Unraveling the Confusion
God is the Master of war, God is His name. Exodus 15:3 Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (The Living Torah)
God – Kaplan’s translation retains the Jewish practice of not speaking the letters Yod Hey Vav Hey as God’s personal name. But English translations fare no better, simply substituting “the LORD” for the Hebrew יְהוָה, out of respect for the Jewish tradition. So, we have “The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name” (NASB). But, of course, the “LORD” isn’t His name, and neither is “God.” It would have made no sense at all to Moses and the people standing by the sea to sing such lyrics. There were plenty of gods in their world. YHVH had just defeated a whole host of them in Egypt. Every one of them had a personal name. Osiris, Isis, Horus, Seth, Ptah, Re, Hathor, Anubis. If you asked, “How did God defeat His enemies?” an Egyptian would immediately respond, “Which God?” The fact that the Jews had but one god doesn’t mean He was called “God.” YHVH defeated Osiris, Isis, Horus, Seth, Ptah, Re, Hathor, and Anubis. The battle was personal. It is YHVH who is the Master of war, and His name is not “God.”
Of course, there is the Hebrew word ʾĕlōhîm. It means “God” or “gods,” depending on the context. But it’s not a name. It’s a category, a designation attributed to all the personal deities who make up this group. In Israel, there is only one personal god in this group. In Egypt there were many. Who knows how many there are in Christianity? At any rate, Moses’ song does not use the Hebrew term אֱלֹהִים. Everyone within hearing distance would have asked the Egyptian question “Which one?” Moses is very specific, as, by the way, are most of the characters in the Tanakh. According to the translation, it’s as if Moses sang, “The general won the war. Praise him.” We would rightly ask, “But which one?”
We are the ones who have created all the confusion. One must wonder why.
The answer, the typical answer, is that the Jews feared violating the second commandment so much so that they simply stopped saying the real name. They substituted words like HaShem (the Name) or Adonai (the Lord) for the Hebrew יְהוָה. In some places in later prayers, the Hebrew letters are contracted to יי. But this answer really doesn’t make sense. The second commandment isn’t about using the name of God. It’s about misusing the name of God, particularly in ways that appear to obligate YHVH to certain human expectations, like, for example, cursing with His name. The curse appears to enlist YHVH, forcing Him to do what the human speaker desires. There are plenty of opportunities where speaking His real name is unrelated to the second commandment, as for example, in this song. Claiming possible misuse is a protective fence, not an ethical choice. Let me explain.
If I am afraid that I might possibly misuse YHVH, and therefore I establish a precedent never to say the name, I will, of course, not misuse it, but I will do so because of the rule, not because of my actual choice. My consciousness about the proper or improper use of the name no longer applies. The rule removes the decision. And because the rule removes the decision, it does nothing to protect me from actually misusing the character of YHVH in ways other than speaking the name. The commandment requires that I understand the holiness of the name and make deliberate choices not to abuse it. The rule simply erases my deliberate decisions. In fact, one could argue that the rule itself is a violation of the commandment since it circumvents the intention of the command.
So, now what do you do? Follow the tradition just because it is a tradition, knowing that it removes personal responsibility as a precaution against possible mistakes, or stand against the tradition and incur the judgment of all those who hide behind the rule?
Topical Index: YHVH, name, LORD, tradition, commandment, rule, Exodus 15:3
