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Grammar Analysis: Exodus 6:2–3

Text

Hebrew (v. 2): וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֵלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ Hebrew (v. 3): וָאֵרָ֗א אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֛ם אֶל־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּאֵ֣ל שַׁדָּ֑י וּשְׁמִ֣י יְהוָ֔ה לֹ֥א נֹודַ֖עְתִּי לָהֶֽם׃

KJV (v. 2): And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I [am] the LORD: KJV (v. 3): And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Word-by-Word Parsing — Exodus 6:2

# Word Lemma Parsing Gloss
1 וַ ו Conj and
2 יְדַבֵּר דבר Verb.Piel.Wayq.3ms spoke
3 אֱלֹהִים אלהים Noun.mp.Abs God
4 אֶל אל Prep unto
5 מֹשֶׁה משׁה PropN.ms.Abs Moses
6 וַ ו Conj and
7 יֹּאמֶר אמר Verb.Qal.Wayq.3ms said
8 אֵלָיו אל Prep.+3ms to him
9 אֲנִי אני PersPron.1s I
10 יְהוָה יהוה PropN.ms.Abs YHWH

Word-by-Word Parsing — Exodus 6:3

# Word Lemma Parsing Gloss
1 וָ ו Conj and
2 אֵרָא ראה Verb.Niphal.Wayq.1s I appeared / let myself be seen
3 אֶל אל Prep unto
4 אַבְרָהָם אברהם PropN.ms.Abs Abraham
5 אֶל אל Prep unto
6 יִצְחָק יצחק PropN.ms.Abs Isaac
7 וְ ו Conj and
8 אֶל אל Prep unto
9 יַעֲקֹב יעקב PropN.ms.Abs Jacob
10 בְּ ב Prep in / by
11 אֵל אל Noun.ms.Cst God (construct)
12 שַׁדָּי שׁדי PropN.ms.Abs Almighty / Shaddai
13 וּ ו Conj and (disjunctive)
14 שְׁמִי שׁם Noun.ms.Abs.+1cs my name
15 יְהוָה יהוה PropN.ms.Abs YHWH
16 לֹא לא Neg not
17 נֹודַעְתִּי ידע Verb.Niphal.Perf.1s I was known / I made myself known
18 לָהֶם ל Prep.+3mp to them

Clause Structure

Exodus 6:2 — three clauses:

# Type Domain Text Notes
1 WayX N (narrative) וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה Narrative-mainline wayyiqtol + explicit subject אֱלֹהִים
2 Way0 N וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו Subject-less speech-verb wayyiqtol (subject carried over)
3 NmCl Q (quotation) אֲנִי יְהוָה Verbless predicate-nominal self-declaration formula: Subj אֲנִי + PreC יְהוָה

Exodus 6:3 — three clauses:

# Type Domain Text Notes
1 Way0 N וָאֵרָא אֶל־אַבְרָהָם אֶל־יִצְחָק וְאֶל־יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי 1cs Niphal wayyiqtol of ראה + three coordinated אֶל-complements + modal adjunct בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי
2 CPen (Casus Pendens) N וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה Fronted nominal "and my name YHWH" suspended as topic, resumed by the next clause
3 xQt0 N לֹא נֹודַעְתִּי לָהֶם Negated qatal resumptive clause — the Niphal perfect of ידע with לָהֶם complement completes the casus-pendens structure

Construct chain (v. 3): אֵל שַׁדָּי — Noun.ms.Cst + PropN.ms.Abs → "God of Shaddai" / functionally "God-Almighty" as a compound divine name.

Key Grammatical Features

1. נֹודַעְתִּי — Niphal Perfect 1cs of ידע (H3045)

  • Form: Verb.Niphal.Perf.1cs, root ידע ("know"). The waw-holem (נֹו-) preformative is the distinctive Niphal 1cs perfect vowel pattern (< nawdaʿtî, with vowel lengthening in the closed syllable).
  • Stem function: The Niphal of ידע is the central crux. As documented in the Niphal stem library entry, this stem carries three overlapping semantic ranges — (a) passive ("to be known"), (b) reflexive/tolerative ("to make oneself known, to let oneself be known"), and (c) middle/ingressive ("to come to be known, to be revealed"). All three readings yield viable (and complementary) construals of Ex 6:3.
  • Tense/aspect: The qatal (perfect) form viewed from the Sinai vantage point looks backward over the entire patriarchal era as a bounded, completed (negated) fact — "I had not (during the whole patriarchal period) been made-known/let-myself-be-known to them [in that sense]."
  • Exegetical significance — the apparent Genesis tension: The verb is not ראה ("I did not appear to them") but ידע ("I was not known to them"). The patriarchal narratives demonstrably use the phonetic tetragrammaton:
  • Gen 4:26 — "then began men to call upon the name of YHWH" (לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה)
  • Gen 12:8 — Abram "called upon the name of YHWH" at Bethel
  • Gen 15:2, 7, 8 — Abram addresses "Adonai YHWH"
  • Gen 22:14 — Abraham calls the place YHWH-Yireh
  • Gen 26:25 — Isaac calls on the name of YHWH
  • Gen 28:13, 16 — YHWH self-identifies to Jacob
  • Resolution via Hebrew semantics of ידע: ידע (see H3045-yada word study) in covenant contexts denotes relational, experiential, demonstrated knowledge — not mere cognitive awareness of a lexeme. The Niphal therefore naturally reads: "by my name YHWH I did not [yet] make myself experientially known / reveal-myself-as-YHWH-in-act to them." The patriarchs heard and invoked the phonemes; they did not yet witness the name discharged in the covenant-fulfillment acts (the Exodus, plagues, Sea, Sinai, conquest) that disclose what the name means. The Hebrew ידע / Greek γινώσκω parallel is documented in TR-yada-ginosko.
  • Tolerative-Niphal reading: "I did not let-myself-be-known-by-my-name-YHWH to them [in that covenant-executing mode]" — grammatically equivalent, theologically equivalent.
  • Grammar reference: stem-niphal
  • Word study: H3045-yada, TR-yada-ginosko

2. וָאֵרָא — Niphal Wayyiqtol 1cs of ראה

  • Form: Verb.Niphal.Wayq.1cs, root ראה ("see"). The Niphal of ראה ("to be seen" → "to appear") is lexicalized as a theophany verb across the Pentateuch (Gen 12:7; 17:1; 18:1; 26:2, 24; 35:9; Ex 3:2, 16).
  • Significance: The verse's architecture is Niphal appearing + Niphal not-knowing — a deliberate paired stem choice. Yahweh was seen (Niphal ראה, a completed theophanic fact) under the name El Shaddai, but was not experientially known (Niphal ידע, denied in covenant-execution scope) under the name YHWH. Both Niphals carry the "divine self-manifestation" semantic — one affirmed, one denied, mapping precisely onto the stage distinction between patriarchal promise and Mosaic fulfillment.
  • Wayyiqtol with disjunctive reversal: The mainline וָאֵרָא ("and I appeared") is reversed by the casus-pendens + negated qatal (לֹא נֹודַעְתִּי) — a fronted-topic contrastive structure rather than sequential narrative progression.
  • Grammar reference: stem-niphal

3. בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי — Construct-Chain Divine Name with Prepositional בְּ of Manifestation

  • Form: Prep בְּ + Noun.ms.Cst אֵל + PropN.ms.Abs שַׁדָּי. The beth is the beth essentiae / beth of manifestation ("in the character/capacity of"), not merely instrumental. Paired with שְׁמִי in the second half ("by my name YHWH") it structures the contrast: in the capacity of El Shaddai ↔ in the (undisclosed) capacity of YHWH.
  • Lexeme אֵל: Generic Semitic "God / deity," common-noun element.
  • Lexeme שַׁדָּי (H7706): Proper-name epithet, Strong's H7706. Traditional renderings: "Almighty" (KJV, following LXX παντοκράτωρ in later translations, though Genesis LXX typically transliterates or paraphrases), "All-Sufficient One" (rabbinic שֶׁ+דַּי "who-is-enough"), or from šadû "mountain" ("God of the Mountain") in Akkadian-cognate readings. See H7706-shaddai word study for the full distribution.
  • Patriarchal distribution: The compound אֵל שַׁדָּי appears at the pivotal covenant junctures of Genesis — Gen 17:1 (Abraham, covenant of circumcision), Gen 28:3 (Isaac blessing Jacob), Gen 35:11 (Jacob at Bethel), Gen 43:14; 48:3 (Jacob), Gen 49:25 (Jacob's blessings). The stand-alone שַׁדָּי dominates Job (31×). This distribution matches Exodus 6:3's claim exactly: the patriarchs knew Him in the capacity of אֵל שַׁדָּי, the promissory covenant-initiating God.
  • Contrast with יְהוָה: The verse pairs a stem-identical theophany (Niphal) predicated under two different divine names, each name indexed to a different stage of redemptive self-disclosure — promise (Shaddai) vs. covenant-fulfillment (YHWH).
  • Word study: H7706-shaddai

4. אֲנִי יְהוָה — Verbless Predicate-Nominal Self-Declaration Formula

  • Form: NmCl (verbless nominal clause) in the Q (quotation) domain. Subject pronoun אֲנִי + predicate complement יְהוָה — first-person self-identification with no copula, as Hebrew requires no copula in present-tense predicate-nominal clauses.
  • Significance as formula: ʾănî YHWH is the signature self-declaration of Yahweh, functioning as an inclusio, sealing-formula, and authority-marker across the Torah and especially Leviticus 17–26 (the "Holiness Code"). It concentrates heavily in Exodus 6 itself (vv. 2, 6, 7, 8, 29 — five occurrences), bracketing the entire disclosure unit.
  • Function in 6:2–3: The clause opens the divine speech at v. 2 and is then unpacked by v. 3 — the name given in v. 2's NmCl is the very name v. 3 says was "not known" in the covenant-fulfillment sense to the patriarchs. The formula precedes the explanation: YHWH announces the name, then explains the stage-of-disclosure significance.
  • Extended variants: אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם ("I YHWH your God," Ex 6:7; Lev 11:44, etc.) and אֲנִי יְהוָה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם ("I YHWH who sanctifies you," Lev 20:8; 21:8) expand the predicate. The bare אֲנִי יְהוָה of 6:2 is the minimal, most-formal variant.

5. Casus Pendens + Resumptive Clause — וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה ... לֹא נֹודַעְתִּי לָהֶם

  • Form: The conjunction + topicalized nominal phrase וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה ("and-as-for my-name YHWH") is classified by the parser as CPen (casus pendens / pendens construction) — a hanging topic that is then resumed by the following clause. The resumption is accomplished by the verb נֹודַעְתִּי whose implicit adverbial scope ("by this name") is filled by the fronted constituent.
  • Significance: The fronting is rhetorical — it places "my name YHWH" at the position of maximum prominence, setting it in explicit contrast to בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי of the preceding clause. The waw on וּשְׁמִי is disjunctive/contrastive waw ("but as for..."), a textbook instance of syntax-waw-conjunction marking contrast rather than sequence.
  • Sequence of topics: (a) in-El-Shaddai → v.3a mainline affirmation; (b) my-name-YHWH → fronted topic; (c) I-did-not-make-known → resumptive negation. The grammar itself performs the contrast the verse states.
  • Grammar reference: syntax-waw-conjunction

Interpretive Schools (Documented Context-Neutrally)

The Niphal of ידע + the Genesis-tension forces every interpretive tradition through the same Hebrew grammar. All readings must accept that נֹודַעְתִּי is a Niphal perfect of the root "know," not "say" or "pronounce":

  1. Experiential-covenant reading (classical rabbinic + most Christian exegesis — Rashi, Calvin, Keil, Cassuto, Sarna): The patriarchs had the phonemes of the name but had not experienced the name-in-act. The Exodus deliverance is the first public discharge of the covenant name. Grammar: Niphal = "made-known experientially." The tension with Gen 4:26; 12:8; 15:2; 22:14; 28:13 dissolves because ידע ≠ "hear/pronounce" but "know experientially in covenant-execution."

  2. Documentary/source-critical reading (Wellhausen, Friedman, etc.): P (Priestly source, Ex 6) disagrees with J (which uses YHWH throughout Genesis) on when the name was first revealed. Grammar: same Niphal "made-known" reading, but the tension is a literary-historical seam rather than a theological staging. The Hebrew grammar is identical under either frame; only the redactional hypothesis differs.

  3. Tolerative-Niphal reading (W. J. Martin, F. I. Andersen, M. Garsiel, NIVUK margin): Translates the Niphal as tolerative — "I did not let myself be known by my name YHWH." The patriarchs could have known it but were not given the self-disclosure that fulfillment brings. Grammar: emphasizes the Niphal's reflexive/tolerative sense documented in stem-niphal.

  4. Rhetorical-question reading (F. I. Andersen, J. A. Motyer, Gianotti): Re-punctuates v. 3b as an interrogative — "but by my name YHWH, was I not known to them?" This requires no changes to the consonantal text or parsing but reads the negative לֹא as introducing a rhetorical question (the Masoretic accents — zaqef qaton + tipḥa — do not mark this, but the MT accents postdate the consonantal text by a millennium). Grammar: same Niphal perfect, different clausal mood.

  5. Fuller-name / elohistic-stage reading (Cassuto, Kline): The patriarchs knew YHWH as a personal name; they did not know Him as the covenant-redemption name. The phrase בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי and בִּשְׁמִי יְהוָה mark two revelatory stages, not two names. Grammar: beth-essentiae on both phrases carries the stage-of-self-manifestation semantics.

All five readings are grammatically permitted by נֹודַעְתִּי as Niphal Perfect 1cs of ידע. None can be excluded on morphological grounds. The contrastive waw + casus-pendens + name-stage architecture remain fixed across all readings.

Cross-References

Grammar library

Word studies

  • None in library yet for Gen 4:26 / 12:8 / 15:2 / 17:1 / 28:13 — the foundational YHWH-usage passages that create the interpretive tension this verse addresses
  • Ex 3:13–15 — the ʾehyeh ʾăšer ʾehyeh disclosure to Moses (immediate literary prequel)
  • Ex 6:6–8 — the five-fold "I YHWH" covenant-redemption promise (immediate continuation)
  • Ex 33:19; 34:5–7 — the qărāʾtî bəšēm YHWH Sinai re-proclamation
  • Gen 17:1 — the foundational אֲנִי־אֵל שַׁדָּי self-disclosure to Abraham