Exodus 6 · a question people ask
Didn't Abraham know God's name, the LORD?
God says, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name the LORD I was not known to them" (6:3). Yet Genesis has the name in their time: Abram "built an altar to the LORD and called on the LORD’s name" (Genesis 12:8), God tells him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees" (Genesis 15:7), and he tells Jacob, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father" (Genesis 28:13). Christians agree that the LORD is the same God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (3:15, 6:3). They read 6:3 in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Known by what he does
The Hebrew verb for "known" in 6:3 is the one in "you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians" (6:7) and "The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand on Egypt" (7:5). Those who hold this view read 6:3 as saying the patriarchs had the name, but God was about to show what it means by bringing Israel out. Ezekiel uses the same verb for the exodus, in God's words: "made myself known to them in the land of Egypt" (Ezekiel 20:5).
Exodus 6:3 · Exodus 6:7 · Exodus 7:5 · Ezekiel 20:5
A name first given to Moses
Those who hold this view read 6:3 as saying the name itself was first made known to Moses. At the bush Moses asks what to say if the people ask, "What is his name?" (3:13), and God answers, "The LORD, the God of your fathers… This is my name forever" (3:15). On this reading, where Genesis uses the name in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 12:8, 15:7, 28:13), it uses the name God made known at the bush.
Exodus 3:13-15 · Exodus 6:3 · Genesis 12:8 · Genesis 15:7 · Genesis 28:13
The verses
“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name the LORD I was not known to them.”
“God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.”
“He left from there to go to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the LORD’s name.”
“He said to Abram, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.””