Exodus 3:6

Exo 3:6 Moreover he said, I [am] the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

Ver. 6. Hid his face.] So did the seraphims, with a double scarf, as it were. {Isa 6:2} Let a man but see God, and his plumes will soon fall.

For he was afraid.] Yea, he "trembled, and durst not behold." {Act 7:32} This was his first meeting with God: when better acquainted, he grew more bold.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo_3:6

I am the God of thy father.

The ancestral God our God

This declaration was made in order to assure Moses that even in the present oppressed state of his nation in Egypt, the Most High had not forgotten them, or His relation to them as a God in covenant. This would be an unspeakable consolation to Moses, to find himself addressed by that God of whose appearances and promises to his fathers he had often heard, and to know that His heart was as kindly affected to him as it ever had been to his venerated ancestors. How comforting beyond measure to the Christian, in his more favoured moments, to be assured that the God of all the good who have ever lived is his God, and equally pledged by His covenant faithfulness, to show to him the same loving-kindness that He showed to them! (G. Bush.)

The Divine revelation

The Divine Being here reveals Himself as--

1. The God of individual men.

2. The God of families.

3. The God of the immortal good. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

He is thus the God of generations, the God of individuals, and the God of the whole human family. There is something inexpressibly beautiful in the idea that God is the God of the father, and of the son, and of all their descendants; thus the one God makes humanity into one family. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 3:6. I am, &c. — He lets him know it is God that speaks to him, to engage his reverence, faith, and obedience. The God of thy father — Thy pious father Amram, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thy ancestors: engaged to them by solemn covenant, which I am now come to perform. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God — The more we see of God, the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear. And even the manifestations of God’s grace should increase our humble reverence of him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:6 This transcendent God had committed himself to Moses’ ancestors in a faithful promise maintained for hundreds of years. Moses was in awe of the one, holy, and transcendent God of Abraham. Jesus quoted this verse when he was sparring with the Sadducees about the concept of resurrection (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For sin causeth man to fear God’s justice.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

I am the God . . . come down to deliver--The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mat 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises. The period of Israel's journey and affliction in Egypt had been predicted (Gen 15:13), and it was during the last year of the term which had still to run that the Lord appeared in the burning bush.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. I am the God of thy father] Though the word אבי abi, father, is here used in the singular, St Stephen, quoting this place, Ac 7:32, uses the plural, Ὁ Θεος των πατερων σου, The God of thy FATHERS; and that this is the meaning the following words prove: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. These were the fathers of Moses in a direct line. This reading is confirmed by the Samaritan and by the Coptic. ABRAHAM was the father of the Ishmaelites, and with him was the covenant first made. ISAAC was the father of the Edomites as well as the Israelites, and with him was the covenant renewed. JACOB was the father of the twelve patriarchs, who were founders of the Jewish nation, and to him were the promises particularly confirmed. Hence we see that the Arabs and Turks in general, who are descendants of Ishmael; the Edomites, now absorbed among the Jews, (See Clarke on Ge 25:23,) who are the descendants of Esau; and the Jewish people, wheresoever scattered, who are the descendants of Jacob, are all heirs of the promises included in this primitive covenant; and their gathering in with the fulness of the Gentiles may be confidently expected.

And Moses hid his face] For similar acts, see 1Kg 19:13; Isa 6:1, Isa 6:5; Ne 9:9; Ps 106:44; Ac 7:34. He was afraid to look - he was overawed by God's presence, and dazzled with the splendour of the appearance.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) The God of thy father.—It is generally agreed that “father” is put collectively here for “forefathers.” (Comp. Gen_31:42.) Hence St. Stephen, quoting the passage, renders it, “I am the God of thy fathers” (Act_7:32).

The God of Abraham.—Primarily, no doubt, the meaning was, the God who was worshipped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but the form of the expression, “the God of Abraham,” &c., indicated the continued existence of the patriarchs after death, since He can only be the God of existent, and not of nonexistent things. (See Mat_22:32.)

Moses hid his face, with the same feeling which made Jacob exclaim, “How dreadful is this place” (Gen_28:17). Though nothing was to be seen but an appearance as of material fire, the knowledge that God was there rendered the fire awful.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Moreover] And (carrying on v. 4b in E).

the God of thy father] Exo_15:2, Exo_18:4 : the God worshipped by thy father, and, it is added afterwards, by thy forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well. Moses is not to introduce to his people any previously unknown God, but the God whom their fathers had worshipped, and who, it was believed, had promised to be with, and to defend, their descendants. Comp. Mat_22:32 = Mar_12:26 = Luk_20:37.

hid his face] in reverence and fear: cf. 1Ki_19:13; Isa_6:2.

6–10. God declares His purpose of delivering His people.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy fathers,.... Of every one of his fathers next mentioned:

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; with whom the covenant respecting the land of Canaan, and the promise of the blessed seed the Messiah, was made: this again shows that the Angel of the Lord that now appeared was God himself, Jehovah the Son of God. Our Lord makes use of this text to prove the resurrection of the dead against the Sadducees, God being not the God of the dead, but of the living; Mar 12:26.

and Moses hid his face; wrapped it in his mantle or cloak, as Elijah did, Kg1 19:13, because of the glory of the divine Majesty now present, and conscious of his own sinfulness and unworthiness:

for he was afraid to look upon God; even upon this outward appearance and representation of him in a flame of fire; otherwise the essence of God is not to be looked upon and seen at all, God is invisible; but even this external token and symbol of him was terrible to behold; the thought that God was there filled him with fear, considering the greatness and awfulness of his majesty, and what a poor, weak, and sinful creature he was.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Our Saviour adduces this passage as a proof that the doctrine of the Resurrection was taught in the Old Testament Mat 22:32, and He calls this book “the Book of Moses” Mar 12:26, two points to be borne in mind by readers of the Pentateuch.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hid, out of respect, and perhaps fearing lest he should die, Genesis xvi. 13. (Calmet) --- God takes the title of these three patriarchs, because he had promised Chanaan to each of them, and because they were eminent for virtue. God is repeated thrice, to insinuate the mystery of the blessed Trinity, and to shew that the Lord watches over each individual, as if that one alone existed. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The God of thy fathers, engaged to them by covenant or promise, which I am now come to perform.

He was afraid to look upon God, as other excellent servants of God have been, through the sense of their own meanness and sinfulness, and of God’s majesty and holiness. See Gen 16:13; 17:3; 1Ki 19:13; Isa 6:2,5, &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. The God of thy father — Whose name thy father and mother taught thee; and the God of their fathers — of the sacred patriarchal line — who remembers his covenant with them. But Jesus shows us (Mat_22:32, where see note) that the words were deeper still, revealing to Moses not only that He lived, but that they lived as sharers in this everlasting covenant, and were looking for its fulfilment. A covenant with Jehovah implies, connotes, or includes, immortality. Moses had waited long. Now his father’s God speaks to him in a tongue of flame; calls him by his name, yet warns him not to draw nigh; brings before him those waiting fathers — a “cloud of witnesses!” What wonder that he hid his face from the blaze of such a revelation!

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The God of the fathers.

am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham," etc. In these words

I GOD CONNECTS HIMSELF WITH THE DEAD PATRIARCHS. They imply

1. Continued existence; for God, who says here, not "I was," but "I am, the God of thy father," is, as Christ reminds us, "not the God of the dead, but of the living". (Mat_22:32) The personal relation was not dissolved. The patriarchs still lived to him.

2. The resurrection of the body. This will not appear a far-fetched inference, if we consider the nature of the Bible hope of immortality. The Bible has little or nothing to say of an abstract "immortality of the soul." It nowhere regards the disembodied state as in itself desirable. The immortality it speaks of is the immortality of the "man of man in his whole complex personality of body, soul, and spirit. This implies a resurrection. The life forfeited by sin was a life in the body, and so must be the life restored by Redemption. The covenant-promise could not fall below the hopes of the heathen; and even Egyptian theology held by the notion of a revival of the body, as essential to perfected existence. Hence the practice of embalming, with which compare the care of the body by the patriarchs.

II CONNECTS THIS REVELATION WITH FAST REVELATIONS, AS ONE OF A SERIES. It introduces what is to be said as the fulfilment of what had been already promised.

III CONNECTS HIMSELF WITH THE EXISTING GENERATION. The God of the fathers is, in virtue of the promise, the God of the children. J.O.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Having wakened the mind of Moses into full activity, given him a revelation of supernatural power, and brought him altogether into a state of the greatest reverence and awe, God proceeds to a revelation of himself in a particular aspect an aspect which required and repaid the most earnest attention. Notice that, unlike the revelation of the name I AM (ver. 13), it was unsolicited.

I CONSIDER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS NAME TO MOSES AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.

1. It was a confident reference to the past. Moses might look back on his own career, or that of he people to whom he belonged, with a measure of shame, doubt, humiliation, and disappointment; but God could point back to all his dealings with men as consistent, glorious, and worthy of all remembrance.

2. It provided a certain kind of mediatorship in the knowledge of God. It gave the best way for Moses and Israel to think of God, at that particular time. It was as if God had said to Moses, "You are to gain your chief sense of my nearness to Israel and abiding interest in them by thinking of my actual, repeated, and recorded dealings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." No devout Israelite could become acquainted with that section of Genesis, from the time when God first appeared to Abram down to the death of Jacob, without feeling that the God of these three men was even a more prominent figure in the history than they are themselves. We could as easily leave out the name of Abraham from the narrative, as leave out the name of God. What we are told of Abraham is nothing, save as the effect and expression of the will of God. Abram is as a mere name, till God comes in contact with him. It is not so much a life of Abraham we are reading, as a history of how God"s purposes and power became manifest in his experience.

3. It kept before Moses the connexion of God with the lives of individuals. God made separate appearances to each of these three men, dealing with them according to their Circumstances and their character. He showed his continual and unfailing observation of their lives, by revealing his presence at every critical point.

4. There was a connexion of peculiar importance which God had with some individuals rather than with others. He was the God of Adam, of Enoch, and of Noah; why not have associated himself with these illustrious names? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob stood towards Israel in the relation of one who had made large promises, allowed himself to become the source of large expectations, and imposed strict requirements. He was not only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, taken separately, but Of these three men, bound together in a very peculiar way. Not only did they stand in a lineal succession, Abraham being father to Isaac, and Isaac father to Jacob, but that succession was contrary to natural expectations and customary arrangements. Isaac was the son of Abraham, but also a son born when the resources of nature were exhausted. Jacob was the son of Isaac, but also the younger son, on whom, contrary to custom, the privileges of the firstborn alighted. Thus it became impossible to describe God as the God of Abraham and Ishmael, though in a certain sense he was the God of Ishmael. (Gen_17:20) Nor could he be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau, though assuredly he was the God of Esau also. The only name which would indicate to Moses all he had to bear in mind, was the name which God here employs.

5. He was the God of these men in spite of great defects of character and great blots on conduct. They were men in whom he found much that was evil, much that indicated a low moral state, but he found in them all, and particularly in the first of them, a spirit of faith which enabled him to begin, as from a certain definite point in history, that work which is to end in all nations of the earth being blessed. Already he had made a great nation out of Abram a persecuted and oppressed nation indeed, but none the less a great one. And had he not spoken to Abram concerning this very bondage in Egypt?. (Gen_15:13, Gen_15:14) Some such revelation as this at Horeb, to some deliverer or other, might now be expected. It must surely have been often a perplexity to Moses, what had become of this God who had done so much for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

II CONSIDER THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS NAME TO US, We are not mere spectators of the way in which the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob approved himself as also the God of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt and in the wilderness. To speak of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is only another way of speaking of the God of those who really believe in him. Whenever a real believer ponders this name, then it becomes one of precious associations; it leads by the very mention of it, further and further onwards in subjection to the invisible. But after all, this name, so deeply impressed on Moses, is chiefly valuable to us as suggesting a name far richer in meaning and in power. We have a look into the past which Moses had not. He looked backward and saw God"s dealings with Abraham, and found in them everything to inspire faith in God and expectation from him. We look backward and see, not only Abraham, but Christ; not only Isaac, but Christ; not only Jacob, but Christ. When we look back to these men of Genesis, we see faith standing out like an isolated mountain in the midst of a plain; but we see much also that we would rather not see. Whereas, when we look back to Christ we see not only a full believer, but a flawless life. In him there stands the chief of those that walk by faith, the facile princeps of them he who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. His faith was such a full, exalted element of his character, that it needs much effort on our part to grasp the fact that, while here below, Jesus, as much as all the rest of us, needed to walk by faith, and was constantly compelled to struggle with unbelief. The great Jehovah is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; also the God of Paul and every true apostle. Suppose Moses could have had the spirits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appear to him in Horeb, and assure him that the God of the burning bush was the God who had dealt with them in the days of their flesh; would not this have Been reckoned a most confirming and exhilarating testimony? And we, practically, have a testimony of this sort. We read of Jesus regarding God as his Father, habitually and in the most appropriating way. We have his actual experience for our comfort, our inspiration, and our guide. If an Israelite was asked what God he believed, tried to serve, and had his. highest expectations from, his best answer was, "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So we, if asked a similar question, can give no better answer than "The God of Christ and the God of Paul: the God who has ever been the same through all vicissitudes of his Church; ever loving, faithful, and sustaining, Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I am the God of thy father - He lets him know it is God that speaks to him, to engage his reverence, faith and obedience. Thy father, thy pious father Amram, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thy ancestors. Engaged to them by solemn covenant, which I am now come to perform. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God - The more we see of God, the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear. And even the manifestations of God's grace should increase our humble reverence of him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Jehovah then made Himself known to Moses as the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, reminding him through that name of the promises made to the patriarchs, which He was about to fulfil to their seed, the children of Israel. In the expression, "thy father," the three patriarchs are classed together as one, just as in Exo 18:4 ("my father"), "because each of them stood out singly in distinction from the nation, as having received the promise of seed directly from God" (Baumgarten). "And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." The sight of the holy God no sinful man can bear (cf. Kg1 19:12).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

I AM THE G-D OF THY FATHER. In accordance with the plain meaning of Scripture, this is equivalent to saying, “the G-d of thy fathers.” However, He mentions the singular instead of the plural, for the intent is “the G-d of each one of your ancestors,” since people refer to all ancestors as fathers. Similarly: the G-d of thy father David; this is my G-d, and I will glorify Him; my father’s G-d, and I will exalt Him, meaning “the G-d of my fathers.”Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said [that the word “father” in the phrase], the G-d of my father, refers to Abraham since he was the first who began to call upon the name of the Eternal. After that, He mentioned Abraham by name and then joined the rest of the patriarchs to him.. In the opinion of our Rabbis, [“father” in the phrase] The G-d of thy father, means Amram. This is just as if He had said, “I am thy G-d,” [i.e., Moses’ G-d], but He desired to associate His Name with that of a righteous man who had already died - [namely, Amram] - rather than with that of one yet alive, [i.e., Moses]. ” (Job 15:15). As long as a person lives, the evil inclination in him is still present. After that, [He mentioned] the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Isaac, and the G-d of Jacob, meaning that He is the G-d of all Israel.The reason for His mentioning “the G-d of” with each one [of the patriarchs] instead of saying “the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” is that He referred to His Name and His memorial, [thus alluding to the special attributes by which He was associated with each of the patriarchs], (Deuteronomy 10:17). ‘The great’ alludes to Abraham, as it is said, and of great kindness (Psalms 145:8); ‘the mighty’ to the Fear of Isaac (Genesis 31:42); and ‘the feared’ to Jacob, as it is said, For with Thee there is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared” (Psalms 130:4). (Ricanti in his work here on the Torah). blessed and magnified be He. I will explain yet more on this point in the chapter.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.