And 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.
I am God Almighty. All enemies must fall, all difficulties must vanish before my Omnipotent power, and the patriarchs had abundant proofs of this.
But by my name ... - rather, interrogatively, by my name Yahweh was I not known to them? Am not I, the Almighty God who pledged my honour for the fulfillment of the covenant, also the self-existent God who lives to accomplish it? Rest assured, therefore, that I shall bring it to pass. This passage has occasioned much discussion.
It is alleged by many that the occurrence of the name Yahweh, in the earlier portions of the history, is proleptical; and it has been thought to intimate that, as the name Yahweh was not known to the patriarchs, at least in the full bearing or practical experience of it, the honour of the disclosure was reserved to Moses, who was the first sent with a message in the name of Yahweh, and enabled to attest it by a series of public miracles. But this view is opposed to Exodus 3:14; Exodus 3:16; Exodus 5:1, from which it appears that the name Yahweh was already in common use. And like El, God, was frequently introduced into the formation of proper names in the patriarchal ages, as Moriah, Abiah (1 Chronicles 7:8), and Jochebed.
The use of the name Yahweh now by God himself in so special a manner, must be considered with reference to the national covenant into which he was about to enter with Israel (Exodus 6:7). In the circumstances of oppression and grinding servitude in which that people were placed, the name El Shaddai, God Almighty, might be supposed the most appropriate, as calculated from His omnipotent arm interposing in their behalf, to inspire the brightest hopes of deliverance. But by the expression, "My name Yahweh," it was intimated that there was now to be a revelation of the whole purpose of God-a manifestation of the divine nature more fully than by any displays of power, however glorious or irresistible. God in His character of Yahweh would thus fulfill those promises on which faith rested from the beginning; and as such He would be more fully recognized in future (cf. Exodus 3:15; Psalms 135:13; Hosea 12:5) (Macdonald's 'Pent., 1:, p. 180).