Exodus 3:14 as an Explanation of the Tetragrammaton: What if the Septuagint Rendering had no Platonic Nuances?

As early as Philo, it was accepted by Hellenistic Jews that the Platonic understanding of the deity was fully compatible with the Jewish scriptures. The choices made by the Alexandrian translators allowed and even promoted a Platonic reading of the sacred text in Greek, especially of Exodus 3:14, 15 and the Tetragrammaton. Subsequent Jewish and Christian Bible translators reacted to this philosophical deviation. This article attempts to trace such translation traditions and investigate alternative Greek renderings of the original Hebrew terms that would not undermine core biblical ideas about God. Towards this end, the tension between “being” and “becoming” within theological and philosophical frameworks is also sketched.