Exodus 6:20

20 1Amram married * his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram's life was one hundred and thirty-seven * years.

Exodus 6:20 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 6:20

And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife
This Amram was the first son of Kohath, and the father of Moses, as after related, and so must be the same with the man of the house of Levi, and his wife the daughter of Levi, as in ( Exodus 2:1 ) and though such a marriage was afterwards prohibited, Moses does not conceal it, though it may seem to reflect some dishonour on him and his family; he writing not for his own glory, but for the sake of truth, and the good of mankind, and especially the church and people of God. Indeed the Vulgate Latin version, and the Septuagint, Samaritan, and Syriac versions, make her to be his first cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, his uncle's daughter: and so does Polyhistor from Demetrius F8; but in ( Numbers 26:59 ) , she is expressly said to be a daughter of Levi, born to him in Egypt, and therefore must be his father's sister:

and she bare him Aaron and Moses:
and Miriam also, though not mentioned, it being for the sake of these two that the genealogy is made:

and the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty seven
years:
just the age of his grandfather Levi, ( Exodus 6:16 ) . A Jewish chronologer F9 says he died in the thirtieth year of Moses: but the Arabic writers F11 say in the fifty sixth or fifty seventh, and at the end of A. M. 3810. Polyhistor F12 from Demetrius makes his age to be one hundred and thirty six, and him to be the father of Moses and Aaron, and Aaron to be three years older than Moses, exactly according to the Scripture account.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 21. p. 425.)
F9 Shalshalet Hakabala, ut supra. (fol. 5. 1.)
F11 Patricides, p. 26. Elmacinus, p. 46. apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 392.
F12 Apud Euseb. ut supra.

Exodus 6:20 In-Context

18 The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath's life was one hundred and thirty-three years.
19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.
20 Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.
21 The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.
22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Exodus 2:1, 2; Numbers 26:59

Footnotes 2

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