The Meaning of the Name Shemot

      In Hebrew, the book of Exodus is called Shemot, which means “names.” On a straightforward peshat level this choice is unremarkable because many Torah portions derive their names from a keyword in their opening verses. Shemot begins with the verse, “And these are the names [shemot] of the children of Israel who are coming to Egypt,” and continues by listing Jacob’s twelve sons’ names. However, according to the PaRDeS system of learning there are always much deeper reasons for these titles. What spiritual reasons then underlie the choice of this name for the second book of the Pentateuch?

On a practical level, the Midrash relates that the children of Israel retained their strength as a people and ultimately merited redemption from slavery because they kept their Hebrew names, their distinct style of dress, and their attachment to the Hebrew language (Shemot Rabbah 1:31). Although such actions may seem relatively insignificant, they prevented the Jews from assimilating.  Thus the book begins with a record of the names of the sons of Jacob from whom the Jewish nation would descend.

However, in a broader sense, the book of Exodus is the book of names for it is only in Egypt that Jacob’s nuclear family metamorphoses from the “children of Israel” (a name given to the family in Genesis) to the nation of Israel. Indeed, in this book, Jacob’s personal name, Israel, becomes the name of his nation.

On an even more profound level, God reveals his essential four-letter name, the Tetragrammaton, to Israel and the world, in this book. As will be explained in the next Torah portion, He had only partially revealed this secret to the patriarchs and matriarchs in Genesis. The fact that God has now chosen to reveal His entire name and by extension his true nature to the Egyptians and the Jews becomes an important theme in the book of Shemot. Thus, the book of Shemot revolves not only around the people of Israel assuming their true name and identity but also around God revealing His essential name to all humankind.

Indeed, when Moses first confronts Pharaoh, Pharaoh does not even seem to know who this God of Israel is. Moses declares, “Thus says God, the God of Israel, ‘Send out My people that they may celebrate [for] Me in the wilderness,’” and Pharaoh replies, ‘Who is God that I should heed His voice to send out Israel. I do not know God, nor will I send out Israel’” (Exodus 5:1-2). The Midrash relates that during this exchange Pharaoh called for his “directory of gods” and sarcastically claimed that the God of Israel was not listed, therefore he had no intention of recognizing Him (Shemot Rabbah 5:1).

In the next few portions, Moses’ warnings to Pharaoh about the imminent arrival of another plague are usually accompanied by various declarations proclaiming God’s revelation: “So says God, through this you will know that I am God”(7:17); “so that you will know that there is none like God, our God”(8:6); “so that you will know that I am God in the midst of the earth”(8:18); “for this time I will send all my plagues against your heart … so that you will know that there is none like Me in all the world”(9:14).

After he arrives in Egypt, Moses is likewise told that the plagues will teach the Israelites “that I am God”:

God said to Moses: “Come to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart and the heart of his servants stubborn so that I can put these signs of Mine in his midst; and so that you may relate in the ears of your son and your son’s son that I made a mockery of Egypt and My signs that I placed among them – that you may know that I am God.”(Shemot 10:1-2)

When examining the text we see that God had already made this goal clear when he spoke to Moses at the burning bush. In his lengthy response to Moses’ question regarding what he should tell the Jewish people, when they ask who sent him, God answered Moses, “I Will Be That I Will Be.” And He said, “So shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘I Will Be has sent me to you.’” God said further to Moses, “So shall you say to the children of Israel, ‘God, the God of your forefathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance from generation to generation.’” (Shemot 3:14-15)

A close reading of the text in Hebrew reveals that several of God’s names are employed in this verbal exchange, culminating with God’s essential four-letter name (more on some of these names later in this and the next portions). On the words, “This is My name forever, this is My remembrance from generation to generation” Rashi points out that the word “forever” (le’olam) is written differently than it usually is, without a vav. This change in spelling allows it be vowellized differently and pronounced as le’alem – “to be concealed.” The Sages infer from this that God’s four-letter name should not be pronounced as written because it is meant to be concealed.

There is a profound message here regarding God and His names in general. Paradoxically, God is simultaneously revealed and hidden in the world and all of creation. In fact, the word meaning “forever” and “to conceal,” in the above verse, also means “world” (olam). God’s four-letter name must always be revealed in the world, yet at the same time this revelation must be concealed somewhat, for God Himself is hidden. Paradoxically, a full revelation of God’s light and presence would by definition nullify creation; therefore, in order to prevent the world from being overwhelmed by His infinite presence, God “hides” and contracts His power. For this reason, the Sages taught that “He is the place of the world but the world is not his place” (Bereishit Rabbah 68:9).

The book of Shemot is the book of names because it reveals Israel’s name as a nation, and introduces, as it were, God’s essential name to the world.