Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Judg 13, 17-18 This divine name is mysterious

(Judg 13, 17-18) This divine name is mysterious

[17] Manoah said to him, "What is your name, that we may honor you when your words come true?" [18] The angel of the LORD answered him, "Why do you ask my name, which is mysterious?"

(CCC 206) In revealing his mysterious name, YHWH ("I AM HE WHO IS", "I AM WHO AM" or "I AM WHO I AM"), God says who he is and by what name he is to be called. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at once a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and hence it better expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable, and he is the God who makes himself close to men (Cf. Isa 45:15; Judg 13:18).

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