What Does Exodus 3:15 Mean?
God also said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, The LORD 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 for the ages, and this is my remembrance to all generations.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.THE KEY
The name is God’s nature carried forward: it is sent into the world and remembered across every generation.
THE MEANING
You stand among the generations for whom this name remains present. The God named through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reaches you through what is sent forward; “memorial” is remembrance brought back to mind and speech.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
God’s name belongs only to the patriarchs and to an unreachable past.
THE ROOT
זִכָּרוֹן
zikkaron
GROWS FROM
זכר
Remember, call to mind, bring into mention.
“remembrance” in this verse is zikkaron. The word translated “memorial” grows from the root for remembering and mentioning, so it can name the act of recall as well as what prompts it. “Unto all generations” makes the name something repeatedly brought to mind, not a label stranded in a former age.
ALSO GROWS
zakar: Remember; call to mind.
זָכַר
This verb shows remembrance as an active act, not merely an object preserved.
hizkir: Mention; bring to remembrance.
הִזְכִּיר
The name remains among generations as it is spoken and brought back to mind.
שְׁלָחַנִי
shelachani
GROWS FROM
שלח
Send forth, release, let go.
The verb translated “hath sent” contains the root shalach, whose range includes sending forth and releasing. Moses carries the name outward as one who is sent, so its remembrance moves from one generation to another.
ALSO GROWS
shaliach: Messenger or emissary; one who is sent.
שָׁלִיחַ
It names the messenger by the act of being sent, illuminating Moses’ role in carrying the name to the people.
Shiloach: Sent forth; the Hebrew name associated with Σιλωάμ (Silōam, Siloam), interpreted as “Sent” in John 9:7.
שִׁילֹחַ
This related name shows the root can describe what is sent as well as the act of sending.
THE PATTERN
What is named of God remains present through successive generations.
Perceive therefore that the LORD your God is God, the steady God, who guards the covenant and faithful love for those who love him and guard his commands to a thousand generations.Your governance is a governance of all ages, and your rule is in every generation and generation.And his faithful love is for those in awe of him, from generation to generation.THE THREAD
But you, O LORD, sit for the ages, and your remembrance is from generation to generation.Psalm 102:12 uses זֵכֶר (zekher, remembrance), from זכר (z-k-r; zakar, remember or mention), the same root as Exodus’s זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron, memorial). The shared root shows that the memorial is remembrance kept active across generations.
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