The critics hold that Exodus 6:3, which the RV renders, “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as God Almighty (El Shaddai); but by my name Jehovah I was not known unto them,” belongs to P and that P means to say that El Shaddai and not Jehovah was the name of God known to the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore they assign four passages, Genesis 17:1, 29:3, 35:11, and 48:3 to P., since El Shaddai is found in them . . .

In conclusion, the evidence clearly shows that the Hebrews who translated the Old Testament, or part of it, into Samaritan, Syriac, Greek, and Arabic, knew nothing of a god called Shaddai or of Shaddai as a name for God. Only in the Greek of Ezekiel 1:24 and in the Syriac of Genesis 17:1; 35:11; and Exodus 6:3 is there any indication that either El Shaddai or Shaddai was ever considered to be a proper name like Jehovah . . .

Questions in Hebrew and other Semitic languages may be asked either with or without an interrogative particle. The following evidence goes to show that the last clause of Exodus 6:3 might be read “was I not made known to them?” This interpretation would remove at once blow the whole foundation of the critical position, so far as it is based on this verse . . .

On the basis of the investigation of the verse given above the writer would suggest the following renderings: And God spake unto Moses and said unto him; I am Jehovah and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob in the character of the God of Might (or, mighty God) and in the character of my name Jehovah I did not make myself known unto them. Or, if the last part of the verse is to be regarded as a question, the rendering should be: And in the character of my name Jehovah did I not make myself known unto them? Either of these suggested translations will bring the verse into entire harmony with the rest of the Pentateuch. Consequently, it is unfair and illogical to use a forced translation of Exodus 6:3 in support of a theory that would destroy the unity of authorship and the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch.

“Yahweh (Jehovah) and Exodus 6:3” by Robert Dick Wilson in Classical Evangelical Essays in Old Testament Interpretation.