development, when He made the highest level in Himself Divine.
The second component of the new name is generally supposed to have been
taken from the Hebrew word hamohn (“multitude”), as language surrounding
the renaming implies. So the parts of the new name, taken together, would
mean “father of a multitude.” But the Hebrew word for a multitude in the
passage is actually “hamohn,” with no “r.” Since the new second component of
the name replaces the second part of the original name, ram, the “r” in the new
name, would be unaccounted for.
The explanation that the Arcana Coelestia gives of the modification of
Abram’s name does not rule out the “father of a multitude” meaning, but it
does give a different explanation. The change involves the addition of just one
consonant, the “H,” called He (pronounced “hay”) in Hebrew. The Arcana
states:
The name ‘Abram’ was to be so changed in character that the Lord could be
represented by it. Therefore the letter H was taken from the name of Jehovah –
which letter is the only one in the name ‘Jehovah’ that involves the Divine, and
which signifies I AM or BEING – and was inserted in his name, and he was called
‘Abraham.’ (# 2010)
The Divine Name
Understanding the full significance of the foregoing passage requires an
appreciation of the nature of the most ancient Divine name. The quotation
speaks of “Jehovah,” but the Hebrew for this name in the Bible Swedenborg
used as he wrote the Arcana (and, for that matter, the Latin of the Arcana in
which he wrote) would be pronounced “Yehowah.”
However, the original text of the Old Testament had no letters for most
vowels, so, at first, only the letters corresponding to Y H W H (Yodh, He, Waw,
He) would have been written – the vowels not being indicated until markings
reflecting them were added later by the Masoretes. (See Sacred Scripture 13
and Spiritual Experiences 2414, 5620)
The four Hebrew letters in the Divine name are sometimes referred to as
the “tetragrammaton,” and modern scholars have theorized the name might
originally have been pronounced “Yahweh.” One of the reasons for this theory
is the relation of the Divine name to the verb “to be” in Hebrew.
The Arcana passage mentions that the name means “I AM,” also can be
seen when the Lord reveals Himself to Moses from the burning bush. Moses
asks: “Behold I come to the sons of Israel, and say to them, The God of your
fathers has sent me to you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What
shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses: I AM WHO is I AM; and He said,
Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus
3:13-14)
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