum Yerushalayim translated verse 14 this way, “And the Word of the Lord said to Moshe, ‘I am the one who said to the world, “Be!” and it was, and the one who will come in the future will say, “Be!” and it is going to be.’ And he said, ‘This you shall say to the children of Israel, “I am” has sent me to you.’”
A Midrash says, “I do not have a permanent name, because my Name varies according to the way that my actions are perceived by man,” HaShem explained. “When I sit in judgment and wage war against evil, I am called Tzevaot. When I spare the sinner from punishment, I am called Shaddai. When I am merciful, I present myself as YHWH (HaShem). The Name “Ehiyeh asher ehiyeh, means that in the same way that I am with them in this exile, I am going to be with them in the future exiles.”
The same Midrash goes on to say that Moshe asked if they had not had enough suffering now, in order to find out about the future. HaShem answered him that this name was only revealed to him as their leader. To the children of Israel, you shall only name the name “Ehiyeh”, “I will be”, so that they will understand that I will be with them in this suffering.
The root of the word Ehiyeh is “hayah” (he, yud, he), which means “be”, “is”, “exist”, “have”, “own”, “make oneself”, “become”, “be changed into”, “place oneself”, “belong to”, “serve as”.
The root of the name YHWH is “havah” (he, vav, he), which means “be”, “is”, “exist”, “become”, “happen”.
The word YHWH (Yud, He, Vav, He), is connected to “hayah” and “havah”. YHWH is the hifil-form of the verb “havah”, which means that he is (for eternity), he lives (and cannot die) and he gives life (and causes everything living to exist). He is the one who exists in and of himself, the only one who really is without comparison, without limit, self-sufficient, eternal, and unchanging.
In Isaiah 41:4, it is written,
“Who has worked and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, HaShem, the first, and with the last, I am.”
This teaches us that the Eternal does not exist in time. He is the first and simultaneously he is with the last. Right now he is present at the Garden of Eden when Adam eats of the forbidden fruit. Right now he is present when his Son sheds his blood on the tree. He is present at the second coming of the Messiah and at the eternal judgment. He is in the past, present, and future, simultaneously. He does not need to foresee the future; he is in the future. He is the first, and at the same time he is with the last.
3:16 “Go, and gather the elders of Yisra'el together, and tell them, ‘YHWH, the Eloha of your fathers, the Eloha of Avraham, of Yitzchak, and of Ya`akov, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Mitzrayim"’”
– We see clearly that Moshe uttered the Name of the Eternal to the children of Israel. He did even before Paroh, compare with 5:1-2, 17. The rabbinic prohibition of uttering the Name of the Eternal is not based on the Torah. The Eternal rebuked the false prophets in Israel because they caused the people to forget his Name, as it is written in Jeremiah 23:27,
“who think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers forgot my name for Ba`al.”
3:18 “They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Yisra'el, to the king of Mitzrayim, and you shall tell him, ‘HaShem, the Eloha of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to HaShem, our Eloha.’”
– Here Eloha calls himself the “Eloha of the Hebrews”. This is the first time in the Scriptures that this expression is found. The word “the Hebrews” (“ha-ivrim”) occurs fourteen times in the Chumash (the five books of Moshe) in the normal way, and one time in an unusual way. Here are the first four times:
1. Genesis 40:15 – in connection with the land of Israel.
2. Genesis 43:32 – in connection with food.
3. Exodus 2:6 – in connection with the people.
4. Exodus 3:18 – in connection with the Eternal.
In Exodus 3:18 the word is written “ha-ivriyim”, with a double yud. This is the only time it is written this way in the entire Scriptures. This tells us that there is a secret hidden within the expression “the Eloha of the Hebrews”.
• The letter yud is the first letter in the Name of the Eternal – He identifies with the Hebrews to such an extent that he lets his Name be among them.
• The letter yud is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet – The ten words were given on Mount Sinai. It also means that the ten plagues would come over Mitzrayim in order to deliver the Hebrews from that place.
• The double yud is also found in the word “va-yitzer” (and formed) in Genesis 2:7. According to Rashi, this means that there was a double forming of man (as opposed to the animals). One forming for this world, and one for the resurrection of the dead. Within the human body there is a seed for the resurrected body. Now when the double yud is found in the word “Hebrews” in Exodus 3:18, it alludes to the Hebrews being people who live in two dimensions, in this world and in the heavenly world. Among the Hebrews there are two kinds of people; those who are only of this world, (like the sand), and those who are also of heaven, (like the stars). The Hebrews who have a relationship with the Eternal are those who have been marked with a double yud. They are the heavenly children.
4:16 “He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as Eloha.”
– Moshe was given the job of being elohim, the highest judge with the highest power. The Hebrew word “elohim” is not a personal name for the Creator, but a position, a title. His name is not Elohim, he IS Elohim. A man can have several different assignments. He can be a lawyer, a father, a friend, and a company president. All these titles are different roles. But none of them are a personal name. A person’s given name is not the same as the position that he holds. For example “John is a policeman”. John is his name and he holds the position of a policeman. It is the same thing when it is written, “YHWH is Elohim”, (Deuteronomy 4:39). His name is YHWH and he holds the position of Elohim. The Creator has a personal name by which he reveals himself, YHWH, as it is written in Exodus 15:3,
“HaShem is a man of war. YHWH is his name.”
That is his personal name. His other names are titles, which represent his different roles, and “Elohim” is one of them. This role of being elohim, was delegated to Moshe.
The plural form elohim, is used in Exodus 4:16, to describe a man who represents the Almighty on earth (compare with Exodus 21:22; 22:8-9). If the term “Elohim” was only used to describe plurality, it would not have been used of a single person. Moshe is not more than one person. Here he received the power to represent the Almighty on earth, and he was not called “El” or “Eloha”, which are the singular forms, but he was called “Elohim”, which is the plural form of the word “Eloha”. This teaches us that the word “Elohim” is not referring to several people, but to full authority, full power. The word “Elohim” is used here of one single person who was given full authority to act in the place of the Almighty on earth.
