Exodus 6:3

The name of God Almighty] Heb. El Shaddai, which occurs first in the revelation made to Abraham (Genesis 17:1 cp. also Genesis 28:3; Genesis 48:3). It is here said that God was not known in the patriarchal times by the name Jehovah. This constitutes a difficulty, as the name has been already used in passages earlier than this, e.g. in Genesis 2:4; Genesis 3; Genesis 4; Genesis 11:1, etc. Two explanations have been given: (1) The use of the name Jehovah in these earlier passages may be due, not to the speakers themselves, but to the writer of those parts of the book of Genesis in which it is found, to whom it was familiar, and who used it by anticipation. (2) While the name Jehovah may have been known from earliest times, its full spiritual significance may not have been revealed or apprehended till the time of Moses. Traces of the antiquity of the name Jehovah may be found in its employment by Abraham as part of a proper name: see Genesis 22:14. The name of Moses' mother, Jochebed (Exodus 6:20), also contains the name Jehovah as its first element.

Observe that marriage with a father's sister was not forbidden before the giving of the Law: see Leviticus 18:12. It is not improbable that the genealogy of Amram has been shortened here by the omission of certain names. Joshua, who was a younger contemporary of Moses, was of the tenth generation from Joseph: see 1 Chronicles 7:20. The designation 'daughter of Levi 'applied to Jochebed in Exodus 2:1 may, therefore, be equivalent to 'descendant of Levi.' But see Numbers 26:59, where Miriam's name is also inserted: see on Exodus 2:1.