Exodus 6:3
וָאֵרָא אֶל־אַבְרָהָם אֶל־יִצְחָק וְאֶֽל־יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶֽם׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וָאֵרָ֗א אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֛ם אֶל־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽל־יַעֲקֹ֖ב בְּאֵ֣ל שַׁדָּ֑י וּשְׁמִ֣י יְהוָ֔ה לֹ֥א נוֹדַ֖עְתִּי לָהֶֽם׃
καὶ ὤφθην πρὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, θεὸς ὢν αὐτῶν, καὶ τὸ ὄνομά μου κύριος οὐκ ἐδήλωσα αὐτοῖς·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
qui apparui Abraham, Isaac et Jacob in Deo omnipotente: et nomen meum Adonai non indicavi eis.
Me aparecí a Abraham, a Isaac y a Jacob como Dios Todopoderoso, pero no me di a conocer a ellos por mi nombre: Yehová.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y aparecí á Abraham, á Isaac y á Jacob bajo el nombre de Dios Omnipotente, mas en mi nombre JEHOVÁ no me notifiqué á ellos.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse reports a divine statement: the speaker appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob under the designation El Shadday ("God Almighty"), but states that by the name Yehovah he was not made known to them. The sentence contrasts two modes of divine self-presentation across generations.
Key words
- 'e.Ra' ("I appeared", H7200G) — niphal verb, first person; the niphal stem here conveys the sense of "being seen/appearing" rather than an active seeing.
- 'El ("God", H0410G) — masculine singular noun in construct form, meaning it grammatically links to the following word sha.Dai.
- sha.Dai ("Almighty", H7706) — a title functioning as the construct-completion of 'El, together forming the compound name "El Shadday."
- she.M ("name", H8034) — construct noun taking the suffix -i ("my"), producing "my name," which is then placed in apposition to Yehovah.
- no.Da'.ti ("I made myself known", H3045) — niphal perfect, first person; the perfect aspect marks this as a completed state, and the niphal stem again gives a passive/reflexive nuance ("I was not known" / "I did not make myself known").
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence has two clauses joined by the narrative structure. The first clause uses va-'e.Ra' ("and I appeared") followed by three names joined with the preposition 'el ("to") repeated before Abraham and Isaac, then preceded by ve- ("and") before Jacob — a typical Hebrew listing pattern. This clause ends with be-'El sha.Dai, using the preposition be- ("in/by/as") to specify the mode or title under which the appearance occurred.
The second clause pivots with u-she.mi Yehovah ("and my name, Yehovah"), placing "my name" and "Yehovah" in apposition — grammatically, "Yehovah" restates or specifies what "my name" refers to. The negation lo' precedes the verb no.Da'.ti, a niphal perfect verb, followed by la.hem ("to them"). Both verbs in this verse ('e.Ra' and no.Da'.ti) are niphal forms, giving the sentence a passive/reflexive quality that active-voice translations like "I appeared" and "I made myself known" do not fully preserve — the Hebrew stem suggests something closer to "I was seen/became visible" and "I was not known/did not become known."
Differences between versions
The LXX renders 'El sha.Dai as θεὸς ὢν αὐτῶν ("being their God") rather than transmitting it as a compound title. The Vulgate keeps a Latin phrase "in Deo omnipotente," structurally closer to the Hebrew construct pattern. For Yehovah, the Vulgate substitutes "Adonai," while the LXX uses κύριος ("Lord") — neither transliterates the Tetragrammaton as the Hebrew text does with Yehovah.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.