The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 6
Chapter VI · Vol. I, pp. 305–306
1 God reneweth his promise by his name JEHOVAH. 14 The genealogy of Reuben, 15 of Simeon, 16 of Levi, of whom came Moses and Aaron.
1 THEN the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for a with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
a ch. 3.19,20; 11.1; 12.33,34; 13.3; 14.16. De. 4.34; 5.15; 6.21; 7.8. Is. 63.9,12. 1 Ch. 17.21,22. Da. 9.15. Je. 32.20,21. Ac. 7.36.
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.5
5 We read (Ge. 12.8) that Abram called upon the name of JEHOVAH, that (Ge. 15.2) Abram said, JEHOVAH ELOHIM; but, still more expressly to the point, we read, Ge. 15.7, 'I am JEHOVAH that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees.' How, then, are we to reconcile these statements with the assertion in the text? Some translate the word 'know' by appropriate, but this will not solve the difficulty, for Abram did appropriate God by faith. Some translate the sentence interrogatively, and it will bear this form; But, by this change, no explanation is gained. Let us then seek the meaning of the passage in the word JEHOVAH itself. JEHOVAH means, he that IS, that always is, the unchangeable one. Now, the name 'Almighty God,' in which (Ge. 17.1) Abram was called and encouraged, refers to power to protect—the attribute which Abram's defenceless condition most required him to seek for the support of his faith; but the name JEHOVAH—the unchangeable—refers to time, and therefore requires promise, and long experience of faithfulness, to illustrate and establish its evidence. Thus Abram had abundant evidence that God was almighty to defend and protect; but though his faith did not doubt, time did not allow him to test his unchangeableness; whereas now, when centuries of changing time, and of God's apparent 'slackness concerning his promise,' 2 Pe. 3.9, had passed away, JEHOVAH, as the unchangeable, is made known to his people, and an attribute that time alone could develop, is that upon which God rests his chief claim to confidence and obedience.—C.
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.
5 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.
10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
11 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 s uncircumcised6 lips?
A.M. 2513. B.C. 1491.
s Have a disagreeable manner of speech, ch. 4.10. Is. 6.5. Je. 1.6. ver. 30. Mat. 14.31. Mar. 5.36.
6 The expression uncircumcised is used in Scripture to express any kind of unsuitableness which there may be in anything to answer its proper purpose, as the carnal heart and depraved nature of fallen men are entirely unsuited to the services of God, and to the purposes of his glory.
13 Andt 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.
t ver. 26-29. Ps. 77.20. Is. 63.11, 12. Mi. 6.4. Jos. 24.5. 1 Sa. 12.6. Ho. 12.13. Ac. 7.35,36.
14 These be the heads of their fathers' houses: u The sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.7
u See Ge. 46.9. 1 Ch. 5.3. Nu. 26.5,6.
7 The organization of the Israelites was very complete, and was almost as precise as that of an army. They were divided first into tribes; then the tribes into families; and the families into fathers' houses. Over the latter were placed officers, with the title heads of fathers' houses; and the names of these in the time of Moses are here given.—P.
15 Andx 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.
x See Ge. 46.10. Nu. 26.12,13. 1 Ch. 4.24.
16 And these are the names of the y 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.
y Nu. 3.17. 1 Ch. 6.1, 16. See Ge. 46.11.
17 The z sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
z Nu. 3.18. 1 Ch. 6.17; 23.7.
18 And a 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.
a Nu. 26.57; 3.19. 1 Ch. 6.2,18.
19 And the b sons of Merari; Mahli and Mushi: these are the families of Levi, according to their generations.
b Nu. 3.20. 1 Ch. 6.19; 23.21.
20 And c Amram took him Jochebed, his father's sister,8 to wife;9 and she bare him Aaron and Moses.1 And the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
c ch. 2.1,2. Nu. 26.59. This marriage was incestuous.
8 The Septuagint and Syriac both read uncle's daughter.
9 Moses has here recorded the marriage of his father Amram with Jochebed and his own aunt, and it appears from Nu. 26.59, but it must be taken strictly for his father's own sister, at least by the half blood. The marriage was afterward forbidden as incestuous, Le. 18.12, which might be looked upon as a blot upon his family, though it took place before that law; and Moses does not conceal it, for he sought not his own praise, but wrote with a sincere regard to truth, whether it smiled or frowned upon him.
1 Aaron is here mentioned first as he was older than Moses. It is, however, usual in Scripture, as in the case of Shem, Abraham, and others, to name a younger brother first when there is any peculiarly excellent trait in his character; and thus we find Moses is generally mentioned before Aaron.
23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of f Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him g Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
f Nu. 2.3; 1.7. Ru. 4.19,20. 1 Ch. 2.10. Mat. 1.4.
g 1 Ch. 24.1, 2; 6.1. Le. 10.1. Nu. 3.2; 26.60.
24 And the h sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.
25 And Eleazar, Aaron's son, took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and i she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites, according to their families.
26 These are k that Aaron and Moses,2 to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, according to their l armies.
k ver. 13, 27. Ps. 77.20. Mi. 6.4. Jos. 24.5. 1 Sa. 12.5.
2 The sacred historian here concludes with a particular mark of honour on the persons of whom he is writing, though himself was one of them. Communion, with God, honour and serviceableness to his church, are things that above any other put true honour upon men.
l ch. 12.37, 51; 13.18. Nu. ii. x. In numerous tribes and families, in military order, and with great power.
27 These are m they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.3
m ch. 5.1; 7.10.
3 There is abundant evidence in Scripture that whenever God had a great work to accomplish in his church or in the world, he selected a great agent to do it. In sublimity of genius, legislative wisdom, and administrative skill, Moses has never been surpassed. He had besides a very special training for the work to which he was specially called. He had forty years' training in the court and in the schools of Egypt, then the most enlightened nation in the world. Afterwards he had another forty years' training to nomad life in the wilderness of Sinai; and he there became intimately acquainted with the habits of those whose home was the desert, and with every fountain and pasture ground throughout that wide region where the Israelites wandered so long.—P.
Notes
Ver. 1. God's strong hand, and stretched-out arm, denote the remarkable manifestations of his power, in plaguing the Egyptians, dividing the Red Sea, &c.
Ver. 3. God was not so much manifested to the patriarchs by this his name Jehovah, which denotes his self-existence, necessary existence, self-sufficiency, independency; and his being not only Being itself, but also the effectual and eminent giver of being to his promises and creatures; nor had he given actual being to his promises in the remarkable fulfilment thereof.—[The name by which God specially and personally announced himself to the patriarchs was El-Shaddai, 'God Almighty;' and by that name were expressed the peculiar development and visible evidence of his presence. Hence it is said, 'I appeared unto Abraham, &c., by God Almighty.' Then it is added, 'but by my name JEHOVAH was I not called to them;' that is, 'I did not announce to them that as my name.' It is not said they did not know it; it is not said they had never heard it; it is simply affirmed that JEHOVAH was not the name by which God declared himself orally to the patriarchs; nor was it by the peculiar mode of development expressed by that name he manifested himself. P.]
Ver. 7. He took them under his immediate government, that they might know and serve him, and receive from him his distinguished benefits, temporal and spiritual.
Reflections.—In our greatest extremity, God often interposes for our relief; and the hardest work is easily effected when he puts his hand to it. If his mighty arm of mercy or judgment be stretched out, when he begins he will make an end. Certain is that deliverance for which the character, the covenant, the pity, the purpose, and the power of God are all engaged; and yet the objects thereof, through anguish of spirit, or through his delay of performance, put his strong consolations from them. The frowardness of gospel-hearers makes ministers despair of success with others, and repeat the excuses which God hath already answered, till he charge them, on their peril, to obey his appointments. O the perverseness of the human heart, and its enmity against God! Before he calls, what numbers run unsent! When he calls to his service, what averseness to comply!—Whatever my pedigree be, whether honourable or ignominious, let me reckon it my chief honour to be God's child, and to be made useful in doing good to souls.—Let me, without gainsaying, obey his voice, and provoke him not; and though my work be difficult or dangerous, as my days are, so shall my strength be.