3:15 The Lord. The Hebrew is Yahweh, probably derived from the Hebrew verb for “to be” (thus meaning “he is” or “he will be”). The corresponding first person is ’ehyeh, “I am.” Note the parallels: “I am has sent me” (v. 14) and “The Lord [Yahweh] . . . has sent me” (v. 15). See theological note “ ‘This Is My Name’: God’s Self-disclosure” on the next page.

remembered throughout all generations. Yahweh, the divine name particularly associated with God’s covenant relationship with Israel, was henceforth to be used in worship. English versions of the Old Testament usually render this Hebrew name as “the Lord,” following the practice of the New Testament, and of the Jews in the intertestamental period. The Jews thought the name too holy to pronounce, and when reading the text substituted ’adonay (“my Lord”). The vowel signs for ’adonay were later added to the Hebrew consonants of Yahweh as a pronunciation reminder, and this hybrid form was rendered “Jehovah” by William Tyndale’s English translation (a.d. 1530). In the New Testament, Lord (Yahweh) is applied to Jesus (Rom. 10:13, citing Joel 2:32).