Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 3:6
Moreover he said, I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
6. Moreover ] And (carrying on v. 4b in E).
the God of thy father ] Exo 15:2, Exo 18:4: the God worshipped by thy father, and, it is added afterwards, by thy forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well. Moses is not to introduce to his people any previously unknown God, but the God whom their fathers had worshipped, and who, it was believed, had promised to be with, and to defend, their descendants. Comp. Mat 22:32 = Mar 12:26 = Luk 20:37.
hid his face ] in reverence and fear: cf. 1Ki 19:13; Isa 6:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
6 10. God declares His purpose of delivering His people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Our Saviour adduces this passage as a proof that the doctrine of the Resurrection was taught in the Old Testament Mat 22:32, and He calls this book the Book of Moses Mar 12:26, two points to be borne in mind by readers of the Pentateuch.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 3:6
I am the God of thy father.
The ancestral God our God
This declaration was made in order to assure Moses that even in the present oppressed state of his nation in Egypt, the Most High had not forgotten them, or His relation to them as a God in covenant. This would be an unspeakable consolation to Moses, to find himself addressed by that God of whose appearances and promises to his fathers he had often heard, and to know that His heart was as kindly affected to him as it ever had been to his venerated ancestors. How comforting beyond measure to the Christian, in his more favoured moments, to be assured that the God of all the good who have ever lived is his God, and equally pledged by His covenant faithfulness, to show to him the same loving-kindness that He showed to them! (G. Bush.)
The Divine revelation
The Divine Being here reveals Himself as–
1. The God of individual men.
2. The God of families.
3. The God of the immortal good. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
He is thus the God of generations, the God of individuals, and the God of the whole human family. There is something inexpressibly beautiful in the idea that God is the God of the father, and of the son, and of all their descendants; thus the one God makes humanity into one family. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. I am the God of thy father] Though the word abi, father, is here used in the singular, St Stephen, quoting this place, Ac 7:32, uses the plural, , The God of thy FATHERS; and that this is the meaning the following words prove: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. These were the fathers of Moses in a direct line. This reading is confirmed by the Samaritan and by the Coptic. ABRAHAM was the father of the Ishmaelites, and with him was the covenant first made. ISAAC was the father of the Edomites as well as the Israelites, and with him was the covenant renewed. JACOB was the father of the twelve patriarchs, who were founders of the Jewish nation, and to him were the promises particularly confirmed. Hence we see that the Arabs and Turks in general, who are descendants of Ishmael; the Edomites, now absorbed among the Jews, (See Clarke on Ge 25:23,) who are the descendants of Esau; and the Jewish people, wheresoever scattered, who are the descendants of Jacob, are all heirs of the promises included in this primitive covenant; and their gathering in with the fulness of the Gentiles may be confidently expected.
And Moses hid his face] For similar acts, see 1Kg 19:13; Isa 6:1, Isa 6:5; Ne 9:9; Ps 106:44; Ac 7:34. He was afraid to look – he was overawed by God’s presence, and dazzled with the splendour of the appearance.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The God of thy fathers, engaged to them by covenant or promise, which I am now come to perform.
He was afraid to look upon God, as other excellent servants of God have been, through the sense of their own meanness and sinfulness, and of Gods majesty and holiness. See Gen 16:13; 17:3; 1Ki 19:13; Isa 6:2,5, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6-8. I am the God . . . come down todeliverThe reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved bythe divine Speaker (see Mt 22:32),announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcomeintelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all thecircumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give himan illustrious display of God’s faithfulness to His promises. Theperiod of Israel’s journey and affliction in Egypt had been predicted(Ge 15:13), and it was duringthe last year of the term which had still to run that the Lordappeared in the burning bush.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy fathers,…. Of every one of his fathers next mentioned:
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; with whom the covenant respecting the land of Canaan, and the promise of the blessed seed the Messiah, was made: this again shows that the Angel of the Lord that now appeared was God himself, Jehovah the Son of God. Our Lord makes use of this text to prove the resurrection of the dead against the Sadducees, God being not the God of the dead, but of the living; Mr 12:26
and Moses hid his face; wrapped it in his mantle or cloak, as Elijah did, 1Ki 19:13, because of the glory of the divine Majesty now present, and conscious of his own sinfulness and unworthiness:
for he was afraid to look upon God; even upon this outward appearance and representation of him in a flame of fire; otherwise the essence of God is not to be looked upon and seen at all, God is invisible; but even this external token and symbol of him was terrible to behold; the thought that God was there filled him with fear, considering the greatness and awfulness of his majesty, and what a poor, weak, and sinful creature he was.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Jehovah then made Himself known to Moses as the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, reminding him through that name of the promises made to the patriarchs, which He was about to fulfil to their seed, the children of Israel. In the expression, “thy father,” the three patriarchs are classed together as one, just as in Exo 18:4 (“my father”), “because each of them stood out singly in distinction from the nation, as having received the promise of seed directly from God” ( Baumgarten). “ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.” The sight of the holy God no sinful man can bear (cf. 1Ki 19:12).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
6. I am the God of thy father. He does not merely proclaim himself as some heavenly power, nor claim for himself only the general name of God, but recalling to memory his covenant formerly made with the patriarchs, he casts down all idols and false gods, and confirms Moses in the true faith. For hence he knew surely, that he had not set his hopes in vain in the God whom Abraham and the other patriarchs had worshipped, and who, by the privilege of adoption, had separated their race from all other nations. And lest, through the long lapse of time, Moses might think that what had been handed down concerning Abraham was obsolete, He expressly asserts that His faithfulness still held good, by calling Himself “the God of his father.” But since, in setting forth the hope of redemption, He renews the memory of His covenant, we gather that it was not obliterated from the heart of Moses; because it would have been absurd so to speak of a thing unknown; nor would it have been of any use to make mention of promises of which no recollection existed in the heart of Moses. Since, therefore, the hope of the redemption of the chosen people depended on the covenant which God had formerly made with the patriarchs, He shews that He had not been trusted to in vain, because His engagement would not be ineffectual. It was not so much a sign of reverence as of terror that Moses covered his face; yet must we take both feelings into account, that he felt sudden alarm at the sight of God, and voluntarily adored his majesty. It was necessary that his mind should be affected, and impressed with reverential feelings, that he might be more ready to obey. We read in Isaiah, (Isa 6:2,) that even the angels veil their faces, because they cannot bear the infinite glory of God; no wonder then that a mortal man dared not to look upon him. The name of God is appropriated to the visible appearance in which his majesty was concealed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) The God of thy father.It is generally agreed that father is put collectively here for forefathers. (Comp. Gen. 31:42.) Hence St. Stephen, quoting the passage, renders it, I am the God of thy fathers (Act. 7:32).
The God of Abraham.Primarily, no doubt, the meaning was, the God who was worshipped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but the form of the expression, the God of Abraham, &c., indicated the continued existence of the patriarchs after death, since He can only be the God of existent, and not of nonexistent things. (See Mat. 22:32.)
Moses hid his face, with the same feeling which made Jacob exclaim, How dreadful is this place (Gen. 28:17). Though nothing was to be seen but an appearance as of material fire, the knowledge that God was there rendered the fire awful.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. The God of thy father Whose name thy father and mother taught thee; and the God of their fathers of the sacred patriarchal line who remembers his covenant with them . But Jesus shows us (Mat 22:32, where see note) that the words were deeper still, revealing to Moses not only that He lived, but that they lived as sharers in this everlasting covenant, and were looking for its fulfilment. A covenant with Jehovah implies, connotes, or includes, immortality. Moses had waited long. Now his father’s God speaks to him in a tongue of flame; calls him by his name, yet warns him not to draw nigh; brings before him those waiting fathers a “cloud of witnesses!” What wonder that he hid his face from the blaze of such a revelation!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
He Reveals Himself as Yahweh, the God of their Fathers With the Promise of Deliverance ( Exo 3:6-15 ).
a
b Moses hides his face because he is afraid to look on God (Exo 3:6 b).
c Yahweh declares that He has seen the deep affliction of His people and because of it has come down to deliver them (Exo 3:7).
d He will bring them into a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo 3:8).
e He has heard their cry and has seen the oppression and will send Moses to Pharaoh to deliver them (Exo 3:9-10).
e Moses defers and rejects the idea that he is capable of being a deliverer (Exo 3:11).
d God says that He will be with him and gives as a token of his sure success that he will worship God on this mountain (Exo 3:12).
c Moses explains that the people will want to know the nature of the God Who has made these promises (Exo 3:13).
b Yahweh replies that His name reveals that He is the One Who acts (Exo 3:14).
a Yahweh declares that it is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Who is sending him to them (Exo 3:15).
The parallels here are striking. In ‘a’ and in the parallel God is declared to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, In ‘b’ Moses hides his face because of his fear of God and in the parallel God reveals the amazing wonder of Who He really is. In ‘c’ He declares Himself the Deliverer and in the parallel Moses explains that they will want to know His credentials. In ‘d’ He declares that He will bring them into a good land (elsewhere His mountain – Exo 15:17) and in the parallel the sign is that they will serve Him on His mountain here. In ‘e’ He appoints Moses as the deliverer and in the parallel Moses professes his inability and unworthiness.
Exo 3:6
‘Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look on God.’
Up to this point Moses was very uncertain as to who it was who was speaking to him from the bush. But the voice now revealed Himself as the God of his fathers (‘father’ is a compound singular). And Moses hid his face in awe and fear. The sense of terror increased. He dared not look at God face to face for he knew that no man could see this God and live (Exo 33:20 compare 1Ki 19:13; Isa 6:2). Special men may have partial experiences of God in His hiddenness (Gen 32:30; Exo 33:22-23; Deu 5:24; Jdg 6:22) but not in His revealed glory. And he was afraid.
Moses was clearly expected to know about the patriarchs and their special covenant relationship with God. His mother would have educated him in the history of his people, and especially in their sacred stories. Once he considered it this would explain to him Who this God was and why He was about to act. But at this point he was simply stunned.
Exo 3:7-9
‘And Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good land and a large land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has reached me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.” ’
He learned that ‘Yahweh’ their God had taken knowledge of His people (Exo 2:25). He ‘knows’ their sorrow, that is He has entered into their sorrows, and shares them with them. He has seen the affliction, He has heard the cries, He has entered their experience of misery, and now He has ‘come down’ as their covenant God for the express purpose of delivering them. That is why He is here. Not just to call Moses but to actively deliver His people.
“I am come down.” One from the heavens has come down to take an active interest in covenant activity on earth. The idea is that He has come down to spend some time there so as to bring about their deliverance because of that covenant. The time for inaction is past. The covenant is again coming to the fore.
There is a contrast here of God with Moses. Moses had seen the affliction of his people, his heart had entered into their sorrows, but he had lost control of himself and had had to flee from Egypt. But now it is God who has come down, their covenant God, Yahweh. And he has remained. Now they will be delivered. In this is also expressed His hatred of oppression.
There are times in history when God has ‘come down’, but not very often. It will happen here. It happened in the days of Elijah and Elisha. It happened supremely in the coming of Jesus and the outreach of the early church. Then amazing things happened for God was here in personal expression of His power. It has happened occasionally in amazing ‘revivals’. But it does not happen very often and when it does man has to draw back and God takes over.
“To a good land, and a large land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” A ‘large’ land, larger than Goshen with plenty of room, and more, for all His people. A good land for it flows with milk and honey (Num 13:27; Deu 6:3). Milk would flow because there was good pasturage and, apart from in times of famine, plentiful rain. The honey would be from wild bees, (and later domesticated bees, for it was tithed), along with possibly grape and date syrup, and would be plentiful and would later be exported to other countries (Eze 27:17). Thus it provided both nourishment and sweetness. The same description was given of Goshen by the complaining Israelites (Num 16:13), but that was partly sarcastic referring the future promise back into the past. Then they had been promised this wonderful land which they had failed to obtain. Well, it seemed to them then in their despair that perhaps Goshen had been like that after all.
The Canaanites and Amorites were terms for the general population of the country and the terms were often interchangeable. Each could be used for the inhabitants of the whole country. However there was sometimes some distinction in that often the Canaanites was the term for those occupying the coastlands and the Jordan valley while the Amorites could be seen as dwelling in the hill country east and west of Jordan. The Hittites may have been settlers who had come from the Hittite Empire further north and had settled in Canaan. Or they may have been longstanding inhabitants of the land (see Genesis 23). The Perizzites were hill dwellers (Jos 11:3; Jdg 1:4 on) and possibly country peasantry, their name being taken from ‘peraza’, meaning ‘hamlet’. This is supported by the fact that they were not named as Canaan’s sons in Gen 10:15 on. They are also omitted in a parallel passage to this in Exo 13:5. The Hivites may have been the equivalent of the Horites (see on Genesis 36). Their principal location was in the Lebanese hills (Jdg 3:3) and the Hermon range (Jos 11:3; 2Sa 24:7), but there were some in Edom in the time of Esau (Genesis 36) and in Shechem (Genesis 34). The Jebusites were the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the hills round about (Num 13:29; Jos 11:3; Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16). Thus the population was very mixed and open to invasion and infiltration. The wide range of peoples mentioned, and their spread, emphasises the largeness of the land, and its availability due to its many divisions.
“The cry of the children of Israel has reached me.” That is, will now receive an effective response, because Yahweh was very much aware of the oppression they faced. As He has said earlier He ‘knows’ it within Himself. This repetitiveness is typical of ancient literature of the time, a device used among other things in order to bring home the facts to the listener. But now comes the telling blow.
Exo 3:10
“Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
By now Moses’ fear had been lessening as He had learned that this visitation was to inform him of a covenant deliverance of his people, but these words that he was to be the one who was to bring it about must have come as a jolt to Moses. He had been listening and content that Yahweh had come down to do the delivering. But he had not thought that he was to be involved in it. Now he discovered that he was to be right in the forefront of the deliverance and would have to face up to Pharaoh himself.
“I will send you to Pharaoh.” Moses knew all about Pharaoh and his power and his despotism. He did not like the thought of the task at all. Once it might have been vaguely possible when he had been a prince in Egypt and had seemed invulnerable. But now he was simply the son-in-law of a Midianite priest, a desert tribesman, one who would be despised by the Egyptians. And no one was more aware of the high opinion that the Pharaohs had of themselves than Moses.
Exo 3:11
‘And Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
We find here no more the brash young man. He felt rather his inadequacy for the task in hand. After all what was he? A desert nobody in comparison with Pharaoh. And had God forgotten that he was a fugitive? He knew only too well the power of Pharaoh, and his arrogance, and how a Midianite priest’s son dressed for the desert would appear to him. He spoke of what he knew. And would the children of Israel think any better of him? A man from the desert? It was hardly likely.
He was yet to recognise that while God could not use a proud son of Pharaoh at the height of his powers who could not control himself, he could use someone who was obedient to him, and had been prepared by Him in His own way, even though in his appearance and standing he was not promising material.
Exo 3:12
‘And he said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that I have sent you. When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt you will serve God on this mountain.” ’
So God thrust aside his excuses. He would Himself go with him. ‘Certainly I will be with you,’ He declared. That was why He had ‘come down’. There was One Who would go with Moses, Yahweh their covenant God, Who was more powerful than Pharaoh and all his armies. He was to see that as a guaranteed certainty. He need not therefore be afraid. And this mountain itself was a guarantee, for it was at this very place that there would be blessing.
“This shall be the sign.” The ‘sign’ was the pledge of God of what was to be. It was a pledge and promise, a sign to be fulfilled after the event. It called for faith. But, if he would, Moses could look around him even now and visualise the hordes of the children of Israel with him while he worshipped God here. Then would he know that he was being sent by God. So what he had to do was to take a step of faith and accept God’s word, believing that the promise of God was as good as a certainty, and see it as though it were already happening. He had to trust God ‘in the dark’. The mountain was even now there as evidence before him. It was a tangible place to which he would bring the children of Israel. God had made a promise, God could not break His word, therefore the event was sure. And here they would all worship Him. So the sign consisted of God’s pledge of what was to happen, and the mountain on which it was to happen. It was an indication that He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6). This was Moses’ first major test.
“You will serve God on this mountain.” To ‘serve God’ was a phrase which meant among other things to lead men in worship and sacrifice. And the need to serve Him would be the basis for the request to leave Egypt (Exo 10:8; Exo 10:11; Exo 10:24; Exo 10:26; Exo 12:31). Whenever he later began to doubt whether Pharaoh would ever release the people he could remember this promise. ‘You SHALL serve God on this mountain.’
But the next question that occurred to Moses was, would the children of Israel be willing to follow a stranger from Midian? He should of course have gone forward unquestioningly, but God was graciously willing to lead His servant step by step, as He always is.
Exo 3:13
‘And Moses said to God, “Look, when I come to the children of Israel and will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’ and they say to me, “What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?’
The question seems naive. Surely the statement ‘the God of your fathers’ will be quite clear. Will they not immediately think of Whoever their fathers had worshipped, the God Whom their fathers had served. So we can be sure of one thing and that is that when Moses says “they will ask ‘What is his name?’ ” he is not thinking that they will mean that as a question spoken by them as indicating that they do not know His name. Rather the question is designed to bring His name to the fore. Does this stranger from Midian even know His name, but even more, does he know Who He is? Does he know Whose people they are? So Moses is saying, ‘make Yourself known to me in greater depth so that I will know what to say to them’.
For to the ancient mind the name indicated the person and personality, it indicated the attributes and abilities, it spoke of what someone was. Thus their real question included the thought, ‘Do you know what power and attributes the God of our fathers has that we should believe that He will be able to act through you on our behalf? How can we know that He will, and that He can do what He promises through you? He has not acted for us in the past. He has allowed us to be oppressed and caused to suffer. What new revelation has He given that we should believe Him through you?’ And Moses will then have an answer for them.
This is confirmed by the way the question is put. Had it meant, ‘what is his name?’ literally the question would begin with ‘mi’. But it does in fact begin with ‘mah’ asking about the meaning of the name.
So God took the name that they knew so well, but had probably half forgotten the meaning of, (consider how easily men today can speak of ‘the Almighty’ without even thinking what it means) so that some had even turned to the gods of Egypt (Jos 24:14), and He expounded to Moses its significance, so that he could take it to them, and so that they would recognise Him again for what He was. It was the Yahweh Who had brought Joseph to Egypt (Gen 39:2-3) Who would lead them out again. So they were to fix their thoughts again on the true God.
Exo 3:14
‘And God said to Moses, “I am what I am.” And he said to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
To suggest that the children of Israel would have accepted a new name in the place of the old name is frankly incredible. It was rather the old name expanded and fully revealed through this stranger that would speak to their hearts and give them the confidence He was seeking to impart to them. That was why God put His name Yahweh into the first person ‘Ehyeh’. It was to Yahweh the God of their fathers He wanted them to look, but as a Yahweh Who had become personal and present. He wanted them to know the full significance of His name. (In Hebrew Yahweh is ‘He is’ in the third person, Ehyeh is ‘I am’ in the first person. Both come from the same verbal stem, although the ‘w’ in Yahweh is an ancient form). He was saying, ‘tell them to recall My name. Then they will recognise what I can do!’
“I am what I am.” There are a number of ways of translating this, each of which is significant. ‘I am what I am.’ ‘I am who I am.’ ‘I will be what I will be.’ ‘I cause to be what I cause to be.’ ‘I am the one who is.’ It partly depends on what vowels are used (that is, how it was pronounced, for there were minimal vowel signs in ancient Hebrew) and what interpretation is put on it. But as the Hebrews were a people of action rather than abstract thought, we must surely interpret it as meaning ‘God does what He wants to do and no one can stop Him’, and this is true whichever we favour. It also indicated that there is no other like Him. He is the supreme and only God, the Creator. Before Him the gods of the nations are nothings. That is why they are mentioned so briefly in the whole Exodus narrative (only in Exo 12:12)
In his letters to his subjects Pharaoh would often begin by saying, ‘I am there’ signifying that in his status as a god nothing could be hidden from him, for he was there with them and could see what they were about. So when Yahweh spoke of Himself as ‘I am’ He was setting Himself up in contrast to Pharaoh and telling His people that He was the One Who really was there. This fits neatly in with what He has earlier said, ‘I have come down.’ Thus He was supremely the One Who was there in a new way, and the people could thus be sure that Yahweh was there to act in that new way. They have cried to Him and He was now there to answer their cry. Thus the old name, given new life and meaning, will inspire them to new visions and new expectancy. They will know it in experience and in action. Yahweh will come to the fore.
For us that name comes with even greater significance. He is the God of the present (I am), the God of the past, the Creator (I cause to be), and the God of the future (I will be), the One Who is, the One Who was and the One Who is to come (Rev 1:4), the Almighty (Rev 1:8), the One Who has been revealed in Jesus Christ. The all present and all powerful.
Exo 3:15
‘And God said moreover to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘Yahweh the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name for ever, and my memorial to all generations.’ ”
So the name of the One on Whom they must set all their trust was to be declared to them. Here the name Yahweh is specifically linked to the ‘I am.’ It is represented as the covenant name. He is the One Who guarantees and brings about the covenant promises. YHWH is from a very early form of the verb. Its meaning may be (depending on pronunciation) ‘the One Who is’ referring to His presence and continual activity, ‘the One who will be’ which really says the same but with more emphasis on continuing to be into the future, or ‘the One Who causes to be’ referring to His creative activity and power in the world. He thus wanted them to know that as Yahweh He was now there ready to act for them.
“The God of your fathers” (see verse Exo 3:13). The link with the past is emphasised. Here is the One Who acted for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the One Who made His covenants with them, the One they now worshipped as a nation, even though He might be being sidelined, and to Whom in their despair they had cried, the One Who had previously brought Joseph to Egypt for the succour of His people (Gen 39:2-3), and could equally well take them out again.
“Has sent me.” Moses must reveal himself as one sent by Yahweh to bring about Yahweh’s will as He acts through him. He was to come to them as a messenger from God. We note that while Moses has been in Midian the name Yahweh has not been in use in the record. Now with him being connected with God’s people in the new deliverance the name is introduced. For Yahweh was the God of Israel, not the God of Midian.
“This is my name for ever.” In the light of this Yahweh declares Himself to be the unchanging One. He is the same yesterday, today and for ever. Let them therefore remember what He has done in the past in speaking to their fathers, and recognise that He can speak again today, and bring all that was then promised into fulfilment. Yahweh’s activity might have seemed to be in abeyance, but He has remained the same. He is the same Yahweh Who had spoken to their forefathers giving them promises of what would be. They had not then known His delivering power, for they had waited in hope of it in the future. They had had the promise in His name, but they had not seen that promise fulfilled. While experiencing Yahweh, they had not experienced all that that name meant. They had not ‘known His name’. His ‘name’ as representing all that He was and could do, was not yet fully known to them, for His doing was yet in the future. Indeed the revelation of all that that name meant would take for ever, and affect all generations.
“And my memorial to all generations.” His name was to remind men of what He has been, and of what He is and of what He can do through the ages, and of what He will be in the future so that He is remembered by it continually. And the great thing that He would now do through Moses would never be forgotten until the end of time.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Exo 3:6. The God of thy father In Act 7:32 it is the God of thy fathers; which the following words prove to be the true meaning. Moses, terrified at the Divine appearance, hid his face: for what sinful mortal can dare to look upon God, before whom the very angels themselves cover their faces? Isa 6:2. See Gen 17:3. 1Ki 19:13. What we read, to look upon God, the Chaldee renders very properly, to look upon the glory of God.
The God of Abraham, &c. See Mat 22:32.
REFLECTIONS.Moses seems as if he had forgotten Egypt; and Israel, as if no more remembered of their God; but this is the day of salvation. Moses, as usual, was attending his father’s flocks, buried in obscurity, and humbly acquiescing in his employment. Learn, 1. When we can see God’s call, to retire from the world becomes our duty, and the meanest occupation should be welcome. 2. If God be long before he calls us forth, it is because he is preparing us for what he hath prepared for us.
1. God appears to him in a flame of fire in a bush; and Moses, struck with the uncommon appearance, draws near to see this sight, a bush burning, yet unconsumed. The church of Christ is like this bush, frequently in affliction, but not destroyed.
2. God speaks to him out of the fire, and Moses answers. He is hereupon directed how to approach, with reverence and godly fear, in order to hear the revelation which God is about to make to him. Note; (1.) Attention to providences is a great means of keeping up communion with God. (2.) An obedient ear is ever open to instruction. (3.) In our appearances before God, the posture of our body should comport with the deep abasement and sacred awe which is upon our mind.
3. He makes himself known to him, as the Covenant-God of his fathers, to encourage his faith, and to engage his obedience. All the saints live to God. Those whom we reckon among the dead, are only removed into that better world, where life eternal reigns, Luk 20:37.
4. Moses is deeply affected with what he sees and hears. A sense of our own great unworthiness may well cover our faces with shame when we appear before God; and the more a saint of God experiences of his love, the deeper will be his humiliation before him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
By the Lord’s keeping up this character respecting Abraham, is meant that he is God in a covenant way. See Exo 3:15 .Gen 17:7-8 . Pause again here and contemplate the tender mercies of the Lord. Abraham and Isaac and the Patriarchs were all dead, yet God was, and is, and ever will be their God. God in all his engagements and promises. Oh! precious, precious truth, for the encouragement of our faith and hope. See the Lord Jesus’ account of this. Luk 20:37 . And see what the Holy Ghost hath caused to be recorded concerning it also. Heb 11:16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 3:6 Moreover he said, I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Ver. 6. Hid his face. ] So did the seraphims, with a double scarf, as it were. Isa 6:2 Let a man but see God, and his plumes will soon fall.
For he was afraid.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I. Pronoun emphatic.
God= ‘Elohim, the Creator. Note the five-fold repetition. (App-10). Christ founds the doctrine of Resurrection on this verse. See note on Mat 22:31, Mat 22:32.
afraid. Compare Act 7:32.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I am: Exo 3:14, Exo 3:15, Exo 4:5, Exo 29:45, Gen 12:1, Gen 12:7, Gen 17:7, Gen 17:8, Gen 26:24, Gen 28:13, Gen 31:42, Gen 32:9, 1Ki 18:36, Est 3:4, Psa 132:2, Jer 24:7, Jer 31:33, Jer 32:38, Eze 11:20, Zec 8:8, Mat 22:32, Mar 12:26, Luk 20:37, Act 7:32, Act 7:32
thy father: Though the word avicha, “thy father,” is here used in the singular, yet St. Stephen, quoting this passage (Act 7:32), uses the plural, , “the God of thy fathers;” and that this is the meaning, the following words prove. This reading is confirmed by the Samaritan and Coptic.
hid: Gen 17:3, Jdg 13:22, 1Ki 19:13, Neh 9:9, Job 42:5, Job 42:6, Psa 106:44, Psa 106:45, Isa 6:1-5, Dan 10:7, Dan 10:8, Mat 17:6, Luk 5:8, Act 7:34, Heb 12:21, Rev 1:17
Reciprocal: Gen 3:10 – and I was Gen 17:21 – my Gen 24:12 – O Lord Gen 28:17 – he was Gen 31:53 – God of Abraham Gen 49:24 – the mighty Exo 3:2 – angel Exo 24:10 – saw Lev 26:12 – will be Deu 9:27 – Remember Jos 2:9 – that the Lord Jdg 13:6 – terrible 1Sa 11:2 – thrust 2Ki 13:23 – because of his covenant 1Ch 29:18 – Lord God 2Ch 20:6 – O Lord Psa 47:9 – the God Psa 105:6 – ye seed Psa 146:5 – the God Son 2:14 – that art Isa 6:2 – covered his face Eze 20:5 – I am Act 3:13 – God of Abraham Act 7:30 – an Heb 11:16 – to be
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 3:6. I am, &c. He lets him know it is God that speaks to him, to engage his reverence, faith, and obedience. The God of thy father Thy pious father Amram, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thy ancestors: engaged to them by solemn covenant, which I am now come to perform. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God The more we see of God, the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear. And even the manifestations of Gods grace should increase our humble reverence of him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:6 Moreover he said, I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was {g} afraid to look upon God.
(g) For sin causes man to fear God’s justice.