The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 1 — Section 88

Vers. 15-16.-The Name. The request of Moses to know the name of the Being who had filled him with such unutterable awe (ver. 6), rested on ideas deeply rooted in ancient modes of thought. The" name" with us tends to become an arbitrary symbol-a mere vocable. But this is not the true idea of a name. A real name expresses the nature of that to which it is given. It is significant. This idea of the name is the ruling one in scientific nomenclature, where names are not imposed arbitrarily, but are designed to express exactly the essential characteristics of the object or fact of Nature for which a name is sought. The man of science interrogates Nature-allows it to reveal itself. He stands before his fact, asking-" Tell me, I pray thee, thy name ? " (Gen. xxxii. 29), and the name but expresses the properties which come to light as the result of the interrogation. Hence, as science progresses, old names are superseded by new ones-the former no longer proving adequate to the stage at which knowledge has arrived. This illustrates in some degree the ancient idea of a name, and the desire that was felt at each new stage of revelation for a new name of God. God's Name is the revelation of his attributes or essence-the disclosure of some part or aspect of the fulness of his Deity. 'l'he vocable is valueless in itself-its significance is derived from the fact of revelation of which it is the memorial. To know God's absolute Name-the Name, if one might so speak, wherewith he names himself, would be to wrest fror:c. him the secret of his absolute existence. .And Jacob was rebuked when, in this sense, he sought to wrest from God his Name (Gen. xxxii. 29). God's revealed Naml' expresses that of his Nature which is communicable and comprehensible-his attri- b.ites i11 their relations to the intelligence and needs of the creature. Each of his nam&S is but part of the whole-a ray. The whole Name is given in the completed revelation. (An illustration of the extent to which in ancient times name and reality were held to interpenetrate each other is furnished by the practice of conjuration-the name being viewed as so truly o. living part of the Being, so bound up with his essence and qualities, that to know it was to obtain a certain power over him.) I. 'l'HE NAME ASKED (ver. 13). Moses expected that this would be the first question the people would ask him-" What is his Name?" 1. It was natural to expe?t that a Bein" announcina himself, would do so by some name, either a name by which he waa; a~eady know~, or a new one given in the revelation. 2. It was probable, i.ti Rnnlogy with past history, that the name would be a new one, and would serve--{!) As 70 THE BOOK OF EXODUS. [clt. m. 14-22.