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.¹ Therefore, the verse must say, “I was not known to them.” These are the words of the Ohr HaChaim,² and I also heard them from my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov], in the name of the Chovas HaLevavos.³a 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

footnotes: ¹ I.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.” ² The great Sefardic Sage (1696-1743). See his commentary on this verse. ³ Duties of the Heart –