Exodus 6:8-18

8 And I will bring you to the land {that I swore} to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you [as] a possession. I [am] Yahweh."
9 And Moses spoke thus to the {Israelites}, but they did not listen to Moses, because of {discouragement} and because of hard work.
10 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
11 "Go, speak to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and let him release the {Israelites} from his land."
12 And Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Look, the {Israelites} do not listen to me, and how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I [am] {a poor speaker}?"
13 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and he commanded them [to go] to the {Israelites} and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to bring the {Israelites} out from the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron

14 These [are] the heads of {their families}. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, [are] Enoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These [are] the clans of Reuben.
15 And the sons of Simeon [are] Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jakin and Zohar and Shaul the son of the Canaanitess. These [are] the clans of Simeon.
16 And these [are] the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogies: Gershon and Kohath and Merari, and the years of the life of Levi [were] {one hundred and thirty-seven years}.
17 The sons of Gershon [are] Libni and Shimei according to their clans.
18 And the sons of Kohath [are] Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel, and the years of the life of Kohath [were] {one hundred and thirty-three years}.

Exodus 6:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 6

The Lord encourages Moses to hope for success from his name Jehovah, and the covenant he had made with the fathers of his people, Ex 6:1-5, orders him to assure the children of Israel that he would deliver them from their bondage and burdens, and bring them into the land of Canaan; but through their distress and anguish they hearkened not to him, Ex 6:6-9 but Moses is sent again to Pharaoh to demand the dismission of Israel, to which he seems unwilling, and both he and Aaron are charged both to go to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh, Ex 6:10-13, next follows a genealogy of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, which seems to be given for the sake of Moses and Aaron, and to show their descent, Ex 6:14-15, who were the persons appointed of God to be the instruments of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, Ex 6:26-30.

Footnotes 13

  • [a]. Literally "that I raised my hand"
  • [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [c]. Literally "a lack of spirit" or "shortness of spirit"
  • [d]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [f]. Literally "uncircumcised of lips"
  • [g]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [h]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [i]. Literally "the house of their fathers"
  • [j]. Or "the Canaanite woman." The Hebrew word is feminine
  • [k]. Or "generations"
  • [l]. Literally "seven and thirty and hundred of year"
  • [m]. Literally "three and thirty and hundred of year"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.