He Will Be What He Will Be

And God said to Moses, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh.

The God of the Bible has a Name. And that Name is יהוה, comprising 4 Hebrew letters: Yod, Hey, Vav (or Waw), Hey. In English, it is written as YHVH or YHWH, and often vocalized as Yehovah, Jehovah, or Yahweh. Most English translations (including the KJV) use "the LORD" or occasionally "GOD" (in CAPS) to represent God's Name יהוה in Hebrew. I will be using the form "YHVH".

But what is the meaning of the Divine Name? In this post, I will try to explore the meaning and significance of the Divine Name. It will get somewhat technical in the beginning, but if you can please bear with me a little and read past the grammatical bits, things will become clear eventually.

I have come across many people, especially Christians, who think that the Divine Name YHVH means "I AM". This idea comes from various English translations of Exodus 3:14,15. And they link this word to the "I am" sayings of Jesus in John's Gospel.

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the LORD (YHVH) God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Exodus 3:14,15 (KJV).

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However, YHVH does not mean “I AM”, neither did God say, “I AM THAT I AM.” The underlying Hebrew phrase is Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה). But the English translation “I am that I am” seems to be based on the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (aka Septuagint, or LXX), which renders it as ego eimi ho' on (ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν). It means “I am the Being”, or “I am the Existing One”, pointing to the ontological “Being”. But this is not an accurate translation of the Hebrew text, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh. All Hebrew scholars agree and it is beyond dispute.

How should we interpret Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh? A brief grammatical explanation is necessary. Biblical Hebrew verbs lack tenses in the traditional sense. Instead, they possess an “aspect”— either “perfect” (completed action) or "imperfect" (incomplete action). The latter may be ongoing or future. The word Ehyeh (אֶהְיֶה) is an imperfect verb stemming from the root hayah (היה). In the first person singular, it translates to “I will be” (future) or “I continue to be” (ongoing but incomplete), contingent on context.

Let's examine the context of Exodus 3:14. Just two verses earlier, God employed the word Ehyeh in His conversation with Moses. In verse 12, He declared, Ehyeh Immakh (אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ), meaning “I will be with thee.” The context indicates a future state, implying God's ongoing presence with Moses henceforth.

Consequently, Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh would translate to “I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.” This isn't about a static “Being,” but rather a dynamic flow of Being and Becoming. Moses was instructed to tell the Israelites, “I WILL BE has sent me to you.” In the subsequent verse, God directed him to say, “YHVH God of your fathers… has sent me to you.”

What, then, is the connection between Ehyeh (“I WILL BE”) and the name “YHVH” (יהוה)? While Ehyeh is in the first person singular, YHVH is in the third person singular. Both share the imperfect aspect, but YHVH stems from the root havah (הוה), which carries the same meaning as hayah (היה) mentioned earlier. Therefore, YHVH signifies “HE WILL BE.”

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This raises some important questions. What does it mean when God says “I will be”? Will He become what He is not (yet)? Is not God perfect and changeless? Of course He is changeless (Malachi 3:6). Doesn’t it imply incompleteness and change? It does. So what does it mean “He becomes”? Let us look at the example we saw earlier.

He said to Moses, “I will be with thee” (Exodus 3:12). So there was a point God was not with Moses as He promised to be. In 2 Samuel 7:14, God said to David, “I will be his (Solomon’s) Father”. In Jeremiah 24:7, He said, “I will be their God”. So whilst He is always God in essence, He wants to “become God” for a particular group of people in a relational sense. But when the house of Israel (northern kingdom) became idolatrous, He said , “I will NOT be for them” (Hosea 1:9). Also, “I will be as the dew unto Israel” (Hosea 14:5). In all these instances, the word Ehyeh is used, where it is implied that He will be something which He was not before.

Here are some additional examples in the 3rd person, where “He will be” or the “LORD will be” is used instead of “I will be”. “The LORD shall be thine everlasting light” (Isaiah 60:20), and “the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” (Zechariah 14:9). The word used here is Yihyeh (יהיה), the 3rd person version of Ehyeh (אֶהְיֶה). Using the root havah (הוה) instead, we get YHVH (יהוה) in place of Yihyeh (יהיה). Both mean “HE WILL BE”.

The word Ehyeh (אֶהְיֶה) is not, in itself, a Divine Name. It was used by others, such as Jephthah (Judges 11:9), Ruth (Ruth 2:13), Job (Job 3:16), and the Shulamite (Song 1:7), whilst referring to themselves. By using this word for Himself, God reveals His character of becoming over time—something He was not previously—in relation to His people and creation, while always remaining Who He is, without change.

The name YHVH (יהוה), however, is exclusive to Him. It signifies that He will be (what He will be), and what He will "be" is solely in His hands. He will not conform to what you or I might want Him to be; rather, He alone determines His intentions and outcomes. Once He decides to be something, He will unfailingly become that. Since none of us can always become whatever we desire to be, He alone is worthy of the name YHVH (He will be). This name belongs to Him exclusively, reflecting His unique ability to fulfil His own declarations of being.

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. (Exodus 33:19).