Chapter Six

1–8. God’s approval of Moses—liberation is inevitable. 14–30. The genealogy of Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 6:1. The Lord said to Moses: ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; by a mighty hand he shall let them go; by a mighty hand he shall even drive them out of his land. By means of the “mighty hand,” that is, the plagues (see explanation of verses 19–23, chapter 3 above), Pharaoh will not only let, but even “drive” the Hebrews out of his land (Exod 12:33).

Exodus 6:2. God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the Lord. Exodus 6:3. ‘I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the name “God Almighty,” but by My name “the Lord” I did not make Myself known to them. Exodus 6:4. ‘And I established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their sojourning, in which they sojourned. Exodus 6:5. ‘And I have heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Exodus 6:6. ‘Therefore say to the Israelites: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will save you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Exodus 6:7. ‘And I will take you for Myself as a people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out [from the land of Egypt] from under the yoke of the Egyptians. Exodus 6:8. ‘And I will bring you into the land concerning which I swore to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord. The inevitability of liberation is based on the immutability of the promises. The Lord who appeared to Moses is that same God Almighty (El-Shaddai) who revealed Himself to the patriarchs (Gen 17:1) and if Jehovah is always constant and unchanging, then He will fulfill the promises made by El-Shaddai. The latter “established a covenant with the patriarchs to give them the land of Canaan” (Exod 6:4, Gen 17:8), and Jehovah, identical with Him, will bring it to fulfillment. The identity of Jehovah with El-Shaddai vouches for the fulfillment of three promises: deliverance from Egyptian slavery (Exod 6:6, Gen 15:14), the election of the Hebrews as God’s people (Exod 6:7, Gen 17:7-8, Deut 4:20), and the giving of them the promised land (Exod 6:8, Gen 17:8). In light of all this, Moses and the people should not lose heart. If as a result of deliverance they will know by experience that the Lord is their God, then now, upon the prediction of the coming liberation, they should maintain faith in Him. ‘I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with the name “God Almighty,” but with My name “the Lord” did I not reveal Myself to them’ (verse 3). In His promises to the patriarchs, God pointed above all to His almightiness (El-Shaddai), which served as their pledge for the fulfillment of His promises. From the time of Moses these promises begin to be fulfilled. The offspring of the patriarchs became a great people, ready to begin their own independent political life under God’s direct guidance. And now the Lord reveals another attribute of Himself, expressed in the name Jehovah—constancy, faithfulness in fulfilling His promises. ‘I will save you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments’ (verse 6; Deut 4:34), that is, with the plagues, which, in crushing the kingdom of Pharaoh, serve as punishment for him (“judgment”). ‘By lifting up my hand’—an action used in swearing oaths, indicating its immutability (Gen 14:22, Deut 32:40, Ezek 20:23).

Exodus 6:9. Moses told this to the Israelites; but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirits and cruel slavery. Exodus 6:10. The Lord said to Moses, saying: Exodus 6:11. ‘Go, speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he let the Israelites go from his land. Exodus 6:12. Moses said before the Lord, saying: ‘Behold, the Israelites do not listen to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me? And I am not eloquent. The comforting promise did not produce the appropriate effect on the people because of their despondency—the absence of patience (Num 24:4, Job 21:4), sustained by hard work. This circumstance, combined with the inevitability of a new refusal from Pharaoh, whom it is difficult to convince when the one speaking is not eloquent, causes Moses to decisively refuse to carry out the task assigned to him.

Exodus 6:13. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them commands to the Israelites and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. Despite the people’s disobedience at this time and Moses’ refusal to go to Pharaoh, “the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them commands to the Israelites and to Pharaoh.” These new appearances probably strengthened the spirit of Moses, since in what follows there are no signs of his wavering and doubting (see below Exod 7:1-6).

Exodus 6:14. These are the heads of their family lines: the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. Exodus 6:15. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. Exodus 6:16. These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their lineages: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven. Exodus 6:17. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimi, with their families. Exodus 6:18. The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. Exodus 6:19. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their lineages. Exodus 6:20. Amram took Jochebed, his father’s sister, as his wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses [and Miriam, their sister]. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred thirty-seven. Exodus 6:21. The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. Exodus 6:22. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. Exodus 6:23. Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Exodus 6:24. The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. Exodus 6:25. Eleazar, son of Aaron, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the families of the Levites according to their lineages. Since the liberation of the Hebrews was accomplished through the agency of Moses and Aaron, who are the chief actors in the subsequent events, in view of the full appropriateness of saying who they were, a new section begins with their genealogy. It is not without intention that the genealogy of the sons of Reuben and Simeon is presented before its exposition. The divine election of Moses and Aaron as leaders of the Hebrew people is accomplished, the author wishes thereby to say, independently of the priority of the tribe. Levi was the third son of Jacob, and yet his descendants were deemed worthy of this election; Kohath, the ancestor of Moses and Aaron, was also not the first, but the second son of Levi (Exod 6:16). An allusion to special divine favor toward the descendants of Levi is contained in the indication of the longevity of its representatives (Exod 6:18). According to verse 20, the father of Moses and Aaron was Amram. Judging from the context, this Amram is none other than the son of Kohath (Exod 6:18). But such a conclusion is not favored by Num 3:27-28. As is evident from that passage, according to the census taken in the second year after the exodus from Egypt, in the generation of Kohath, divided into four families, there were 8,600 men. How many persons each family included is not stated here. But if we divide 8,600 by four, we get 2,150, that is, the approximate average number of adult males belonging to each family. If we add to this number of men women and children, then 2,150 must be raised to 6,450. Such a number of persons must have been included in the family of Amram. But besides Moses, the Bible knows only Aaron and Miriam as children of Amram (Exod 6:20). In light of this, the identification of Amram, the father of Moses, with Amram, the son of Kohath, leads to an incredible conclusion that from four individuals (Amram, Moses, Aaron, Miriam) in one family 6,450 people were descended. The only way out of this difficulty is the quite reliable supposition that Amram, the father of Moses, is not the same person as Amram, the son of Kohath, but a later descendant of Levi of the same name. The mother of Moses—Jochebed—is called the aunt of her husband Amram, and accordingly in Num 26:59—“a daughter of Levi, whom his wife bore to him in Egypt.” But as to the term “aunt” (Hebrew “doda”), it can be understood differently, which is proven by the translation of the Septuagint: “the daughter of the brother of his father”—a first cousin from the paternal side, “the daughter of his father’s brother.” As the aunt of Amram, Jochebed is a daughter of Levi (from Levi Kohath and his sister Jochebed; from Kohath Amram, the nephew of Jochebed). But if Jochebed, the wife of Amram, is his first cousin, then she can no longer be a daughter of Levi. And that the Greek translators did not consider her such is evident from their reading (Num 26:59). Instead of the Hebrew: “Jochebed, daughter of Levi, whom Levi’s wife bore to him in Egypt,” they put: “daughter of Levi, who bore these to Levi in Egypt.” Consequently, on the maternal side as well, Moses was not a direct descendant of Levi.

Exodus 6:26. Aaron and Moses—these are they to whom the Lord said: ‘Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt according to their armies. Exodus 6:27. These are the men who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of Egypt; these are Moses and Aaron. Exodus 6:28. Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, Exodus 6:29. The Lord said to Moses, saying: ‘I am the Lord! Speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything that I speak to you. Exodus 6:30. Moses said before the Lord: ‘Behold, I am not eloquent; how then will Pharaoh listen to me? Having set forth the genealogy of Moses and Aaron and noted their position as divinely chosen leaders of the Hebrew people (Exod 6:26-27), the sacred writer returns to where the need to insert the genealogy of Moses and Aaron interrupted him, namely to the answer of Moses to the command to go to Pharaoh (Exod 6:12). * * * Jehovah. That is, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.