ABSTRACT
This chapter explores another important dimension of the exemplars’ mediation of divine theophanic knowledge, this time connected with the divine Name. It concentrates on the Name’s role as the conduit of the divine presence and knowledge. It demonstrates that in various Jewish traditions the divine Name acted as a cypher for the divine presence which is predestined to reveal the deity’s very essence to human beings. The study shows that in many early Jewish accounts, the Name was closely associated with the deity’s power and demiurgic activity. The divine Name thus fulfills the same function as the divine image. The study illustrates that like the imago Dei, the divine Name eventually became hypostasised and represented by the same mediatorial figures who play prominent roles as personifications of the divine image, including Enoch, Jacob, and Moses. These mediators became the Name’s visible manifestations endowed with divine attributes and features, including attributes connected with divine knowledge.
