It means the “self-existent one, the God of the covenant” (e.g., Exod 3:13–14; 6:2–4). This is the most common name for God, occurring 6,823 times.

The name Jehovah in Exodus 6:3 is the Hebrew tetragrammaton (a four-letter expression) YHWH. Because of the sacredness of the name, the Jewish reader would not even pronounce it, substituting the word Adonai in its place when read aloud.