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Exodus 3:13-15
New Catholic Bible
Exodus 3:13-15
New Catholic Bible
13 God Reveals His Name.[a] Moses said to God, “If I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ but they say to me, ‘What is his name,’ what should I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”[b] Then he said, “You will say to the children of Israel, ‘I am sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “You will say to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, sent me to you.’ This is my name forever. This is the title with which I will be remembered from one generation to the next.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 3:13 In Semitic thought, for a person to reveal his name to someone was equivalent to putting himself in that person’s power. When the Lord of Israel describes himself as “He who is” (Yahweh), as the One who is there for his people, he is refusing to manifest himself completely, while at the same time revealing himself to be the living God who is always present in the midst of his people and involved with them. In the same way, Jesus will reassure his Apostles at the time of his leaving them: “I am with you always” (Mt 28:20).
- Exodus 3:14 I am who I am: later, as a show of awe and respect, the title Adonai, “my Lord,” would be used.
Exodus 3:13-15
New International Version
Exodus 3:13-15
New International Version
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’(A) Then what shall I tell them?”
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.[a] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am(B) has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord,[b] the God of your fathers(C)—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob(D)—has sent me to you.’
Footnotes
- Exodus 3:14 Or I will be what I will be
- Exodus 3:15 The Hebrew for Lord sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for I am in verse 14.
New International Version (NIV) 
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