Exodus 3:13 Then Moses asked 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?' What should I tell them?"

◄ Exodus 3:13 ►

New International Version
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?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

New Living Translation
But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

English Standard Version
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

Berean Standard Bible
Then Moses asked 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?’ What should I tell them?”

King James Bible
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

New King James Version
Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and 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?”

New American Standard Bible
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

NASB 1995
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

NASB 1977
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am about to come to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ And they will say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

Amplified Bible
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers (ancestors) has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

Christian Standard Bible
Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name? ’ what should I tell them? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Moses asked God, “If 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?’ what should I tell them?”

American Standard Version
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?

Contemporary English Version
Moses answered, "I will tell the people of Israel that the God their ancestors worshiped has sent me to them. But what should I say, if they ask me your name?"

English Revised Version
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then Moses replied to God, "Suppose I go to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"

Good News Translation
But Moses replied, "When I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they will ask me, 'What is his name?' So what can I tell them?"

International Standard Version
Moses told God, "Look! When I go to the Israelis and tell them, 'The God of your ancestors sent me to you,' they'll say to me, 'What is his name?' What should I say to them?"

Majority Standard Bible
Then Moses asked 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?? What should I tell them??

NET Bible
Moses said to God, "If I go to the Israelites and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?'--what should I say to them?"

New Heart English Bible
And Moses said to God, "Look, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them?

World English Bible
Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
And Moses says to God, “Behold, I am coming to the sons of Israel, and have said to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they have said to me, What [is] His Name? What do I say to them?”

Young's Literal Translation
And Moses saith unto God, 'Lo, I am coming unto the sons of Israel, and have said to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they have said to me, What is His name? what do I say unto them?'

Smith's Literal Translation
And Moses will say to God, Behold me going to the sons of Israel, and I spake to them, The God of your fathers sent me to you; and they said to me, What his name? what shall I say to them?

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they should say to me: What is his name? what shall I say to them?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Moses said to God: “Behold, I will go to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ If they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”

New American Bible
“But,” said Moses to God, “if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what do I tell them?”

New Revised Standard Version
But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
And Moses said to God, Behold, when I go to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say to them?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Moshe said to God, “Behold, I shall go to the children of Israel and I shall say to them, LORD JEHOVAH, God of your fathers has sent me unto you”, and they will say to me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Moses said unto God: 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them: The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me: What is His name? what shall I say unto them?'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Moses said to God, Behold, I shall go forth to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of our fathers has sent me to you; and they will ask me, What is his name? What shall I say to them?

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Moses at the Burning Bush
…12“I will surely be with you,” God said, “and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain.” 13Then Moses asked 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?’ What should I tell them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

John 8:58
“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

Isaiah 43:10-11
“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come. / I, yes I, am the LORD, and there is no Savior but Me.

John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. / He was with God in the beginning. / Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.

Isaiah 44:6
Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Deuteronomy 18:15
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to him.

Matthew 22:32
‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

Acts 7:32
‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me, / so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.

John 17:3
Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

Acts 9:5
“Who are You, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.

Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.

Treasury of Scripture

And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say to them?

What is his name.

Exodus 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Exodus 15:3
The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

Genesis 32:29
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

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Exodus 3

1. Moses keeps Jethro's flock.
2. God appears to him in a burning bush.
9. He sends him to deliver Israel.
13. The name of God.
15. His message to Israel, and Pharaoh, whose opposition is foretold.
20. He is assured of Israel's deliverance.

Berean Study Bible

Then Moses asked God
This phrase introduces a pivotal moment in the narrative where Moses, standing before the burning bush, engages in a direct conversation with God. The Hebrew root for "asked" (אָמַר, 'amar) implies a dialogue, a seeking of understanding. Moses, a shepherd in Midian, is being called to a monumental task, and his inquiry reflects both humility and a desire for clarity. This moment underscores the personal relationship God establishes with His chosen leaders, inviting them to question and seek guidance.

Suppose I go to the Israelites
Moses anticipates the mission God is assigning him, showing foresight and concern for the reception of his message. The phrase "Suppose I go" indicates a hypothetical scenario, reflecting Moses' apprehension and the weight of the responsibility. Historically, the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, and Moses' return would be significant. This phrase highlights Moses' awareness of the gravity of his task and the need for divine assurance.

and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’
Here, Moses refers to "The God of your fathers," which connects the present with the patriarchal past—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This phrase is crucial as it establishes continuity and legitimacy. The Israelites' identity and faith are deeply rooted in their ancestral lineage, and invoking "The God of your fathers" would resonate with them, affirming that the God who made covenants with their ancestors is still active and faithful.

and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’
The question of God's name is profound, as names in the ancient Near Eastern context were not merely labels but conveyed essence and character. The Israelites, living amidst a polytheistic culture in Egypt, would naturally inquire about the identity of the God who claims to deliver them. This question reflects a desire for assurance and understanding of who this God is, beyond the gods of Egypt.

What should I tell them?
Moses seeks specific guidance on how to respond to the Israelites' inquiry. This request for instruction underscores his role as a mediator between God and His people. It also highlights the importance of God's self-revelation, which will follow in the subsequent verses. Moses' question is a pivotal moment that sets the stage for one of the most significant revelations of God's nature and name in the biblical narrative.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) What is his name?--In Egypt, and wherever polytheism prevailed, every god had, as a matter of course, a name. Among the Israelites hitherto God had been known only by titles, as El or Elohim, "the Lofty One; "Shaddai," the Powerful; "Jahveh, or Jehovah, "the Existent." These titles were used with some perception of their meaning; no one of them had as yet passed into a proper name. Moses, imagining that the people might have become so far Egyptianised as to be no longer content with this state of things, asks God by what name he shall speak of Him to them. Who shall he say has appeared to him?

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - What is his name? It is not at all clear why Moses should suppose that the Israelites would ask him this question, nor does it even appear that they did ask it. Perhaps, however, he thought that, as the Egyptians used the word "god," generically, and had a special name for each particular god - as Ammon, Phthah, Ra, Mentu, Her, Osiris, and the like - when he told his people of "the God of their fathers," they would conclude that he, too, had a proper name, and would wish to know it. The Egyptians set much store by the names of their gods, which in every ease had a meaning. Ammen was "the concealed (god)," Phthah, "the revealer," Ra,"the swift," etc. Hitherto Israel's God had had no name that could be called a proper name more than any other. He had been known as "El," "The High;" "Shad-dai," "The Strong;" and "Jehovah," "The Existent;" but these terms had all been felt to be descriptive epithets, and none of them had passed as yet into a proper name. What was done at this time, by the authority of God himself, was to select from among the epithets one to be distinctly a proper name, and at the same time to explain its true meaning as something more than "The Existent" - as really "The Alone Existent" - the source of all existence. Henceforth this name, which had previously been but little used and perhaps less understood, predominated over every other, was cherished by the Jews themselves as a sacred treasure, and recognised by those around them as the proper appellation of the one and only God whom the Israelites worshipped. It is found in this sense on the Moabite stone ('Records of the Past,' vol. 11, p. 166), in the fragments of Philo-Byblius, and elsewhere.

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

Then Moses
מֹשֶׁ֜ה (mō·šeh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4872: Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver

asked
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

God,
הָֽאֱלֹהִ֗ים (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

“Suppose
הִנֵּ֨ה (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

I
אָנֹכִ֣י (’ā·nō·ḵî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

go
בָא֮ (ḇā)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

and say
וְאָמַרְתִּ֣י (wə·’ā·mar·tî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to them,
לָהֶ֔ם (lā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's Hebrew

‘The God
אֱלֹהֵ֥י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of your fathers
אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם (’ă·ḇō·w·ṯê·ḵem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 1: Father

has sent
שְׁלָחַ֣נִי (šə·lā·ḥa·nî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular | first person common singular
Strong's 7971: To send away, for, out

me to you,’
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

and they ask
וְאָֽמְרוּ־ (wə·’ā·mə·rū-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

me,
לִ֣י (lî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

‘What
מַה־ (mah-)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

is His name?’
שְּׁמ֔וֹ (šə·mōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8034: A name

What
מָ֥ה (māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

should I tell
אֹמַ֖ר (’ō·mar)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

them?”
אֲלֵהֶֽם׃ (’ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

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OT Law: Exodus 3:13 Moses said to God Behold when (Exo. Ex)