Exodus 3:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
God
אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
father
אָבִ֔יךָ'a.Vi.kha
H1
father · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
God
אֱלֹהֵ֧י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Abraham
אַבְרָהָ֛ם'av.ra.Ham
H85
Abraham · proper noun, a man's name
God
אֱלֹהֵ֥י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Isaac
יִצְחָ֖קyitz.Chak
H3327
Jitschak (or Isaac) · proper noun, a man's name
God
וֵאלֹהֵ֣יve.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
Jacob
יַעֲקֹ֑בya.'a.Ko
H3290
Jaakob · proper noun, a man's name
Moses
מֹשֶׁה֙mo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
hid
וַיַּסְתֵּ֤רvai.yas.Ter
H5641
to hide (by covering) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
face
פָּנָ֔יוpa.Nav
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
afraid
יָרֵ֔אya.Re'
H3372
to fear · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
look
מֵהַבִּ֖יטme.ha.Bit
H5027
to scan · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
God
הָאֱלֹהִֽיםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 20:37 Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God…
Matthew 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
Exodus 4:5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto the…
Mark 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of…
Genesis 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest,…
Acts 7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not beho…
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
1 Kings 18:36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 3:1-6
The years of the life of Moses are remarkably divided into three forties: the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second a shepherd in Midian, the third a king in Jeshurun; so changeable is the life of men, especially the life of good men. He had now finished his second forty, when he received his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt. Note, Sometimes it is long before God calls his servants out of that work which of old he designed them for, and has been graciously preparing them for. Moses was born to be Israel's deliverer, and yet not a word is said of it to him till he is eighty years of age. Now obverve,
I. How this appearance of God to him found him employed. He…
I am the God . . . come down to deliver--The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mat 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises. The period of Israel's journey and affliction in Egypt had been predicted (Gen 15:13), and it was during the last year of the term which had still to run that the Lord appeared in the burning bush.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 3:6
I am the God of thy father - Though the word אבי abi, father, is here used in the singular, St Stephen, quoting this place, Act 7:32, uses the plural, Ὁ Θεος των πατερων σου, 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 natio…
If the God of the universe, having been made familiar to the saints, becomes their God, the being named the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, by how much more will it be possible for the Holy Spirit, having been made familiar to the prophets, to be called their spirit, that the Spirit might thus be said to be the spirit of Elijah and the spirit of Isaiah?
But the Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees by bringing forward their own hierophant Moses, who was well and clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. For he has set before us God, he says, as saying in the bush, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." But of whom is he God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? For he is the God of the living; and therefore certainly and altogether they will rise, when his almighty right hand brings them thereunto; and not them only but also all who are upon the earth.
God has been recorded indeed to be the God "of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." He indeed who wishes the light to belong to none other than men (because it is said, "The life was the light of men") will think, according to this analogy, that the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob is the God of no one except these three fathers alone. But he is at least also the God of Elijah, and, as Judith says, the God of her father Simeon, and he is God of the Hebrews. Wherefore, according to the analogy, if nothing prevents him from being the God of others also, nothing prevents the light of men from also being the light of other creatures besides men.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Angels — By the word “angels” (i.e. “messengers” of God) we ordinarily understand a race of spiritual beings of a nature exalted far above that of man, although infinitely removed from that of God—whose…
Bush — In which Jehovah appeared to Moses in the wilderness (Ex. 3:2; Acts 7:30). It is difficult to say what particular kind of plant or bush is here meant. Probably it was the mimosa or acacia. The words…
Captain — (1.) Heb. sar (1 Sam. 22:2; 2 Sam. 23:19). Rendered “chief,” Gen. 40:2; 41:9; rendered also “prince,” Dan. 1:7; “ruler,” Judg. 9:30; “governor,’ 1 Kings 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a…
Immortality — Perpetuity of existence. The doctrine of immortality is taught in the Old Testament. It is plainly implied in the writings of Moses (Gen. 5:22, 24; 25:8; 37:35; 47:9; 49:29, comp. Heb. 11:13-16; Ex.…
Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Plagues, The Ten — The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
Quotations — From the Old Testament in the New, which are very numerous, are not made according to any uniform method. When the New Testament was written, the Old was not divided, as it now is, into chapters and…
Egypt · History of Israel in: Moses sent to Pharaoh — History of Israel in: Moses sent to Pharaoh
Moses · Has the vision of the burning bush — Has the vision of the burning bush
Quotations And Allusions · with — with
Religion · .Moses — .Moses
John Gill on Exodus 3:6
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; Mark 12:26.
and Moses hid his face; wrapped it in his mantle or cloak, as Elijah did, 1 Kings 19:13, because of the glory of the divine Majesty now present, and conscious of his ow…
Exodus 3:6-9
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. Ego Deus patris tui, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac, et Deus Jacob. Et operuit Moses faciem suam, quia timuit aspicere ad Deum.
7. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
7. Et dixit Jehovah, Videndo vidi afflictionem populi mei, qui est in Aegypto, et clamorem eorum audivi a facie exactorum ejus: certe cognovi [40] dolores ejus.
8. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand o…
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. Kg1 19:12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 3:6
This transcendent God had committed himself to Moses’ ancestors in a faithful promise maintained for hundreds of years. Moses was in awe of the one, holy, and transcendent God of Abraham. Jesus quoted this verse when he was sparring with the Sadducees about the concept of resurrection (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37).
Rashi on Exodus 3:5
של means DRAW OFF and take off. It is of the same root as, (Numbers 19:5) “and the iron-head slippeth off (נשל) from the handle”; (Deuteronomy 28:40) “for thine olives shall drop off (ישל)”.
אדמת קדש הוא the place IS HOLY GROUND (i. e. the masculine pronoun הוא refers to the word המקום and not to אדמת, which is feminine).
Revelation · God reveals himself to Moses — God reveals himself to Moses
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
