Dear Rolf Furuli, you wrote correctly"::...the translator must use
the context to choose the tense in the target language. In some cases,
such as in this case, the context is rather decisive...."
It appears in the context of Exod. 3:14 that the author of this
verse simply didn't know the meaning of YHWH. Obviously
the name had been an object of some curiosity, and an answer
was sought. But the meaning of this word had been lost,
especially since it became truncated. Further, the Aramaic
form of the verb which had been brought over with some
Aramaic speaking anscestors was no longer used by the
author and his audience. Such very different scholars as Cross
and de Moor consider YHWH a hypocoristicon.
The writer of these verses shifted the verb to the Hebrew
usage, HYH. That much was clear to him. But since the meaning
was no longer understood, the answer given was the elusive
Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh which is really meaningless . This phrase has
no meaning whether one wishes to understand Ehyeh as "I am"
or "I shall be" .
Thus in this specific case, it seems to me, one can translate it
either way.If it were a free translation, the best answer to the
questions "What is his name?" and "What shall I tell them?"
in verse 13 would be: "I don't know" in verse 14. Likewise the free
translation, further, would be "the God whose name I do not know sent
me'.
Uri Hurwitz
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