To best understand the Old Testament, we need to consult the original Hebrew. Every translation is an interpretation.

Now some translation are better than others, and the vast majority of both Jews and Christians do not understand Hebrew. Yet, sometimes momentous ideas are lost in translation.

Among the most important ones is found in God’s encounter with Moses at the Burning Bush. God tells Moses to return to Egypt, confront the Pharaoh, and lead the Israelites to freedom.

Yet, Moses knows the Israelites will challenge him. He has not lived among them for twenty years. Even then, he was a prince who lived in Pharaoh’s palace. The Israelites will ask Moses who sent him.

Why should they follow him? He needs God to help him prove his status. So Moses asks God to tell him the Divine name.

What is God’s Name?

God’s answer is stunning and perplexing. The King James and most other English translations have God saying, “I am what I am.” Some say “I am who I am.” (Exodus 3:14)

The problem with this translation is that it uses the English present tense. “I am” describes what God is now. The Hebrew, however, is written in the future tense. The literal English translation is “I will be what I will be.”

The difference is monumental. God is not static. God cannot be captured in one time or place. God is not simply being. God is becoming.

What Makes All the Difference? 

When we translate it correctly–when we recognize God’s name as “I will be what I will be”–we realize God cannot be known in advance. God cannot be controlled or fully understood. It is as if God is saying to Moses, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks puts it, “I am the God of the radically unknowable future, the God of surprises. You will know me when you see me, but not before.”

This insight into God’s nature can transform our lives. Each of us is, as the Book of Genesis puts it, “created in the image of God.” To be created in the image of God is to grow and to change. Our character is not fixed, static, immutable. It is open to the transformation through our deeds, our faith, our God.

Like Moses, we do not need to be stuck in the past. We can hear God’s voice, answer God’s call, and enjoy the freedom we deserve.