Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 48:1 (Spring 1986)
Article: Alternative Interpretations of Lōʾ in Exodus 6:3 and Jeremiah 7:22
Author: G. E. Whitney

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WTJ 48:1 (Spring 1986) p. 151

Alternative Interpretations of Lōʾ in Exodus 6:3 and Jeremiah 7:22

G. E. Whitney

I am Yahweh and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob by [my title] El Shaddai and by my name Yahweh I was not [lōʾ] known to them. [Exod 6:3]
Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For I did not [lōʾ] speak to your fathers nor [wĕlōʾ] command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But [kî-ʾim] this command I gave them, “Obey my voice…you shall be my people….” [Jer 7:21–23]

This paper is focused on key texts (Exod 6:3; Jer 7:22) because they share two similarities: (1) They use “not” (Hebrew lōʾ) to express a negation which if taken literally would directly contradict major portions of antecedent Scripture. Exod 6:3 seems to contradict the genuineness of the recurring use of the name Yahweh in the patriarchal narratives. Jer 7:22 seems to deny that the commands concerning sacrifice were given during the time (literally “day”) of the exodus. (2) Both texts are used by the higher critics of the Pentateuch as evidence of the existence of independent literary sources.1

The paper assumes a knowledge of the context of the key texts.2

WTJ 48:1 (Spring 1986) p. 152

In part the argument from context has been used by Wilson3 and Hommel4 who respectively defended Exod 6:3 and Jer 7:22 against higher criticism.

Arguments are given to show that both texts may employ “not” figuratively as a form of hyperbolic verbal irony intended to intensify the contrast between what is present in the mind of the audience and what ought to be present. This idiom is easily misunderstood unless one is able to guess the tone of voice of the speaker. Such ability depends on one’s sensitivity to the original speaker-audience relationship and on an understanding of the idioms common in the culture.

The early higher critics interpreted this pair of denials in a strictly literal sense.

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