Contradiction claim
Did Abraham know the divine name YHWH?
Exodus 6:3 states that God appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but was not known to them by his name YHWH. Passages in Genesis nevertheless use that name in the patriarchal narratives, including on the lips of the LORD speaking to Abraham and in a place-name Abraham gives.
2 source records · no review date recorded
How to read this record
Passages side by side
TextThe primary text, as seeded. Nothing here is summarised or paraphrased.
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Why they appear to conflict
AnalysisEach side states a proposition attributable to its passages. A claim is not assumed to have exactly two sides.
Exodus 6
The patriarchs did not know God by the name YHWH.
Not known by that name
Exodus 6:2 · Exodus 6:3
Genesis narratives
The name YHWH is used in the patriarchal narratives, including in speech to Abraham and in a name Abraham gives.
The name is used
Genesis 15:7 · Genesis 22:14
Formal analysis
AnalysisA contradiction requires a proposition and its incompatible counterpart under materially equivalent conditions. Every dimension below must hold for the formal test to succeed.
No formal analysis has been recorded for this claim yet. Until one exists, the classification cannot be stronger than a descriptive category.
Analytical questions
AnalysisWhat a researcher must answer to classify this record. Open questions are recorded, not resolved by preference.
- Does "known by my name" mean the name was unheard, or that its significance was not yet disclosed?
- Does the narrator of Genesis use the name in narration without claiming the patriarchs used it?
- Which Genesis occurrences are narration and which are reported speech? The distinction matters for what the text establishes.
- Is the difference evidence of composite sources, and would that render the statements incompatible?
Hebrew / Greek relevance
LanguageThe claim turns on the Hebrew idiom for "knowing a name" and on whether the syntax of Exodus 6:3 is a statement or a rhetorical question. Translations differ on the latter.
Textual variants
ManuscriptA variant is a transmission phenomenon, never in itself a logical contradiction.
No textual variant record is linked to this claim.
Manuscript evidence
ManuscriptManuscript evidence has not yet been curated for this record.
Narrator and speaker analysis
AnalysisWhat the narration establishes, distinguished from what would additionally establish that the reported event occurred.
No narrator or speaker analysis has been recorded for these passages yet.
Proposed harmonisations
InterpretationEach proposal records the premises it must supply that the text does not state. Premises are never injected silently.
Knowing the name means knowing its significance
Exodus 6:3 denies experiential knowledge of what the name signifies, not acquaintance with the syllables.
Premises this proposal must supply
- textualThe idiom "known by my name" is about disclosed significance, not vocabulary.
Editorial Harmonisation Cost Heuristic
3 / 5 — One substantial unstated premise
The idiom does carry that range elsewhere, but Exodus 6:3 sets the two names in explicit contrast, which pulls against a purely experiential reading. One substantial unstated premise.
Reviewed by CodexTrace Editorial Board on 2026-09-07. This is an editorial heuristic, not an objective measurement.
The narrator uses the name the characters did not
Genesis narration may use the name retrospectively without asserting that the patriarchs used it.
Premises this proposal must supply
- contextualOccurrences within reported divine speech to Abraham are also narratorial rather than quoted vocabulary.
Editorial Harmonisation Cost Heuristic
4 / 5 — Multiple substantial unstated premises
The reading handles narration well but must additionally account for the name appearing inside reported speech and inside a name Abraham himself gives. Multiple substantial unstated premises.
Reviewed by CodexTrace Editorial Board on 2026-09-07. This is an editorial heuristic, not an objective measurement.
Critical responses
InterpretationArguments that the proposed reconciliations do not succeed, treated structurally the same way as the harmonisations.
No critical response has been recorded for this claim yet.
Analytical classification
Analysis- Classification
- Semantic ambiguity
- What it means
- The conflict depends on the sense assigned to one or more key terms.
- Requires formal analysis
- No
- Review status
- reviewed
- Source collections
- codextrace_research
Sources
SourceEvery externally-sourced claim on this page resolves to one of these records.
- [1]
CodexTrace. "CodexTrace editorial research". licence: CC-BY-4.0
Critical / scholarlyotherCC-BY-4.0 - [2]
King James Version (Authorised Version)
"King James Version (Authorised Version)". licence: public-domain-us
Primarytranslationpublic-domain-usLink unverified
Related records
TextCommunity
CommunityCommunity discussion requires a configured Supabase project on this deployment. Research pages are unaffected.