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Exodus 6

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God Reaffirms His Covenant and Name 1–9

1
Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. ​
2
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. ​
4
And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
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And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. ​
6
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: ​
7
And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ​
8
And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
9
And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. ​

Moses Objects Again 10–13

10
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12
And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? ​
13
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. ​

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron 14–27

14
These be the heads of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. ​
15
And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.
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And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. ​
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The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
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And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.
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And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
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And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. ​
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And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
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And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.
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And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ​
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And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.
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And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. ​
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These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. ​
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These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

The Commission Reconfirmed 28–30

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And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
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That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
30
And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 6

Verse 1

with a strong hand — Chazaq is repeated: Pharaoh will let Israel go ‘with a strong hand’ and drive them out ‘with a strong hand’. The LORD had told Moses that the king would not let them go ‘by a mighty hand’ (Ex 3:19), the same word. ‘Drive out’ (garash) is met on Passover night: ‘they were thrust out of Egypt’ (Ex 12:39).

Verse 3

by my name JEHOVAH — ‘God Almighty’ is El Shaddai, the name under which the LORD appeared to the fathers (Gen 17:1; 35:11). Genesis already records him speaking as ‘the LORD’ (Gen 15:7); what was ‘not known’ (yada) is what the name would prove in deliverance, hence vv.6–7: ‘ye shall know that I am the LORD your God’.

Verse 5

I have remembered my covenant — Na’aqah, ‘groaning’, is found only here and at Ex 2:24 in the five books of Moses. This is the LORD’s own statement of what Ex 2:24 reports: ‘God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.’

Verse 6

I will redeem you — Ga’al is the kinsman’s verb: ‘one of his brethren may redeem him’ (Lev 25:48). In Exodus it occurs only here and in Ex 15:13, ‘the people which thou hast redeemed’. ‘Rid’ is natsal, the verb of Moses’ complaint in Ex 5:23; ‘great judgments’ look ahead to Ex 7:4.

Verse 7

I will take you to me for a people — The covenant formula, ‘… will be your God, and ye shall be my people’ (Lev 26:12), echoed in Deut 29:13. ‘Ye shall know’ (yada) answers ‘was I not known’ in v.3: Israel will know the LORD as the one who brings them ‘out from under the burdens of the Egyptians’.

Verse 9

anguish of spirit — Qotser ruach, literally shortness of spirit or breath; the first word occurs only here in the five books. ‘Cruel’ is qasheh, ‘hard’, the word of ‘hard bondage’ in Ex 1:14. Israel could not take in the message (shama, to hear and heed), as Pharaoh also refused to hear it (Ex 5:2).

Verse 12

uncircumcised lips — Arel is the word for an uncircumcised male (Ex 12:48) and for fruit not yet fit to be eaten (Lev 19:23). Moses applies it to his lips as unfit for speaking before Pharaoh, restating his earlier plea, ‘I am not eloquent… slow of speech’ (Ex 4:10). His reasoning runs from Israel’s refusal to the king’s.

Verse 13

gave them a charge — Tsavah, to command: Moses and Aaron are commissioned together, to Israel and to Pharaoh, ‘to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt’. The genealogy that follows (vv.14–25) is closed by ‘These are that Aaron and Moses’ (v.26), taking up the same commission.

Verse 14

the heads of their fathers’ houses — The list opens with ‘Reuben the firstborn of Israel’ and his four sons, as in Gen 46:9, then Simeon (v.15), and stops at Levi (v.16), the tribe of Moses and Aaron. It is the record of the families, not a full list of the twelve.

Verse 16

Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari — Levi’s three sons, as in Gen 46:11. The ages given along the line to Moses run: Levi ‘an hundred thirty and seven years’ (v.16), Kohath ‘an hundred thirty and three’ (v.18), Amram ‘an hundred and thirty and seven’ (v.20). Moses and Aaron descend through Kohath.

Verse 20

his father’s sister — Amram married Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Num 26:59), so his own father’s sister. The law given at Sinai later forbids it: ‘Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister’ (Lev 18:12). From this marriage came Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister (Num 26:59).

Verse 23

Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab — Aaron marries into Judah: her brother Naashon was captain of Judah’s camp (Num 2:3), and Aminadab and Naasson stand in Christ’s line (Matt 1:4). Of her sons, Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD for ‘strange fire’ (Lev 10:1–2); Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests (Num 3:4).

Verse 25

Phinehas — He is the son of Eleazar and a daughter of Putiel. His zeal turned the LORD’s wrath from Israel (Num 25:11), and the LORD gave him ‘the covenant of an everlasting priesthood’ (Num 25:13). This verse closes the priestly line as ‘the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families’.

Verse 26

according to their armies — Tsava, an army or host. The LORD calls Israel ‘mine armies’ (Ex 7:4) and brings them out ‘by their armies’ (Ex 12:51). The verse returns from the genealogy to the commission of v.13: these are the men to whom the LORD said, ‘Bring out the children of Israel’.

Verse 30

I am of uncircumcised lips — Moses repeats the plea of v.12 in his own mouth, and the LORD answers in the next verses: ‘I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet’ (Ex 7:1). ‘Hearken’ is shama, to hear and obey, the verb of Pharaoh’s refusal in Ex 5:2.