What Does Exodus 3:6 Mean?
Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was in awe to look upon God.
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
Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.THE KEY
The Hebrew holds fear and awe in one word, so Moses hides his face in the very presence that overwhelms him.
THE MEANING
The God named through generations is also present as a reality that can overwhelm your gaze. Moses hides his face in fear while he stands in that presence; his name מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh, meaning “drawn out”) carries the memory of being drawn from water. You can recognize that presence without feeling able to look straight at it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that fear means you are outside God’s presence: Moses is afraid while the verse places him before God.
THE ROOT
יָרֵא
yare
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear or stand in awe; the root can carry both fear and reverence.
“in awe” in this verse is yare. The English word “afraid” can sound like plain fright, while the Hebrew also carries awe before what overwhelms you. Here, Moses’ face-covering keeps the fear in view: awe does not make the fear disappear.
ALSO GROWS
yirʾah: Fear, awe
יִרְאָה
This noun shows that fear and awe belong to the same word family, helping the verse hold reverence and dread together.
nora: Fearsome, awe-inspiring
נוֹרָא
This form describes what inspires fear or awe, echoing the overwhelming presence before which Moses hides his face.
וַיַּסְתֵּר
vayaster
GROWS FROM
סתר
To hide, conceal, or keep secret.
“hid” in this verse is vayaster. The English reads as a single act, but this root also yields words for what is secret or hidden. Moses’ concealment does not take him out of the encounter; it happens as God speaks to him.
ALSO GROWS
seter: A secret place, shelter
סֵתֶר
This branch shows the root’s sense of concealment as a hidden place, like the covering of Moses’ face.
mistar: A hiding place
מִסְתָּר
This branch echoes the movement away from direct sight that the verse describes.
THE PATTERN
The presence of God can awaken fear and recognition in the same moment.
And he was struck with awe, and said, How awe-filled is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of the heavens.When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying, Go out from me, for I am a man who misses the mark, O Lord.THE THREAD
And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, the one drawn out, and she said, Because from the waters I drew him out.The name מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh, meaning “drawn out”) is explicitly linked here to being drawn out of the water. Exodus 3:6 places that name beside a hidden face: being drawn out does not mean fear disappears.
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