²⁶ “… and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

“God”—that is not His name. That is the general term for deity, “Theos” in Greek, and “Elohim” in Hebrew. But His name was revealed to Moses in the burning bush incident:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘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-name to all generations. (Ex 3:14–15)

According to this passage, God’s name is “I Am” or “The Lord.” What does Jesus mean that He has made that name known to the disciples? We must look more closely at the meaning of God’s name as used in the Old Testament.

The Hebrew text (which is the language of the OT), as originally written, included only the consonants of words, but not any vowels. To present day readers that would make interpreting the words very difficult. Some words have the same consonants but without the vowels it would be impossible to distinguish between them. The Jews vocalized the text when it was read publically, and thus the meanings were clear. Since the printing press was not invented until the distant future, there was no economically viable means for reproducing copies of God’s word for everyone to have. The people relied on the public reading of Scripture, and the repeated vocalizations preserved the meanings. This is why the reading aloud of the Scriptures was so important in ancient times—that is what preserved the meaning of the text.

To the Jews the name of God was considered so sacred, they would not verbalize it. When reading they would say, “The name” or use the Hebrew word for Lord, Adonai. In the text of Exodus 3:15, “The Lord” (in what we call small caps) in the original Hebrew uses the consonants from “I am” of verse 13 in a clear play on words. His personal name, if you will, is a play on the word (letters) from the Hebrew word “I am.” Centuries later when vowels were added to the text, since the vocalization of God’s name was lost, the scribes borrowed the vowels of Adonai. English translations render it “Lord.” But to the Hebrew ear it would sound like “Yahweh” or the older English “Jehovah.” That is God’s name, as best we can say it. We will next see what this name means.

Lord, reveal Yourself fully to me, as Your name describes You.