ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם. כי השם ברוך הוא, הוא שמו ושמו הוא, ואינו כשאר הנבראים חלוקים משמם ושמם חלוק מהם, אשר על כן לא יוצדק לומר לא הודעתי, כי השם הוא המדבר, וא"כ צריך לומר לא נודעתי, עד כאן לשון האור החיים, וכן שמעתי מן אדוני אבי זקיני זלה"ה בשם בעל חובת הלבבות: (דגל מחנה אפרים פ' תרומה).
And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: 'I am the L-rd; and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but My Name YHWH – I was not known to them. (Exodus 6:2) G-d and His Name are one, unlike His creatures, whose names and essence are distinct. It would be incorrect for the verse to say “My Name YHWH, I did not make known to them,” because the Name itself is speaking.1I.e., there is a discrepancy in the use of the verb “to know” in this verse. Since G-d is speaking about something He did, it should say, “but My Name YHWH, I did not make known to them”; however, it says, “I was not known to them.” Therefore, the verse must say, “I was not known to them.” These are the words of the Ohr HaChaim,2The great Sefardic Sage (1696-1743). See his commentary on this verse. and I also heard them from my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov], in the name of the Chovas HaLevavos.3Duties of the Heart – a famous Twelfth Century philosophical work, by R. Bachya ibn Paquda. However, this teaching is not found in the edition of the book we have today. Degel Machane Ephraim, Terumah
ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם. כי השם ברוך הוא, הוא שמו ושמו הוא, ואינו כשאר הנבראים חלוקים משמם ושמם חלוק מהם, אשר על כן לא יוצדק לומר לא הודעתי, כי השם הוא המדבר, וא"כ צריך לומר לא נודעתי, עד כאן לשון האור החיים, וכן שמעתי מן אדוני אבי זקיני זלה"ה בשם בעל חובת הלבבות:
(דגל מחנה אפרים פ' תרומה).
And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: 'I am the L-rd; and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but My Name YHWH – I was not known to them. (Exodus 6:2)
G-d and His Name are one, unlike His creatures, whose names and essence are distinct. It would be incorrect for the verse to say “My Name YHWH, I did not make known to them,” because the Name itself is speaking.1I.e., there is a discrepancy in the use of the verb “to know” in this verse. Since G-d is speaking about something He did, it should say, “but My Name YHWH, I did not make known to them”; however, it says, “I was not known to them.” Therefore, the verse must say, “I was not known to them.”
These are the words of the Ohr HaChaim,2The great Sefardic Sage (1696-1743). See his commentary on this verse. and I also heard them from my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov], in the name of the Chovas HaLevavos.3Duties of the Heart – a famous Twelfth Century philosophical work, by R. Bachya ibn Paquda. However, this teaching is not found in the edition of the book we have today.
Degel Machane Ephraim, Terumah