Review of: Guillaume LEPESQUEUX. L’exposition du nom divin dans le livre de l’Exode: Étude exégétique d’Ex 3,1–4,18; 6,2–7,7; 33–34 (Forschungen zum Alten Testament, II/102). Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2019. (15,5×23), xv-437 p. ISBN 978-3-16-156734-6. €114.00.

De Doncker, Ellen
(2025) Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses — Vol. 101, n° 1, p. 150-152 (2025)

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In L’exposition du nom divin dans le livre de l’Exode, Guillaume Lepesqueux has published his 2017 doctoral dissertation. The book is dense and offers an in- depth analysis of several revelatory pericopes in Exodus. In the introduction, the enigmatic verse Ex 3,14, where God reveals His name to Moses (exposition du nom divin), is cited and forms the pivotal point of the book. The goal of the book is to better understand this verse through a thorough examination: “Il s’agit sim- plement de comprendre ce que YHwH dit de lui-même, dans quel cadre et pourquoi il le dit, lorsqu’il se présente en privé à Moïse”. Lepesqueux correctly observes in the introduction that the highly significant verse Ex 3,14 is often only inter- preted from the Latin and Greek translations of the verse, with an isolationist approach, treating the verse as independent from its immediate and broader con- texts. Lepesqueux, by contrast, aims to broaden the scope by investigating not only the pericope of the burning bush in its totality, but to also extend the inves- tigation to other texts in Exodus where the revelation of the divine name is central (Ex 6,2-8; Ex 33,19; 34,6-7). For all of these texts, Lepesqueux offers the specific context in which the divine name is revealed, together with their redactional his- tory in order to disentangle and better understand the theology (or theologies) inherent to these texts. Surprisingly, Lepesqueux understands a historical-critical approach as the best fit to (1) find and interpret the different logics of the “exposi- tion du nom divin” in the book of Exodus and (2) to contribute to a better, more nuanced overall understanding of the book of Exodus. The reader might wonder why other methodologies, such as a narrative approach, are not included in offer- ing this broader contextual understanding of the revelation of the divine name. Some narrative aspects are addressed throughout the detailed analysis of the peri- copes, where synchronic elements are taken into account, but the emphasis remains, however, on diachronic aspects.
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De Doncker, E. (2025). Review of: Guillaume LEPESQUEUX. L’exposition du nom divin dans le livre de l’Exode: Étude exégétique d’Ex 3,1–4,18; 6,2–7,7; 33–34 (Forschungen zum Alten Testament, II/102). Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2019. (15,5×23), xv-437 p. ISBN 978-3-16-156734-6. €114.00. Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses, 101(1), 150-152. https://doi.org/10.2143/ETL.101.1.0000000 (Original work published 2025)