Documentary Hypothesis - question
Cary & Audrey Robison (robisoncl@ccinet.ab.ca)
Mon, 07 Jul 1997 15:45:56
Sis. Colleen wrote:
>One argument for this hypothesis showed how in Exo. 6:3 God revealed
>Himself as Jehovah while saying that Abraham (Isaac, Jacob) never knew Him
>by that name
>
>however...
>
>In Gen. 22:14 it shows that at the 'sacrifice' of Isaac when God proved the
>lamb in Isaac's stead that Abraham would call the place Jehohvah-Jireh.
Advocates of the documentary hypothesis, which denies the Mosaic authorship
of the Pentateuch, rely on the variation in the names of God -- especially
Ehohim and Jehovah/Yahweh (LORD) -- as one of their key arguments for
multiple document sources.
According to this view, the author of Exodus 6:3 believed the name Jehovah
was first used in Moses' day, and was ignorant of its frequent usage in
Genesis.
Conservative interpreters say the variation in names was for the purpose of
revealing or emphasizing specific aspects of God's character. Regarding
Exodus 6:3, a standard answer is that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were clearly
familiar with the name Jehovah, but knew him primarily as El-Shaddai
(Almighty God). God is telling Moses that He will now be revealed and be
"known" -- in the deeper, experiential sense of word common in the Old
Testament -- as Jehovah, Israel's self-existent redeemer and deliverer.
Cary Robison