Exodus 3:15
וַיֹּאמֶר עוֹד אֱלֹהִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה כֹּֽה־תֹאמַר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵיכֶם אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם זֶה־שְּׁמִי לְעֹלָם וְזֶה זִכְרִי לְדֹר דֹּֽר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיֹּאמֶר֩ ע֨וֹד אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה כֹּֽה־תֹאמַר֮ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ יְהוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֗ם אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִצְחָ֛ק וֵאלֹהֵ֥י יַעֲקֹ֖ב שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם זֶה־שְּׁמִ֣י לְעֹלָ֔ם וְזֶ֥ה זִכְרִ֖י לְדֹ֥ר דֹּֽר׃
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς πάλιν πρὸς Μωυσῆν οὕτως ἐρεῖς τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν, θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ θεὸς Ἰακώβ, ἀπέσταλκέν με πρὸς ὑμᾶς· τοῦτό μού ἐστιν ὄνομα αἰώνιον καὶ μνημόσυνον γενεῶν γενεαῖς.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Dixitque iterum Deus ad Moysen: Hæc dices filiis Israël: Dominus Deus patrum vestrorum, Deus Abraham, Deus Isaac et Deus Jacob, misit me ad vos: hoc nomen mihi est in æternum, et hoc memoriale meum in generationem et generationem.
Dios también le dijo a Moisés: “Diles a los hijos de Israel: Yehová, el Dios de sus antepasados, el Dios de Abraham, el Dios de Isaac y el Dios de Jacob, me ha enviado a ustedes. Este es mi nombre para siempre; con este nombre seré recordado por todas las generaciones.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y dijo más Dios á Moisés: Así dirás á los hijos de Israel: Jehová, el Dios de vuestros padres, el Dios de Abraham, Dios de Isaac y Dios de Jacob, me ha enviado á vosotros. Este es mi nombre para siempre, este es mi memorial por todos los siglos.
God also told Moses, “ Say to the Israelites, ‘ 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 how I am to be remembered in every generation.
✦ What the text says
Summary
God instructs Moses again on what to say to the Israelites: the divine name YHWH (H3068), identified as the God of the ancestors — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — has sent him. The verse closes with a declaration that this name stands as shem ("name", H8034) le'olam ("for ever", H5769G) and as zeker ("memorial", H2143) ledor dor ("for generation of generation", H1755 repeated).
Key words
- Yehovah ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the proper name given without construct form, standing independently before the construct chain "God of your fathers."
- 'elohei ("God of", H0430G) — appears four times in construct state, each time binding "God" to a following name (ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), building a chain of identification rather than four separate gods.
- shelachani ("he has sent me", H7971G) — qal perfect with 1st-person object suffix -ni ("me", H9030), marking the sending as a completed act reported in direct speech.
- le'olam ("for ever", H5769G) — preposition le- ("for", H9005) plus noun 'olam, describing the temporal scope of shem ("name," H8034).
- ledor dor ("to a generation, generation", H1755 doubled) — the noun dor repeated without conjunction, an idiomatic doubling construction tied to zikhri ("my memorial", H2143 + suffix -i, H9020).
What the text says
The verse opens with the narrative marker va ("and", H9001) plus yomer ("he said", H0559) in the qal narrative form, continuing the story sequence. The word od ("again", H5750) signals that this is a continuation or repetition of a previous divine speech to Moses. The core instruction is introduced by koh tomar ("thus you will say", H0559 imperfect), placing the following words in reported direct speech addressed to benei Yisra'el ("sons/people of Israel", H1121G construct + H3478).
The identification of the sender uses a stacked construct chain: Yehovah stands as the proper name, followed by 'elohei avoteikhem ("God of your fathers", H0430G construct + H0001G + suffix H9026), then re-specified individually as 'elohei Avraham, 'elohei Yitzchak, and ve'elohei Ya'aqov — each occurrence of 'elohei in construct state links "God" to a specific patriarch rather than presenting three separate deities. The verb shelachani (H7971G perfect + suffix H9030) reports the sending as completed action, followed by 'aleikhem ("to you", H9036 suffix on preposition H0413).
The final clause pairs two demonstrative statements: zeh shemi le'olam ("this is my name for ever") and vezeh zikhri ledor dor ("and this is my memorial to generation of generation"), each built with zeh (H2088) as subject-demonstrative, a possessed noun (shem, H8034; zeker, H2143) with 1st-person suffix (H9020), and a temporal phrase marking duration.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders 'elohim (H0430G, plural form) as singular ὁ θεός, matching the singular sense standard in these formulas. Where the Hebrew doubles ledor dor ("generation, generation") without a conjunction, the LXX reads γενεῶν γενεαῖς (also doubled, genitive/dative plural), and the Vulgate reads in generationem et generationem, inserting the conjunction "et" absent in the Hebrew construction. The BSB renders zikhri ("my memorial", H2143) as "how I am to be remembered," an interpretive expansion beyond the noun form found in the Hebrew and in the more literal Vulgate memoriale meum.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.