Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Tony Prete <tonyprete AT earthlink.net>]

Dear Liz,

When this topic was discussed last September,  Prof. Alviero
Niccacci posted an analysis that I found so meaningful and convincing
that I saved it (though it is also available in the archives I imagine;
it was on 9/20/00). I assume that he won't mind if I re-present it
here.


> I am also skeptic of the usual
> renderings of Exod 3:14, e.g., "I am what I am," or "I
> will be what I will be," as well as of an ontological interpretation
> of this phrase. An ontological interpretation is indeed present in the
> Septuagint rendering, *ego eimi ho on* (I am the Existent), but this is
> Greek philosophy rather than Biblical revelation. 
> Already fifteen years ago I proposed the following analysis of Exod 3:14:
> "I WILL BE WHAT I WAS," i.e., "I WILL BE [i.e. for you,
> with sentence-initial, volitive yiqtol: I promise I shall be] WHAT I WAS
> [i.e. for your Fathers, with x-yiqtol for habitual past: what I used to
> be]." 
>
> >From the point of view of interpretation, this God's answer is the
> key of the dialogue in Exod 3:6 ff. The text makes it clear that
> "the God of YOUR [Moses'] father" (3:6) is to be recognized and
> believed (3:18) as "the Lord God of YOUR [the people's]
> Fathers" (3:13); for this purpose, it is necessary that God is
> presented to the Israelites as "THE LORD (YHWH) God of your
> Fathers" (3:15); and God reveals Himself as "THE LORD
> (YHWH)" by the fact that HE WILL BE for the Israelites in Egypt WHAT
> HE WAS for the Fathers. 
> Thus, the God of the Exodus reveals Himself as the same as the Lord of
> the Patriarchs. This is done by a word-play on God's personal Name based
> on verb *hayâ*. The Lord's Name is thus significant for the present
> situation of the Israelites and is capable to bring them to recover their
> identity and the awareness of their link with their Fathers and with the
> divine promises done to them. 
> This kind of analysis underlies several Jewish interpretations of Exod.
> 3:14, especially that of Midrash Hagadol: "As I was with Abraham,
> Isaak and Jacob, thus I will be with you". Compare Targum
> Ps.-Jonathan of Deut. 32:39: "See then that I am the one who is
> (now) and have been (in the past) and I am the one who will be (in the
> future)". -- BTW, the latter interpretation recalls the divine title
> in Revelation 1:4 (and similar passages): *ho ôn - kai ho ên - kai ho
> erchomenos* (The one who is, and who was, and who will come). 
> Thus God's answer in Exod 3:14 is far from having any ontological
> overtone and is perfectly Semitic and Biblical. 


Again, the above is a quote from an earlier post by Alviero Niccacci, not
the words  of the "lurker" whose name appears below and
who is grateful for the opportunity to eavesdrop on such erudite
discussions.




Peace,
Tony

Anthony Prete
Haddonfield, NJ USA
tonyprete AT earthlink.net
tony AT theotherside.org