Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
God encourages Moses, and reveals to him His name Jehovah. Second, verse 14, the genealogy of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi is recounted down to Moses and Aaron.
Vulgate Text: Exodus 6:1-30
1. And the Lord said to Moses: Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and with a mighty hand he shall cast them out of his land. 2. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord 3. who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty; and My name Adonai I did not make known to them. 4. And I established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5. I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, with which the Egyptians have oppressed them; and I have remembered My covenant. 6. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord, who will bring you out from the prison of the Egyptians and will rescue you from servitude; and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7. And I will take you to Myself as a people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the prison of the Egyptians, 8. and brought you into the land over which I raised My hand to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a possession, I the Lord. 9. Moses therefore told all this to the children of Israel, who did not listen to him because of anguish of spirit and the hardest labor. 10. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 11. Go in and speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go from his land. 12. Moses answered before the Lord: Behold, the children of Israel do not listen to me; and how will Pharaoh listen, especially since I am uncircumcised of lips? 13. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 14. These are the heads of their fathers' houses, by their families. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Henoch and Phallu, Hesron and Charmi: 15. these are the families of Reuben. The sons of Simeon: Jamuel, and Jamin, and Ahod, and Jachin, and Soar, and Saul the son of a Canaanite woman: these are the descendants of Simeon. 16. And these are the names of the sons of Levi by their families: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the years of Levi's life were one hundred and thirty-seven. 17. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their families. 18. The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of Kohath's life were one hundred and thirty-three. 19. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi by their clans. 20. And Amram took as wife Jochebed his father's sister, who bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of Amram's life were one hundred and thirty-seven. 21. The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23. And Aaron took as wife Elizabeth, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, who bore him Nadab, and Abihu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24. The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites. 25. But Eleazar the son of Aaron took a wife from the daughters of Putiel, who bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the Levitical families by their clans. 26. This is the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord commanded to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their divisions. 27. These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt: this is Moses and Aaron, 28. on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt. 29. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you. 30. And Moses said before the Lord: Behold, I am uncircumcised of lips; how will Pharaoh listen to me?
Verse 1: Now You Shall See What I Will Do to Pharaoh
1. AND THE LORD SAID TO MOSES -- who was praying and calling upon God, as is evident from the preceding chapter, verse 22. He said, I say, either through an angel appearing in visible form and speaking with an audible voice -- for God dealt familiarly with Moses, as is clear from Numbers 12 -- or through a hidden and internal inspiration, as He is accustomed to speak and respond to prophets. And this seems more likely, both because no species, form, or symbol of God is expressed here, as occurs in chapter 3, verse 2, and chapter 4, verse 24; and because it is not credible that God here so many times, namely in each individual plague, visibly appeared to Moses; and because God here responded to Moses in the manner in which Moses is said to have approached and consulted the Lord, in the preceding chapter, verse 22. Moses, however, did not approach the Lord visibly appearing, but rather in his chamber and oratory he spiritually approached and consulted God.
NOW YOU SHALL SEE. As if to say: I will not delay; behold, I am girding Myself for the work of freeing you from Pharaoh.
WHAT I WILL DO TO PHARAOH -- what evils, what plagues I am about to inflict on him; hence he himself, "with a mighty hand," that is, compelled by the mighty hand of God, "shall cast out" -- he will not merely let them go, but will compel the Hebrews to leave, and this in haste, so as to remove from himself the avenging hand of God.
Verses 2 and 3: I Am the Lord Who Appeared to Abraham
2 and 3. I AM THE LORD WHO APPEARED TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB AS GOD ALMIGHTY. In Hebrew it is beel saddai, that is, "as God strong and generous," or liberal. Now "as God" means "in the likeness of God," or "as a liberal God"; for the Hebrews often take beth for the related kaph, which is the mark of similitude. Note: Saddai signifies God as it were "breasted" [mammeus], who bestows all sufficiency and abundance, as I explained at length on Genesis 17:1. To which add that Saddai, secondly, can be derived from scadad, that is, "to plunder," so that God is called Saddai, that is, plundering and devastating whatever pleases Him, to which Isaiah alludes in chapter 13, verse 6, when he says: "As destruction from the Almighty" (in Hebrew, "as destruction from scod, from Saddai, that is, as destruction from God the devastator") "shall it come"; and Job chapter 23, verse 16, when he says in the Hebrew: "Saddai has troubled me." Now the meaning of this passage is, as if He said: I, God, dealt with your fathers, namely Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and lived among them as God Saddai, that is, I showed Myself to them as almighty and munificent, I showed them that I had riches in abundance to enrich them: for I took away the wealth of the Canaanites, the Gerarites, the Sodomites, Laban, Esau, and others, and gave it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as is clear from Genesis.
Mystically, God Saddai appears to the saints whom He makes content with their lot, even when it is wretched, and whom He fills with His grace and spiritual gifts, and especially those whom He makes generous toward others. Saint Giles, companion of Saint Francis, when asked who is blessed, answered: "He who loves and does not desire to be loved; who serves and does not wish to be served; who conducts himself well toward others, yet not with the aim that they should in turn conduct themselves well toward him." For such a one imitates God Saddai, of whom the Psalmist says in Psalm 15:2: "I said to the Lord: You are my God, for You have no need of my goods." For God communicates Himself and all that is His to all, and receives or expects nothing from anyone.
AND MY NAME ADONAI I DID NOT MAKE KNOWN TO THEM. In the Hebrew it is not Adonai, but the Tetragrammaton, consisting of four letters, namely yod, he, vav, and he. Because it is ineffable, the Translator [Vulgate], following the custom of the ancients, substituted for it the name Adonai; for otherwise God in Genesis did reveal the name Adonai to the patriarchs, and calls Himself Adonai. Note in passing here that Adonai is trisyllabic, not quadrisyllabic; for the last syllable is the diphthong ai, and therefore this name is to be pronounced A-do-nai, not A-do-na-i.
The Ten Names of God
Saint Jerome notes, in Epistle 136 to Marcella, that there are ten names of God. The first is El, that is, "strong," as Aquila translates it. The second is Eloha, which signifies God as provident, governing, judging, and avenging, as I said on Genesis 1:1. The third is Elohim, which is the plural of the name Eloha. The fourth is Sabaoth, that is, "of armies" or "of hosts," as Aquila translates it: this is not a name but a surname of God; hence it is always joined with another name of God, for it is said Adonai Sabaoth, that is, "Lord of powers" or "of armies." The fifth is Elion, that is, "Most High," Genesis 14:22. Moreover, we venerate a threefold loftiness and sublimity in God: first, of being, because God is the first and highest being; second, of causality, because God is the first cause on which all other causes depend; third, of perfection, because God is the supreme and infinite perfection. The sixth name is eie azer eie, that is, "I am who I am," or "who is." Hence in Exodus 3 it is said: "Who is, sent me." The seventh is Adonai, that is, "Lord." The eighth is Yah, which is an abbreviation of Jehovah, and it sounds in Hallelujah. For Hallelujah is composed of hallelu, that is, "praise," and yah, that is, "God." The ninth is Saddai, that is, munificent, liberal, almighty. The tenth is the Tetragrammaton and ineffable, which is commonly pronounced Jehovah.
Question 1: Why the Tetragrammaton Is Called Ineffable
It is asked here first, why the Tetragrammaton was called by the ancients and by Saint Jerome anekphoneton, that is, "ineffable," by Theodoret aphraston, that is, "unspeakable," and by Damascene aparrheton, that is, "inexpressible." Some think that this name was truly ineffable, because it consists of only four consonants and lacks vowels, without which we cannot pronounce and utter consonant letters. But this is improbable; for God here pronounced this name of His when He revealed it and uttered it before Moses. Again, Moses himself uttered it before the Israelites and before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh himself repeatedly repeated this name, pronounced by Moses, in his replies. Finally, it would be useless for this name to be distinguished by four letters unless those letters had their own tacit points, or vowels, so that by them it could be read, expressed, and pronounced, just as happens with other names of God, of men, and of angels.
I say therefore that this name is called ineffable because it was held by the Hebrews as most sacred and supremely venerable, as the primary, proper, and essential name of God, which was the foundation and root of all other names of God, since this name signifies the very immense essence and incomprehensible and ineffable majesty of God, from which all other things flow forth. For this reason Plato also, as Eusebius testifies in Book 11 of the Preparation, chapter 8, said that the name of God is not utterable. For God, says Plato, is asomatos, and aphrastos, and anonumatos, that is, incorporeal, unspeakable, and unnamable. Again, Plato in the Parmenides says: "No name has been given to God; God cannot be defined, nor grasped by knowledge, nor fall under our senses, nor can any opinion be held about Him; wherefore He can neither be named, nor spoken of, nor comprehended by thought, nor known, nor perceived by any being." And Saint Dionysius says: "God is ineffable by every word, a goodness beyond every word."
Hence there were so many opinions and errors of the philosophers about God. Anaximander thought the stars and heavenly bodies were gods. Anaximenes thought God was infinite air. Democritus said: God is a fiery mind and the soul of the world. Prodicus established the four elements as gods. Diogenes of Apollonia said: God is air endowed with divine reason. Chrysippus held that God was fate or divine necessity. Parmenides thought God was a crown, or the orb that encircles the heavens. Xenophanes said: Everything infinite endowed with mind is God. Strato said nature was God. Epicurus constituted his gods from atoms, and made them corporeal and of human form. Heraclides said the earth and sky were gods. Marcus Varro held the world was God. Pliny thought either the sun was God, or there was no God at all. Heraclitus believed the gods were made of fire -- hence the Athenians punished Anaxagoras with death because he said the sun was a burning stone. Cleanthes posited that the ether was the supreme God. Finally, for this reason, says Pierius in Hieroglyphics 17, the stork is a hieroglyphic of God; for the stork, lacking a tongue, signifies that God accomplishes all things in silent silence, and that we ought not to speak about Him whom no power of human intellect can sufficiently admire. The same is the reason why God was represented by the crocodile, says the same author in Hieroglyphics 29.
Truly therefore and rightly Chrysostom says, in Homily 28 on Matthew: "Just as one who attempts to sail the unnavigable Ocean, when he cannot cross it, must needs return by the same path where he entered, so the ancient philosophers, striving to investigate the nature of God, were overcome in intellect, failed in speech, and in the end confessed that they could discover nothing more except that God is unknowable."
Hence it came about that the Hebrews, out of religion and reverence, did not dare to utter and pronounce the name of God; except the priests or high priests, who in sacred rites, namely in sacrifices and in the solemn blessing of the people, and especially upon entering the Holy of Holies, pronounced it, as Philo says in the book On the Life of Moses. Hence Josephus also says it is neither lawful nor right for him to speak this name. When therefore this name occurred to those reading in Scripture, the Hebrews read Adonai in its place, or, if it occurred together with Adonai, they read Elohim for it. Hence it came about that the Masoretes, who added points or vowels to the Hebrew Bibles, placed under the Tetragrammaton the alien vowel-points of the name Adonai (as Bellarmine demonstrates with four arguments in his grammatical exercise on Psalm 33, at verse 1), namely sheva (which in the name Adonai is combined with patach, because of the guttural aleph), cholem, and kametz, in order to indicate that out of reverence not the Tetragrammaton but Adonai should be read and pronounced. The Seventy Translators followed this custom of their times, rendering it kurios, and our Translator [the Vulgate] likewise, as did Origen in his Tetrapla and Hexapla, substituting here the name Adonai for the Tetragrammaton; but also Christ and the Apostles, who as often as they cite the Hebrew Scripture in which the Tetragrammaton appears, substitute for it the name "Lord." Hence it has come about that the Jews do not know how that name is to be pronounced, or how God, Moses, and the priests pronounced it, and they hand down that the last priest who pronounced this name of God was Simeon the Just, who received Christ in the temple in his arms, and that after him no one pronounced this name, and that they do not know how it ought to be pronounced; but when the Messiah comes, they will be taught by Him the true pronunciation of it. So they say.
Because of this reverence and religion toward His name, the high priest wore it engraved on a golden plate on his tiara, which Alexander the Great, meeting Jaddua the high priest, prostrating himself on the ground, reverently adored, as Josephus testifies. Hence also Lucan, speaking of the God of the Hebrews, says: "Judea of an uncertain God," because they worshipped an unknown God whose name they did not know.
See here how great was the reverence of the Hebrews of old for the divine name, which many Christians profane by rash oaths, casually speaking it everywhere; indeed even modern Jews never dare to swear expressly by the name of the Tetragrammaton, but they swear by it with this formula, and that rarely and only when compelled: "I swear by yod, he, vav, and he" (which are the four letters of the Tetragrammaton), and this oath is held among them as the highest and most sacred. Similarly, among the Gentiles it was not permitted to name the name of their false god, Demogorgon; and if anyone did so, the deity, or rather the demon, showed that he was offended by an earthquake, as Lucan testifies in Book 6, and Boccaccio in Book 1 of the Genealogy of the Gods, chapter 2.
Question 2: How the Tetragrammaton Is to Be Pronounced
It is asked secondly, how this name ought to be pronounced, or what vowels should be substituted for it. Certain Greeks, says Saint Jerome to Marcella, reading this Hebrew name in Greek books according to the Greek letters to which these four Hebrew letters are similar, read it as Pipi. Second, Saint Justin, in Against Trypho, folio 58, reads and understands the name Jesus in place of the Tetragrammaton. Third, Isidore pronounces this name Jediod. For he says this name is composed of a double letter yod. But all these either depart from or err regarding the Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton.
Fourth, Irenaeus pronounces it Jaoth, which, he says, signifies a predetermined measure; or, if written with an omicron, one who puts evils to flight. The Gentiles also seem to have pronounced this name in this way. Hence Diodorus Siculus, Book 3, says Moses received the law from the god Jao; and Apollo of Claros, asked who the god Jao was, replied: "The highest of all the gods, call Him Jao." Macrobius is a witness, in Book 1 of the Saturnalia, chapter 18.
Fifth, Theodoret here, in Question 15: The Tetragrammaton, he says, is called Jave by the Samaritans, Ja by the Hebrews. Sixth, some recent scholars from the past hundred years pronounce this name according to the vowel points placed under it by the Masoretes, as Jehova. But these vowel points, as I said above, are not the points of the Tetragrammaton but of the name Adonai; hence even the Masoretes themselves and all the Hebrews read Adonai in place of the Tetragrammaton. Therefore those who derive Jupiter, the supreme god of the Gentiles, from Jehova or Jova (by contraction) are in error; for Jupiter has a Latin name, not a Hebrew one, and is derived from "juvando" (helping). Varro also erred, who, as Saint Augustine testifies in Book 1 of On the Harmony of the Gospels, chapter 22, thought the Jews worshipped Jupiter, the god of the Romans; but Varro thought this not because he had heard from the Hebrews that God was called Jehova or Jupiter, but because he judged that the Jews worshipped a supreme God whom he believed to be none other than Jupiter.
It should be noted, however, that the name Jehova is not so much a verb as a noun derived from a verb; for Jehova is the proper name of God. Just as commonly in other names a noun is formed from a verb, namely from the third person future, signifying what kind of person is or will be the one to whom the name is given -- so Jacob signifies "the supplanter" and him who will supplant Esau; Israel signifies "the ruler" and him who will rule with God; Isaac signifies "the laugher" and him who will make his parents laugh -- so also Jehova is a noun having the same ending as the future kal of the verb haia, and it signifies "being" and "the one who is and will be." For the letter yod, the first in the name Jehova, is heemantic, that is, formative of the noun, as it is in the names already mentioned and in many others; for although the same yod is also a letter, or the characteristic of a verb in the future tense, yet in nouns it is heemantic, that is, noun-forming, and thus it transfers the future of the verb into a noun.
The same is confirmed from the fact that the name or word Jehova is found precisely not in chapter 3, verse 14, but in this chapter, in the Hebrew. For in chapter 3, verse 14, where we have "Who is sent me," in Hebrew it is not Jehova but eie, that is, "I am," as if to say: "He whose name is 'I am who I am' sent me." Hence it further follows that it is better to say Jehova than Jeheve: for a noun is usually distinguished from the future of a verb by the vowel-point kametz, as is evident in the name Israel, which is distinguished from the future iisre, that is, "he will rule," by the kametz; for nouns usually end not in segol but in kametz.
I say therefore that it is most probable that this name is to be pronounced iive or ieheve, that is, "he is" or "he will be." This is proved because this name is the same as what God gave Himself in chapter 3, verse 14, saying: "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Who Is' sent me to you." Now "who is" in Hebrew is said iie or iive, or iehere: therefore that same is the Tetragrammaton. For it is not credible that God here gave Himself two names, but only one, and therefore that He is repeating here the name "Who is" given to Himself in chapter 3, to encourage Moses and to teach him to present it in his embassy to Pharaoh and to the Hebrews. So Bellarmine judges above, and Genebrardus in his Preface to the Psalms, and Pererius here, and this will become more clear from the following question.
Our Alcazar, however, in Apocalypse chapter 1, verse 4, argues at length that Jehova is composed of four letters, each of which signifies a complete word. Jehova therefore, he says, is the same as ihie, hovie, vehaia, that is, "who will be, who is, who was." Hence Jehova is the same as what John says in Apocalypse 1:4: "Who is, and who was, and who is to come," and therefore this name is called the Tetragrammaton and ineffable: because its individual letters cannot express the complete word that they represent. But this etymology is not literal, as he himself contends, but symbolic, or rather cabalistic, about which more at Apocalypse 1:4.
That the name of Jupiter (Jovis) was derived from the name Jehova is the opinion of Marinus in his Dictionary, Masius in his letter to Arias Montanus prefixed to the latter's Psalms, and Marianus Victorius in his notes on Saint Jerome, Epistle 136. But Saint Augustine recoils from this conjecture in Book 6 of the City of God, chapter 6, and Book 7, chapter 5, and Galatinus in Book 2, chapter 10.
Question 3: What the Tetragrammaton Signifies
It is asked third, what does the Tetragrammaton signify? Oleaster derives it from the root hava, that is, "to crush," whence hova is "crushing," as if Jehova were the same as "crusher," namely of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. This is an allusion of the name, but not its origin; for Moses alludes to this etymology in chapter 15, verse 3, when he says: "The Lord" (in Hebrew it is the Tetragrammaton Jehova) "is as a man of war; Almighty is His name."
Others, however, commonly and correctly derive this name genuinely from the root haia, that is, "he is" or "he was," so that Jehova is the same as "who is," but in various senses. First, Rabbi Solomon, Lipomanus, and Vatablus explain it as "who is," namely constant, keeping faith, truthful in promises, as if to say: I am now Jehova, that is, I will now bring about what I promised, namely that I will lead you out of Egypt into Canaan; hence it follows: "And I established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan." Second, Rupert and Burgensis explain it as "who is," namely terrible, glorious, and working miracles. Third, Jerome Prado on Ezekiel chapter 1, page 47, holds that the name Jehova, that is "who is," does not signify the essence of God -- for Abraham and the other patriarchs knew that -- but God's operation toward creatures, namely the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, as if to say: I am who I am, that is, who I am going to be, namely the redeemer of Israel; I am He whom you will now experience as the avenger of your liberty; for this is what follows in verse 6: "I am the Lord who will bring you out from the prison of the Egyptians." Similar passages are Isaiah 3:3 and Psalm 67:5.
But I say that this Tetragrammaton Jehova signifies the essence of God, the very abyss and immense ocean of the divine essence; for this is what the name "Who is" signifies, as I said in chapter 3, which is the same as the Tetragrammaton. Jehova therefore, says Masius, is the same as "He who exists from eternity, who is His own essence, and on whom the essence of all things depends." Thus Aristotle in Book 1 of On the Heavens calls God aeima, as it were aei ona, that is, "always being and existing"; because God is the ocean of essence and the principle of all essence, who gives being to all things. And Trismegistus says: "God, the One, needs no name, for He is ho on anonumos," that is, being without a name.
Vilalpando notes on Ezekiel chapter 28 that the name Jehova or Jeheva signifies the essence of God in Himself, that is, ad intra, just as Adonai signifies the same in relation to His works ad extra. For this reason the prophets are accustomed to join both names, saying: "Thus says the Lord God"; in Hebrew, Adonai Jehova. Jehova, that is God, namely the majesty of God in Himself; Adonai, that is Lord and sustainer of all that He created.
You may ask whether the Tetragrammaton signifies the essence of God as He is in Himself. Scotus and Gabriel on the First Sentences, distinction 22, hold that men, especially the learned and acute, can know God in Himself as He is, and consequently can give Him a name signifying Him as He is, and that the Tetragrammaton is such a name, which is therefore proper, essential, and adequate to God. But Saint Thomas, in Part I, Question 13, better holds that it is impossible for man in this life to know and name God in Himself. The reason is: First, because in this life no one can know God intuitively; therefore no one can know Him in Himself as He is, fully and perfectly. Second, even if someone were to know God in Himself as He is, he would know this only in God Himself, by seeing and beholding Him; but the name that he would give Him would be outside God and God's essence, who cannot by any created sign be discerned, named, signified, and known as He is in Himself. It is true, however, that among all the names of God that we have, none is so proper and so substantial to Him as Being, or Jehova, that is, "who is," as Damascene teaches in Book 1 of On the Faith, chapter 12, and Saint Thomas in Part I, Question 13, and Saint Dionysius in the book On the Divine Names, chapter 1.
Question 4: The Meaning of "My Name Adonai I Did Not Make Known to Them"
It is asked fourth, what is the meaning of this passage: "I am the Lord who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, and My name Adonai I did not make known to them"?
First, Bede reads it interrogatively: "Did I not make it known to them?" As if to say: I certainly did make My name known to them. But this disagrees with the common reading of all Hebrew, Greek, and Latin manuscripts, which lack the interrogation mark and read these words assertively, namely that God asserts He did not make this name of His known to them.
Second, others explain it thus: "I did not make known to them My name Adonai," that is, Lord, as if to say: I did not show them My full and supreme dominion over all things, by which I can turn and transform all things at will through miracles and wonders into whatever other things I wish; but this I will now show through you, O Moses, in the plagues that I will inflict on Egypt. But these err: First, regarding the name Adonai, that is, Lord; for in Hebrew it is not Adonai but the Tetragrammaton Jehova. Second, because God showed His dominion sufficiently to the fathers before Moses in the flood, in the overthrow of Sodom, and in the dispersion of Babel.
Third, Rabbi Solomon, Vatablus, and Lipomanus give this meaning: I did not make known to the fathers My Tetragrammaton name, Jehova, that is, "I am who I am," namely I am constant and truthful in promises; because I did not fulfill My promises to the fathers regarding Canaan to be given to them; but these things I will now bestow on you, O Moses, and on your people; hence I will show you in reality that I am Jehova, that is, that I am faithful in promises. But the Tetragrammaton does not signify faithfulness, but the very "being" of God.
Fourth, Rupert and Burgensis explain it thus: "I did not make known to the fathers the name Adonai" -- that is, of what great power and might it is, how terrible, how glorious, how miraculous, and how productive of plagues, as I will now show and demonstrate through you, O Moses, by multiplying wonders and plagues.
Fifth, Oleaster: The Tetragrammaton, he says, Jehova, is the same as "crusher," as if to say: I did not show the fathers that I am Jehova, that is, the crusher of Pharaoh and the Egyptians; but this I will now show you, O Moses.
Sixth, Lyranus, following Saint Augustine, holds that Moses in a rapture, in Exodus 33, saw the essence of God, and that then the Tetragrammaton was revealed and declared to him; for it signifies the essence of God. But it is more true that Moses did not see the essence of God, as I shall say in chapter 33. Moreover, that vision was later than the revelation of the Tetragrammaton; for this was revealed to Moses here and in chapter 3. But Moses, if he saw the essence of God, did not see it until chapter 33.
I say therefore that the plain and genuine meaning of this passage is this: I, God, was known and worshipped by the fathers as El Saddai, that is, God strong and liberal; but My proper name Jehova I did not make known to them, but I reveal it first to you, O Moses, and together with the name I communicate to you a clearer knowledge of the thing signified, namely of My essence and divinity; and I do this for the purpose of raising you and the people afflicted by Pharaoh to the hope of My help which is about to arrive; inasmuch as I now show Myself so familiar to you and to the Hebrews, and to be addressed and known by My proper name, that you may know that you are now more in My care and heart than before.
Hence it is clear that the Tetragrammaton was, first, revealed to Moses. It is clear secondly that Moses here received a clearer knowledge of the divinity than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had received. The meaning therefore is, as if He were saying: I, God, was known to and called by the fathers Adonai, Elohim, El Saddai, that is, Lord, Governor, Strong, Liberal, Almighty (which names signify a certain definite form and perfection like a quality in God); but to you, O Moses, I reveal My essential name, which signifies My very substance in itself, and My essence, which is the font and cause of all things, and an immense ocean. That this is the meaning is proved first, because this Tetragrammaton is the same as that in chapter 3: "I am who I am," as I have already shown. For God speaks here about this name not as if it were first given in this place, but about it as already known to Moses from the first apparition, chapter 3, verses 14 and 15. Therefore this name does not signify God as truthful, or as avenger, or as crusher, but as containing all the fullness of being, or as subsistent being itself, immense, immutable, eternal, and infinite.
It is proved second, because it is false that God did not appear to the fathers as a crusher in the flood and at Sodom; or as truthful: for God appeared truthful to Noah when He prevented a further flood, as He had promised Noah, Genesis chapter 9, verse 15. He likewise appeared truthful in the protection of Abraham, Genesis chapter 17, verses 7 and 10; in the birth of Sarah, ibid., verses 16 and 21; in blessing Isaac, Genesis 28:15.
It is proved third, because otherwise the same thing would seem to be said, and the latter part of the sentence would conflict with the former, if you explain it thus: I appeared to the fathers as strong, but not as crushing; I appeared to the fathers as liberal, but not as faithful and truthful. For if God is liberal, much more is He faithful and tenacious of His promise.
It is proved fourth, because from this revelation Moses became so eager to know or even to see the divinity, as we shall see in chapter 33, verse 18. Hence also, from this particular revelation of the name made to Moses, this most august and holy name has always been held in such regard that in Scripture it is attributed to none but the true God, or one so esteemed. Hence this name is everywhere in Scripture attributed to God alone, whereas the other names of God are also attributed to angels and to men who are princes.
It is proved fifth, because this is the simplest and plainest interpretation; hence the Fathers also explain this passage as referring to a clearer revelation of the divinity and divine essence, whether open or enigmatic, made to Moses. So Saint Gregory, Homily 16 on Ezekiel, Procopius, Theodoret, Cyril, Philo, Abulensis, Cajetan, Pererius, and others here.
You will object: Long before Moses this name was revealed to the fathers; for in Genesis it is very frequently repeated, and the fathers invoked God by this name, as Enoch did, Genesis 4:26, and Abraham, Genesis chapter 15, verse 8.
Some respond, such as Cajetan, Lyranus, and Pererius, that this name was indeed revealed to the fathers as to its sound and letters, but as to its clear and full meaning, it was first revealed to Moses. But Scripture here plainly signifies that this name was revealed to Moses first not only as to its meaning, but also as to the very sound and name, and the Hebrew expresses this more clearly, which reads thus: "And by My name Jehova I was not known to them."
I respond therefore that the fathers before Moses did not know, nor did they use, the name Jehova, but called God Adonai, Elohim, Saddai, just as the Jews even now everywhere read Adonai or Elohim in place of Jehova. But Moses, who composed Genesis, after having received this name, used it in Genesis because it signifies the same God and is, as it were, proper to God; for Moses rendered not the words but the sense of the prayers of Enoch and Abraham. Thus the city Bala is called Zoar, which was not then but later called Zoar; and the city is called Dan which was later called Dan, but at the time was called Laish. See Canon 3.
Question 5: The Symbolic Meaning of the Tetragrammaton
It is asked fifthly, what this name Jehovah symbolically signifies, and therefore why it is a tetragrammaton.
The Hebrews respond that by this name the Most Holy Trinity is signified, and at the same time the incarnation of the Word. For the first letter yod, which is the indicator and beginning of the number ten, signifies the first Person, namely the Father. The second letter he signifies the second Person, namely the Son; for he signifies essence and substance (from the root haia, which means "to be"), which the Son has in common with the Father; for He is consubstantial with the Father. Again, through the Son all created things were made and received their essence. The third letter vav signifies the third Person, namely the Holy Spirit; for vav among the Hebrews is a conjunction meaning "and, also": just as the Holy Spirit is the bond, union, and notional love of the Father and the Son. Whence the Greek Scholiast, for what we have: "And My name Adonai I did not make known to them," translates, I did not make known to them the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Hence also the Hebrews write the tetragrammaton name with a triple yod, beneath which they place a qametz within a circle: for since yod signifies a beginning, and the whole Trinity is one beginning of things outside itself, in one essence and nature, hence the trinity of persons is represented by a triple yod; but the unity of essence is represented both by one and the same yod and by the single vowel qametz. Again, the second letter he, doubled in this name, signifies two natures in the Son, divine and human; whence also this letter he, which is the indicator of the Son in the tetragrammaton name, was added to Abraham and Sarah, when the former was called Abraham instead of Abram, and the latter was called Sarah instead of Sarai: because from Abraham and Sarah Christ was begotten and became incarnate.
But why is this name four-lettered? I respond, the grammatical and proper cause is that perfect Hebrew names are four-lettered; for they have three letters of the root, to which they add a fourth heemantic, or formative letter of the name.
The symbolic cause is that the quaternary is the first perfect even number, which consists of beginning, middle, and end. Secondly, this number constitutes a square and a geometric quadrilateral, which is the most solid figure; whence concerning the heavenly city Saint John says, Apocalypse 21, verse 16, that it is set in a square. Thirdly, this number is virtually everything, namely every number, all music, every quantity, all elements, every virtue; hence it is sacred in Scripture, as is clear in the four Cherubim, Ezekiel 1, and the four living creatures, Apocalypse 4. These and more can be found in Philo, On the Planting of Noah, book II, past the middle, and book III On the Life of Moses, after the beginning, and Macrobius, book I on the Dream of Scipio, chapter 6, where among other things he says: The Pythagoreans so venerate the quaternary as the perfection of the soul among their secrets, that from it they also made for themselves an oath, namely this one: "Not indeed by him who handed down to our soul the quaternary."
After the pattern of this tetragrammaton name, most other nations gave God a four-lettered name; for thus the Egyptians call God Theuth, the Persians Sura, the Etruscans Esar, the Arabs Allah, the Assyrians Adad, the Turks Aydi, the Greeks Theos, the Latins Deus, the Germans Godt, the French Dieu, the Spanish Dios, etc. So says Gyraldus, On the Gods of the Nations, collection 1. For more on this name see Angelus Caninius, and Galatinus, book II, chapter 10, and book III at length.
Finally, all these four letters of the tetragrammaton name are quiescent letters among the Hebrews, to indicate that in God alone true and solid rest, and eternal happiness and blessedness itself, consists and finds repose. For He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end; He is the center of our heart; He is the satisfaction and joy of all the angels and the Blessed.
Allegorically, Jehovah the redeemer of Israel from Egypt was a type of Jesus, who was the redeemer of the world from the captivity and tyranny of the devil; hence the name of Jesus was contained and represented in Jehovah, and this was as it were a riddle of that name, and the name Jesus itself is as it were the declaration of the name Jehovah: hence again the name of Jesus is holier and more venerable than the name Jehovah, as I demonstrated from Abulensis on Philippians 2:10.
Indeed our Prado on Ezekiel contends that the name Jehovah is chiefly to be referred to the mystery of the incarnation and human redemption, and asserts that it is derived from the future deed of the Word. For Jehovah, he says, is the same as "I will be who I will be," namely man and redeemer of the world, that is Jesus, that is Savior of men. This is true, but allegorical, not literal, as is clear from what has been said.
Verse 6: I Am the Lord Who Will Bring You Out
6. I AM THE LORD WHO WILL BRING YOU OUT FROM THE WORKHOUSE OF THE EGYPTIANS. -- In Hebrew, "from under the burdens of the Egyptians": rightly and clearly therefore our translator rendered it "from the workhouse"; for a workhouse is a place in which captives or slaves are compelled to labor; for ergastulum is derived from the Greek, that is, from working and laboring.
AND I WILL REDEEM YOU WITH AN OUTSTRETCHED ARM. -- In Hebrew, "with an outstretched arm," namely for striking and subduing your enemies the Egyptians. By anthropopathy an arm is attributed to God, and it signifies God's power and strength; for this is what a man usually shows in his arm.
Mystically, the arm that proceeds from the body is the Son proceeding from the Father, just as the finger proceeding from the body and arm is the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son. So says Saint Jerome on Isaiah chapter 52.
AND WITH GREAT JUDGMENTS -- with great plagues, with great vengeance. For "judgment" is taken metonymically for the effect of judgment, namely for the just punishment and plague inflicted by judgment and by a judge.
Verse 7: I Will Be Your God
7. AND I WILL BE YOUR GOD. -- In Hebrew, "I will be your Elohim," that is, your provider, governor, protector, leader.
Verse 8: Over Which I Raised My Hand
8. OVER WHICH I RAISED MY HAND -- which I swore to give you; for those swearing an oath are accustomed to swear with a hand raised on high; the same phrase is found in Genesis 14:22, II Esdras 9:15. Elsewhere "to raise the hand" is the gesture of one praying, elsewhere of one striking, elsewhere of one working.
THAT I MIGHT GIVE IT TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB -- that I might give it to the posterity of Abraham, who descend through Isaac and Jacob, but not to those who descend through Ishmael and Esau.
Verse 9: They Did Not Listen Because of Anguish of Spirit
9. WHO DID NOT LISTEN TO HIM BECAUSE OF ANGUISH OF SPIRIT -- The Septuagint translates, apo tes oligopsuchias, "from faintheartedness." For they were so oppressed by their burdens that they could scarcely breathe, so that their spirit seemed to be shut off; and therefore it was neither permitted nor pleasing for them to think, hope, or contrive anything else.
Verse 12: How Will Pharaoh Listen?
Verse 12. HOW WILL PHARAOH LISTEN, ESPECIALLY SINCE I AM UNCIRCUMCISED OF LIPS? -- Since I labor under a defect of the tongue, since I am of a slower and more impeded tongue. The Hebrews call someone uncircumcised in heart, mind, or tongue who labors under some defect of heart, mind, or tongue. For just as circumcision was for the Hebrews the first and highest Sacrament, so to be uncircumcised was the greatest defect and disgrace; hence by uncircumcision, or by foreskin, they signify any defect. To this complaint of Moses the Lord will respond at the beginning of chapter 7. For what follows henceforth in this chapter looks to another matter, and is interwoven for this purpose, to pave the way for the genealogy of Moses.
From this it is clear that this defect of tongue remained in Moses after his conversation with God, in his very embassy to Pharaoh; and this was for the exercise of humility, and so that God might show that He uses weak and unfit instruments, lest glory be given to the instruments, but to God alone.
Allegorically, Moses, being as it were mute, used Aaron as interpreter, to signify that the old law, being as it were silent and mute, was a shadow and figure of the new law, which clearly proclaims God and Christ.
Verse 13: The Lord Spoke to Moses and Aaron
Verse 13. AND THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES AND AARON, AND GAVE A COMMAND TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. -- This is a general epilogue, or summary of everything said before, which Moses appends here so that through it he might pass to his own and Aaron's genealogy; and this for the purpose that the credibility of the history of Exodus, and of the promise fulfilled by God concerning the liberation of the Hebrews from Egypt, might be established, since it would be most certainly evident that the deed was accomplished and completed not by some outsider, but by him who descended from the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promise was made, namely by Moses.
Verse 14: These Are the Heads of Their Houses
14. THESE ARE THE HEADS OF THEIR HOUSES BY THEIR FAMILIES, as if to say: These are the heads of the Israelite families; for "houses" are what are called families, which elsewhere are called kindreds. In Hebrew it is, "these are the heads of the house of their fathers," that is, these are the heads who presided over the families of their ancestors, or their fathers; for each son of the twelve patriarchs had and constituted a particular family, in which he himself was the head, and after him his firstborn son. For example, the sons of Reuben were four, namely Henoch and Phallu, Hezron and Carmi; these individually had their own families, in which they themselves were heads.
Verse 16: The Names of the Sons of Levi
16. AND THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE SONS OF LEVI. -- Moses stops at the genealogy of Levi, because from Levi were descended Moses and Aaron, whose lineage the Holy Spirit especially intends to trace out here, because they were the liberators and leaders of Israel. So Saint Augustine, Question 15. Note here: The first son of Jacob was Reuben, the second Simeon, the third Levi; of these three only does Moses here trace the genealogy, both for the reason already stated, and because Jacob seemed to have cursed them, Genesis chapter 49, verses 3 and 5. Hence lest these three tribes be thought to have been rejected by God, Moses wished to commemorate the many and illustrious families of these three sons of Jacob.
BY THEIR KINDREDS. -- In Hebrew, "by their generations," that is, their families. Therefore these three terms mean the same thing: generation, family, kindred; and thus one generation is one family, because it descends from one progenitor.
AND THE YEARS OF THE LIFE OF LEVI WERE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN -- From what was said in Genesis 30, it is established that Levi was four years older than Joseph. From this it follows first, that Levi was 43 years old when he went down into Egypt with Jacob, because then Joseph was 39 years old, as I showed in Genesis 41. It follows secondly, that Levi died 23 years after the death of Joseph; for the latter died in the year of his age 110, but Levi at 137. It follows thirdly, that Levi after Jacob's entry into Egypt lived in Egypt 94 years. It follows fourthly, that Levi died 121 years before the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt: for from the entry of Jacob into Egypt until the departure of the Hebrews, 215 years elapsed; but Levi, after Jacob's entry into Egypt, lived there 94 years: therefore after the death of Levi until the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, the remaining years were 121. It follows fifthly, that Levi died 41 years before the birth of Moses; for the latter was 80 years old at the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt.
Verse 20: Jochebed His Kinswoman
20. JOCHEBED HIS KINSWOMAN -- his relative, not his aunt, as I said in chapter 2, verse 2.
AND THE YEARS OF THE LIFE OF AMRAM WERE ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN. -- Eusebius in the Chronicle records that Amram, who was the father of Moses, begot Moses in the year of his age 70; whence it follows that he died when Moses was sixty-seven years old, that is, 13 years before the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt; although Alexander Polyhistor, cited by Eusebius, would have it that Amram died 20 years before the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt.
The Hebrews relate, as Genebrardus reports in book I of the Chronology, that seven men span the entire course of the ages from the beginning of the world to its end. For Adam saw Methuselah, Methuselah saw Shem, Shem saw Jacob, Jacob saw Amram, Amram saw Ahijah the Shilonite, Ahijah saw Elijah, who lives and will live until the end of the world. But they err regarding Amram; for he, as I said, died 13 years before the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt: therefore he could not have seen Ahijah the Shilonite, who is introduced as a prophet after the death of Solomon in III Kings 11. For from the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt to the fourth year of Solomon, when the temple was built, 480 years elapsed, as is clear from III Kings 6:1. More briefly and more truly, they could measure the entire age with two men: for Adam saw Enoch, and Enoch having been taken up will return, and will see the end of the world.
See here how slight is all this time of ours, how fleeting this entire age. Let the Christian hear Laelius truly philosophizing in Seneca, book VI of the Natural Questions. For when someone said to him: "I am sixty years old," he elegantly replied: "Do you call these sixty years, which you do not yet have? Past years, hours, and ages we do not have; nor do we have future ones; we live by moments and points of fleeting time; from the day of life and its hours we have certain points." And again: "Neither that which is future is mine, nor that which was: I hang upon a point of fleeting time." For that philosopher rightly said that we do not properly have time, but a point of time, namely the present now: for the past is not, but was; the future is not, but will be: therefore we only have the present itself, namely the moment now. See how slight our time is, how slight our pleasure, and this present life.
Verse 23: Aaron Took Elizabeth as His Wife
23. AND AARON TOOK AS HIS WIFE ELIZABETH, DAUGHTER OF AMINADAB, SISTER OF NAHSHON. -- This Nahshon at the departure from Egypt was the prince of the tribe of Judah, as is clear from Numbers 1:7.
Note: Moses, a humble man, here studiously traces Aaron's genealogy, but almost neglects his own, except insofar as it was necessary for knowing God's calling and the mission of a particular person.
Verse 25: These Are the Heads of the Families
25. THESE ARE THE HEADS OF THE FAMILIES. -- In Hebrew, "these are the heads of the fathers," namely those who among the fathers were heads and chiefs of the families.
Verse 26: This Is Aaron and Moses
26. THIS IS AARON AND MOSES -- who, that is, were sent to Pharaoh.
"This is therefore Aaron and Moses," who were the leaders of so great a deed, who like two thunderbolts of war struck down Pharaoh and all his enemies, who like the sun and moon illuminated Israel. Behold how much one man or another can do, one outstanding leader of a people. Thus one Epaminondas raised the Thebans to empire, so that Agesilaus, seeing him, though an enemy, rightly exclaimed: "O what a magnificent man!" Thus one Scipio settled the long duel between the Romans and Carthaginians over empire, and secured it for the Romans, so that Cato rightly said of him while he was still a soldier: "He alone has wisdom, the rest wander like shadows"; and Metellus gave thanks to the gods for Rome's sake, that Scipio had not been born elsewhere. Indeed even the Numantines, enemies of the Romans, when asked why they now fled from the Romans under Scipio's command, whom they had previously put to flight, replied: "The sheep indeed are the same, but they now have a different shepherd." Plutarch testifies to this in his Roman Sayings.
How many years have we lived? What have we done that is outstanding?
Among the faithful, what did not one Moses accomplish, one Joshua, one David, one Josiah, one Elijah, one Elisha, one Daniel, one Paul, one Gregory, one Athanasius, one Chrysostom, one Jerome, one Benedict, one Francis, one Dominic, one Bernard, one Xavier? And what are we doing? We are mere numbers. "You have multiplied the nation, Lord, You have not increased the joy." Julius Caesar wept reading the deeds of Alexander, and said: "Behold, at the age when Alexander conquered Darius, I have still done nothing outstanding."
Verse 28: On the Day When the Lord Spoke to Moses
28. ON THE DAY WHEN THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. -- In the Hebrew and Chaldean a new sentence begins here, in this manner: "And it happened on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in this way: I am the Lord, speak to Pharaoh." Whence also the Latin manuscripts begin verse 28 from here.
Verse 29: Speak to Pharaoh
29. SPEAK TO PHARAOH. -- Here Moses resumes and continues the narration begun in verse 14, and interrupted by the description of his genealogy.
Verse 30: I Am Uncircumcised of Lips
30. AND MOSES SAID BEFORE THE LORD -- he said to the Lord, who was present, or before whom Moses stood and acted.
I AM UNCIRCUMCISED OF LIPS -- I am of impeded tongue, rough in speaking and unfit, as I said in chapter 4, verse 10.