Comentário sobre Êxodo 3:13

AND THEY SHALL SAY UNTO ME: WHAT IS HIS NAME? WHAT SHALL I SAY UNTO THEM? This verse calls aloud for an explanation. It is incomprehensible that Moses should say, And they shall say unto me: What is His name? meaning that this will be a sign to them to believe in him. The asking for His Name and Moses’ telling it to them are no sign to anyone who did not believe in Moses to begin with. If Israel knew that Name, Moses likewise knew it, and thus his knowledge thereof was equivalent to theirs and it would be no sign or wonder at all. If they had not heard of it previously, what proof would that be that they should believe in his words altogether? And now even after He informed him of the Great Name, Moses still said, But, behold, they will not believe me,¹⁹⁶Ibid., 4:1. and then He gave him the various signs!¹⁹⁷Ibid., Verses 2-9.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that Moses asked which of G-d’s Names he should mention to Israel, for the Name of E-il Sha-dai (G-d Almighty) does not signify the performance of miraculous signs; only the Great Name, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton], indicates that. But this interpretation does not appear correct to me. Moses had not yet been told that He would make great and wondrous signs and portents at the going forth from Egypt. Rather, he was told that He would save them from the hand of the Egyptians and bring them up to the land of Canaan, and for that — to strike at the heart of Pharaoh, as well as to be victorious over the seven nations — the name E-il Sha-dai suffices. Sarah was taken out from Pharaoh’s house with great plagues,¹⁹⁸Genesis 12:17. and Abraham alone subdued the great kings¹⁹⁹Ibid., 14:14-15. — all with the help of E-il Sha-dai, the Divine Name known to the patriarchs,²⁰⁰Further, 6:3. and so likewise He would do to their descendants. Moreover, Jacob had said, And ‘Elokim’ (G-d) will be with you, and bring you back unto the land of your fathers²⁰¹Genesis 48:21., and Joseph also said, ‘Elokim’ (G-d) will surely remember you.²⁰²Ibid., 50:25. Thus the remembrance is by Elokim!
In my opinion, Moses even at that time was already the father of wisdom, great in achievement of the heights of prophecy, and inherent in his question was the request that He inform him Who is sending him, that is to say, by what Divine attribute is he sent to the Israelites, just as Isaiah said, And now the Eternal G-d hath sent me, and His spirit.²⁰³Isaiah 48:16. Thus Moses said: “They will ask me concerning my mission whether it is with the attribute of E-il Sha-dai which stood by the patriarchs, or with the high attribute of mercy with which You will do signs and wonders which will be new phenomena in creation.” [Moses was obliged to ask] this question because He had said to him, I am the G-d of thy father, the G-d of Abraham,²⁰⁴Verse 6. and He did not elucidate to him at all any of His sacred Names. Moses then heard that He assured him of the Revelation on Mount Sinai and the Giving of the Torah, and he knew that the Torah would not be given with the Name of E-il Sha-dai mentioned in connection with the patriarchs, but would be given with the Great Name with which the world came into existence. Therefore he asked, What shall I say unto them?
Our Rabbis have alluded to this interpretation. Thus they said:²⁰⁵Shemoth Rabbah 3:6. “And Moses said unto G-d, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel.” Rabbi Shimon related in the name of Rabbi Simon that Moses said: ‘I am destined to become the agent between Thee and them when Thou wilt give them the Torah and say unto them, I am the Eternal thy G-d.’²⁰⁶Further, 20:2. “And if I am worthy to become Thy agent at the Giving of the Torah, I request to be informed now of Thy Great Name” (Eitz Yoseph to Shemoth Rabbah). This conclusion is here implied and is so clearly stated at the end of the Midrash here quoted.
“And I shall say unto them: The G-d of your fathers hath sent me unto you. At that moment, Moses desired to be elucidated concerning his activities, for he feared lest the children of Israel ask him, What is His name? What shall I say unto them? At that moment Moses desired that the Holy One, blessed be He, inform him of the Great Name, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton].” This was the purport of Moses’ question.

מה אמר אליהם?, seeing that I do not know Your specific name.

"ואמרו לי "מה שמו?, a name describes the individual features of a person, Being, or what makes him distinctive. The people could therefore be expected to ask Moses in what manner this G’d whose messenger he claimed to be had distinguished Himself as being special, different from other gods.

הנה אנכי בא אל בני ישראל, "When I come to the children of Israel, etc." At this point Moses had agreed in principle to accept the mission, conceding that the arguments he had voiced previously had now become irrelevant. However, he needed accreditation as a prophet in order to make the Israelites accept him as such. As soon as he would come to them they would ask him to identify himself by revealing the name of the G'd Who he claimed had spoken to him. We find that whenever G'd began to speak to the patriarchs He identified Himself by stating His name (compare Genesis 15,7; 17,1; 28,13). Moses wanted to know which of G'd's names he was to mention when he would come to the Israelites. Moses had been wondering that seeing G'd had identified Himself to him as "the G'd of your father Abraham, the G'd of Isaac, and the G'd of Jacob" without adding any other attribute as part of His identification, whether he should similarly identify G'd to the children of Israel when they would ask him who had communicated with him and had appointed him as their redeemer. Did G'd really think that this would suffice as an identification for the people to accept Moses as their leader?

ואמרו לי מה שמו, “(how am I to answer them) when they will say to me: ‘what is (this G’d’s) name?” Nachmanides writes that this verse cries out to be interpreted (not just read). It is quite inconceivable that the verse means that Moses said to G’d: “what is Your name, what shall I say to them?” and that the instruction by G’d to tell them His name would be the kind of אות, convincing sign or symbol that he was trustworthy in his claim to be this G’d’s appointee, sent to orchestrate their deliverance. How could such a simplistic statement as telling them of G’d’s name make believers out of confirmed non-believers? What proof did Moses bring with him that would encourage the people to believe that he indeed had been chosen by G’d to be their redeemer? We see indeed that immediately after G’d told him to relate His name to the people, Moses countered that he was convinced that the people would not believe him. Ibn Ezra understands Moses’ question to refer to the numerous attributes, (names) of G’d, and his wanting to know which of these attributes he was to stress when telling them that he had been sent to deliver them from the yoke of Pharaoh. It was a well known fact that miracles are not performed by the attribute Shaddai, but only by the four-lettered ineffable name of G’d. Ibn Ezra’s words do not appear acceptable at all, seeing that the question of performing any miracles had not yet been raised by either G’d or Moses. Moses had not been instructed as yet to perform any miracles in Egypt; he had only been told to lead the Jews out of Egypt by convincing Pharaoh in G’d’s name to release the Israelites from bondage. Moreover, the people had the tradition that Joseph had spoken of the attribute elokim remembering the Israelites when the time came to take them out of Egypt, (Genesis 50,24) There would therefore appear to be no reason for Moses to refer at this stage to any other possible attribute of G’d. Also the patriarch Yaakov had already told his sons that the attribute elokim would come to the assistance of the people when the time would be ripe. (Genesis 48,21) Seeing that the attribute of elokim had been sufficient to assure Avraham’s single-handed victory over the four Kings who had defeated the five kings of Sodom, there was no reason at all for Moses to suggest that another attribute of G’d need to be invoked in order to make the Exodus from Egypt possible. I believe (still Nachmanides writing) that we must understand matters in the following manner. At that time Moses was already privy to profound prophetic insights, having previously mastered all the philosophic wisdom available at his time, [perhaps also having composed the Book of Job at that time, a book that testifies to the profound wisdom of its author. Ed.] In light of his knowledge of the complex nature of G’d and His attributes, he enquired under which heading G’d had intended to appoint him as the leader of the Israelite nation. He was convinced that this would be the first question by the elders of the people that he would have to answer in order to establish some degree of credibility. The elders knew of two of G’d’s attributes, the attribute elokim, i.e. el shaddai, the attribute which had successfully assisted the patriarchs throughout their lives, and the attribute Hashem, i.e. the attribute under whose aegis miracles of supernatural character are performed. The obvious reason which prompted Moses to raise this question was that G’d had introduced Himself to him as the G’d of the patriarchs, i.e. אלוקי אביך. Seeing that the patriarchs’ lives had been guided by the attribute of shaddai, it was quite possible that the Exodus would also be orchestrated under that heading. If G’d, at that time, had mentioned a specific attribute of His as enabling Him to forthwith orchestrate the redemption of the Jewish people, Moses would not have raised the question at all. G’d’s answer now was to ask Moses to wait until the people would come to Mount Sinai and experience the revelation, when it would become clear that such an event could not occur under the aegis of the attribute shaddai. The people would experience an attribute of G’d with which even the patriarchs had not been familiar. This was the attribute used to create the world, not the attribute employed to merely keep the world functioning as a going concern. Moses wanted to know if he were to reveal this attribute of G’d to the people already at this time. In other words, was he to reveal to them at this time universal aspects of G’d, or was he to restrict himself to representing G’d in His capacity as manager of the earth in its present format? When G’d answered אהיה אשר אהיה, this meant that there was no need for Moses to broaden the people’s theological base by dragging in the universal dimensions of G’d as the Creator, etc. It would suffice to assure the people that the same G’d (attribute) Who had been with the patriarchs would continue to be with both Moses and the people. This attribute would suffice, if called upon during periods of distress, to propel G’d to help His people. G’d’s response to His people’s prayers would be enough proof to them and to the people around them that there was a living G’d Who took an interest in the fate of His creatures. This corresponds to how our sages explained the name אהיה אשר אהיה, i.e. “just as I have seen them through this major problem, so I will see them through any major problems in the future.” It is assumed that the Jewish people, whenever they are in distress, will call upon this attribute of G’d asking for relief. The manifestation of the attribute of shaddai on such occasions is abundant proof of the existence of a living and caring G’d. Moses felt that it was premature to hint at future times when the Israelites might encounter similar distress; this is why he suggested that he introduce G’d simply as אהיה, the four letters of the ineffable name, the attribute of Mercy, an attribute which presupposes that this G’d is the Creator, hence He can operate freely in all of His creation, that He is the universal G’d. The word אהיה is repeated here three times, indicating that in G’d’s approach to the universe, seeing that He is eternal, there are no such concepts as past, present, and future, they are all one, i.e. , היה, הווה, יהיה“He was, He is, He will be,” are parts of the same concept. Only to mortals such as we, are these concepts separate and non-interchangeable time zones. Some commentators see in the expression אהיה אשר אהיה, a command for Moses to tell the people that G’d Himself suffers with the people whenever they endure suffering. G’d explained that the reason why Moses was granted this vision of G’d was precisely because the people had turned to Him, pleading for relief, and that G’d was about to answer their plea. He was sure, He said, that as soon as Moses would tell the people this they would indeed believe him when he said that he had been sent by this G’d. In other words, the answer to Moses’ question “what shall I tell them in order that they will believe me?” is that ”I will be with them.” Still another approach to our problem. Moses made the same mistake as Yaakov had made when he asked the angel in his nocturnal encounter his name, and who had been told that this was irrelevant. Celestial forces, unlike terrestrial phenomena, do not have fixed names, as they adopt names that match whatever task they perform at a given point in history. Seeing that G’d is active simultaneously on many different “fronts,” He ”travels” under many different “names.” [In colloquial terms: “G’d uses many different passports on different occasions.” Ed.] The meaning of the words אהיה אשר אהיה is simply “I will adopt whatever name the occasion and the circumstances call for at the time I manifest Myself.”

V. 13. Die Frage, welchen Gottesnamen er Israel verkündigen solle, dürfte nur durch Vergegenwärtigung der Momente seiner Sendung verständlich werden. Namen Gottes, ה׳ und שד׳, waren ihnen ja von den Vätern her bekannt genug. Allein nach allem Bisherigen musste ja Mosche klar sein, wie seine Sendung eine doppelte sei, einmal an Pharao: die Rettung zu vollbringen, und dann die eigentliche und ungleich schwierigere an Israel, um es für das große Ziel, "Volk Gottes" zu werden, wie dies in dem בהוציאך וגו׳ entschieden als Zweck der ganzen Erlösung ausgesprochen, vorbereitend heranzubilden. Wäre seine Aufgabe für jetzt nur Rettung aus der Knechtschaft gewesen, er hätte seine Sendung für jetzt nur an Pharao zu richten gehabt. Allein Mosche begreift sofort seine Sendung an Israel als den eigentlichen Kern seiner Aufgabe, sie der Erlösung würdig zu machen und damit ihrer eigentlichen großen Bestimmung näher zu führen. Er war nicht darüber im Zweifel, was er Pharao zu sagen habe, allein über seine Sendung an Israel wünschte er näheren Aufschluss. Daher die Frage: "wenn ich nun zu den Söhnen Jisraels komme und ihnen sage, der Gott eurer Väter hat mich an euch gesandt —" diese Sendung an Israel setzt die Ankündigung einer neuen Aufgabe, eines neuen Verhältnisses voraus —"welchen Namen soll ich ihnen dann nennen?" Die Nennung dieses Namens muss somit Aufschluss über das neue Verhältnis gewähren, in welches sie zu Gott treten sollen.

And here Hashem answered “I will be, what I will be,” I will be with you [bnei yisroel] during this troubling time and I will with you [bnei yisroel] during other troubling times. Moshe says before Hashem enough troubles at this time, Hashem said to Moshe you said right. You should say this to Bnei Yisroel “I will be as Hashem sent me."

Moses implied that inasmuch as both he and the Israelites were already familiar with that aspect of G'd, in what way was Moses better or more intimate with G'd that they should believe he was a prophet sent on such a great mission? On the other hand, if Moses were to claim that the name of the G'd in whose name he had come was one that was unfamiliar to them, why would such a name carry any weight with them at all? I have seen many different commentaries on this verse, but I do believe that any person with an ounce of common sense will appreciate the way I have presented the problem Moses poses here. At this stage Moses most certainly did not ask G'd to provide him with a miracle he would be entitled to perform in order to prove that his claim was not spurious. You will note that G'd told Moses to tell the Israelites that He had identified Himself as אהיה. It is true that this was an attribute that G'd had never employed in His communications with the patriarchs. Moses realised now that as a true messenger he would never presume to interpret something G'd had said without first making certain that he had understood G'd correctly. No doubt Moses had been familar already with more than one attribute of G'd. However, he did not dare to convey to the people something he himself thought G'd had meant without checking. It is also possible that this verse merely reflects Moses' curiosity to learn more about the attribute G'd presently employed when speaking with him.

שֵם , verwandt mit שם von , שום, der geistige Ort, die Kategorie, wohin ein Gegenstand zu registrieren ist. Jede Nennung eines Namens ist die Ortsanweisung eines Gegenstandes in dem Reiche unserer Erkenntnisse, sagt uns, wohin der Gegenstand begrifflich gehört. Oder auch von שמה, wie בֵן von בנה, verwandt mit שמע geistigen צמא , dem geistigen Durst; wie ראה , verwandt mit רעה, die Stillung des geistigen Hungers. Das Auge bringt das Konsistente, das Körperliche der Dinge dem Bewusstsein. Mit dem Ohr vernehmen wir die inneren Verhältnisse, das Innere der Erscheinungen. Wir hören nichts als שמות, die inneren Wahrheiten der Dinge. Unser ganzes Gottbewusstsein besteht aus שמותיו של הב׳׳ה. Alles, was wir von Gott wissen sollen, alles, was uns Gott von sich offenbart hat, ist nicht für unser Auge, sondern für unser Ohr. Und je nachdem wir ihn nennen, je nachdem haben wir eine Vorstellung von seinem Verhalten zu uns und von unserem Verhältnis zu ihm. Daher das bedeutsame: ויבטחו בך יודעי שמך ,אשגבהו כי ידע שמי ,דעת שם ד׳. Demgemäß heißt כי הגדלת על כל שמך אמרתך (Ps. 138, 2): was du für die Zukunft verheißen, über ragt noch weit das, was wir bereits von dir wissen. "Gottes Namen zu wissen" brauchen wir eben nur dann, wenn wir aktiv zu ihm in Beziehung treten sollen. Sollen wir nur passiv uns von ihm retten und segnen lassen, so bedarf es dazu ebensowenig Gottesbewusstsein, wie zu unserer Geburt. Erst wenn wir aktiv, als עבדי ד׳ in den Dienst Gottes treten sollen, ist uns "ein entsprechendes Wissen seines Namens" not, haben wir mit Erkenntnis seines Namens uns dessen bewusst zu werden, welchen Begriff er wolle, der uns bei unserem Verhalten zu ihm leiten solle, und von welchem Gedanken aus wir all unser Tun und Lassen ihm entsprechend gestalten sollen. Mosche Frage nach dem Namen, den er für seine Sendung an Israel diesem bringen solle, ist gleichbedeutend mit der Frage: welchen Begriff er den Söhnen Israels bringen solle, der ihr Inneres umwandeln und von dem aus sie zu dem freien Entschluss kommen sollen, aus dem Dienst Pharaos in den Dienst Gottes einzutreten.